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Entries in Bernie Ecclestone (145)

FIA

So the World Council of the FIA decided Ferrari had been punished enough for the "team orders" at Hockenheim. It seems they are to revisit the rule so we can assume that team orders are going to be allowed in some form. Jean Todt obviously has a different view to Max Mosely on the subject, which I guess is no surprise as the man in charge at Ferrari when the issue arose in Austria that resulted in the rule. So, what will it be? Teams can order drivers to let their team mate go by as long as it is not done in a way to be seen or heard by the fans? If you listen to some teams that is what is happening anyway, and most fans know it is happening, they just do not want their nose rubbed in it. That is going to take the cooperation of the driver being told to move over, which is where the problem will lie. Rubens and Felipe both clearly wanted everyone to know what was going on. The bottom line is the average fan wants to see racing, and if one driver is quicker than the other then he should be able to pass him on the track without the help of team orders. If this were not the case then why is there an outcry when it happens? So good luck FIA in framing that rule.

The World Council also decided not to accept any of the entries for the additional team for the 2011 season. Not a  big surprise, but disappointing. I think the two applicants were probably better prepared than the three who joined this year, but it seems that the USF1 debacle, and the form of the new teams has made the FIA gun shy.

On a busy day they also released the 2011 schedule, with twenty races including India. Abu Dhabi lost the cherished last race spot to Brazil. That did not take long for that gloss to wear off. So who is going off for 2012, or are we seeing even more races? Bernie's mate Tavo has a date for 2012, if the track is ready, and we know Bernie wants Russia in, and then there is Qatar, Bulgaria etc. The teams are going to need that three week break in August.

Red Flags

The Race Director, Paul Butler, who I know and respect, but have not seen him in that role personally, and the Medical Chief have both defended their decisions not to red flag the race yesterday. I know from personal experience the pressures in Race Control during an event, split second decisions that have to be lived with later. I accept that they acted in what they saw as the best interests of all the riders, just disagree that they were the right ones. The doctor said that it was safer to get Tomizawa off the track so the medics could work without bikes going by, well if you red flagged it then that would have been the case. Paul said that he kept the race going as the track was cleared quickly. I think that is the point that most of us watching were appalled about, they literally dragged those poor guys off the track, dropping Tomizawa in their haste. I know that if you asked the other riders and the spectators at home and at the track, they would rather have the delay than watch that again.

We now learn that Tomizawa had a cardiac arrest out on the track, hardly the story that was being given out to the commentators and the teams. This is where you get the feeling that "the show must go on." Not sure I would have cancelled the MotoGP race, but I might have stopped the Moto2 right there.

It's nice to read that the makers of helmets and other rider protection continue to work on improvements to prevent this type of injury. The accident itself is almost certainly unavoidable, a rider can lose the front end, or the rear as in this case, and in a pack is impossible to miss for the guys behind. Helmets are amazing already, look at Massa's survival last year, and the leathers and body armor get better all the time. I hope that something can be found to protect riders in this situation, but it is hard to see how that is possible without making them heavier or bulkier, so more dangerous than the problem we have now.

I'm not sure what Tilke is saying when he says that his track designs "will be more on the 'edge' in the future in a bid to help promote better racing and more excitement." To me it sounds as if he is going to make them less safe, but that cannot be, surely? After designing all the GP tracks for the last decade how is it he says he now knows how to make them more exciting? He defends his designs by saying he has to work to factors such as land availability, local geography and the budget that track owners are willing to put forward. Well duh! Those are the factors every designer, architect or engineer faces every day. I've never noticed the budget being a restraint for Herman, and the land and topography neither. He says that the extent of run off is dictated by the FIA, and he is correct that it moves the spectator away from the action, but I think the criticisms are about the lack of action, not that it is too far away. Apparently Bernie is giving him more rein to make the tracks interesting , and giving him some good ideas. I'm sure we all look forward to seeing them.

Tomizawa

Another terrible accident mars the MotoGP world this weekend with the death of Shoya Tomizawa. Much like Indy last week the track had nothing to do with the accident or the injuries, he was struck by other riders, but the manner in which the incident was dealt with has rightly caused outrage amongst motorcycle enthusiasts.

