Bob Barnard Track Engineering

So the genie is out of the bottle, Genie Capital that is, and the worst kept secret is out. We now have two Team Lotus in F1, both with Renault engines and gold and black livery. Let's see Bob Varsha handle that lot. Neither side is going to back off obviously, so either the Malaysian Government, FIA, or the British High Court are going to have to decide this. Sad that it has come to this for such a great name.

Renault is also in the news with the settlement of the Piquet libel suit following the Singapore "crashgate" affair. What a miserable, cynical, exercise that was, and the architects of it are looking to stay in the sport. It is still unfathomable that a professional driver, however desperate to keep his drive, would do such a thing. Sad end to a promising career and a blot on a Champion's heritage. And the guy who won the race because of it still keeps the win! Same problem as Hockenheim this year. When is the FIA going to have the guts to take the result away when something like this happens?

So Dorna is now blaming the manufacturers for the loss of entries following the move to 800 cc MotoGP. ""The manufacturers wanted the 800cc class, so it was them causing the escalation of costs that, because of the (financial) crisis, forced them to take a step back. Now not all of them can maintain their commitments because of financial problems." As I have said for a very long time, the manufacturers should not be making the decisions about racing, they will make decisions based on what they want to sell, not what we want to watch, and they will leave whenever it suits them. Dorna also wants to look at new tracks outside Europe, like Abu Dhabi. Right, let us know how that works for you, and the riders. They want less races in Spain, so now we are going to have four in the Gulf States instead?  And let us not forget Austin. We have Laguna and Indy now, so which one of those are we going to lose?

I see that World Superbike is instigating a "Junior Trophy" based on 250cc machines. This is definitely back to the future, not necessarilly a bad thing, but what will it cost a rider?

So Patrick McNally is retiring. Most of you have probably never heard of Patrick or Allsport Management, but you have seen their work. For nearly thirty years Patrick has controlled the signage at F1 races, and he is a master at placement. David Campbell is going to take over and the rumor is David is being groomed to take over from Bernie. They are some mighty large shoes to fill David, good luck. That succession is likely to look like the "War of the Roses," the English dispute over the crown, not the movie.

Great story on Kenny Roberts on Superbike Planet http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Dec/101207alancarter.htm. Kenny proves it is not a problem with the bike, and you have to think he could still do this today over a lap or two.

I watched the live streaming of the qualifying at the San Luis track and it looked much better seen from the driver's perspective than the aerial shots. Like an Argentinian Bathurst. Still some dodgy corners, but I am pleasantly surprised that the FIA licensed this. One of the discussions at the recent Forum was about how to bring spectators back, especially in the US, and focused on making the racing more exciting by making the tracks more challenging. The FIA guidelines proscribe things like maximum grades and cross slopes, which can make the tracks bland and uninteresting. This discussion is going to continue formally at the LA Forum, so perhaps San Luis can be part of that discussion.

Not much else going on so I'll update you with my activities. Writing the book of course and up to Chapter Nine and my time back in Australia in the mid nineties and then returning to the US and Road Atlanta. Had one publisher knock it back, which surprised me given the books they are putting out, but that's his loss. We found how Borders will let us publish electronically, which is about 25% of the market these days, so it is going to get out there one way or another.

The Grand Bayou track in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, has contacted me again about a new layout for the old "No Problems" track, so I look forward to designing again in the New Year. The All Surface Racing guys are progressing with their project and we have been chatting via Skype about a typical ASR facility and how the races could run. This will be fun and will borrow ideas from other sports to make it a test of intellect and not just speed.

A very dear friend from France, Jean-Marc Bonnay, "Snoopy," is going to be in town later this month and we are really looking forward to seeing him again.

On the Arizona front the Sol Real project is undergoing a major rethink so it is back to the drawing board. Waiting on a comprehensive plan approval for the new site which should come this Wednesday. Then we shall see what works and what does not.

In the meantime, kicking back and enjoying the sunshine while most of our friends freeze, or drown, sorry, could not resist that.

The reports this morning are that the FIA is close to reaching agreement on the 1.6 liter 4 cylinder turbo engine for 2013. Agreement with who? Previously the engine manufacturers were pushing back to keep the current engine due to the cost of designing and build new ones, so what happened? A Ferrari spokesman confirmed that he would be "surprised" if it did not now take place, adding: "An agreement is there, and when there is an agreement you work accordingly." Bernie still has his doubts that there should be a change, but it appears his opinion does not count on this issue.

The final round of the FIA GT Championship is being held at the San Luis, Argentina, track, Potrero de los Funes. This is a beautiful location around the bowl of an extinct, they hope, volcano, but the track basically has no run off. Peter Dumbreck said after the opening free practice session: "It's like Macau because you are constantly s****ing yourself as you try to keep it out of the wall." So how does the FIA approve this?

