Bob Barnard Track Engineering

D'Ambrosio does, or he will till he drives it. So another shoe has dropped and we are left with HRT and Force India, barring surprises. It seems D'Ambrosio, odd name for a Belgian, has won the ride on merit and not his wallet, and no Russian driver in sight.

So "Lotus Racing" has rebranded itself as "Team Lotus." All semantics to us plebs. I'd be just as supportive if they called it Air Asia. I know the brand is valuable, but not when we know it isn't really Lotus and it is being devalued all the time with the current squabble.

It seems that we are going even further back to the future with "tea tray" front wings from 2013, i.e. flat and short, not the convoluted things we see hanging out in the breeze waiting to be knocked off these days. This is something from the early eighties to go with the eighties turbo. Patrick Head and Rory Byrne were tasked with coming up with the regs for 2013, which will see even smaller rear wings and more downforce from under the car. Hang on, isn't that called "ground effects" and didn't we ban that as too dangerous? The worst part of this whole story, which I had to check the date on to see it was not April 1st, was the quote from Patrick.

"(In 2013) We are only going to have roughly 65 per cent of the amount of fuel and a (limited) fuel (flow) rate - that was a given," Head, engineering boss and co-owner at Williams, confirmed.

"We were just told ’That’s what it will be, you’ve got to come up with a car spec that is not going to be more than five seconds a lap slower than a current F1 car’.

So slower than a current GP2 car? What are we doing here? As Montezemolo said the other day "This is Formula One which should be the spearhead of technological development."

Murphy The Bear has a new posting which gets even more gloomy for ALMS and LMP1 cars every time. Why don't we just run the series for GT3 cars and enjoy it without having to worry about those other cars coming past and pushing them off the track? Murphy has a worst projection of two cars and a unlikely max of five. Why bother for other than the Sebring and Petit races?

If you think that the row between the Australian GP and the ASN, CAMS, is over, then watch this space. Last straw comes to mind for some people down under.

The latest post by Murphy The Bear gives a run down on all the latest rumors in sportscar racing here in the States, give it a read. http://murphythebear.com/blog/index.php/2010/12/04/179-speculating-and-adding-detail/#more-940

So Michael Schumacher says it is all the car's fault he was so slow this year, and his car had things go wrong that Nico's didn't, and he is not happy. So what is he implying? He has told Mercedes to lift their game, look in the mirror Michael.

Mike Gascoyne has told his team that this year was the dress rehearsal and next year they need to step up a gear and run with the big boys. Reminds me of the pep talks I used to give my team running events. The day before we started I reminded them that this was what we had been training and organizing for all year, so now we have to perform. And then when we got to race day it was "great job, but now is the two hours that really matters when the world is watching."

Mark Webber is a glutton for punishment, breaking his shoulder again prior to the last four races after another mountain bike accident. Shades of Montoya. C'mon Mark, look after yourself and go out and win the Championship, then you can ride all you want.

I watched part of the GT race from San Luis and it struck me that there were few if any passing opportunities around that track. One of those tracks that is probably really fun to drive on your own, but racing is a procession.

Not sure what to say today. Murphy The Bear's latest offering in the rumor department does not make for pleasant reading for ALMS. You have to really wonder how long this can limp along outside of Sebring and Petit. Makes you feel even more depressed at the state of racing in North America. IRL are sounding all gung ho about how good this year was, except drivers like Tony Kanaan cannot get sponsorship. It's going to be a long cold winter, well everywhere except here in Arizona. Interwetten has dropped out of MotoGP, so how many bikes on the grid in 2011? Has anyone got any good news? Maybe the election results will cheer me up?

At least HRT is positive about 2011 and have purchased the gearbox from Williams to go with the Cosworth and avoid this years hydraulic and gearbox problems. Let's hope they have a car to put them in and some money to run them now that Bernie has dubbed them "cripples" and should go away.

Ferrari plans a "very careful" approach to the last two races. Let's see how Massa likes that at this weekends Brazilian GP. And how careful can Alonso be, he does not have that many points in hand he can drive around in fifth. Not in his nature either I would think.