Anyone at any level of competition deserves the very highest standard of race management and officiating. Obviously a MotoGP event is operating under a high level of pressure, but that is no excuse for what we saw today. The race should have been red flagged to give the safety crews the time to deal with the riders properly, not drag them off the track, dropping Tomizawa at one point, so that the race could go on. The World Superbike race at Nurburgring showed how it should have been handled. I personally do not like red flagging races, too often I see it for no good reason, but when you see that crash it is impossible to think Shoya was not critically injured. How the message was put out that he did not have life threatening injuries is beyond me.

The TV coverage clearly showed a level of care way below what should be expected by riders. If you have a "spade" stretcher, as they did, it is made to come to pieces to slide under a fallen rider to prevent possible spinal damage, not for the rider to be rolled over and dumped on it! Thankfully Redding did not have serious injuries, but no thanks to the medical crew. I saw a comment that it was not the marshals causing the problem, but the medical team. In Italy, the home of Clinca Mobile and Dr. Costa, I am astounded at their performance. As a race organizer I have always made it my business to make sure I had the best available people working the tower and the track, and have made myself very unpopular for it.

When I went to Laguna to promote the Bike GP the medical was one of the high priorities to improve. I took the excellent Medical Chief to another GP to show him his job was to manage and train the medical team, not treat patients. I found the best corner workers, even talking to the SCCA at one point, yes the car guys. When I ran Phillip Island I brought in the pit lane crew from the F1GP, as the local motorcycle marshals had no experience of running a pit lane in these situations. In fact I really annoyed the first motorcycle club to use PI after I restored it. They ran that race very "loosely" as it was "only a club race." I asked where the switch was in their head that they would throw when they walked through the gate at the GP? They walked off and said they would not be coming to the GP, thankfully. Marshals and race officials need to run every race as a GP, that is what the riders are doing, they are learning their craft, and not going that much slower with less experience while they are doing it. It heartened me that after the GP this same club had the guts to come and say that they now understood, and could they please have another chance.

Then there are the corner workers who only turn up race day. Sorry, you need to be here all day every day to learn what to expect under stressful situations. Practice just like the riders. And no moving around to different stations during the week. I don't care if it is more fun, but learn what happens at that station and be anticipating it. Channel Nine used to have their cameramen out there covering the practice from the first turn of a wheel, even if they were not filming, just so they got up to speed. They understood.

What we saw today at Misano was unforgivable, and the FIM needs to take action. If the promoter cannot organize it better than that then he should not have a race, or the FIM needs to step in and train these people and manage the medical.  I am continually amazed that in this day and age when we know so much about how to stage a race properly, we continue to see a lack of care about reaching the highest standards, whether it is track construction or management. There are knowledgeable professionals out there, but too many would be track owners and promoters think they do not need to know, or think they can do it better. Who is enforcing the standards?

Oh yes, Tony Elias won the race, extending his points lead in Moto2, and Pedrosa won the MotoGP race from Lorenzo and Rossi, keeping his championship hopes alive. At the WSBK at Nurburgring the interest for me is not who won, but why Corser was suddenly so far off the pace, and why Leon Haslam is struggling after a great start to the season?

No one seems very impressed with the state of the Korean GP track, with Bernie joking that it will go ahead, even if they have to use tents. That will be the day. Now you could sell tickets to that!

Motos

Busy weekend on the motorcycle front. MotoGP at Misano with the Honda's quickest today and the Ducati's struggling. Can Pedrosa catch Lorenzo? Not without a few DNF's for Jorge, which seems unlikely given his reliability thus far. Stoner says he is not watching the Honda, but he must be dying for the season to end to get on it. Does not sound as if Dovizioso is willing to vacate the seat quietly, will Honda run three bikes? Misano was the scene of Wayne Rainey's unfortunate accident this weekend in '93.  Some days you do not forget. I had the privilege of getting to know Wayne and Shae when I lived in Spain and worked for Kenny, and then in the planning for the USGP at Laguna. A great Champion and individual.

