Bob Barnard Track Engineering

In this month’s Motor Sport Mark Hughes provides a view on what should change with the current F1. It occurred to me that with the asking price for the current F1 being around $10bn, when CVC decide to sell, it would be much cheaper just to start your own. What would it cost? $2bn?

Here in the US it is a time honored tradition that if you do not like something you start your own. Banks, churches, and yes even IRL. So, with John Malone reportedly interested in buying F1 I thought why can’t he just start his own? He has the money and the media, so what else would he need?

FIA Approval: If you are going to run an International Series you need FIA approval, but that is not hard to get. Look at Formula E just starting up. The FIA don’t really care as long as they get a cut and some say in the running. You could not use Formula One of course, but so what. With a good promotional plan you can sell anything.

Tracks: Thanks to Bernie and CVC there are loads of tracks that can no longer afford F1. The real fans would love to see a series that goes back to some, and races on real tracks not “Tilkedromes.” You could go back to my first track in Adelaide. It is still used and a reasonable fee would have kept the F1 there, so price it right and there you go. Same with France, who started this, Indy in the US or a street race, India now has a track available, as does Turkey. Imola in Italy, any of the Spanish tracks, they are all FIA Level 1, and maybe even Valencia would like it at the right price. Japan has Fuji and China Zuhai. We would need a South American leg, and we are starting to get a decent calendar. In England the Circuit of Wales is being built to Level 1 standard, but does not want F1. And I am sure some of the existing tracks would come over at the end of their Bernie contract.

Drivers: As with circuits there are a lot of very good drivers who cannot make it to F1 because of the existing business model and some who made it and could not stay. Paul Di Resta and Nick Heidfeld for just two, and I bet for every Kevin Magnussen there are ten guys who could not afford to pay for drives to get there. We need to find them early and provide a path based on talent. A sort of Red Bull scheme but managed by the series. Who knows, we might even have an American driver succeeding.

Cars: There are very good designers currently not in F1 that could provide a specification for the car. Gordon Murray and Gary Anderson for two. They still need to be a high tech vehicle, and certainly not a spec series, but more open to get back to the Can-Am and early F1 rule books that allowed ingenuity to be rewarded. Costs are always a factor, but with money staying in the series and being shared equitably then the teams would have the money they need.

Teams: As with all of this there are would-be F1 teams who just know they could not survive. Just look at how HRT, Caterham and Murussia have struggled. There should be some basis for rewarding success, but Bernie’s formula is a recipe to fail for any new team. Do you think Gene Haas would rather invest in a more equitable series? There are plenty of very good teams in GP2, GP3, European F3 and FR3.5 who could step up with the right balance of reward to investment.

TV: There are no shortage of specialist sports and motorsport TV channels to provide world wide coverage. With more reasonable fees I am sure with John Malone’s connections he could arrange for the series to develop a following.

So, a word used here a lot is equitable. There are business models that share the wealth. NASCAR does a good job, and so do the NFL and MLB. Yes the investor needs a return, but so do the other investors who built tracks, cars and careers. The current business model of F1 is fatally flawed, so who would risk $10bn to buy it? Bernie is talking about retiring so who do we get then, a suit? We need a series promoter who actually does reinvest in the promotion of the sport year round to support the individual track promoters, build a renewable base of stars, and listen to their fan base, not their pockets.  

There are a lot of pointers to suggest we may be seeing a new era in motorsport. Bernie's ongoing legal issues must distract him, if nothing else, and CVC have apparently decided to take more interest in what Bernie is doing. There are ongoing reports that American businessman and friend of Leo Hindery, John Malone, is sniffing around about buying F1. Seeing as how Bernie seems to keep ownership every time it is sold that will be interesting to watch. If successful it is deemed likely that his business model will be a better deal all round than the current one of CVC taking the money and running. That in itself makes me more optimistic. As a past promoter I can tell you the current business model is not sustainable in the long term, and I am not talking about being green.

Which leads us to the new F1 cars for 2014. I asked a while ago if anyone understood them, and received no takers. It seems the Mercedes boys don't understand them either.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/video/main-gallery/lewis-nico-uncut-off-the-record/   

I'm sure most of you have seen this, but too funny not to post. Motor Sport has a great article this month to explain the differences to last year's cars if you want to know more. We've had the first test, which went well for some and very badly for Red Bull, so a new era? Don't write them off too soon. The Lotus has run OK with the Renault engine so it is a packaging issue in the Red Bull. Niki Lauda said a while ago that these engines will destroy themselves if the operating temperature is not maintained within a very narrow margin. Pre-season tests are never a great guide to form, so let's see what happens in Bahrain. Early reports suggest a lot more attitude on the cars, which will be good to see. Speeds so far have been similar to GP2 cars, but most drivers feel that will improve. Let's hope so or we could really make the sport cheaper by running GP2 cars. Bernie is getting serious about a budget cap, offering a 1m Euro reward to whistle blowers who tell on over spenders. Let's see if that gets anywhere.

NASCAR is fiddling while Rome burns, changing qualifying and the way the Chase works. I said a long time ago that the Chase should be a knockout deal, with the last placed of the final ten or twelve, or thirteen, what ever Brian decides, being eliminated each race. That could get very interesting with team mates helping rivals out, literally, out against the wall. Nice to see some new blood here though, with the likes of Kyle Larson getting a top ride. Seems like Richard Petty had a few choice words about Danica.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/richard-petty-doesn-t-danica-chances-winning-says-163159096--nascar.html?&co=f000000013912s-1248979085

Is he the only one man enough to say what we all think?

Sportscar racing started a new era with the Tudor United Sportscar Series. Did anyone else find it odd that the first race of the series, sponsored by a watch brand no one has heard of, was the Rolex? The only signage was Rolex, so what is that all about? Can't say I enjoyed the 24 Hour. Thanks to Fox the first few hours were not on our cable system, than around 5 pm they showed the first two hours, totally unscheduled and lucky to even find it. Daytona is a boring track, and can't say the racing was great. Not hard to stage close races when you are running spec cars. Hopefully IMSA will get the balance of performance right soon. I could not believe Calvin Fish's comment about IMSA trying to get the P2 class up to the DP level, when we all know last year they were much quicker at Road America when they both raced on the same weekend. He is either an idiot or a liar, and who benefits from that sort of misleading comment if not the DP cars which are the child of ISC?

If you want to see great sportscar racing then you should have watched the Bathurst 12 hour. No spec racing here, and four cars capable of winning right down to the wire. Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Mercedes, all on the limit after 12 hours. This is real Bathurst, not the spec series the V8's put on with 24 cars all the same. We had Ferrari's, Lambo's, Porsche's, Audi's and Merc's all dicing with Fiat Abarths, and even a Ford Focus with a V8 squeezed in etc. What endurance racing is about, and how Bathurst used to be. I cannot believe how small the crowd was to watch this great racing. Surely worth more of a look than the 1000? But I am forgetting the Ford V's Holden mentality of the Aussies motorsport fan. What are they going to do once both of these stop making cars in Oz very soon, go back to HQ V's Falcon from the 70's? Due to the time difference I am sad to say I did not stop up to see the end, but did watch it later thanks to YouTube, great stuff. Live streaming with Radio Le Mans commentary, does not get much better, but of course ISC knows better so we no longer have John and Paul for the TUSCS.  

So, on to a new year with renewed hope we will not get a repeat of last years snooze in F1. No wonder the ratings are dropping.