Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Spectator motorsport in the US is dying, and I suspect that Europe is not far behind. OK, NASCAR can still fill half the stands, which is still a big crowd, but it is not what it was. Look at the Nationwide and Truck series and see who turns up. And then there is the Daytona 24 hour, arguably the best field of drivers put together for a race in the US, and it used to be a serious world wide event. I couldn't be bothered to watch most of it, and even less spectators turned up despite the best efforts of the SPEED Team to beat it up. So what happened? ALMS/Grand-Am combined is not going to change the series from a "back gate" supported basis, i.e. those that race pay entry fees to go race. Rich boys toys. IndyCar is going nowhere, and let's not even talk about motorcycle road racing. Supercross and Monster Trucks are what people seem to want to watch.

We saw the announcement today that the once mighty British F3 series, what was THE proving ground for young talent, is down to 4 rounds this year for lack of entries. The Italian F3 is cancelled altogether. Marussia let Timo Glock go because they have no money to pay him, they need a driver to pay them. How long can they go on?  So Glock is off to the DTM, which seems to have a clue how to make this work. Perhaps it is the three manufacturers paying for it? The Australian V8Supercars also seemed to have a formula for success, but now a venture capital firm owns it watch out. They are off the bill in Abu Dhabi, and the entry of Nissan and Mercedes will not please the Holden/Ford faithful, especially if they win!

Bernie for once is faced with a less than full calendar due to promoters and Governments not willing or able to meet his price. Are the cracks in the business model starting to show?

So what's wrong? Motorsport is expensive. It costs a lot more than a tennis racket and a pair of shoes to go play. Would be professionals, their families or sponsors, have to spend millions to get anywhere near the top and make money. Even at the top, F1, very few drivers are earning and not paying. Compare this with the three major, and successful sports here in the US. Football, Basketball and Baseball. All have systems in place to develop talent, either through colleges or minor leagues, knowing that their success depends totally upon new players coming in to keep filling the seats. Players get there on merit, not money. Motorsport, apart from a few schemes, has no such succession planning in place, not even for Bernie! The money gets sucked out, and nothing is going back to make people want to watch.

Now this is somewhat simplistic, as there are other social and generational factors going on, but that is the point. The game is changing and no one in charge is doing anything to make sure motor sport survives, and electric racing is not the solution.

I have commented over the last few months about the problems at Lotus Renault or whoever they are, and the stories continue about Lotus Cars and their funding needs. So we have an under funded team whose ownership is unclear being sponsored by a car maker owned by a Malaysian car company and spending money like there is no tomorrow.

So what do we hear now? The apparent owner of Lotus Renault, Genii Capital, is going to buy into Lotus Cars with possibly a majority position. Sort of reminds me of a snake swallowing its other end. I think they deserve each other.

This is part of a situation where teams will have to get approval for changing their name, which is a very big deal as the dole out of money from the Concorde Agreement is to the team that had the name when it raced. So if Team Lotus wants to become Caterham Tony risks losing the money he earned this year, which has been the stumbling block for resolving the Lotus name argument. Tony was willing to give it up if he was recompensed by Lotus Renault for that loss. HRT is in a similar position, but it is hard to see that they have much coming from the Agreement the way they have performed. So we have the prospect of three teams wanting a name change, and Bernie is really the one who has the say, and apparently he is eager to start the discussion. I bet he is, in this sort of deal there is only going to be one winner, Bernie.

Over in Suzuka we have Vettel on pole again by the slimmest of margins over Button who has been on it all weekend. Lewis had his last lap "destroyed" by Webber and Schumacher overtaking him at the chicane as he slowed to give himself some room to the car in front. So, did Red Bull give Mark the word to jump Lewis a la Ferrari? Mark was off the pace anyway, and I'm sure Michael would have taken the chance to screw Lewis with glee. He says Lewis put him onto the grass. Touche Michael, have you looked at any race film lately? I did not see it on the TV, and the Stewards have done nothing so far, so it cannot have been as bad as either Lewis or Michael are saying. So, we could be set for a great race tomorrow with Jenson and Lewis both looking very fast, and if someone can jump Seb at the start we could have fight for a change.

