Bob Barnard Track Engineering

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 Carlos Checa managed half the race at Estoril, that was a really good move putting him on the bike. He "worked" his way up to 11th, maybe that was because three guys fell off before he quit. Well done Lorenzo, beat the Doctor in a straight fight, and very good to see young Bradl winning, I was a big fan of his Dad.

Sounds like Talledega was its usual mess, and Jimmie is still in front for the chase. DTM put on a show in Adria in a shortened race due to Premat's huge crash, I'd like to see more of that. Hard to see but did he hit the end of that safety fence?

Spent a wonderful day with my wife Xan exploring this great State of Arizona. Some spectacular scenery. Sol Real very quiet at the moment, analyzing some different sites. Reconnected with a great guy from my past, the TV Director from Sanctuary Cove, Phil Olsman. I thought of Phil while writing the chapter of my book on Sanctuary Cove and thought I need to find him, and there he is on LinkedIn, ain't the internet wonderful.

A couple of odd pieces of news today caught my eye. BMW is "considering a V8Supercar entry." As far as I knew, and I would think most motorsport fans are concerned, the V8's are a closed shop. Toyota have even tried court action to get an entry, so why should BMW, a yuppies car not liked by your average aussie race fan, think they can just apply? Well lo and behold, the V8 Supremo said in response, "We would love a brand like BMW to be involved," V8 Supercars boss Tony Cochrane told AUTOSPORT. "We're very open-minded about working with them and trying to find some common ground. We're talking about quite a few manufacturers at the moment and we're trying to be as accommodating as we humanly can." What an odd way to put it, "accommodating as we humanly can." What does that mean? Is it a Japanese no? The success of the V8's is built on the Ford/GM rivalry that borders on fanatical, that is where "fan" comes from. There was a time when the Touring Car series, as it then was, had BMW, Nissan, and Toyota, and Ford's were Mustangs or Sierra's, not quite the fair dinkum aussie Ford. Then there were two series, one with 2 liter super tourers for the BMW's etc to win, but we know who won that battle. So, are we going to see a real BMW out there, even a DTM silhouette car, or are we going to see a spec racer with a BMW badge on the front? At the price of BMW's in Australia I am amazed they sell any of them.

The other odd news was that Jeff Gordon, who has Dupont paint in his veins, is to lose them as a major sponsor and replace them with an ARRP Foundation "Drive To End Hunger" campaign sponsorship. ARRP Foundation ultimately expects the sponsorship will help raise far more funding that they will actually spend, estimates about the foundation's investment being between US $10 and $15 million per season. Is that all? You can feed a lot of people for that, or buy a lot of lobbyists. I dislike most of what ARRP does, it seems to me as a past member they are more interested in selling insurance than anything else, and this smacks of desperation on the part of Hendricks, and a stunt on the part of ARRP to promote their insurance in the guise of a worthy cause. If NASCAR wants to help this cause get each of the drivers and owners to drop a percentage of their prizemoney in it. It is like the NASCAR "jeans day" deal, buy a pin and wear jeans to the office. This is one of the wealthiest group of people in America, you donate the money.

Saturday morning and it is pretty quiet on the motorsport front apart from Phillip Island. Must be the end of the season. Weather sounds wonderful down at the Island, cold, wet and windy. Did not stop Stoner from capturing the pole from Lorenzo and Ben Spies doing a great job in third despite not running much Friday. Capirossi having a bad day despite the fact he won his first 125cc Championship on such a weekend in 1990. Rossi is down in eighth and not happy, and Pedrosa has thought better of it and stopped racing this weekend. Could be a race between Stoner and Lorenzo. Gone are the days when five guys were duking it out, how sad. Lookout though, some new blood is coming, Carlos Checa is making a return at age 38! Can they really not find anyone under thirty to ride these bikes?

Elsewhere our would be F1 driver, Danica, had her best Nationwide Series finish. "Danica Patrick finished 21st on her ninth NASCAR Nationwide Series outing at Charlotte, taking her best career finish in the the series thus far." The fact that she started 18th should not spoil a good news story.

Is this about Bernie? No, he already has that with his latest signing of the agreement in Russia with Putin present no less. No it is about the DTM. BMW have finally got off the fence and announced their commitment to what has been a two horse race series between Audi and Mercedes, and no worse for it in the vein of the V8Supercars in Oz. Rumors have abounded about tie ups with both the Japanese Super GT series and Grand Am, but now it seems it will go further than that. The Japanese are to adopt the DTM rules for car preparation, so presumably manufacturers can compete in both and would not that be something to see. Nissan, Lexus and Honda mixing it with Mercedes, Audi and BMW, and with some of the best drivers in the world. What a show! It gets better. The plan is not to run in Grand Am, but to run as a separate series of twelve races in the US, six with Grand Am events and six with NASCAR events. Look out ALMS, we're coming through, and BTCC and WTCC are going to look a bit sick. No spec cars here with the same chassis and engine. Could even give NASCAR a run in the US as the DTM guys biff and barge as the old NASACAR boys used to do. Did you see Dijon last year?

Down at Phillip Island the conditions were the talking point among the riders and the spectators. Rain delayed practice and wind was another big problem. A racetrack next to the sea looks great on a nice day, but when there is nothing between you and Antarctica it can be awful, I know I lived there. For once I am glad I am not promoting that race. Pedrosa was in more pain than most with his freshly plated shoulder, but the wet conditions made it a bit easier for him. Very courageous men these riders. Lorenzo celebrated his World Championship with fastest time in Friday practice. He has vowed to put on a show now he does not need to worry about points, so it should be fun. Casey Stoner was next with his teammate Hayden third. Most riders saw little point in pushing it in the conditions, with Ben Spies presumably just touring around seventeen seconds off the pace.  The weather can change several times a day there, so tomorrow can be quite different, although running the race this time of year is always going to be a gamble. It is promoted by the Government who presumably do not want it to compete with the F1 GP, but a race early in the year is really the way to go.

A couple of nice articles to read. Last Turn Club has a review of the Petit which is right on the money, and ESPN  F1 discusses the never ending march of Bernie through more and more countries and asks where will it end?

"If the promised races go ahead, then the real losers are likely to be the established venues, mainly in Europe. Bernie deals on the back of massive financial guarantees from the tracks. The new venues he has unveiled - some good, some appalling - have almost all had the benefit of huge funding from local or central government. The older circuits simply cannot match the money being thrown at Ecclestone.

When Bernie faced with sentimentality, or even public opinion, against cash, there will only be one winner."