Bob Barnard Track Engineering

No not the kind you peddle, the business, economic, civilization rise and fall kind. I know this sounds all esoteric but bear with me. I think I have commented before on how "developing" countries are discovering motorsport and us "developed," or overdeveloped some would say, countries are struggling to keep the viewers attention. I receive lots of approaches from would be track owners, both here in the States and overseas, but not the south of France unfortunately. Here in the US, apart from Tavo over there in Austin, would-be owners have limited budgets and are afraid of committing to proceed. Not so in those developing countries where money seems easy to spend, like Croatia's F1 track. They are going to spend $450m in a country of  1.5 m people with an average wage of $17,500. I know it is close to other borders, but does this really make sense? Obviously it does to them.

I am supposed to be overseas now, but the bureaucrats cannot get a vise issued in less than two weeks, and this weekend I have had approaches from a Middle East and Far Eastern country about developments that include not only tracks but major tourist infrastructure. So what is going on? Well, the Bob Barnard theory is we are seeing a cycle where interest grows, just as economies and civilizations, and then peaks and falls down the back slope. I see the US particularly on the back slope in respect of motorsport. Just as Rome ended up consumed by "bread and circuses" so the young generation are consumed by virtual sports, fantasy leagues etc. In developing countries the opposite is happening, new found disposable income is letting them discover how much fun motor racing is. I went to Taiwan a long time ago to advise on a track and was told the children do not want to work all the time like their ancestors, they want time for fun and were basically racing on the streets.

So, am I in the wrong country? Not really, I like it here and still believe there is life in the sport, it is just changing to participation by rich guys in their Ferraris and Porsches on Country Club tracks. When you look at most racing in this country that is what is going on anyway.

Talking of developing countries, Casey Stoner won the Qatar MotoGP from Lorenzo on the Yamaha and a whole lot of Hondas. When I saw a photo of Casey out in front my first reaction was it was him and daylight, but of course it was moonlight. So we know the Hondas are the real deal and the Yamaha cannot be ruled out so we should have a good year. The Ducati was where we expected, and I know his shoulder is still a problem, but Jeremy and Vale need to get something sorted on that bike.

The debate over the Sebring live streaming coverage continues, check out the piece on Last Turn Club that echoed my thoughts that if it is not on live TV it cannot be important. It seems that the ABC "highlight" package either was not shown in some places or lived down to expectations. Can someone explain why some ISP's do not provide access to espn3.com? It will be interesting to see how many cars actually start at Long Beach now we are back to the ALMS, not many I suspect. I loved Duncan Dayton's comment that Sebring was a test for them and it was good of the other 55 cars to turn up! It is pretty amazing how that car ran faultlessly. Think back to last year with a "sorted" car. From my memory they had a bunch of problems, mainly electrical. As Pagenaud said, he'd better watch out for the Highcroft car at Le Mans where he will be back in the Peugeot.

The Lotus naming row is in court with things getting murkier by the moment with David Hunt now saying his deal with Tony Fernandes was not completed. Good luck to the Judge sorting this lot out. I'd tell them both not to use the name and to get on with it.

McLaren are going into this weekend with a revamped exhaust and floor in an attempt to find another second. Not a good way to start a season, but if anyone can do it they should be able to.

I am surprised at the lack of response to yesterday's blog, but for you guys in Australia the Mercedes World Drive is headed your way after the US leg, so check the map above.

Bernie's World Tour continues to grow would be stop overs with Croatia the latest to throw it's hat in the ring with a $420m track, to be built by Mr. Tilke of course. Do these would be track owners not read comments like Sir Jackie Stewart and now Martin Whitmarsh on Herman's tracks?  And these guys must know something about high finance that I do not. How do you invest $420m in a venture where the main event loses money every year? Even as a promotion surely you can find something a bit cheaper to put on, or just buy loads of air time. So who is going off the calendar to make way for this one? In a twist, there are protests in the streets of the capital this last weekend, so now we are having protests before we even get a race to cancel.

Martin Whitmarsh was also asked about McLaren building its own F1 engine, and he declined to rule it out. I would have thought that this was a totally logical step now they have divested the Mercedes ownership and started building its own road supercar and engine. McLaren clearly want to take on Ferrari, so their own engine is a necessary step.

There is an interesting news item on Autosport today about the winner of this year's USTCC getting a drive in the WTCC. Now I have not heard of a US Touring Car Championship since the year I first got to the US in 1997, so they have been keeping this a very big secret. Why would the WTCC team up with this unknown series and not the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge, or either of the GT series which do after all run BMW's and other "Touring Cars?"

F1 testing resumes tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on which team you are in, and supposedly we will get some better picture of how the Pirelli's will perform. Hamilton is the latest driver to come out about how they "will make F1 slow." Melbourne will be interesting, or maybe not?