Entries in Honda (7)
Bits and Pieces
Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 11:56AM
After my "foot in mouth," or is it keyboard in mouth, comment about Ricciardo just keeping his hand in he goes and sets fast time, only to have it taken away because a bolt was found loose on the car after qualifying. This sort of thing sounds a bit over the top, like last year when a piece of tape was found on a car. Daniel was philosophical about it though, confirming he was there for the race experience. He did well in the first race, coming through the field from last to sixth, but with another potential problem as he and a few others are under investigation for possibly passing under a yellow. American Alexander Rossi finished well down, let's hope for a better finish in race 2.
Jan Magnussen's son Kevin won his maiden British F3 race with a couple of great overtaking moves. Let us hope Kevin can catch the breaks better than his father did. Somehow to me F3 is still the class to be in and win. We have F2, GP3, FR 3.5 etc, but this still seems the best finishing school. Many top drivers went straight from here to F1, while it almost seems that with a few exceptions classes like GP2 are for guys who will not quite make it. Still, not everyone is going to be world champion and at least they are living their dream and hopefully having some fun. Speaking of F2, another son of a famous father, Alex Brundle, took pole at Magny-Cours.
Also in France, at Le Mans, Casey Stoner continued to dominate practice and qualifying from Simoncelli and the rest of the Honda gang. Fifth is Lorenzo in front of the two Tech3 Yamahas, with Ben Spies eighth. So four Hondas, four Yamahas, and then the three Ducatis with Rossi and Hayden, who could not repeat yesterday's form. Are we loading an Ark here?
Grand Am is at VIR today, and DMG bikes are at Sears Point, but I don't think anyone is noticing.
Jan Magnussen's son Kevin won his maiden British F3 race with a couple of great overtaking moves. Let us hope Kevin can catch the breaks better than his father did. Somehow to me F3 is still the class to be in and win. We have F2, GP3, FR 3.5 etc, but this still seems the best finishing school. Many top drivers went straight from here to F1, while it almost seems that with a few exceptions classes like GP2 are for guys who will not quite make it. Still, not everyone is going to be world champion and at least they are living their dream and hopefully having some fun. Speaking of F2, another son of a famous father, Alex Brundle, took pole at Magny-Cours.
Also in France, at Le Mans, Casey Stoner continued to dominate practice and qualifying from Simoncelli and the rest of the Honda gang. Fifth is Lorenzo in front of the two Tech3 Yamahas, with Ben Spies eighth. So four Hondas, four Yamahas, and then the three Ducatis with Rossi and Hayden, who could not repeat yesterday's form. Are we loading an Ark here?
Grand Am is at VIR today, and DMG bikes are at Sears Point, but I don't think anyone is noticing.
April 1st
Friday, April 1, 2011 at 11:31AM
There is so little news the web sites are making it up with the excuse it is April Fools Day. What are they going to do tomorrow? What is not a joke is the announcement that the Victorian Government is going to audit this years race. I would have thought they would have audited every years race. Ron Walker says he is confident it will show they did not lose more than last year, and he hopes a bit less. I'm sure the good people of Victoria are glad to know that they only tipped in about the same $50m as last year, and not more!
It's good to see that the DTM have dropped that crazy street race in Shanghai as the last round of their series, both because the track was awful, and second, why would you end your major Championship half way around the world? Send the TV signal instead if you want to sell cars there.
In what must be an April Fools joke there is reported to be ongoing discussions to put Bahrain back on the calendar. I'm sure we could squeeze in Libya while we are in the area.
In Jerez the Stoner/Pedrosa/Honda show goes on where they left off in Qatar, swapping fast times in the two practice sessions. Lorenzo managed to get himself up to third in the second session, and Valentino is showing much better form in the sense of grid placings, but is still a long way off the time of Stoner. Ben Spies seems strangely off the boil.
You would not think the LMS race is on at Paul Ricard, or whatever you want to call it today. The only news I see is from Guy Smith's Linkedin. Still, I suppose if Audi and Peugeot are not there, nor the Aston, then why bother? Is this how ALMS is going to go?
