Bob Barnard Track Engineering

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.

After saying that this years car would be an upgrade on the 2010 chassis HRT, or more correctly Colin Kolles, is saying that it will now be a totally new car designed under the direction of Geoff Willis. Furthermore it will run at Bahrain test. But he also says "At the moment, there are approximately 40 designers finalizing the first spec." And it is going to run in Bahrain? HRT are still to name which young driver has a big enough bag of money to come and drive the "new" car.

Force India have however confirmed the worst kept secret that Sutil and  Di Resta will race their cars with Hulkenburg as the third driver. So, now let's see what Luizzi does. Now contracts are made to be broken, here in the US it is the quick and the dead for employment contracts, so I'm sure there is a get out clause, it just depends how much it is going to cost Mallya. As Joe Saward points out the bigger cost is to Mallya's credibility. I know F1 is called the "Piranha Club," but VJ has quickly become a senior member.

So Cape Town is lining up a bid for an F1 race. Do they not get the Australian news over there? What is it that makes usually sane business people think that they can make an F1 race work financially when the example is out there for all to see that you cannot, except it seems Silverstone. But then they have all those mad poms, and yes I was one once.

For all it is two days away from the start of the Rolex weekend and less than a week to F1 testing, there is little news to stir the blood, so see you tomorrow.

So HRT have hired a whiz bang Hollywood creative guy to revamp their corporate imagery. Amazing. We cannot afford to build a new car for 2011, but we have money for some imagery, just so you can make believe you are going somewhere. Having a competitive car I would have thought would be the best corporate image.

NASCAR confirms that they are re-evaluating the point system to make it simpler. They have had this one since 1975 and I would have thought everyone would have understood it by now, everyone in the field gets points. Still they are continuing to think about fuel injection so I guess you should not rush these things. Maybe they are analysing the past five years and trying to come up with a points system that will stop Jimmie Johnson winning this year. All smacks of deckchairs on the Titanic.

Nice to see young American rider Kenny Noyes get a new ride in Moto2 for 2011. I admit to a bias, I knew his Dad Dennis well and he helped me a lot when I was in Spain with Kenny Roberts, so it will be good to see him with another chance. Kenny Noyes had an up and down year in 2010, so with a year's experience let's hope for big things in 2011.

This week sees the real start of the season with the Rolex 24 hour. Murphy The Bear has his punters guide and picks for the podium, so check it out at:

http://murphythebear.com/blog/index.php/2011/01/21/182-murphy%E2%80%99s-4th-annual-rolex-24-punter%E2%80%99s-guide-and-some-other-stuff/

It is a bit sad when the news includes items like "Santander ups Ferrari presence with a cap deal." A salary cap perhaps? No, they now have their logo on the front of the Ferrari Official Cap. Now I guess they paid a lot of money for that privilege, but personally I don't give a toss. The front of a Ferrari cap should say "Ferrari" or better still the prancing horse.  Santander are certainly throwing their money around at a time when I heard the Spanish banks are not doing so swell.

Is anyone else fed up with the non-stop nonsense about HRT, horrible racing team. They have left or been thrown out of FOTA, they do or do not have more money coming, they are suing Chandook, and they are going to run an "updated version" of the 2010 car this year, i.e. we have no money to make a new one. They need to just go away, as Bernie said, they are an embarrassment. If they were the real deal surely Santander would throw a few caps their way?

According to Helmut Marko every man and his dog are trying to steal Vettel away. This is another man who just needs to shut up and go away. After the Turkey affair who cares what he thinks anymore.

One of my friends commented on the Rossi photo from "Wrooom" that he looks like a clown. Certainly an odd combination of colors, and he has always played the fool to his adoring crowd, perhaps that is part of his attraction. Apparently his shoulder is taking longer to heal than expected. More games, who knows anymore. No I am not a Rossi fan any more than I am a Schumacher fan. There are some people who may be excellent at what they do, but I just do not like who they are. Watching the BSC Bowl game last night I can admire Farley for his ability, but with so much ability he does not need the attitude.

Kimi Raikkonen has been entered in the WRC by Citroen so that ends the "will he or won't he" that has been going on about returns to F1, driving for Ford, or not driving at all. Now I know people say Kimi has no personality, and on occasion may not "turn up" but I still miss him. When he wanted he could really put on a show and F1 is poorer for not having him.

The "Great Leap Forward," sorry that was Chairman Mao not Vice Chairman Atherton, for ALMS coverage this year has met with mainly negative reactions. This I guess is indicative of how the die hard fans feel about it, so whether it really is the way we watch sport in future we will have to wait and see. The Last Turn Club has a nice thoughtful piece on the pros and cons, http://lastturnclub.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

I've watched Le Mans and Sebring and Petit on the web the last couple of years and actually prefer it as I can tune in to Radio Le Mans and be spared the TV commentators. The Radio Le Mans guys are passionate fans, and always seem to know exactly what is going on, not being distracted by an infomercial. I guess I will have to buy an HDMI connection to my flat screen.

HRT have either left FOTA or been thrown out for non-payment of dues depending on who you listen to. HRT are complaining that FOTA only looks after the interests of big teams, and that the distribution of the money is not fair. Who ever said F1 was fair? It has ever been so that the successful teams get more money. This is not the USA where the draft system tries to even up the competition, this is Bernie's world, and in Bernie's world you sink or swim. Aside from Ferrari think about where the other teams have come from. Sir Frank used to do business from a public phone box. These guys paid their dues and made it, they are not about giving the sucker an even break. F1 is merciless competition, on and off track. Having said that it seems Red Bull over spent by 60m Euros! That's more than the small teams spent, let alone overspent. That's probably HRT's real concern. They were lured into F1 with promises of resource limitation, and the RRA is certainly more "enabling" than restrictive.