World Superbike is at Nurburgring with Checa quickest, but good to see Troy Corser has the BMW right behind him. Troy seems to struggle over a race distance so let's hope he can hold it together this weekend for a podium. A young Australian, Mark Aitchison, is making his debut in the  Supersport class and is tenth in practice, not bad for a guy who probably never saw the bike or the track before. WSBK needs some fresh blood, Checa, Biaggi etc are a bit long in the tooth now.

AMA is at New Jersey in time to meet Earl, but it is supposed to clean up for the weekend. Tommy Hayden is quickest thus far, but with this series would anyone but the diehards notice.

Elsewhere a few series are restarting after the summer, like the F Renault 3.5 who are at Hockenheim with Australian Red Bull protege, Daniel Ricciardo, fastest in practice. F3 Euro are at Brands Hatch with the DTM and Audi leading practice. It is odd that either Mercedes or Audi dominate at a track, their characteristics must be quite different. BTCC are at Knockhill in Scotland, and F2 are at some place unpronounceable in Germany where most drivers have not been before with a Russian with an equally unpronounceable name quickest in practice. Tony George's stepson, Ed Carpenter shocked everyone with pole at Kentucky Speedway, let's see if he can make something for the race from there.

Over at F1 it is "back to the future." Korea is still trying to finish the track and the date for inspection by the FIA is Sept 21. As Tilke says, it is always tight building a track as the race date is fixed, not like a normal construction project where you can delay the opening if you get in trouble, but that has been the way since I built Adelaide, so why is that news? Korea had one go at running a GP and had to pay Bernie not to run it once before. Chandook is supposed to run a car on the track this weekend, so it will be interesting to see if he has the off road tires on it. What happened to the 90 day curing time on the track surface?

On the car front it seems we are to have 1.6 liter turbocharged cars with ground effects for 2013. Works for me, we had 1.5 liter screamers before, and ground effects and some great racing. The fuel flow to the turbo is apparently going to be regulated, and presumably the boost level, so we do not have 1000 hp grenades like before that basically made all the run off too short when the ground effects stopped effecting.

Sebastian Vettel still thinks he is going to win the Championship this year. I want some of what he is on. It is one thing to have confidence and I do not knock him for that, I guess all drivers need to think that they will win, but Webber and Hamilton have to have an amazing run of bad luck for Seb to get up from here. Bit like Pedrosa, maybe they should compare notes.

Back in Arizona we move forward on Sol Real with the land in escrow and a meeting with the City next week. Legal docs should be available this coming week so we can get serious. Membership applications will be available as well for those who want to reserve a place, with no money required until there is a track to drive on, although we are setting up a simulator, so that should be virtually very soon. Texas reconnected today, so should be making a trip there later this month. The program is out for the Forum in Cologne in November on track construction and ownership, so if you want one sent by e-mail please contact me, I can also provide a discount on the fee.

Paint

You may think I've lost it, but the most interesting thing today is an article on paint drying.  If you go on the ESPN F1 site, en.espnf1.com, there is an article there about how McLaren save a couple of kilos in weight from the paint, while keeping the car looking fantastic. Presentation has always been Ron Dennis' thing, and how he got the Marlboro money and McLaren in the first place. He ran a F2 or F3 team back in the early eighties called Project 4. That is why the McLarens since he took over are all MP4's. While running on a very tight budget he always made sure the cars and team were all immaculately presented. Marlboro were sponsoring the McLaren team which was going through a slump, and put Ron and McLaren together in a sort of shotgun marriage, and as they say in the classics "that was the start of a beautiful friendship."

I have read before that Ron had the cars stripped of paint after each race rather than just repainted so that the weight does not increase, so when you read about what they do today it all makes sense. To me it is what makes F1 so incredible. The attention to every little detail is what adds up to success, and obviously costs lots of money.

That is apparently what the new boss at Renault F1 has found out. There are rumors of Renault buying back a larger share in the team now business is better and the team are obviously doing well, so the two stories add up to a possible outcome. Not really sure what a venture capital group was doing buying an F1 team anyway, except as a fun business for the manager. Yes the teams make money under Bernie's arrangement, but it is an expensive sport and high risk if you are not winning.

August was a busier month for the blog, despite the F1 hiatus, with nearly 3000 visits from 59 countries! Thank you all for reading and responding. It puts the pressure on me to keep finding interesting stories to comment on.