On a final note this "fools day" Bob Varsha believes it is a "joke" that Kimi is going to race in NASCAR. The only joke is you Bob
It's good to see that the DTM have dropped that crazy street race in Shanghai as the last round of their series, both because the track was awful, and second, why would you end your major Championship half way around the world? Send the TV signal instead if you want to sell cars there.
In what must be an April Fools joke there is reported to be ongoing discussions to put Bahrain back on the calendar. I'm sure we could squeeze in Libya while we are in the area.
In Jerez the Stoner/Pedrosa/Honda show goes on where they left off in Qatar, swapping fast times in the two practice sessions. Lorenzo managed to get himself up to third in the second session, and Valentino is showing much better form in the sense of grid placings, but is still a long way off the time of Stoner. Ben Spies seems strangely off the boil.
You would not think the LMS race is on at Paul Ricard, or whatever you want to call it today. The only news I see is from Guy Smith's Linkedin. Still, I suppose if Audi and Peugeot are not there, nor the Aston, then why bother? Is this how ALMS is going to go?
On a final note this "fools day" Bob Varsha believes it is a "joke" that Kimi is going to race in NASCAR. The only joke is you Bob
Trouble
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 11:38AM
It's terrible to see what is happening in Japan and let us hope it does not get worse, one Chernobyl in this world is enough. If you want to read a great book about Chernobyl read "Wolves Eat Dogs" by Martin Cruz Smith, the guy who wrote Gorky Park. Japanese MotoGP is postponed for a second year due to mother nature.
Trouble of a man-made kind in the Middle east with the situation in Libya beyond description. As I said, why do troops do these things to their own people? Bahrain is getting there with a "peacekeeping" force from their neighboring states, particularly Saudi Arabia, coming in to help the Royal Family keep hold on power. That is never going to work in the long term. We need to look no further than Northern Ireland to see what a suppressed people will do when desperate. So, a rescheduling of the F1 race is impossible with a three month "State of Emergency" being declared. More to the point, does F1 want to be seen in a country that so obviously is repressing its own people? Silly me, we are already doing that aren't we?
On a happier note, it is great to see the HPD LMP1 car doing so well in practice for Sebring. Despite only turning a wheel this last weekend the Highcroft run car is mixing it with the Peugeots and Audis. We are still off last years times, but not by much and that could be down to the restrictions placed on the diesels. Are we to see a level playing field at last? Looks like being a good race, if only it was televised live.
In what must rate as one of the most outrageous pieces of spin ever Colin Kolles, when asked if he thought HRT would feature in the top 10, he said: "I think so yes. I think that others are more desperate than we are to be honest with you." Colin was responding to Bernie's opinion that F1 really only needed ten teams, and of course the media had to ask HRT where that left them. Colin supported the idea!!!
Nice to see Daniel Ricciardo setting the pace in FR3.5 testing. Let's hope he can win the Championship this year and continue his progress to F1. That other Aussie, Casey Stoner looks on course to be the favorite for this year's MotoGP Championship with another chart topping test session in Qatar. But it gets real this weekend when the first race is run under lights. Ben Spies is not far off on the Yamaha and capable of mixing it with the Hondas on paper. Strange it is de Puniet on the private Ducati that is leading the way for the marque. Rossi had another get off and ended up thirteenth. If this is sandbagging it is world class.Sorry to hear Cal Crutchlow lost the tip of his finger, but he is in some illustrious company there. Let's hope it is a good omen.
In other news, Jean Todt in Melbourne for the GP says Australia should keep its race, but he is not paying for it is he? Horner is stirring the pot suggesting Lewis Hamilton will be looking to drive a Red Bull if he has another disappointing season. Is this to replace Vettel? Lewis meanwhile has a new manager and is reported to be open to "music and film" to expand his career. Whatever.
Trouble of a man-made kind in the Middle east with the situation in Libya beyond description. As I said, why do troops do these things to their own people? Bahrain is getting there with a "peacekeeping" force from their neighboring states, particularly Saudi Arabia, coming in to help the Royal Family keep hold on power. That is never going to work in the long term. We need to look no further than Northern Ireland to see what a suppressed people will do when desperate. So, a rescheduling of the F1 race is impossible with a three month "State of Emergency" being declared. More to the point, does F1 want to be seen in a country that so obviously is repressing its own people? Silly me, we are already doing that aren't we?
