Bob Barnard Track Engineering

You know who I mean, bullshit artists. Sorry for the expletive but BS does not quite convey the strength of feeling. You know who they are, they are all around us, at work and especially in motor sport.

In a not surprising move Dany Bahar has been "suspended" from his role of driving Lotus Car Group into the ground. Despite harrasing Joe Saward for saying what was obvious the inevitable has happened and proved Joe correct, and the rest of us with any common sense. I'm not picking on Dany, he is just the latest to be shown up. But do not fear, he will show up again somewhere, that is the nature of the bullshit artist. It is never their fault, and the fact is they have spent most of their time making sure they have that next job instead of doing the one they have. Just look at the guys who persuaded the regional government around the Nurburgring to let them turn that great track into a circus, for hundreds of millions, and who have now handed the problem of making that money back to the government after alienating most of the original clients of the track like Ron Simons. Of course one of these geniuses has already turned up somewhere else as a manager.

Who would hire them? Why other bullshit artists, that's how most of the people in charge got there in the first place, so why would they want someone who was going to tell them the truth instead of what they want to hear. Yes men are in vogue. Just look at one of our major series. Many years ago I was taken to a city in Oz by the local enthusiasts to meet the Mayor and to try and persuade him to spend the money he was going to spend on a street track on a permanent track so it could be used all year round. Total waste of time, he bought the bill-of-goods a bullshit artist had sold him, and when I pointed that out he said "Oh I know he's a crook, but he has great ideas!" What could I say? That person is still around.

So when Dany told us he was going to build five new models and went about spending money on sponsoring anything on four wheels did we believe it for a minute? No, but the owners did until they sold it to someone else who just maybe do not fall for the bullshit. The Indycar engine debacle has to rate up there with one of the greatest farces in motor sport, and to cap it off both cars using it were black flagged early in the Indy 500 as not being able to reach the minimum speed! Nice one. Oh how Colin Chapman must be turning in his grave over what has been done in his name. Not that he was not above pulling a fast one, but at least his cars won races.