Bob Barnard Track Engineering

What a weekend! Crashes marred almost all the racing, and unfortunately took the life of an up and coming young American rider, Peter Lenz, at Indianapolis. The description of the incident shows that whatever we do with a track as designers the worst can still happen, and does, when two cars or bikes get together. The number of falls at the MotoGP, Rossi fell four times in the weekend, begs the question of what is wrong with the track surface? Indy has a history of problems with grip and tires for NASCAR, F1, and now MotoGP. From looking at the race I was amazed at the extent of the cracking on the infield track, which is not really that old. I know Indy has some bad weather in winter, but that seemed strange. The bumps cannot be bad asphalt laying, it must be movement in the base, but again, why?

The Moto2 race looked insane, with riders going down everywhere. Looked like a GP2 race! Speed did their usual bang up job, replacing the regular commentators with Larry and Mo, Diffey and Russell, and was more interested in giving us "background color" than showing us the race. Not that the race was very exciting, but more than Nicky Hayden at the dirt track!  I thought Australians were jingoistic, but American commentators beat us hands down.

I see that Valentino is calling for the removal of the electronic aids from the bikes to make the show more exciting. It certainly needs something. Apart from Ben Spies leading for a while, there was little to keep me watching except for professional interest. Not sure just removing the aids will do it though. It needs a group of equally good riders on equivalent machines, no not spec racers, but manufacturers all producing good machines. Suzuki certainly is not, Ducati is not on par, and Honda is up and down. And not just two from each either. Back when we saw Yamaha for instance with KR, Ago, and Sarron's team, six "works" bikes with good riders.

Spa turned on its' usual show. We moved house over the weekend and for some reason my DVD did not record, so will have to watch the replay Wednesday, but from the accounts it was a very good race. Well done Lewis and McLaren. Red Bull shot themselves in the foot again. Webber's anti-stall kicked in at the start which let Hamilton jump him and never look back, and Vettel did his now accustomed self-destruct, this time taking Button out instead of his team mate. Barrichello ran into Alonso and put himself out early, while Alonso took himself out later. Good result for Kubica and Renault. What would he do if he had a McLaren or Red Bull? Mercedes continue to be the mystery of the season. Season is building to another close finish, but now I have a problem. I have always liked Lewis, but I love Mark's grit and he is an Australian. So I cannot lose whoever wins the Championship, but who do I want to win?

And then there was Mosport, that 50 year old jewel. Well those 50 year old pine guard rail posts did not take kindly to being smacked by a 2010 Porsche. I told Don that they needed changing when I inspected the track after he bought it in 1998! Timber posts can be used if already in place, but are supposed to be rectangular hardwood, not old, round, pine. As soon as I saw that crash I knew they were never going to get that rail repaired. Even steel posts would still have given, that is the way rail is supposed to behave, and that is why I personally prefer a concrete block wall. It still moves, but is easy to pull back into place. The race? Shades of Lime Rock with cars running into each other all over the place. Interesting rather than exciting.

Good to see Boris Said finally win a NASCAR race, even if it was a Nationwide event. Sounds like a good race with Papis and Villenueve right there at the end.

Well Spa is living up to its tradition of throwing up odd results. Rained of course, but not all the time, which is also as usual. We are actually moving house as we speak and my recording of practice, it starts a bit early here in Arizona, was interrupted by the cable company swapping the service earlier than we expected, so I have yet to see any of it. Just reading the reports though sounds pretty bizarre. Practice held up by spectators climbing the debris fence! I've seen them climb it in Suzuka at the end of the eight hour and run across the track, and I've seen grandma and the kids break a hole in it at Paul Ricard during the GP to get a better look, but not heard of this one. Then the lights at the end of pit lane would not change? Whole session disrupted so the times are a bit pot luck. Alonso quickest and Hamilton third, so that's not so strange, but Sutil second? It shows that some characteristic of the Force India car especially suits Spa following last years performance. It will be interesting to see if this will continue through the weekend. Webber is way down the field, but says he is not concerned. The comment I liked was Michael showing you can go through Eau Rouge with opposite lock. Now that would be something to see! Not that it did him any good timewise by the look of it.