On a happier note, it is great to see the HPD LMP1 car doing so well in practice for Sebring. Despite only turning a wheel this last weekend the Highcroft run car is mixing it with the Peugeots and Audis. We are still off last years times, but not by much and that could be down to the restrictions placed on the diesels. Are we to see a level playing field at last? Looks like being a good race, if only it was televised live.
In what must rate as one of the most outrageous pieces of spin ever Colin Kolles, when asked if he thought HRT would feature in the top 10, he said: "I think so yes. I think that others are more desperate than we are to be honest with you." Colin was responding to Bernie's opinion that F1 really only needed ten teams, and of course the media had to ask HRT where that left them. Colin supported the idea!!!
Nice to see Daniel Ricciardo setting the pace in FR3.5 testing. Let's hope he can win the Championship this year and continue his progress to F1. That other Aussie, Casey Stoner looks on course to be the favorite for this year's MotoGP Championship with another chart topping test session in Qatar. But it gets real this weekend when the first race is run under lights. Ben Spies is not far off on the Yamaha and capable of mixing it with the Hondas on paper. Strange it is de Puniet on the private Ducati that is leading the way for the marque. Rossi had another get off and ended up thirteenth. If this is sandbagging it is world class.Sorry to hear Cal Crutchlow lost the tip of his finger, but he is in some illustrious company there. Let's hope it is a good omen.
In other news, Jean Todt in Melbourne for the GP says Australia should keep its race, but he is not paying for it is he? Horner is stirring the pot suggesting Lewis Hamilton will be looking to drive a Red Bull if he has another disappointing season. Is this to replace Vettel? Lewis meanwhile has a new manager and is reported to be open to "music and film" to expand his career. Whatever.
Stoner Crows!
Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 10:30AM
Casey Stoner continued his domination of testing in Malaysia with all the top Hondas under the track record. Yamahas made up places 5-7 with Edwards again in the mix with his factory team compatriots. Ducati is "sandbagging" really well if that is what they are doing, filling the 11-14th slots, Rossi being the quickest of them and nearly two seconds off the pace. Even the Suzuki is faster.
Back in Europe Valencia is now denying asking for a reduction in fees for the GP, and did not address the rumor that they have not paid for last year yet. The Minister also said he was not aware of other races pushing for a fee reduction. Why even raise these issues unless there is something to them?
Bernie is pushing for Bahrain to join Abu Dhabi and Brazil at the end of the season in back to back to back weekends of fly-away races. Not something the teams have done and a bit of a nightmare for them, especially if we have a situation like last year. Bernie obviously would like his fee. In the meantime he is not winning any friends with his comments in the new book about other personalities such as Jean Todt and Sir Richard Branson. Why would you say those things to a writer? Does he think he is invulnerable and can say what he likes? It seems so at times. It reminds me of when Kenny Roberts was running his team. On a slow news day journos would get a comment from Kenny as he was always good for something to stir things up, but never in this fashion.
If the Canadians are worried about the Renault JPS livery what are they going to say about the Williams Rothmans throwback?
Lord Paul Drayson has given up on ALMS for "greener" pastures, i.e. electric racing. His car will be missed if not Lord Paul, and good luck, I hope you have enough extension cord for your "zero emissions" vehicle. How much longer do we have to put up with this BS? He of all people should know that at the moment he is just moving the emissions elsewhere. What now ALMS?
Glock is saying that the new Virgin is a second or more off the pace of the Lotus due to a problem with the rear wing. Nick Worth just needs to fix it apparently, oh if it were that easy. Presumably "I don't need a wind tunnel" Worth would have fixed it already if it was that easy, and just maybe a wind tunnel may have shown the problem.
On the home front it has been a busy and exciting week. More expert witness work, an overseas contact for a track, and a positive response on a major project I am trying to initiate here in the US. Hopefully I can tell you all about it in the next week or so.
Back in Europe Valencia is now denying asking for a reduction in fees for the GP, and did not address the rumor that they have not paid for last year yet. The Minister also said he was not aware of other races pushing for a fee reduction. Why even raise these issues unless there is something to them?
