Entries in Honda (7)
Exhausting
Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 12:43PM
Renault with its forward exhaust is fastest on the last day at Valencia, so obviously they have something working. So much for Helmut Marko's assertion after day two that "If we had run a race today we would have lapped the field." Helmut also vehemently denies they overspent, but even if they did the fines should go to charity, not the smaller teams who came in expecting some equality in spending. Not so fast Helmut, and why don't you just shut up and go away. A friend sent me a link to an F1 technical blog which showed how Newey has used a different way to use the exhaust gas through the diffuser, through a loophole in the rules. You have to love these guys. Apparently this did not show up until the second day. Here is the link.
So Kubica was quickest over the three days, and Lotus are back to having hydraulic problems, this time with the power steering. How does that happen, surely you buy this stuff from a specialist? Glock in the Virgin was well up, but Force India still continued to shine with Sutil second fast. Now, it is all very early days, but it is still interesting. McLaren are to unveil their car tomorrow in Berlin, and Lewis says it looks different to the other teams and is not sure if that is good or bad. The Mercedes is having teething troubles, with the HRT faster at this point. Ross Brawn says he is encouraged though, but is sitting on another payout from Mercedes for his remaining shares, so is probably feeling pretty good about life at the moment. So it is all over the place. Next test Jerez in a week.
The FIA have set the rules for the movable wing for the first three races. A line will be painted on the track at the entrance to the last corner onto the straight where the car following will have to be within one second to allow the wing to be triggered, and another line 600 m from the corner at the end of the straight to show is plebs where the wing can be used by the driver. Ferrari have suggested that 600 m may not be enough, but the FIA say they will tweak it once we see how it works. As I said, are we going to see processions waiting to get to that point?
Mike Gascoyne blames the tracks, as he should, especially the boring desert tracks, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. As Mike says, they had a clean sheet and as much money as they wanted and still got it wrong. Let's include Korea in that, and wait to see how India works out, if they can sort out their corruption problems. Apparently the first layer of asphalt started being laid yesterday.
In Malaysia Simoncelli on a non-works Honda ended the last day fastest, with Stoner a hair's breadth behind. The Hondas all populated the top of the time sheet with Lorenzo and Spies mixing it with them. The Ducatis improved to 8th and 10th, with Hayden again the quicker, but Valentino thinks his shoulder is costing him 7 tenths or more, so he feels they are closer than it seems. Nice to see that a second string Honda is not too shabby, could make the racing more interesting this year. Some of us can recall when there were several "works" teams out there, especially Yamaha, which definitely made it more fun.
So Kubica was quickest over the three days, and Lotus are back to having hydraulic problems, this time with the power steering. How does that happen, surely you buy this stuff from a specialist? Glock in the Virgin was well up, but Force India still continued to shine with Sutil second fast. Now, it is all very early days, but it is still interesting. McLaren are to unveil their car tomorrow in Berlin, and Lewis says it looks different to the other teams and is not sure if that is good or bad. The Mercedes is having teething troubles, with the HRT faster at this point. Ross Brawn says he is encouraged though, but is sitting on another payout from Mercedes for his remaining shares, so is probably feeling pretty good about life at the moment. So it is all over the place. Next test Jerez in a week.
The FIA have set the rules for the movable wing for the first three races. A line will be painted on the track at the entrance to the last corner onto the straight where the car following will have to be within one second to allow the wing to be triggered, and another line 600 m from the corner at the end of the straight to show is plebs where the wing can be used by the driver. Ferrari have suggested that 600 m may not be enough, but the FIA say they will tweak it once we see how it works. As I said, are we going to see processions waiting to get to that point?
Mike Gascoyne blames the tracks, as he should, especially the boring desert tracks, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. As Mike says, they had a clean sheet and as much money as they wanted and still got it wrong. Let's include Korea in that, and wait to see how India works out, if they can sort out their corruption problems. Apparently the first layer of asphalt started being laid yesterday.
In Malaysia Simoncelli on a non-works Honda ended the last day fastest, with Stoner a hair's breadth behind. The Hondas all populated the top of the time sheet with Lorenzo and Spies mixing it with them. The Ducatis improved to 8th and 10th, with Hayden again the quicker, but Valentino thinks his shoulder is costing him 7 tenths or more, so he feels they are closer than it seems. Nice to see that a second string Honda is not too shabby, could make the racing more interesting this year. Some of us can recall when there were several "works" teams out there, especially Yamaha, which definitely made it more fun.
Hero to Zero?
