Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Not well today so I have spent it in bed watching football and racing. I know, but someone has to do it.

Did not see the Le Mans Series race from Hungary, but it is amazing that the LMP1 cars all failed and the Strakka HPD won the race followed by a bunch of other LMP2's. David Brabham could not pull off the same result at Road America, which lived up to the expectations of Last Turn Club and turned into a great finish. Drayson finally won a race on the last lap, but if Lord Paul had not insisted on driving the result would never had been in doubt. I loved the commentator that said "he is putting in some pretty fast laps within three seconds of the leaders!" Johnny Cocker was four or five seconds quicker than everyone else. You had to feel sorry for Cytosport who showed what they could do with two pro drivers. Lord Drayson started the race after Cocker put it on pole, and went from first to last in the prototype class in one lap. Give it up.

The race was 2 hours 45 minutes and it seemed to me that half of that time was ads. Has anyone ever put a watch on this? We then had some long cautions. I understood the first one, but when the Jaguar inevitably broke down and had to be pushed behind the wall did we really need what seemed to be ten laps under caution? Then there was the Porsche that hit the pit wall on the straight and moved it. We did not get too good a look at it, but it seemed to me that it separated like there was no pin in it? The time we did have the racing live we were treated to watching a continuous infomercial, Scott Atherton's obligatory fifteen minute free promo for how great next year is going to be, and coverage of the spec racers while we had great races in the two real classes. GT2 was not quite up to its usual standard, still good, but what happened to the Ferraris?

Over on Versus, V's, we saw the IRL at Sears Point. These guys treat you to a small screen showing the action during the commercials, but it was like watching ants crawl around. When most of the ads are for the IRL and for the channel,you have to ask about the value of the broadcast. And how do you go to an ad with five laps left and two cars racing for the win, and come back with two laps left! Our would-be F1 driver, Danica, says she is looking forward to getting back to the ovals. Last time I looked we do not race F1 on ovals? She did her usual stellar job.

Thank goodness we have Spa to look forward to next weekend.

The only thing running this weekend seems to be sports cars, although we do have BTCC at Silverstone, which I am sure is fun to watch, but we do not see it here in the US. The most interesting thing from them is that they are going to a common body shell, and one made by Toyota at that, even though Toyota does not compete in the series. Other manufacturers, if there are any works teams left, or privateers can add their own or the series motor and accessories, with presumably a silhouette body shell, a la "the car of tomorrow" from NASCAR. Makes the racing more affordable for the teams, but is it any more than another one make series?

Le Mans Series is at Hungaroring this weekend, but practice is starting today so no results yet. Big news is the return on "El Leone", and the Mansell boys. Let's hope they get a better run than at Le Mans.

ALMS is at Road America with private testing yesterday. The Dyson car, fresh off it's win at Mid-Ohio, is quickest, with the Cytosport Porsche, with Timo Bernhard added to the driving line up, is second. That car could be the potential winner now they have an all pro driver team. Corvettes quickest in GT2 with BMW and Porsche right behind them. The Risi Ferrari did not get a mention, did they not test? Anyway, we do get to see it live this time on Speed at 3 pm Eastern.

That's all folks.

Seeing as how we are in the middle of a break for F1, and about midway through the championship, I thought I would give you my score card on the teams and drivers.

Clearly the best car is the Red Bull, and should be where Brawn was last year. Two great drivers, so what's gone wrong? Poor management of the drivers and some reliability issues have cost them, and Vettel is either accident prone or has bad luck, but I think he does not have his head in the right place. They could wrap this whole thing up if they decided who they want to win the championship, and I would back Webber, and no, not because he is an Australian. He has the focus right now, and Vettel has time on his side.

Ferrari are a bit of an enigma, great one week and off the pace another. Alonso is driving up to his usual standard but his Latin temperament gets in the way sometimes, but you can't have one without the other. Massa is even more up and down. He obviously still has it, but it does not always show up this year. There is obviously something about the car that it is not consistent. Alonso and Ferrari could still pull this off, but they need to sort out team orders, did I really say that, before they get on track.

McLaren have been behind the eight ball all season. As always they never give up and their development pace is the best in the business, but they are playing catch up every race. They are managing their two drivers better than anyone else, with Hamilton for me the best driver out there. He makes the car do more than it should, while Button seems always to be waiting for his chance, for the car to be right, for the tires to be right, etc. Don't get me wrong, he has had some great drives this year, and is the reason McLaren even have a shot at the Constructors title.

