Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Who ever thought this was a good idea to go ahead with this Bahrain GP? I cannot see how the Government thought this was going to generate positive press for them, and it isn't. Nor for F1, who are on a hiding to nothing, just look at the cartoons of Bernie getting off a jet walking over the bodies of protesters. There are some great pieces being written by better journalists than I, and Maurice Hamilton has one on the ESPN F1 site:

http://en.espnf1.com/bahrain/motorsport/story/76129.html

Maurice makes the point that even before the protests Bahrain is not a place F1 should be. It is interesting, albeit on a small sample, but the first comment on adverse blogs or articles is a positive one for Bahrain. You don't think they have hired people to monitor and respond to these do you?

Joe Saward is monitoring the world's press which, apart from the obvious partisan ones from the Gulf and Iran, are all censuring F1 and the Government, great PR there.

And now we have the first incident to F1 people. The fact that they were not "targeted" has absolutely nothing to do with it, they were still nearly fire bombed with a Molotov cocktail. It was four mechanics from the Force India Team on their way back to the hotel on the main highway. It seems at least one if not two of the team have now left Bahrain, and Hulkenburg said it was wrong that the teams had been put in a position where their safety could be at risk. Pedro de la Rosa, Chairman of the GPDA said he thought the drivers were safe. Oh good, never mind everyone else, and as one comment on Facebook said why is it only the F1 teams that are being protected, how about the rest of the population? And why would de la Rosa even open his mouth when he cannot possibly know that?

Has it got to a point where the middle east controls this sport? They seem to be spending money like there is no tomorrow to sponsor teams and events. It is impossible to turn on a TV and not see a team sponsored by Etihad, or playing in an Etihad stadium. Is spending millions on Manchester City really helping the people of the region? I know they will say they are investing for when the oil runs out, but is this really the way to do it? Is England playing Pakistan in the desert really helping anybody and is cricket prostituting itself for money? Smacks of self indulgence on the part of those "sovereign wealth funds," run by the sovereign of course. Is Etihad really making any money? Or are we just trying to buy some respect here? Well I for one don't respect them any more for it, and I suspect not many others do either.

So, did Sir Frank get up this morning and decide that Adam was below Parr, just when the team looks like regaining some form? Patrick Head has left the team to go run the flywheel hybrid system development, and Sir Frank was supposedly stepping aside with Adam the heir apparent. Now he has gone, with all the usual bumf about "pursuing other interests" and "spending more time with the family." We all know what that all means, and it's effective immediately, don't bother to collect your things we will send them on. 

What surprised me was the lack of comment from F1 observers, just reprinting the press releases. No surmising what happened? One scenario is of course Adam and Frank just fell out, but over what, the family silver? I have a much more devious thought, Adam got a better offer, but what could be better than running an F1 team? Running the sport. David Cameron was brought in, apparently by CVC, to run Allsport after Patrick McNally retired, and was being seen as the logical successor to Bernie. But not to be, he left a few weeks ago. Is it just my suspicious mind that just when Bernie wants to float F1, and the lack of succession is seen as a problem by some, that the only man to have overseen a public flotation in F1 is now on the market?

I did turn on the Indycar race yesterday afternoon out of professional interest, and I have to agree with Allan McNish's comment that the 2012 cars look like overgrown karts. Never mind the ugly noses in F1, these are ugly. Why leave the front wheels unprotected if you are worried about interlocking wheels? Let's shroud them as well, and then we will be back to the streamlined Mercedes F1 car of the 50's.

Just when you thought the British courts had settled the Force India/Caterham IP rights case, think again. The judge did dismiss most of the case, but notably found that some small parts of the first Caterham, then Team Lotus, did originate from the wind tunnel Force India used. So now Force India is saying to the FIA, the guys that fined McLaren $100m for possibly infringing Ferrari's IP rights, that Caterham should suffer a similar fate. This is all getting nasty. Hopefully this time the FIA will tell Mallya to get over it, but VJ is pretty desperate these days.

I spent an entertaining evening yesterday with Dick Hahne, late of Daytona International Speedway and now with MUSCO Lighting. Phoenix International Raceway has been given a facelift with a revised configuration and new paving, and Dick was there to check out the lighting on the revised layout. Derek Muldowney and his team have done a great job of improving the track without losing its unique character. It will make for some interesting race lines when NASCAR comes later this month.

In other news Kevin Magnussen continues to impress by topping the time sheets on the first day of the FR3.5 test. Vergne is to get a run in FP1 for Toro Rosso for the remaining races so looks set to take a seat from one of the regulars next year. Robert Wickens is tipped for Virgin next year, but is looking for Canada's corporate world to get behind him.

VJ Mallya has finally owned up and confirmed he has sold part of Force India despite his vehement denials of recent rumors. The Indian Sahara Group, go figure, has bought 42.5% and now we have another team who wants to change its name to Sahara Force India. Watch this space for the rest of the sale.

Other than that it is pretty quiet with F1 stooging around Asia prior to the Korean race this weekend, and the MotoGP boys on their way to Phillip Island. 13 degrees and windy is the forecast so the riders will probably complain again. Let's see Casey wrap up the title at his home race.

So Tony Fernandes likes the new engine regulations for 2013, "F1 becomes so relevant because everybody has a 1.6 engine. And costs go down and money goes into better uses than just making a car as fast as possible so I think it is fantastic, it is a really, really great step forward." It gets worse, "I hope the next step is to make the wheels and tyres the same size as [road] cars so tyre manufacturers benefit from the safety that is learned, and engineering that can be put onto a 1.6-litre, Toyota, or Hyundai or Renault," said Fernandes. I tell you what Tony, why don't we just race Toyotas, Hyundais or Renaults, road cars that is, and be done with it? Since when has redesigning engines been "cost saving?" And the last time I looked the whole point of racing was about "making a car as fast as possible." What is it otherwise, a reliability or economy run? It is also the point of F1 that not everybody has one. And I am so tired of the "we must be relevant" BS. What is horse racing relevant to except the betting industry?

Joe Saward is back and obviously refreshed. Some nice scuttlebutt about Dr Gerhard Gribkowsky, a Director of the Bayerische Landesbank who owned the shares in F1 of the failed German Media tycoon. Too much to include here, but it seems he has a bundle of money that he will not, or cannot explain where it came from. Check out Joe's site.

It seems the Force India seats are not actually sorted yet, seems there is the problem of what to do with Liuzzi's contract. In a similar "that rumor is not correct" it seems the reported sale of Torro Rosso is not true either. How are us bloggers supposed to keep up if the stories are not being checked first?

Bit sad when the big news of the day is Alonso telling the paparazzi where to get off disturbing his holiday. I think most of us would have done the same.

Niki Lauda has jumped on the bandwagon about the sound of the 2013 four cylinder turbo engines, he wants them to be "Lauda." Sorry, couldn't resist that. He hopes that they will emit more than a "faint hum." Did he read my blog of a few weeks ago do you think? I excused Mark Hughes as he would have written his piece around the same time.

There is a petition to save the Nurburgring that has 1000 signatures basically the first day, so be sure to log in and sign it. http://renn.tv/url/petition

Force India appear to have finalized their drivers for this year with Sutil remaining, Paul Di Resta joining, and Hulkenburg the Friday driver. Not too shabby.

Arthur Pic is to drive in FR3.5 this year while his older brother Charles drives in GP2, so now you have a choice and can take your Pic. Seriously though, France has been lacking a top driver lately and now they have Vergne and two other Pics, apologies again, don't know what has come over me today. Must be the lack of serious news.