Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Happy Easter everybody. Easter used to be a traditional motor race weekend, but it seems to have died out. Except for the Le Mans Test Day, and WTCC, F3 and of course the Camping World Truck Series where F1 bad boy Piquet Jr. finished second. It will be interesting to see him and Kimi on the same track again at Charlotte.

Strange lack of interest in the Le Mans test day. I failed to find live timing and the only web site to report anything was Autosport, and that only has the morning times. The Audis lead the way with the three of them and one of the Peugeots the only cars under 3 min 30 secs. 3 min 27 seconds to be precise, about 8 seconds off last years pole time, so they have slowed the diesels down a little, but "equalization?" The best petrol car was 10 seconds slower the last times I saw, and the Aston is in real trouble at 14 seconds slower than that. Engine trouble continues to plague the car. The 458 Ferraris top the GTE time sheet, so they have them sorted quickly.

Robert Kubica is out of hospital and resting before starting rehab and training. Great to hear.  An August return is being mooted, and who would doubt it with his determination?

It's an unusual break to the Turkish F1 race and it has gone quiet, well almost. Bernie's protesting loud and long that F1 is not for sale, and then adds anything's for sale if the price is right. Montezemolo has come out and admitted opposition to the new engine rules. That's good of him, we would never have known that from his carrying on about it for the last three months.

Some scuttlebutt from well connected people in Texas has suggested all may not be as it seems with the Austin deal, and forecast that the legislature would not pass the $25m hand out as reported yesterday. A friend also sent me a youtube video of the Indian track from March that shows a ribbon of asphalt and not much else. I don't want to sound like a negative person, I wish none of these ill, but as a construction engineer by profession and one who has always finished a track on time I have to wonder who is managing this stuff?

I am sad to hear of another death at the Interlagos track in Brazil. This was not in the area of the previous one, it was the left after the Senna Esses after the start. We have been spared these for a long while and must continue to push for safer tracks without making them sterile and boring. I agree with Sir Jackie Stewart that the rash of asphalt run off does not penalise a driver for a mistake, in fact it can be the fast line. Neither of us want to see drivers injured, so there must be a happy medium here somewhere. On that note it is great to here that Robert Kubica is to leave hospital soon.

Le Mans Test Weekend is this weekend. Should be interesting to see the new Audi, and if the "equalization" is working for the petrol brigade.

Are you kidding? Ford is suing Ferrari over the use of the F150 name. Is this a publicity stunt? I know protecting your logos and trade names are serious business but this is just making Ford look foolish. They would be better off making a commercial with an F1 Ferrari morphing into a fast red pick up.

The new Ferrari 458 made it's debut at the Sebring test yesterday prepared by the Risi team who arguably ran the best 430, at least of the ones allowed to race. Most of the big hitters are absent from the test, but there are still enough interesting cars out there with the Muscle Milk Aston quickest at the moment. Duncan Dayton seems likely to finalise the deal to run the HPD LMP1 both here at Sebring and at Le Mans and so give David Brabham a ride for this year. The 24 hour entry list was published yesterday and a great field it is too, quality all the way through.

There is actually a fair bit going on this weekend with Sebring, Jerez, and GP2 Asia kicking off in Abu Dhabi. Renault reserve driver Roman Grosjean is on pole for that event with another strong field of drivers. His compatriot at Renault, Fauzy, is not doing so well though down in 23rd. It is a very even grid though with the top 14 separated by less than a second, and the field by less than 1.7 seconds. Should make for good racing and a lot of action given the desperadoes in the field.

Meanwhile at the F1 test at Jerez it is still way too early to judge anything. Massa is fastest, with Perez in the Sauber next quickest. So it is not just the Mexican sponsorship, he can drive. Meanwhile Maldonado is way off the pace in the Williams, but he did have problems with the movable wing, and as I said it is early days. Hamilton has the new McLaren out and yes it has forward exiting exhausts. Lewis is presumably just doing shake down laps but is fifth so far behind Webber and young Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the Torro Rosso. If I were Buemi or Alguersuari I would be looking over my shoulder right now. How long since Australia had two drivers in F1, if ever? Schenken and Jones? No. I'm sure one of my readers knows the answer.