In Q3 we again saw four cars sit it out to save tires. This basically went on all weekend with the top cars sitting out the first 40 minutes of Friday morning. Pirelli and others are calling for a change to provide the paying customer something to watch. I think probably one more set of softs for Q3 would do it, and take them away afterwards.

In other series in action this weekend Kevin Magnussen has put himself on pole for both British F3 races and has won the first, so looks good for second place in the Championship. Where would he be if he did not have all those plug problems early in the season? Canadian Robert Wickens has won the first race of the FR3.5 finale weekend and extended his lead in that Championship, but only to nine points so it is all to play for Sunday.

Bathurst, the best tin-top race in the world, and yes I include Daytona. Never mind 500 miles turning left, how about 1000 km up and down a mountain? SPEED has it on this afternoon so check your local listings as they say. Rain shuffled the top-ten qualifying so the first few laps should be fraught with action.

And last but not least the Teams are to discuss the situation in Bahrain, which shows no signs of settling down. Bernie in his usual fine form said " I do not know if it is right or wrong, but we have it on the calendar for 2012."

A not so little field is contesting the Petit Le Mans this year, with 58 cars on track. As Tom Kristensen said, "It's like being under a yellow except you can overtake!" The Peugeots lead the practice by around a second from the Audis, with the Dyson car leading the gasoline brigade over some fancied European teams, so well done, but I suspect it is the knowledge of the track that is responsible. The GT's are typically going to be the show with the Risi Ferrari leading the pack, but with a whole bunch of Porsches, BMWs and Corvettes hot on their heals. The Jaguars continue to embarrass the marque and the team.

Stories continue to circulate if this is going to be a round of the WEC next year, but I guess only the ACO knows that. If so Road Atlanta is going to need an FIA level 2 license and will be subject to a limit on track density, so this could be the year to watch. Qualifying on ESPN3 tomorrow at 2.35pm EDT, and the race is live streamed starting at 11.15 EDT Saturday, with a "highlight show" on ABC Sunday. Good luck condensing ten hours of what should be non stop action.

The MotoGP teams are taking no chances. They have reportedly taken their own food and water to Motegi. A bit extreme and expensive. Aoyama said he thought he was in with a chance of winning his home GP when the stars said they would not be going. A 29 year old Australian, Damian Cudlin, has got the chance to shine by taking over the Ducati of injured Loris Capirossi. Damian is a somewhat unlikely choice, having been an endurance rider for most of his career, but good luck to him, although he will have his work cut out on the Duke. Perhaps he can still beat Rossi though?

Magnussen Jnr is testing for British F3 where he spent this season while dad is peddling a Corvette at the Petit. Kevin is leading the way amongst a group of returning drivers including this year's Champion, Nasr. Over in Jerez the would-be GP2 drivers are showing their paces with GP2 fixture Fabio Leimer topping the times. Alexander Rossi did not disgrace himself with 18th in the morning and 8th in the slower afternoon session, amongst some illustrious company. Missing is Robert Wickens who you would have thought would have earned a test. Maybe he does not have the sponsorship?

Kubica is making excellent progress and his doctor has no hesitation to say he will be able to return to F1. Whether he will have a seat is the next question. Apparently Lotus Renault, or whatever they are or will be, need an answer in the next two weeks. The team continue to be plagued by speculation about their financial stability and who will eventually own it, if anyone can work out who owns it now.

The Rescource Restriction Agreement,RRA, is the subject of rumblings again, with Red Bull once more accused of exceeding this "gentlemen's agreement," which as heard on a movie lately, assumes there are gentlemen involved. Mercedes is not happy, having downsized themselves, but probably out of necessity after the Honda pull out rather than the adherence to some vague constraint. Ross Brawn is calling for more tighter controls and independent audits, much as how the cars are scrutinised. When you have a system that is designed to reward the successful it is inevitable that if they have the money the top teams will find something to spend it on. Very few answer to shareholders, so it is not as if they have to give it to anyone but the owners, and Sir Frank for one would probably have a winning car than be rich.

Formula Renault 3.5 was at Silverstone this weekend, and with the talent in that field it looks like it is becoming the main series for stepping up to F1. As I've said before, GP2 looks like a series for guys who are very good, but not quite good enough. Grosjean will wrap up that championship at his second coming and will probably get another crack at F1 with Renault. But there are a lot of drivers that won't progress.