Bernie is pushing for Bahrain to join Abu Dhabi and Brazil at the end of the season in back to back to back weekends of fly-away races. Not something the teams have done and a bit of a nightmare for them, especially if we have a situation like last year. Bernie obviously would like his fee. In the meantime he is not winning any friends with his comments in the new book about other personalities such as Jean Todt and Sir Richard Branson. Why would you say those things to a writer? Does he think he is invulnerable and can say what he likes? It seems so at times. It reminds me of when Kenny Roberts was running his team. On a slow news day journos would get a comment from Kenny as he was always good for something to stir things up, but never in this fashion.
If the Canadians are worried about the Renault JPS livery what are they going to say about the Williams Rothmans throwback?
Lord Paul Drayson has given up on ALMS for "greener" pastures, i.e. electric racing. His car will be missed if not Lord Paul, and good luck, I hope you have enough extension cord for your "zero emissions" vehicle. How much longer do we have to put up with this BS? He of all people should know that at the moment he is just moving the emissions elsewhere. What now ALMS?
Glock is saying that the new Virgin is a second or more off the pace of the Lotus due to a problem with the rear wing. Nick Worth just needs to fix it apparently, oh if it were that easy. Presumably "I don't need a wind tunnel" Worth would have fixed it already if it was that easy, and just maybe a wind tunnel may have shown the problem.
On the home front it has been a busy and exciting week. More expert witness work, an overseas contact for a track, and a positive response on a major project I am trying to initiate here in the US. Hopefully I can tell you all about it in the next week or so.
Nice Guy
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 12:17PM
So Bernie is being Mr. Nice Guy and forgoing the fee from the King of Bahrain for the cancelled race. The King is getting the "Royal Treatment." Bernie is apparently trying to reschedule the race and Abu Dhabi has come out and said it's OK with Bahrain sharing the limelight at the end of the season, so if things settle down that is probably the best option. Bernie's other side is being exposed in the new book on his life, "No Angel," so the King should be happy that his right side is on show at the moment.
Not much else going on. MotoGP testing continued in Malaysia with the Hondas 1-2-3, and Rossi missing with a cold. Spies and Lorenzo followed up the Hondas, while the sponsored Yamaha second team, how does that happen, were next up with Colin Edwards.
Kolles is still saying the HRT will beat the Virgin and Lotus this year and Luizzi says he is not paying for the privilege of trying. Not sure what Kolles is on, but it must be good. Trulli says that the Pirelli's not only wear faster, but their characteristics change suddenly from understeer to oversteer, while Massa loves them. Who ever said ask a driver's opinion? Trulli also comes out against the constant rule changes in F1, costs too much and us poor fans cannot keep up. Lot of truth in what he says.
Some interesting comments on the Crash.Net web site from a lawyer on "force majeur" clauses after the Bahrain cancellation. A force majeur clause is meant to cover unforeseeable events such as earthquakes, and there is an argument that going to places with potential unstable political situations it is entirely foreseeable that one day there will be a problem. But I suppose you could use the same argument about staging races in earthquake prone regions.
Not much else going on. MotoGP testing continued in Malaysia with the Hondas 1-2-3, and Rossi missing with a cold. Spies and Lorenzo followed up the Hondas, while the sponsored Yamaha second team, how does that happen, were next up with Colin Edwards.
Kolles is still saying the HRT will beat the Virgin and Lotus this year and Luizzi says he is not paying for the privilege of trying. Not sure what Kolles is on, but it must be good. Trulli says that the Pirelli's not only wear faster, but their characteristics change suddenly from understeer to oversteer, while Massa loves them. Who ever said ask a driver's opinion? Trulli also comes out against the constant rule changes in F1, costs too much and us poor fans cannot keep up. Lot of truth in what he says.
Some interesting comments on the Crash.Net web site from a lawyer on "force majeur" clauses after the Bahrain cancellation. A force majeur clause is meant to cover unforeseeable events such as earthquakes, and there is an argument that going to places with potential unstable political situations it is entirely foreseeable that one day there will be a problem. But I suppose you could use the same argument about staging races in earthquake prone regions.