Bob Barnard Track Engineering

So Carlos Checa managed half the race at Estoril, that was a really good move putting him on the bike. He "worked" his way up to 11th, maybe that was because three guys fell off before he quit. Well done Lorenzo, beat the Doctor in a straight fight, and very good to see young Bradl winning, I was a big fan of his Dad.

Sounds like Talledega was its usual mess, and Jimmie is still in front for the chase. DTM put on a show in Adria in a shortened race due to Premat's huge crash, I'd like to see more of that. Hard to see but did he hit the end of that safety fence?

Spent a wonderful day with my wife Xan exploring this great State of Arizona. Some spectacular scenery. Sol Real very quiet at the moment, analyzing some different sites. Reconnected with a great guy from my past, the TV Director from Sanctuary Cove, Phil Olsman. I thought of Phil while writing the chapter of my book on Sanctuary Cove and thought I need to find him, and there he is on LinkedIn, ain't the internet wonderful.

Slow news day, I guess we will have to get used to this as we go into the winter break, but who knows, there may be more gossip then.

Portugal qualifying washed out. Phillip Island is not looking so bad now. It must rain a lot in Portugal, although I always thought of it as a dry country like Spain. I remember Senna's great win there in '85 when it was a washout.  So Lorenzo on pole by half a second and Hayden, Rossi and Stoner all close. I bet Pramac are glad they drafted Checa in to improve their performance, he is last and over 5 seconds off the pace. Who thinks that was a good move? There are only two races left with this one, what was the risk of giving some young guy a chance?

V8Supercars will not be returning to Bahrain next year with scheduling around other events as the reason, but I suspect since no one turned up to watch it may not be worth what the V8's were asking. Now Abu Dhabi is a stand alone race which cannot be a cheap exercise, so you wonder how long that will last, but I guess they have to put something on at this billion dollar mausoleum.

Peugeot ran a test hack at Monza to prepare for next year's Le Mans. Not sure I like the sharks fin, I know it is there for safety reasons, but it does not look right on what was surely one of the most beautiful sportscars ever built.

The driver silly season goes on, with Hulkenburg getting a big rap from Sir Frank Williams, just when he was about to get the axe for Maldanado. D'Ambrosio is rumored to be close to signing for Virgin, so who's out?