Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Great morning! Cadel Evans continued to show his guts and strength today by blitzing the Schleck brothers in the time trial to take the yellow jersey by over a minute and win Australia its' first Tour de France! Right up there with the Americas Cup and Gardner's 500cc Championship! Well deserved after his showing in the Alps where his team seemed to go missing on him. Where was George Hincapie? He always seemed to be there for Lance, but I guess in his 16th Tour he might be losing it a bit.

That other Aussie Mark Webber took pole in Germany, but Hamilton was the real surprise, only missing pole by 6/100ths of a second. This is the guy who said yesterday that pole was out of the question, and the McLarens certainly looked that way in practice. Lewis and the team somehow dialed in a lap to knock Vettel off the front row for the first time this season. Let's see how Seb deals with it. Forecast is for rain tomorrow, what else in that region, so all bets might be off. Ferraris filled the next two spots with Button struggling down in 7th behind Rosberg. The usual suspects were in the last six places with Ricciardo avoiding the cut just 2/100ths behind Luizzi, and surprisingly Kobayashi in the 7th elimination spot. Chandook qualified less than a second behind his Lotus team mate, and it was interesting that the commentators could not work out what was going on there any more than I could. They did ask the pointed question about how he liked the power steering that Trulli keeps complaining about and Chandook said it was OK for him.

The rumors persist around Bernie and Gribkowsky with comments that "Bernie does not get blackmailed." It does seem out of character for Bernie to succumb to threats, but he says his lawyers told him to. That seems out of character too. There are suggestions that he could take a sabbatical while it gets sorted with his mate Max saying it might happen, but then he again he said it was not Bernie's style. Bernie is talking nice about cutting Nurburgring a break with their fees for the new agreement. Maybe he is getting soft hearted, or is it the six German drivers on the grid? 

Domenicalli says that the "electric" cars in pit lane is still to be agreed by the teams, lots of technical issues, not the least of which is getting run over because you can't hear them coming! Still no explanation of what is driving this, except that it is to be seen "green." How? They cannot be saving that much fuel, and if they do they will just dial it up on the track, and noise can be the only other issue. But how does that work with cars going by on the track? Perhaps it is so the Paddock Club people can talk business?

The closed cockpit for F1 cars continues to be discussed despite the fact I thought I read it had gone away on safety grounds, too hard to get a driver out after a crash. Maybe they are not only going to fit aircraft style canopies they are also fitting ejector seats? They'll need windshield wipers too, in fact why don't we just borrow some LMP1 cars from Le Mans? Maybe this is why Audi are interested? Seriously, are they really trying to alienate the F1 fans? Has anyone got an answer for the single set of gears for a season? Can't be a cost deal surely, how much do a few extra gears cost? Do they think that with eight ratios they can cover all the tracks? Are they really trying to remove the technology? We have spec tires and ECU's, severe limits on the engines, now gear ratios, and Max did suggest once we go to a spec chassis. Formula Ford anyone? Oops, they allow more than one chassis.

In other news the Indycar race was washed out in Edmonton yesterday, so much for flat airfield tracks, and Lorenzo took fastest time at Laguna in the second practice. He could sneak the Championship from under Hondas nose if they do not put all their effort into Stoner. Not team orders, but focus. Poor Ben Bostrum, why did they bother with a wild card when he has had no testing or practice? Just makes him look bad and I can't believe it made any difference to the crowd. Spies, Hayden and Edwards are much more likely to get American fans to go. Rossi continues to struggle on the Duke, but that's hardly news. Following my comments on when SPEED is showing qualifying it seems our friends in England will get to see it earlier than those of you on the East Coast. I will be watching on fromsportcom.com live, just as I am now watching the practice. 

 

You have to wonder at the lack of news when there is an item about how the FIA have made three teams change the labeling on the collar of their driving suits from screenprint to embroidered! I know that is what the rules say but seriously, is this news?

In a similar vein I personally do not care who sponsors Niki Lauda's cap, but journalists obviously do.