F3 has traditionally been a great breeding ground, and drivers like Senna made the jump to F1 on the basis of a great season in it. Not sure that is likely these days. But back at FR3.5 you have Canadian Robert Wickens winning both races to take over the lead in Championship over fancied French driver Jean-Eric Vergne who finished sixth in Sunday's race after a bad pit stop. Second was American Alexander Rossi from new F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo. You get the picture? This is a field packed with talent and winning here means people are going to take notice. Watch out for these guys. And it is likely to get better with Grosjean demonstrating the new car, more horespower, better downforce, lighter and more adjustable.

We had a few races this weekend as the summer break is nearly over, Spa F1 next weekend! That Aussie Marcos Ambrose won again on Saturday in Montreal in the Nationwide series. Another road course to show off his talents, but winning becomes a habit. I saw an article about where are the next generation of NASCAR drivers coming from, Australia perhaps? Still in Montreal the Grand Am boys shared the bill and for once Ganassi's team did not have it all their own way, but can still wrap up another championship at the next race. Dan Gurney's son Alex won for Gainsco with Wayne Taylor's team, trying to catch the Ganassi boys, second. The big news is the test of the Grand Am Ferrari 458 at Daytona for next year's championship. I wonder how Ferrari are going to like losing to Mazda?

At Road America we had the ALMS 4 hour race with four LMP1 cars of which only two are contenders, and one LMP2 car. Sad. GT's were where the action and interest was at, with the Risi Ferrari 458 taking its first win of the season despite a few glitches. Nice bit of synchronised spinning at Turn One with the Corvettte. Nice driving actually by both drivers to avoid serious contact and keep it on the track and not lose a place. Not sure I like the safety car procedures. I know it is the interest of fairness, but who said life is fair, and it extends the yellows and makes for boring periods for spectators. And opening the pits for the LMP1 &2 cars? There are only four, let all of them come if the pit lane is long enough as Road America should be. I can understand it at Lime Rock, but we saw the weekend where yellows went on for lap after lap when the car that caused the yellow was long gone.

Finally, there is an article on Autosport about how F1 can maybe learn from MotoGP. Now I think it is mainly aimed at the pricing and access, but seriously, have they really looked at the state of MotoGP? 17 bikes at the most and some of these are make weights, and moving more and more to street bikes and spec racing. And as I said the other day commentators like Mat Oxley are worried that the lack of overtaking is looking increasingly like F1. Yes F1 needs to look at its business model as it does not look sustainable, but let's not go down the MotoGP road where the manufacturers wag the dog. Although having said that we almost got there with 4 cylinder engines!  

Is it me or has it rained on just about every race this year at some stage? The "best drivers in the world" if you believe NASCAR are sitting it out at Watkins Glen, a road course, 'cause it's raining. Put some treads on and race, it's not an oval.

In Brno yesterday's third practice was wet and saw a number of falls, including Friday' surprise package John Hopkins who will not race due to broken fingers. Hero to zero. Stoner won handily from Dovi and Simoncelli after Pedrosa crashed out early. He just tried harder in the race was Casey's comment on the win. Lorenzo chose the wrong tire and had to settle for fourth with team mate Spies riding shotgun for him. Only 13 bikes finished, with Rossi sixth in front of his team mate Hayden. Suzuki's weekend went from looking good to disaster as Bautista crashed out of 7th place. This cannot do Suzuki's chances of running a team next year any good.

The F3 Masters was run at the Zandvoort circuit, of which I have fond memories from growing up in England. It brings together all the various F3 series runners and is part of the new FIA F3 Championship, won by Merhi despite being disqualified after making contact with Juncadella as his nearest rival had a DNF. British F3 star Kevin Magnussen finished third despite a recurrence of a misfire problem with his VW engine in practice. This has plagued him all season and it is hard to understand why VW or the plug manufacturer cannot get on top of this. A bit like Trulli's power steering.

Kevin's dad Jan also had a bad break, a driveshaft actually on his Camaro while leading the GT class at Watkins Glen.