So Bernie thinks Singapore is a "jewel" that gets polished better every year? That may be the 5000 feet view, or the one from the balance sheet, but closer to the action it's not much of a jewel for us race fans. Why did Massa's Ferrari sit in the middle of the track with no marshals trying to move it, in fact not one in sight, and no cranes to lift it. Do these people not look at other races? Monaco, which is a jewel, shows every year how to do it

Massa apparently had a gearbox problem, but they chose to change the engine as well as he was last on the grid anyway. Sort of follows from my blog a couple of days ago about potential problems for Ferrari. Let's see how Alonso goes in the race. Should be interesting as it is still very close among the five championship contenders. It is really anybody's race, and anyone's race to lose. Webber and Button are the two most likely not to put it in the wall, but I guess we will see.

Murphy The Bear has a new posting today on the state of sportscar, and notes, as I have been saying, the lack of "buzz." Makes it hard for us bloggers when nothing stirs the spirit. Petit Le Mans next weekend, so let's hope for some more interest. Always a great race, second only to the 24 hour for me, and don't forget the Radio Le Mans feed for those of us who do not want SPEED's endless nonsense. I have to take my hat off to them, I could not remember so much useless verbiage to keep spouting, unless they have someone supplying a script. If they do we need to find that person and take away his pen.

The ongoing saga of Korea. Apparently the surface was still not down this last week, and the final inspection is supposed to be Tuesday. Bernie has his money they say, so the race will go on regardless. He who has the gold makes the rules?

I want to thank Peter G for his comments, especially pointing out that for a series that is trying to be "green," night racing uses an enormous amount of unnecessary energy. I have made this comment in respect of NASCAR, video boards at the Cowboys stadium, soccer night matches, etc. Why is F1, or motor racing in general, the only one who has to be relevant in terms of energy saving? Has anyone an idea on the amount of energy required to light Singapore or Abu Dhabi, compared to say, the amount of fuel the cars use?

So, Mr. Rossi is feeling a lot stronger following his three week break, and he is not talking about his leg. Seeing as how he was fighting for a podium before the vacation the other boys should start worrying now about their chances at Brno this weekend. Interesting suggestions for a Rossi/Ducati/Fiat link up next year, with Fiat's sponsorship of Yamaha ending. That would be a marketing persons dream come true. Also in the news, Ducati just bought the MV Augusta name back. Apparently Harley Davidson had it, who knew? What works of art those bikes were, so with Ducati can they reclaim that lost glory? Hard to improve on what Ducati already sell, but I'm sure some genius will think of something.

Elsewhere Murphy The Bear's latest rumor blog seems to be painting a negative picture for sports car racing, although it is hard to tell as some of it seems to be semi-positive. The common thread seems to be that GT racing is on the up, which is  no bad thing as that is where the best racing is at the moment. The ACO who runs Le Mans and the Le Mans Series is talking about not allowing manufacturer teams to race in non-Intercontinental Cup events. I like the idea and lean toward not allowing manufacturers to run teams at all, just make cars to sell to privateers. Unless there are a lot of Manufacturer teams then the racing is very lop sided. Yes the Peugeot/Audi contest is great to watch, but it puts everyone else in the shade. What if they were all Oreca like teams? Much more even competition as we see when the works teams do not run in LMS. Same problem in MotoGP, no one can compete against the works teams.

Bruno Senna has come out and told us what we already know. HRT has no money to develop the car and who knows if they will be on the grid next year. Virgin is looking to finish tenth in the teams competition by virtue of one race finish higher than the other two new teams have managed so far. Not much of an ambition, but they way they have been performing a pretty tall order, and it only needs Lotus to crack a point and they are done. Tenth is vitally important for a team as it is a money paying position for next year. Suggestions are that the FIA may not accept any new teams bid for 2011. Getting a bit late for a decision if you are going to build a car from scratch, so the prophesy becomes self fulfilling.