Meanwhile, back with the real world, Bernie has admitted he paid Gribkowsky the money. He insists it was not a bribe over the sale of the shares, but paid to keep Gribkowsky quiet about his financial dealings, mainly the Bambino Trust, and the British Inland Revenue, or tax man. Bernie says that there was nothing irregular, he had been dealing with the IRS and their enquiry over Bambino and did not want Gribkowsky making the IRS open that up again. His lawyers told him it would cost a lot of money. Well they were correct weren't they, it did, $44m worth! I can only imagine what Bernie's lawyers fees are, but is it possible they could be more than $44 m?  And why would Gribkowsky know anything of Bernie's financial dealings anyway? Bernie was a middle man in a sale of shares from the bank to CVC, not the buyer or seller. There is a lot more to this story yet to come.

In Germany Mark Webber topped the time sheets for Red Bull with the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa sharing the top four places with them. Next comes Mercedes, with McLaren not looking good at the moment. Ricciardo needs to find some time tomorrow to avoid missing the cut at 9 seconds, or 10% off the pace. Lotus are not showing their improved form with Kovalainen 4 seconds off the pace, but in front of the usual suspects at the rear.

I confess I did not watch much of this, the final day of the Tour de France in the Alps was on, and some great TV it was too. What these top riders do is nothing short of amazing. Their mental toughness let alone physical endurance is a yardstick for any athlete. I have to comment on Aussie Cadel Evans who has shown just how strong he is the last two days, and after Andy Schleck complaining about Contador not waiting last year when he had a machine problem I thought it a bit rich that he and Contador rode off and left Cadel today.

Anyway, back to the powered sports and Stoner is in his usual spot at the head of the first practice at Laguna. SPEED obviously prize having the coverage of the MotoGP with qualifying being shown at 11 pm EST tomorrow, and the race delayed to 5 pm Sunday, but we can show Grand Am live?

It used to be that a "Grand Prix" was THE motorsport event of the year in a particular country, and each country was supposed to only have one such event. Now we know Bernie has got around that with F1, and here in the US you can and do call anything a Grand Prix, totally devaluing the name. Dorna is not only emulating Bernie but has gone straight passed him in the search for the mighty dollar with now three races in the US and four in Spain. Half the World Championship is run in two countries? Italy only has two, which is surprising given the popularity of Rossi. Can the US support three GP's given the lack of interest in the National Series? There are suggestions that Indy is in trouble, but at least they run a real GP with all three classes. Laguna only pays for the top class to come, and I know it will upset a lot of motorcyclists who see this place as the Phillip Island or Assen of the US, but might they just be the one to go?

"Circuit of the Americas?" Sounds like it should be in Costa Rica or Bolivia. Setting some high standards for this track, let's hope it delivers. I staged an event in Australia back in '88 with Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston in two concerts, and a whole range of top sportsmen and women over five days. We were silly enough to call it "The Ultimate Event," which it was and still is, but the media spent six months trying to convince the public it wasn't. Hard to fight that. Still Tavo and the boys seem to be in a honeymoon phase. India has done something similar, naming the circuit "Buddh International Circuit," invoking a connection to Buddah.

Bernie is not letting up on the engine debate, and Jean Todt is learning that just because someone voted for it they can change their mind. This is F1, they will do what they think is best for their team now. Bernie has a powerful ally in Montezemolo who continues to agitate for larger engines, a move away from too much aero, and a return to testing. Once he is President of Italy with Alonso as his Prime Minister then it will get interesting.

My buddy Allen Petrich asks a good question. Why are teams allowed to charge the KERS system before the start of the race? You cannot use the DRS wing for the first two laps, why I do not know, but let's be consistent, and avoid situations like Webber's, or the disadvantage at the start to the small teams that cannot afford it. Or is this all part of the "lottery" that F1 has become?

So the genie is out of the bottle, Genie Capital that is, and the worst kept secret is out. We now have two Team Lotus in F1, both with Renault engines and gold and black livery. Let's see Bob Varsha handle that lot. Neither side is going to back off obviously, so either the Malaysian Government, FIA, or the British High Court are going to have to decide this. Sad that it has come to this for such a great name.