It seems even the cost conscious Moto2 is too expensive for American rider Kenny Noyes' team. Kenny was the only American in the class which is designed as a stepping stone to MotoGP, and according to the Superbike Planet web site, fellow American rider Roger Lee Hayden was offered rides for 2011 with no salary and he had to come up with nearly $400,000 to pay for the privilege.

So Mark Webber is Australia's top earning sportsman, displacing Greg Norman from top spot. I would hope so, how long is it since Greg really played apart from cameos? Greg has been very smart and is making lots from developments, so he should be in the business section. Nice to see Mark being rewarded for years of effort, and he did it without a big sponsor backing too. I like Bernie's comment that Enzo would have loved Mark and Mark would surely have been a Ferrari driver back in Enzo's day, and a World Champion by now.

Maldonado has been confirmed as the second driver at Williams, probably the worst kept secret of this silly season. Let's hope he can live up to his GP2 winner status and his sponsors checkbook. The other seats remain open on the FIA entry list for 2011, so we still have some interest in who's going where. Lotus is still listed which the Team says is due to the public's positive response to Tony Fernandes Team, and it seems the Malaysian Government who owns the Proton/Lotus car group has told them to chill it on the public fight over the name. As Mike Gascoyne said, why are they fighting us, they are getting the exposure for free? I guess Lotus Cars has intentions of their own in F1, they seem to want to be in everything else. This smacks of overreaching, if large companies like Renault, Toyota and BMW cannot do it, then why try?

Bernie now blames Max for the poor showing of the new teams by bringing them in on the pretext that costs will be capped. But Bernie is happy for them to stay,"provided they don't walk around with begging bowls, it's good to have them."

Alonso thinks his margin over poor Massa shows how much better he is this year. Still had to get his team to ask Massa to move over in Germany though didn't he?

So Daniel Ricciardo topped the tests in Abu Dhabi and one second under Vettel's pole time! Someone sign this guy up. He did very well in FR3.5 this year so he is not just a flash in the pan, winning Championships on the way up. As I said let's hope he gets the financial backing to keep moving up, and if Red Bull let him go they must be mad. Place him in GP2 next year and let him take Mark's seat when he retires. Or maybe Vettel's seeing as how he has would prefer Mercedes or Ferrari. How can you come out and say that after Red Bull have just made you World Champion, or are you so egotistical to think it was the other way around? What an ass. Is Sebastian going to be another of those drivers that you respect their driving but not them as a human being?

Great week away in Cologne, but nice to be home in some sunshine. How do those Europeans put up with that long, grey winter? Excellent Forum with tracks and speakers from 5 continents and top people Like Salman Al Khalifa, CEO of Bahrain Circuit, and Sharmila Nadrajah, COO of Sepang Circuit in Malaysia. Add to this the new track in Moscow, NRing, a new country club in Germany, all the top track designers and suppliers then you have the best and latest information being made freely available. Not to mention kart circuit operators and local tracks like Oregon Raceway Park who all learn vital information on how to operate successfully. This forum should be a must do for anyone involved in or planning to be operating tracks. Derek Muldowney, the head of ISC's facility development group, gave us some great insights into planning and developing a major speedway and repaving Daytona, and we had attorneys giving us good advice on sponsorship contracts and branding. The next forum is in Los Angeles in April, so book your time to attend.

I was appreciative of the reception to my presentation and the session on track engineering that I put together. The session on the future of track design went well, but as an open forum it covered a wide range of topics not necessarily about the future. It seems that we are going back to the future with the old tracks like Spa and Nurburgring providing the basis. To make tracks more interesting to drivers it seems we need to go outside of the FIA guidelines in respect of maximum grades and cross fall to match these great old tracks, without jeopardising safety of course.

While I have been away it seems CAMS and Australian GP have kissed and made up, at least for this year. Sad to say as an Australian but I cannot see they will have a F1 GP for long, there are too many other countries with far larger markets wanting races so someone has to go. The political backlash on the ongoing losses is growing and will result in what happened to Adelaide, Bernie will see the writing on the wall and move it.

Seems the Pirelli tires met with approval from the drivers so now we can get on and finish next years cars, which could be quite different without the F-duct and diffuser. Are they really going to use a moveable rear wing? Perhaps we will see who is finally driving for who next year.

On a final note, does anyone else think it is weird for a team to put a solid wall between their two riders? I can understand Rossi and Lorenzo this year, but Spies and Lorenzo? Just tells me there are two teams at Yamaha again next year. As much as Senna and Prost did not get along, and Vettel and Webber this year, they were still one team.