Bob Barnard Track Engineering

So the World Council approved the new engine and a raft of other changes which sound less cutting edge and more like historic racing. No team orders, so back to pre 2002, and presumably teams can do almost anything except go back to changing drivers during the race as long as no one notices. 1.6 liter turbo engines with revs limited to 12,000 rpm, they could almost go back to using valve springs. Movable rear wings as we had in the sixties, except they can only be used when the car behind is within one second, is that on both cars? An odd rule change is the reintroduction of intermediate tires for 2011. I thought we had intermediate tires this year? A clean up of the under body rules to outlaw the double diffuser, but as we know you cannot "unlearn" something, so I am sure the boys are already working on that one. Oh yes, and the gearboxes have to last longer and the number of engines per year are reduced, so we are on an endurance/fuel conservation schedule, with biomass additives for 2012. Why not make one set of tires last a race weekend while you are at it, or are they still nervous there will be no overtaking and have to have pit stops? Why not just leave it to the teams to choose whether to start on a hard compound and not pit, or a soft one and gamble on making the time up? That is how all this started anyway when Gordon Murray I think it was worked out he could build a smaller, lighter, car and refuel and still make up the time.

At the awards ceremony the Korean GP received the Promoters Award! What for, giving away more tickets than anyone else has achieved, just finishing the track before the Friday of the race? That now devalues anyone else who has won it.

On a brighter note the new Audi R18 looks stunning, like the Peugeot but more menacing. Not sure how the driver sees over those front wheel arches though. I like the way they have incorporated the mandated rear fin, does not look like an add-on like some I've seen. So do we think that is the color it will race in?

Interesting that the FIA approved the F3 International Trophy at a time when the regular series are struggling to gain enough entries to keep going. The Trophy includes Macau and Pau, two great street races, but not ones that all the competitors choose to do, one estimate is that will cost an extra $100,000, or was that Pounds. It includes the Masters at Zandvoort, and the Korean F3 race which was cancelled this year. Why not just run one F3 series so we have enough cars on the grid. They all go to each others countries after all. F3 is a great series and needs to survive, but not sure this is the way to do it. Barry Bland, the promoter of Macau, is the new FIA single seat chief, so no surprise this got approved.

There is action across the globe this weekend with F1 in Brazil and the first practice saw the usual suspects at the top of the time sheet, except for Ferrari. Is this just the normal Friday laid back approach? Massa apparently fought his set up all morning, when you would think he would be on top of this place from the get go, and Alonso stopped at the end of the session with engine problems. Ferrari said they were going to change it anyway before the second session. Really, that's a lot of work between practice sessions. Are they so short on miles they could not run one session on that next engine? Both cars are way off the pace, but we have seen this before.

Mark Webber used some choice Aussie language when asked about the team and Vettel. He said it was ******** obvious that the team emotionally supported Vettel, and Horner immediately emotionally hit back that both drivers had had equal treatment, not quite what Mark said. Can Mark really stay at Red Bull next season?

Responding to Bernie's "cripples" quote, Virgin Team Principle John Booth asked if Bernie said it " to embarrass Sir Richard Branson, one of the country's leading entrepreneurs?" I would have thought Sir Richard had embarrassed himself.

In Zuhai for the final round of the Intercontinental Cup the weather is bad, rain and fog, or is it smog? Oddly the second Peugeot is three seconds slower than its pace setting sister car, that's a lot on a short circuit like this. The two Audis split them, so we could be in for an interesting race, particularly as the weather is not supposed to get any better. It is the monsoon season, nice scheduling.

In sunny Spain Lorenzo leads the way after second practice just ahead of Casey Stoner. Colin Edwards is doing well so far, and Ben Spies is sixth despite his ankle problem. Rossi is not doing so well, sandbagging or just cruising to finish his time with Yamaha? Just perhaps Yamaha would rather the guy wins who is staying next year?

In Korea, for those of you that did not follow up that story, it seems $50m is unaccounted for during the development, and the Government would like KAVO to tell them where it went. It also seems that the "mobile" stands, I presume the temporary seats, do not meet code for the F3 race. Funny code that. The seats were OK for an F1 race, but not for an F3 race?

To all my English fans "Happy Guy Fawkes Day." Where is he when you need him?

So the attorney for Austin says that it is not true that they will not be ready for 2012, but they may not meet the 90 day inspection requirement. That is cutting it fine, two years to go and you can tell that closely that you will not make it? Personally I would feel happier if the construction manager told me it was going to be finished, not the attorney. I have never had two years to finish a track, or needed it. My last construction job was a $3.5 billion oil refinery that was built in just over two years, so what's taking so long? Adelaide was a year, Phillip Island nine months, Eastern Creek a year, Road Atlanta six months, and Daytona 364 days from first contact to done.