Renault is also in the news with the settlement of the Piquet libel suit following the Singapore "crashgate" affair. What a miserable, cynical, exercise that was, and the architects of it are looking to stay in the sport. It is still unfathomable that a professional driver, however desperate to keep his drive, would do such a thing. Sad end to a promising career and a blot on a Champion's heritage. And the guy who won the race because of it still keeps the win! Same problem as Hockenheim this year. When is the FIA going to have the guts to take the result away when something like this happens?

So Dorna is now blaming the manufacturers for the loss of entries following the move to 800 cc MotoGP. ""The manufacturers wanted the 800cc class, so it was them causing the escalation of costs that, because of the (financial) crisis, forced them to take a step back. Now not all of them can maintain their commitments because of financial problems." As I have said for a very long time, the manufacturers should not be making the decisions about racing, they will make decisions based on what they want to sell, not what we want to watch, and they will leave whenever it suits them. Dorna also wants to look at new tracks outside Europe, like Abu Dhabi. Right, let us know how that works for you, and the riders. They want less races in Spain, so now we are going to have four in the Gulf States instead?  And let us not forget Austin. We have Laguna and Indy now, so which one of those are we going to lose?

I see that World Superbike is instigating a "Junior Trophy" based on 250cc machines. This is definitely back to the future, not necessarilly a bad thing, but what will it cost a rider?

So Patrick McNally is retiring. Most of you have probably never heard of Patrick or Allsport Management, but you have seen their work. For nearly thirty years Patrick has controlled the signage at F1 races, and he is a master at placement. David Campbell is going to take over and the rumor is David is being groomed to take over from Bernie. They are some mighty large shoes to fill David, good luck. That succession is likely to look like the "War of the Roses," the English dispute over the crown, not the movie.

Great story on Kenny Roberts on Superbike Planet http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Dec/101207alancarter.htm. Kenny proves it is not a problem with the bike, and you have to think he could still do this today over a lap or two.

No, not the things that go around in your engine, The Confederation of Australian Motorsport. They are having a major bust up with the Australian GP organizers, particularly one Ron Walker, mate of Bernie's. Ron is complaining that CAMS is charging the GP too much for providing the race control and marshal services now that they are losing so much money. He says they are a monopoly and should be made to bid for the work like all the other "service" providers. So CAMS is threatening to tell their mates at the FIA not to let Ron have the race next year if he does not stump up. Ron has gone to Abu Dhabi to tell his mate Bernie and the FIA what a nasty monopoly CAMS are. Hang on, isn't the FIA a monopoly? And aren't they the ones who dictate that there can only be one recognized motor sport body in each country? That other well known monopoly, Bernie, says he is the only one who can say if Ron has a race or not. This is getting funnier by the minute.

My contacts in Australia have been keeping me abreast of CAMS and their goings on. Unfortunately like most of these bodies they come to think they exist for the good of the staff, and not the members. This is basically a big club, a "Confederation" of States and clubs. There has been ill feeling between members and CAMS since before I left Australia, and a rival body has been set up ostensibly to provide an alternative to CAMS insurance, but has grown to be a problem for CAMS, which has just said it will ban any senior official who works at a rival event. Shooting yourself in the foot time.

Now when I ran the Motorcycle GP for Kenny at Laguna Seca the AMA did not want us to run at that track on that date, conflicted with one of their National Rounds! What is important here? Fortunately Bernie and DORNA controlled motorcycle GP's with the FIM rubber stamping, and I did not need AMA's approval, did not ask for it and did not get it until halfway through the year when they rang me. I arranged the race control staff and marshals which suited me, I could pick who I wanted. So, if I could do that with an FIM race, why cannot Ron do it in Oz? He probably can, CAMS are saying they have to provide these people because of their expertise, but they cannot have a monopoly on that can they?

Is it just me or does the Abu Dhabi circuit look like a container terminal or industrial park this year? When I saw it today during practice it seemed to have lost its' "glitter", which is all it had last year. It just seemed a dusty parking lot with a lot of light towers, a lot like the Port of Miami container terminal where I worked back in 2003.

I know Alonso says he does not care if he wins the Championship by seven points or less, but it will be a very cheap title if it only cost Ferrari $100,000 to win it. I said at the time that Germany equated to $14,000 a point, cheap at the price, but a title, priceless. The Stewards should have taken the points away, that is the only thing that made sense, then we would not have this situation.