Mercedes have to be the disappointment of the season. You take a Championship team and back it with Mercedes money, bring in a young hot driver, and Michael, and you would expect them to be competing at the front. Compared to Red Bull these three teams missed the basic car design. As Nico Rosberg said, the basic car is not right, and trying to start from that base with development does not get you there. Nico is driving better than he did at Williams, and once he has the right car he will be a force. The less said about Michael the better.

Renault and Williams are for me the teams doing most for less. Renault have Kubica which is flattering the car I think, but Petrov is also putting in some good drives like Hungary, so the car cannot be that bad, and considering last years problems and the new ownership they are punching above their weight. So too is Williams, the best of the Cosworth brigade by a country mile. It is not consistent, but who is except Red Bull, and Rubens continues to put in some very good drives and shows no signs of getting stale or just driving for the money. Hulkenburg is having a good rookie season, so Williams are probably going to retain both. If Williams bring in some investment money then they can hopefully return to the force they were.

Sauber is also doing well considering the last minute pull out by BMW and Peter carrying the team. Again inconsistent, and both drivers have had bad days, but we have also seen some good ones. I doubt Pedro will be back next year, and maybe Kobayashi may not be back. Depends on what happens with the team ownership, Peter cannot keep funding this thing, and there is an obvious lack of sponsors on the car.

Force India showed a burst of performance late last year that surprised everyone. Unfortunately that does not seem to have carried over to this season, and losing a lot of their Tech people cannot help. Not sure what is going on here as there are ongoing rumors about their finances. They do continue to develop the car with the latest innovations, so can't be all bad. Sutil is wasted in this car, but not sure there is a seat available anywhere else. Luizi is up and down, and seems to have had bad luck with his chassis, but who else would you pit in the car at the moment?

Torro Rosso are actually doing well for a driver development team that has to design and build it's own car these days. Buemi and Alguersuari seem on a par and at times putting in good drives, apart from running into each other at times, but even the best teams do that don't they?

That brings us to the new boys. Lotus is clearly the class of the rear of the field, and I agree with Bernie that they are the one likely to survive. They all have surprising reliability problems which is really hurting their development. With no testing then if you do not run race weekend you can never move forward. Seems Lotus is moving to the Renault engine, which I am not sure is a good move, but Williams and Renault seem evenly matched so who knows? I'm sure Mike Gascoyne does. Maybe it will solve his hydraulic problems. Trulli and Hekki are doing the best they can with what they have as you would expect.

Virgin is not quite as bad as HRT, but it is a close run thing. Cannot imagine Sir Richard putting up with this situation next year, so he needs to get out or fund this properly. At the moment it is money that is worse than wasted, it is very negative exposure. What can you say about HRT? The situation is not poor Colin Kolles' fault, but not sure if he is the one to solve it. He has been with a few teams now, and none are what you would say really successful. Having a "renter driver" shows how desperate they are for money, and Dallara did them no favors with the car, but who knows what the real story is as far as payment went for what they did.

Let's hope the rest of the season is as entertaining as most of the first half has been, provided Red Bull do not finally get their act together.

Over at the ALMS we are already down on prototype cars and we have lost the CytoSport Porsche before the weekend started. The Drayson Lola is on pole by a comfortable margin. I suppose Lord Drayson is fit again, so we will see what happens in the race. Highcroft is slowest of the three front runners, but somehow they find ways to win.

Grand Am is at Watkins Glen again as a support to the NASCAR race, so watch for that tomorrow.

The word of the day is web. Sol Real, pronounced like the Real Madrid soccer team, Real meaning "Royal," went live this morning. Log on to www.solrealmotorsportresort.com and check it out. First steps in a long road, but all important.

Mark Webber made it another 'web" day with his win in Hungary, against all odds as they say. When he did not pit with the others I stupidly assumed his race was done, he was going to have to pit and would come out last, but someone knew better than me, or I presume they did. Was it smart strategy or pure luck? "More a.. than class" as we would say in Australia? Those soft option tires are not supposed to go 43 laps, and certainly not at the pace Mark was going. Maybe the team knew from practice that they would last, but I do not recall them using them for very long runs. Good luck or good strategy, either way it was an inspired drive by Mark, and it is great to see him getting recognition and results at last.

Vettel has gone from child star to spoiled brat. His after race comments were so stupid. He did not know the safety car was coming in as he had no radio! I guess he was so far behind it he could not see the lights go out on the car? At first I thought he is doing the team thing and letting Mark open a gap so he could come in and change tires without losing too many spots, but that cannot be it. Unless he starts to get his head sorted he is never going to be  a World Champion.