Petrov dumped the Renault in the gravel trap, not enhancing his claim to the number one seat, which seems to be headed Heidfeld's way. Despite saying they had plenty of time to fill the seat they have Heidfeld testing later this weekend. Nick has had a lot of experience and is a good driver, but is he really good enough? As someone pointed out the other day, when the two Williams drivers both retired in the early eighties a guy called Rosberg filled in after a less than stellar career, and we know how that worked out, so let's see if Nick can do the same.

It now seems that the money from the Williams float is not going to keep the team afloat but to the Patrick Head retirement fund, and presumably Sir Frank's. Not sure I would buy shares on that basis. Not saying they are not entitled to a return on all their years of hard work, but if I buy shares then I would want to know the business I have a piece of is going to survive. It also seems that the float was part of the agreement when the other partner, Toto Wolffe, bought his 10%, so is he looking to get out at some stage?

Tony Fernandes says he built his Lotus Team from one screw. Well he should be happy, Dany Bahar just provided the second one. Nothing I have read makes me like Dany, so let's hope the judge sorts this out the right way.

The other Lotus say they have five weeks to sort out a replacement for Kubica. Well the Jerez test starts tomorrow with only one more opportunity for a new driver to get up to speed in the car at the Barcelona test one week later. Let me know how this works out for you. Some people are just working out what I said two days ago, Kimi is not contracted to anyone as he is running his own rally team, renting the car from Citroen.

Nice to see Nissan back in Le Mans as an engine supplier to the Signature LMP2 team. We are seeing some new manufacturers coming in which is good as long as they do  not all bail out when they have had enough as past history has shown.

Aside from these tidbits there is little news, but let's look forward to Jerez and a lot of new cars.

It is interesting that Audi have gone from an open cockpit car to a closed for this year's Le Mans contender the R18, and Aston Martin has gone from a closed cockpit to an open. Can they both be right? Audi have preferred the open cockpit since they built the R8 due to the easier driver changes and less problems with visibility. They had power to burn presumably to overcome the extra drag. Now they say the restrictions on the engine mean they have to minimise drag, hence the closed cockpit. Allan McNish at the Autosport Show said that the petrol cars will be very competitive this year due to Article 19, and that the Aston was already very fast last year. So does Aston now have power to burn over the diesels and can therefore go to the open cockpit? I recall when Tony Dowe was running the Panoz he cut the roof off as the open cars at that time had some rule breaks which if I recall correctly allowed larger rear tires and a bigger fuel tank. Who makes this up? Although it did not have the elegance of the Coupe, it won races.  All part of the "knowing the rules and exploiting them" game that is motor sport.

Every journalist on earth must be at the Autosport Show or Wroom with Ferrari and Ducati. Not sure how much Ferrari and Co. spend on this bash but it is worth every penny in the PR onslaught they achieve at a time when there is not much else happening. Some one must have been in Venezuela to cover Maldanado in the Williams with Hugo Chavez and the deal with PDVSA. As I think Joe Saward commented, there ways of being a "pay for ride" driver without actually paying for it yourself, which is what most of these deals are. So Williams protesting that this is not a pay for play deal sounds a little far fetched. I don't really care if PDVSA give Sir Frank the money he needs to be competitive again  as long as Maldanado does not turn out to be another Eliseo Salazar.

I love Luca di Montezemolo, he says such great quotes. "maybe when others have won 10% of what Ferrari has won, then they can also have their say." He does not think Red Bull know how to behave as Champions, and is also using their overspending to point out the silliness of the RRA. And I love the comment on Brawn winning due to "technical drug taking." F1 on steroids. They presumably grew bigger diffusers.

On the home front I completed the text for my book, so now to find a publisher, edit and select the photos. I need a shot of me on the winners rostrum at Phillip Island in '89 if anyone knows a photographer who was there. I have a concept plan for the Circuit Grand Bayou and waiting on feedback from the client, who at first sight liked it a lot. Busy on a business plan for another project, so watch this space. Don't forget the Circuit Forum in LA in April, the program is just about done and will be out probably next week.