Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Looked at the web site for the new project. Nearly ready. Going to be in tune with the Spanish heritage of the area and the climate, Sol Real (Royal Sun) Motorsport Resort. Architecture will be Spanish Mission. Project will be very stylish. Need to agree on a logo so we can finalize the website, and just a few tweaks. Really hard to find good photos of country club type tracks, but my good buddy Greg Sarni has helped out. Need to catch up with what has happened since my little detour via Louisiana.

Next week will be busy with setting up the hanger for meeting prospective members, and actually starting sessions with them to explain the project. Just heard that the nearby casino has committed to building a new $20m tower as an addition, so someone else has confidence in the local economy, and it is a great amenity for our members. They will of course prefer our clubhouse, but it is nice to have options.

On the motorsport scene it seems Red Bull management cannot learn when to shut up. After saying they are all friends again, Helmut Marko comes out and says he does not know what Mark wants, he is in a great team and winning races. Vettel should be the one complaining due to all his mechanical problems. If you do not understand what Mark wants Helmut then you should do as Hans Stuck suggested and retire. Jos Verstappen said he would have trod on the wing so neither of them could use it, Go Jos!

Ferrari say they were not told "immediately" to let Kubica back past, Charlie Whiting took a whole 1 minute and 55 seconds. Wow! And of course Charlie only told them his opinion based on what he thought the Stewards would do, and he was correct, so stop whining Ferrari. If you had taken his advice, or better still do it your self straight away, Alonso would have re-passed Kubica easily as the Renault had a problem, and he would have been in a great position.

So Yamamoto did such a great job at Silverstone that he is going to replace Chandook for the next race. I guess HRT   think that if they keep giving him rides his wallet will weigh less each time so he will get quicker? Buemi denies he has re-signed with Torro Rosso and says the transfer market is still open, but where is he going to get a better ride? Does he know something we do not? Does he think a seat is coming available at the senior Red Bull Team? On a similar note Virgin hope to retain Timo Glock, but what seats are open to Timo, as good as he is? Nico Rosberg's new team mate?

Valentino Rossi amazed everyone with his pace yesterday at the German Motorcycle GP, finishing seventh fastest. His fit team mate, Lorenzo, could only manage one place better. Medical science and the willingness of these guys to ride with pain is unbelievable. I saw it with Wayne Rainey, Wayne Gardner, and Mick Doohan, the mark of a true champion, and basically anyone in this sport.

Air travel, who needs it! It is supposed to be fast and convenient when in truth it is neither. A good friend back in Australia who was a pilot told me "if you want to be sure of getting somewhere do not fly." And that was in the late seventies, how bad is it now. Missed the blog yesterday while flying from Phoenix to New Orleans on Delta, via Atlanta of course, and taking twelve hours with only four of that actually flying! I would not mind that they have delays and problems with aircraft if they actually told you the truth and not the continual lies.  Only one very nice lady actually told me the truth. They must all go to school to learn how to lie to customers, yes customers, something the airlines have forgotten about, and to threaten them with not flying at all if they dare to complain. Try and find a complaints button on their web site.

So, here I am back in Louisiana finishing packing and getting set to drive back to Phoenix. We have a hanger to set up at Falcon Field, a municipal airport in Mesa, where we are going to promote the new track. Put in some toys to compliment the helicopters, planes, and power boat already there, and set up a projector and some couches and we are ready for our first group in two weeks. As I said, the project is evolving and we are now planning to place"casitas," garages with living space above, along pit lane so it looks like a European track. Getting nicer every day.

Big day today which I will try and watch between packing. World Cup final, British GP, ALMS Miller, and Tour de France. Hope you all enjoy, back Monday!

Showed my partners the Ascari club in Spain, which is one of the few outside the US. Certainly sets the standard we are looking for, even though the track is a bit odd in places. Facilities are great so check it out, this is what we are looking to build here in Arizona, without the nice scenery of course.

Off to look at a building to use as a base and display area till we get on site, somewhere to bring prospective members with a few "toys" around.

ART have announced they are not pursuing the last F1 team slot for 2011. This is Jean Todt's son's team, and was thought a front runner for the place. Can't raise the cash it seems, and as a very successful team in the lower categories that must tell a tale. Time is getting late for the FIA to make a decision if we are not going to see a repeat of this years scramble to be ready by a new team.