Red Bull passed the flexi wing test, not that there was any doubt it would, they are way too smart for that.

GP2 qualifying sounds even more chaotic than F1 practice, with the track flooded at one point and a load of accidents. Shook up the order, so that race could be more fun than usual. Series leader Maldonado ended up third in his Rapax team car. Always wondered where the name Rapax came from, and it comes from a Roman Legion with the motto, "we came to win." Very apt for the race team, but it seems the Legion got wiped out!

Lots of activity on the motorcycle front with Ben Spies being confirmed as Lorenzo's team mate for next year. Well deserved after a good rookie season, if you can call a World Superbike Champion a rookie. Colin Edwards is apparently still hoping to retain his Tech 3 ride, while Divizioso is looking to keep his ride at Honda when Casey Stoner moves over. Stoner meanwhile is fastest in first practice at Indy with Lorenzo second and Valentino fifth. What is the story there, Vale still nursing his shoulder and leg? Ducati has withdrawn its' factory team from the World Superbike, a series it has supported and at times dominated since it inception. It says it will leave it to privateer teams to race their machines, but did not sound too please with the direction the class is heading. It sounds as if WSBK is heading away from production machines, which I thought was the whole point, and MotoGP seems to be dumbing down. So in the end we arrive at two series both looking the same? That always seemed inevitable as soon as MotoGP went to four strokes. IRL v's Cart, Grand Am v's ALMS anyone?

ALMS is at Mosport this weekend, a track described by ALMS this way on it's web site. "When it comes to old-school, Mosport International Raceway is as close as it gets. The site of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón’s eighth and penultimate round has many of the same features it did when it opened 50 years ago – high speed, dangerous curves and a certain level of risk." Could not have put it better myself. Sounds just what you want for an International Race Series in 2010.

Grand Am is supporting the Nationwide series up in Montreal, which should be worth a look to see them on a decent track for once. Can anyone beat Ganassi though?

Finally, congratulations to Rubens for his 300th race. Who could have imagined any driver reaching that milestone? Just putting up with the travel would stop me a long time before that. Eddie Lawson said that he would not have retired if he could have had a helicopter pick him up at his front door and drop him at the track.

Seeing as how we are in the middle of a break for F1, and about midway through the championship, I thought I would give you my score card on the teams and drivers.

Clearly the best car is the Red Bull, and should be where Brawn was last year. Two great drivers, so what's gone wrong? Poor management of the drivers and some reliability issues have cost them, and Vettel is either accident prone or has bad luck, but I think he does not have his head in the right place. They could wrap this whole thing up if they decided who they want to win the championship, and I would back Webber, and no, not because he is an Australian. He has the focus right now, and Vettel has time on his side.

Ferrari are a bit of an enigma, great one week and off the pace another. Alonso is driving up to his usual standard but his Latin temperament gets in the way sometimes, but you can't have one without the other. Massa is even more up and down. He obviously still has it, but it does not always show up this year. There is obviously something about the car that it is not consistent. Alonso and Ferrari could still pull this off, but they need to sort out team orders, did I really say that, before they get on track.

McLaren have been behind the eight ball all season. As always they never give up and their development pace is the best in the business, but they are playing catch up every race. They are managing their two drivers better than anyone else, with Hamilton for me the best driver out there. He makes the car do more than it should, while Button seems always to be waiting for his chance, for the car to be right, for the tires to be right, etc. Don't get me wrong, he has had some great drives this year, and is the reason McLaren even have a shot at the Constructors title.

Mercedes have to be the disappointment of the season. You take a Championship team and back it with Mercedes money, bring in a young hot driver, and Michael, and you would expect them to be competing at the front. Compared to Red Bull these three teams missed the basic car design. As Nico Rosberg said, the basic car is not right, and trying to start from that base with development does not get you there. Nico is driving better than he did at Williams, and once he has the right car he will be a force. The less said about Michael the better.