One nice touch from the pre-race was Bernie giving Massa a big hug and some personal words. Didn't know he had it in him.

Schumacher's move on Barrichello was nothing short of criminal. I do not know how Ross Brawn can defend it, but I guess he has done it for ten years or more. Michael got away with the same move on Massa in Canada, but the Stewards have at last done something and given him a ten place grid penalty for Spa. I know some of you like him, but I never have done, and the sooner he retires again the better. Poor Nico Rosberg, he deserved so much more from this race, but well done Petrov and Hulkenburg.

It was pretty amazing that Vettel could not get around Alonso given the pace of the Red Bull, but they are not quick in a straight line, which is both their strength and their weakness. How do you explain Button's drive? Hamilton was on pace with the Ferraris and heading for fourth before he broke, very unusual these days, and Button seemed incapable of passing anyone. He is a bit of a mystery, just seems to lack that "tiger" that Lewis has.

The FIA has stepped in to try and end the flexi-wing debate with a doubling of the test load for the next race. Was this the trick wing that caused the debacle at Silverstone for Red Bull? And is it just the wing? The FIA are also looking at floor fixing details, as it is suggested that is part of the problem too. If this wing and/or floor was only introduced at Silverstone how did Ferrari develop it so fast? Or were they working on it at the same time?

American driver Alexander Rossi won the second GP3 race in Hungary from pole. In these classes where they have two races in a weekend they invert the top eight finishers, so finish eighth in the first race and you start on pole for the second. It shows how even the cars and drivers are when eighth can win the next day. Not sure of the points, but I know Alexander is close to the top of the championship standings in his first season.

Over at Spa the 24hrs was won by a Porsche after the leading BMW had an off in the last hour, and Michael Waltrip, yes the NASCAR driver, finished third in the GT2 class in a Ferrari!

The flexible front wing saga is growing given the dominance of Red Bull at Hungary today. Shades of the ground effect days when the FIA mandated a 6mm clearance below the car to reduce the venturi effect under the car. They could only measure it when it was standing still, so the boys came up with suspension that lowered the car when out on track, pretty hard to measure it at 100 mph! Now clearly the front wings on the Red Bull, and the Ferrari, are touching the track at times, so they are moving when in motion, even though they pass the FIA static test.

Ideas of how they are doing this vary between laying up the carbon fibers in different directions in the wings or the floor somehow moving. It demonstrates the problem the FIA has, and always has had, of making rules that are clear, cannot be got around, and can be enforced. They are up against the smartest guys on earth it seems at times, who do nothing but sit and scheme how to beat the rules, legally of course. Bernie always said it is better to have no rules, so you cannot go around them, just decide yourself what is fair or not. Sort of what we did with the Spanish Motorcycle Championship back in 1993, keep the rules simple. No works bikes, we all knew who had them, no carbon brakes, and no trick tires, again we knew what they were with the help of the tire technicians.

The importance of ground clearance on these cars was brought home to me in Adelaide in 1986. For the first race we did not repave the main straight, it looked really good until the cars went down it at 200 mph. There was a long "hump" halfway down it that made the cars bottom out, and their titanium skid plates sent a shower of sparks skyward every time, very dramatic, but made us look bad. So between races we planed and repaved it. Come the race and the cars are sending sparks out all around the track. I was distraught, how could the track have moved that much under traffic in just one year! Saturday I woke up, the track was so smooth they had lowered the suspension so that the cars were basically sliding along the asphalt, which one of the engineers quickly confirmed.

Some surprises in qualifying at Hungary. Button not making it out of Q2, but Hamilton 5th. Confirms what we know, Hamilton will wring a cars neck, not always pretty, but effective. Button strokes it around, which has worked for him often, so let's see what the race brings tomorrow. Rosberg qualifies 6th, but his world champion team mate cannot do better than 14th. Yamamoto brings up the rear, how long can this go on, or should I not ask? Some good drives by rookies Petrov and Hulkenburg, both out-qualifying their more experienced team mates. This track is notorious for lack of overtaking, so tomorrow could be very boring, unless the Red Bull pair put on a show, or Vettel makes a mess of the start again.

Spa 24 hr going on as I write, but a long way to go, and it is raining. It is Spa after all. Love that race track.

Still waiting for the projects web site to go live, so you will have to wait another day. Remember, manana, which I learned in Spain means "not today."

A last word to Bob Varsha. I would like to think you read my blog, but thank you for the periods of silence today to just listen to the cars. See, that was not so hard was it?