The mysterious US group, Cypher, that is supposedly putting an F1 team together and has a bid in, has kept very quiet of late. Not that this is a bad thing, we saw way too much horn blowing from Mr Windsor last year, but it would be nice to know something. They are apparently talking to  a young American driver, which would be good, just not sure he is the right one.

Kubica has resigned for Renault for the next couple of years, no surprise there, and as I predicted, the drivers market will be very quiet this year.

Been a long week with a lot of late nights, but very productive. Some of the sessions with the clubs turned into "the great lie telling sessions," you know "the older I get the faster I was." Projects have a life of their own if they are going to happen, and this one is certainly gaining momentum. More meetings next week including the first real test of the County's reaction and what they are going to want for a planning proposal.

Plenty to do over the weekend, mainly writing and some cash flow projections, and preparing for the County meeting. That is between the World Cup and some racing, and the Tour de France. Lance has said this is definitely his last, so he wants to go out with a win. Big ask, but with Lance never count him out, he is a role model for not giving up. I have good friend in hospital in Australia with bleeding in the brain. Out of the blue had a really bad headache! Should be dead or paralysed, but hanging in there, so get yourself well Dale! Once you're out I want to see you as trim as Lance. Dale had been waiting a year to start a new job in the US and was due to come over this coming week. You never know in life so grab every minute while you can.

Our "new" riders in MotoGP, Mr's Yoshikawa and Akiyoshi, are in a race for last at Barcelona, both 4.5 seconds off the pole man who is Lorenzo of course. Yoshikawa says he will treat the race like a test. Well I guess that's what he knows to do, but not quite sure the fans paid to see a test.

F1 is actually asking the fans what they want, what a novel idea! FOTA had a fan session, a "town hall" as we would say in the US, and let's hope they listen better than our politicians. In the end it is the fan, at the track or at home watching on TV that pays the bills, through the gate, TV audience that generates ad revenue, or the sponsors by buying product or services, so let's see what he wants to spend his money on. At some levels racing is an end in itself, people who can afford to indulge their hobby, but they should not expect people to pay to watch. At the top levels it is entertainment, and a lot of series had better relearn that if they ever knew it.

The DTM, German touring car series, believes it is doing it right, with BMW ready to join Audi and Mercedes, and talks in progress to have some equivalence with the Japanese and US series so that cars can compete in more than one. I for one would love to see more of the Japanese series with some great cars from Nissan, Honda and Lexus. Not quite sure how they fit with Grand Am, I think they would blow their doors off.

Just watched the Brazil-Holland game. Pretty ugly. It seems unfortunate that for South American teams the "beautiful game" goes out the window if they start to lose. Very sad when you know how they can really play, but as we have said many times, winning is largely in the mind. Lose control of that, and you lose.

Happened to see the end of the New Hampshire NASCAR race yesterday and was shocked by the number of empty seats. Can't all be watching the World Cup? It occurred to me on my drive over that if NASCAR is removing seats as they have on the back stretch at Daytona, not covering them up, then they cannot believe that this is a short term problem. If they do not have confidence in their product then where is it headed. OK, there will always be a large audience for NASCAR, but it seems the growth has gone, another fad. Always seemed to me that it was a mistake forgetting their base fan and go chasing New York yuppies. Must be a worry for future TV negotiations.

Very busy day ahead. Great meeting with architects yesterday to discuss the theme for the club, and looked at a similar clubhouse we can base ours on, 20,000 sq ft with restaurant, gym and spa, and pro shop. Meeting other race clubs and potential partners today.

You've got to love Mark Webber, has a huge crash and says "let's just bloody get on with it." New car being built for Silverstone, and he sees the season as only half over, so he is still going for it. What else would you expect from and Aussie?

His boss, Christian Horner, is complaining that they are down on power and Renault should be allowed to upgrade it. Yeh right, and give you another second a lap, and I do not notice that Kubica is running too shabby either. Nice try Christian.

Lots of concern and negative comments on the movable rear wing, so suggestions that it may not fly, so to speak. Martin Whitaker of McLaren and FOTA says that if it does not work it is easy to take it off! It's only money.

Do not forget Tour de France starts Saturday, now that's some real tough men. Used to kill me riding my bike to school over a railway overpass, let alone the Alps!

Putting in the fee proposal for the track in Saudi Arabia, so we'll see how serious they are.