Renault and Williams are for me the teams doing most for less. Renault have Kubica which is flattering the car I think, but Petrov is also putting in some good drives like Hungary, so the car cannot be that bad, and considering last years problems and the new ownership they are punching above their weight. So too is Williams, the best of the Cosworth brigade by a country mile. It is not consistent, but who is except Red Bull, and Rubens continues to put in some very good drives and shows no signs of getting stale or just driving for the money. Hulkenburg is having a good rookie season, so Williams are probably going to retain both. If Williams bring in some investment money then they can hopefully return to the force they were.

Sauber is also doing well considering the last minute pull out by BMW and Peter carrying the team. Again inconsistent, and both drivers have had bad days, but we have also seen some good ones. I doubt Pedro will be back next year, and maybe Kobayashi may not be back. Depends on what happens with the team ownership, Peter cannot keep funding this thing, and there is an obvious lack of sponsors on the car.

Force India showed a burst of performance late last year that surprised everyone. Unfortunately that does not seem to have carried over to this season, and losing a lot of their Tech people cannot help. Not sure what is going on here as there are ongoing rumors about their finances. They do continue to develop the car with the latest innovations, so can't be all bad. Sutil is wasted in this car, but not sure there is a seat available anywhere else. Luizi is up and down, and seems to have had bad luck with his chassis, but who else would you pit in the car at the moment?

Torro Rosso are actually doing well for a driver development team that has to design and build it's own car these days. Buemi and Alguersuari seem on a par and at times putting in good drives, apart from running into each other at times, but even the best teams do that don't they?

That brings us to the new boys. Lotus is clearly the class of the rear of the field, and I agree with Bernie that they are the one likely to survive. They all have surprising reliability problems which is really hurting their development. With no testing then if you do not run race weekend you can never move forward. Seems Lotus is moving to the Renault engine, which I am not sure is a good move, but Williams and Renault seem evenly matched so who knows? I'm sure Mike Gascoyne does. Maybe it will solve his hydraulic problems. Trulli and Hekki are doing the best they can with what they have as you would expect.

Virgin is not quite as bad as HRT, but it is a close run thing. Cannot imagine Sir Richard putting up with this situation next year, so he needs to get out or fund this properly. At the moment it is money that is worse than wasted, it is very negative exposure. What can you say about HRT? The situation is not poor Colin Kolles' fault, but not sure if he is the one to solve it. He has been with a few teams now, and none are what you would say really successful. Having a "renter driver" shows how desperate they are for money, and Dallara did them no favors with the car, but who knows what the real story is as far as payment went for what they did.

Let's hope the rest of the season is as entertaining as most of the first half has been, provided Red Bull do not finally get their act together.

Over at the ALMS we are already down on prototype cars and we have lost the CytoSport Porsche before the weekend started. The Drayson Lola is on pole by a comfortable margin. I suppose Lord Drayson is fit again, so we will see what happens in the race. Highcroft is slowest of the three front runners, but somehow they find ways to win.

Grand Am is at Watkins Glen again as a support to the NASCAR race, so watch for that tomorrow.

Elliott Sadler's massive crash at Pocono yesterday brings home the danger built in to some tracks. The answer will undoubtedly be, "no one has crashed there in ...years." That changes nothing, it was sitting there for someone to hit, and eventually they will. He was a lucky boy to walk away from that, and obviously NASCAR have made strides in their car safety, but this should not have happened. Someone from NASCAR must approve their tracks, so why was this there?

Following yesterday's Hungarian GP and my comments on Vettel, I read my latest edition of Motorsport. Nigel Roebuck writes a great opinion piece each month called "Reflections," and this month he reflected on the situation at Red Bull and young master Vettel. I like his quote from film maker Sam Spiegel, "You make a star, you make a monster." Reminds me of comments from Gary Howard who runs International Racers and manages most of the American motorcycle stars of the last few decades who talked about how you find great young talent, and you only have yourself to blame for what you create.