Korea was not quite the success some people want to paint it. In this weeks Autosport is an article about the "challenges" facing the track. It seems they "papered the halls" to use the industry term for giving away seats to make it look full. The F3 Superprix scheduled for later this year has been canceled due to "force Majeure," some objections have caused the Korean Motorsport Authority to cancel the event at the track. I'd like to know what that is all about. If you would too go to http://ht.ly/19NGTp and read.

Closer to home Dover Downs has closed their track in St Louis, Gateway International. " We are simply unable to operate it with an acceptable return," said Denis McGlynn, CEO of Dover Motorsports. This oval was built not that long ago, 1997, and I never understood how they thought it would work without a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Dover are lucky to hold on to their race at their main track "The Monster Mile" seeing as how the France or Smith families do not own it, yet. Making money with spectator events in the US gets harder every day. The Milwaukee Mile has gone through promoters trying and that track is in the center of the city.

On a completely different subject it seems Jorge Lorenzo has learned the secret of turning the mind games Rossi usually employs around to his advantage. Riders are commenting on how in the past they would have crumbled after Valentino took a commanding lead like he did at Estoril, but Jorge not only caught but went by him. Valentino said afterward, " I had no way to fight with him. I tried to stay with him but he was too fast." I just love the mind games of riders particularly, and watching the eyes, they are the window to the mind. If you look at photos of Rainey, Gardner and Lawson you will read the determination written large there.

To close, who thinks that if Alonso wins the Championship it will be "tainted" by the actions of Ferrari in Germany. Answers in a closed envelope please.

So, Korea gets full marks because it was better than everyone feared? Jean Todt said that "It is easy to be very critical in this situation. I think that the essentials are an admiration for all the work which has been done." So full marks for trying. If it had been Silverstone Bernie would be canceling the contract by now. You cannot have traffic jams and muddy parking lots it seems unless you are paying Bernie $40m. My final comment on this mess is that one journo said it was Tilke's best track yet. Now it is time for me to retire.

Red Bull say they are "hopeful" about Vettel's engines lasting for the next two races. Not the way to approach them I would have thought. Do the teams announce which engine they are using and how many kilometers it has done?  That would be good to know, but I doubt they want their opposition to know. Since when do engine manufacturers apologise? It seems Red Bull are not yet ready to let Vettel help Webber, with only two races to go when will they be? Barring an engine failure, always possible, it looks as if Alonso is going to wrap this up.

Elsewhere the V8Supercars put on their usual "crash fest" at Surfers Paradise and it will be interesting to hear what the real attendance figures were. My sources in Oz tell me that there were lots of hotel rooms available up to the last minute. But I'm sure it was a record crowd. There are lies, damn lies, and promoters attendance figures.

Is everyone happy now? We had an exciting "race" in Korea. Maybe I am too much of a purist, but all this needed was a tent and elephants to be a circus. Someone can help me out here, but didn't there used to be a rule that if it had not rained all previous sessions then a short practice in the wet would be added? Then there is this stupid parc ferme rule about not being able to change the set up on the car. That is a safety issue in these conditions. I know why they are doing it, it is just how they are doing it that is wrong.

The surface seems to be just like the one we laid in Adelaide in 1985 when everyone was paranoid about the track coming up. Very hard and very tight, like slate, so all the dust sits up on it in the dry and all the water when it is wet. That was why Adelaide was stopped a couple of times in the rain. It is funny that after having complained about the track Friday and Saturday David Hobbs said today how great it was. Some direction there? I loved Steve's comment that the water was sitting above the oil. Not the last time I looked. Engage brain before opening mouth.I know what you are trying to say Steve, just think before you say it.

I wonder if Mark Webber is still "clutching at straws" to find anything to critisize? Wall too close was I think what he said, and he would be right. I was waiting all weekend for someone to spin out of one of these corners and hit those inside walls. And I loved the fact that they drove the crane across the track to move his car when it was right next to an emergency gap. Petrov's accident was entirely predictable, and how Button kept the car off the walls in that Turn 17 I don't think even he knows. I loved the fact that like Singapore and there being marshals right where he stopped, Vettel had to grab an extinguisher and put the fire out himself.

I said a month or so ago that the eight engine rule was about to bite. These next two races will be interesting, but can someone explain how repairing a water pump in an engine can be done without penalty? Is the water pump not part of the engine? They had to take the engine out to do it.

I guess we should be happy this is the Championship no one wants to win. Every time we get a new leader he throws it away. I don't know where Button's head was at, he did not seem like a Champion trying to defend his crown.

I would love to ask the Koreans who paid for this debacle if they think it was worth $250 million to get bad publicity? Shades of Dallas. I was never interested in going to Korea anyway, but nothing I saw and heard would make me want to rush off to this new city. They need to get rid of the snakes first.

The only people who can really be happy about this race is Alonso and Bernie. It certainly was not a weekend worthy of the pinnacle of motorsport.