Friday, January 14, 2011 at 10:55AM
One month you win the FI Promoters Trophy and the next your Company fires you. That's Mr Chung's "reward" for staging such a great event apparently. Most of us could not work out why he got it, and neither can KAVO, the ones putting up the money. "Investors felt that KAVO Management under Mr. Chung could not guarantee success this year." So who did they appoint in his place, the ex-ambassador to Switzerland. An obvious choice.
I've actually been there. In Adelaide we won the same trophy, for what it is worth now, and after the second year I was "let go." It seems the Board thought I spent too much, but my successor is quoted in the next year's program that when there is a problem you just throw money at it to get it fixed. When you are staging a race to promote a State or Country and it starts at 2 pm on Sunday you do what it takes to make it happen. Not suggesting this is what Mr. Chung did, he barely staggered over the start line. In truth he is the scapegoat for false illusions. If KAVO thinks its going to make money on an F1 race then they need to fire the guy who did the feasibility, and as Chris Pook told me, "If Bernie thinks your making money he will put the price up."
There is a very interesting post about England's anti-bribery laws about to come into effect. It seems it casts a pretty wide net over what is considered bribery, and could include corporate entertainment and tickets. So the British based GP teams are concerned that sponsors are going to think twice about handing over loads of cash in future. Australia brought in a tax on entertainment back in the late eighties, which covered company cars and meals etc., but the employer paid it, not the recipient. Could not upset the union members with their perks. Not sure if that is still in play, I cannot see a Government giving up a tax, but it did increase the cost of taking corporate boxes for example, as you had to pay a tax on it instead of it being a tax deduction. All very topical with the Gribkowsky bribery scandal going on.
A line in the quote from Mercedes about the launch of this year's F1 car struck me as odd. "The Brackley based team said its' new single seater." Haven't see a GP car with more than one seat for quite some time.
It appears all our fears about the 2013 engine sounding awful are ill founded. Alonso says he is sure his engineers can make it "sound sexy." This must be a first, engineers trying to increase the noise coming out of a car.
News on the sportscar front has Honda confirming it will race in the LMP1 class while still producing an LMP2 car. It's goal of an outright win at Le Mans by "I can do it without a wind tunnel" Nick Wirth sounds a bit far fetched, but anything that adds to the fight at the front is welcomed. Aston Martin are working to have one of their new for 2011 cars ready for Sebring and David Richards is satisfied that the ACO rule #19 will ensure they can battle the Peugeots and Audis. I will not hold my breath on that one.
I've actually been there. In Adelaide we won the same trophy, for what it is worth now, and after the second year I was "let go." It seems the Board thought I spent too much, but my successor is quoted in the next year's program that when there is a problem you just throw money at it to get it fixed. When you are staging a race to promote a State or Country and it starts at 2 pm on Sunday you do what it takes to make it happen. Not suggesting this is what Mr. Chung did, he barely staggered over the start line. In truth he is the scapegoat for false illusions. If KAVO thinks its going to make money on an F1 race then they need to fire the guy who did the feasibility, and as Chris Pook told me, "If Bernie thinks your making money he will put the price up."
There is a very interesting post about England's anti-bribery laws about to come into effect. It seems it casts a pretty wide net over what is considered bribery, and could include corporate entertainment and tickets. So the British based GP teams are concerned that sponsors are going to think twice about handing over loads of cash in future. Australia brought in a tax on entertainment back in the late eighties, which covered company cars and meals etc., but the employer paid it, not the recipient. Could not upset the union members with their perks. Not sure if that is still in play, I cannot see a Government giving up a tax, but it did increase the cost of taking corporate boxes for example, as you had to pay a tax on it instead of it being a tax deduction. All very topical with the Gribkowsky bribery scandal going on.
A line in the quote from Mercedes about the launch of this year's F1 car struck me as odd. "The Brackley based team said its' new single seater." Haven't see a GP car with more than one seat for quite some time.
It appears all our fears about the 2013 engine sounding awful are ill founded. Alonso says he is sure his engineers can make it "sound sexy." This must be a first, engineers trying to increase the noise coming out of a car.
News on the sportscar front has Honda confirming it will race in the LMP1 class while still producing an LMP2 car. It's goal of an outright win at Le Mans by "I can do it without a wind tunnel" Nick Wirth sounds a bit far fetched, but anything that adds to the fight at the front is welcomed. Aston Martin are working to have one of their new for 2011 cars ready for Sebring and David Richards is satisfied that the ACO rule #19 will ensure they can battle the Peugeots and Audis. I will not hold my breath on that one.