Nigel goes on to say that "while Vettel is hardly that (a monster), still it's been clear for a while that the impish schoolboy is receding swiftly into the memory. When things go wrong for Sebastian, I'm told, it's as well to stand well back as the toys come flying out of the pram." Not a great basis for winning Championships. Now as most people who know me well will attest, I have been known to throw the odd thing, especially hats. But I am not racing in F1. Lewis Hamilton has also been known to wear his heart on his sleeve at times, as has Mark Webber as recently as Silverstone, but there is something different about their response. They grit their teeth and get on with it, while Seb hangs his head and loses focus. There is also the denial thing, "I had radio problems." Lights are visual for a reason, he did not need the radio to tell them they had gone out. If you screw up say so and get on with it.

Hope you have had a chance to visit the Sol Real web site. This will update regularly, and there will be new renderings of the site layout and details of some of the buildings being added in the next couple of days.

The word of the day is web. Sol Real, pronounced like the Real Madrid soccer team, Real meaning "Royal," went live this morning. Log on to www.solrealmotorsportresort.com and check it out. First steps in a long road, but all important.

Mark Webber made it another 'web" day with his win in Hungary, against all odds as they say. When he did not pit with the others I stupidly assumed his race was done, he was going to have to pit and would come out last, but someone knew better than me, or I presume they did. Was it smart strategy or pure luck? "More a.. than class" as we would say in Australia? Those soft option tires are not supposed to go 43 laps, and certainly not at the pace Mark was going. Maybe the team knew from practice that they would last, but I do not recall them using them for very long runs. Good luck or good strategy, either way it was an inspired drive by Mark, and it is great to see him getting recognition and results at last.

Vettel has gone from child star to spoiled brat. His after race comments were so stupid. He did not know the safety car was coming in as he had no radio! I guess he was so far behind it he could not see the lights go out on the car? At first I thought he is doing the team thing and letting Mark open a gap so he could come in and change tires without losing too many spots, but that cannot be it. Unless he starts to get his head sorted he is never going to be  a World Champion.

One nice touch from the pre-race was Bernie giving Massa a big hug and some personal words. Didn't know he had it in him.

Schumacher's move on Barrichello was nothing short of criminal. I do not know how Ross Brawn can defend it, but I guess he has done it for ten years or more. Michael got away with the same move on Massa in Canada, but the Stewards have at last done something and given him a ten place grid penalty for Spa. I know some of you like him, but I never have done, and the sooner he retires again the better. Poor Nico Rosberg, he deserved so much more from this race, but well done Petrov and Hulkenburg.

It was pretty amazing that Vettel could not get around Alonso given the pace of the Red Bull, but they are not quick in a straight line, which is both their strength and their weakness. How do you explain Button's drive? Hamilton was on pace with the Ferraris and heading for fourth before he broke, very unusual these days, and Button seemed incapable of passing anyone. He is a bit of a mystery, just seems to lack that "tiger" that Lewis has.

The FIA has stepped in to try and end the flexi-wing debate with a doubling of the test load for the next race. Was this the trick wing that caused the debacle at Silverstone for Red Bull? And is it just the wing? The FIA are also looking at floor fixing details, as it is suggested that is part of the problem too. If this wing and/or floor was only introduced at Silverstone how did Ferrari develop it so fast? Or were they working on it at the same time?

American driver Alexander Rossi won the second GP3 race in Hungary from pole. In these classes where they have two races in a weekend they invert the top eight finishers, so finish eighth in the first race and you start on pole for the second. It shows how even the cars and drivers are when eighth can win the next day. Not sure of the points, but I know Alexander is close to the top of the championship standings in his first season.

Over at Spa the 24hrs was won by a Porsche after the leading BMW had an off in the last hour, and Michael Waltrip, yes the NASCAR driver, finished third in the GT2 class in a Ferrari!