Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Was anyone else underwhelmed by the new qualifying session for NASCAR? Unlike F1, which this is presumably based on, starting on pole is meaningless in NASCAR, so not really any sense of excitement. The first session saw cars backing out into pit lane, blocking other drivers, and then parked at pit out, effectively blocking that. Not a good arrangement in my mind. I know they are trying to build the show at the track, but the old system was actually more exciting with one car on the track, but with the speed tracker showing us where the car was at all around the track, and the fast guys in practice going last. Let's see what NASCAR does to tweak this.

My last blog talked about the lack of spectators, and there were certainly none at PIR yesterday, but they did show up for the 500 on Sunday, on the front stretch at least, only to sit in the rain, lightning and tornado warning. See what the Weather Channel thought of their severe weather response.

http://www.weather.com/news/nascar-daytona-500-severe-weather-did-track-officials-do-enough-20140223

Not good enough from what should be our best track operator.

Who watched the Daytona telecasts last weekend? Certainly no one at the track. I can recall in the mid 2000's and before when people would come and camp for Speedweeks starting at the Rolex and stay through the 500, and watch the races. Not any more. One week before the 500 and the camp grounds are nearly empty, and the grandstands are totally empty. Granted a few turned up for the "demolition derby" they now call the "Unlimited." It was limited, to 18 cars, and by the time the race ended there were a lot less. Qualifying had nobody watching.

NASCAR has become a "made for television" event. The fees Fox et al pay are the only thing keeping this alive, you certainly cannot make money from admission any more. Makes you wonder why they are building a new stand at Daytona? The back stretch is coming out and going to Phoenix to replace the old front stretch there. So gone are the days of 250,000 plus at the 500.

There is some hope though with the crop of rookies racing this year. As I said we are seeing a new era with nearly a quarter of the field being rookies, and good ones too. Good racing might just turn this around.

There are a lot of pointers to suggest we may be seeing a new era in motorsport. Bernie's ongoing legal issues must distract him, if nothing else, and CVC have apparently decided to take more interest in what Bernie is doing. There are ongoing reports that American businessman and friend of Leo Hindery, John Malone, is sniffing around about buying F1. Seeing as how Bernie seems to keep ownership every time it is sold that will be interesting to watch. If successful it is deemed likely that his business model will be a better deal all round than the current one of CVC taking the money and running. That in itself makes me more optimistic. As a past promoter I can tell you the current business model is not sustainable in the long term, and I am not talking about being green.

Which leads us to the new F1 cars for 2014. I asked a while ago if anyone understood them, and received no takers. It seems the Mercedes boys don't understand them either.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/video/main-gallery/lewis-nico-uncut-off-the-record/   

I'm sure most of you have seen this, but too funny not to post. Motor Sport has a great article this month to explain the differences to last year's cars if you want to know more. We've had the first test, which went well for some and very badly for Red Bull, so a new era? Don't write them off too soon. The Lotus has run OK with the Renault engine so it is a packaging issue in the Red Bull. Niki Lauda said a while ago that these engines will destroy themselves if the operating temperature is not maintained within a very narrow margin. Pre-season tests are never a great guide to form, so let's see what happens in Bahrain. Early reports suggest a lot more attitude on the cars, which will be good to see. Speeds so far have been similar to GP2 cars, but most drivers feel that will improve. Let's hope so or we could really make the sport cheaper by running GP2 cars. Bernie is getting serious about a budget cap, offering a 1m Euro reward to whistle blowers who tell on over spenders. Let's see if that gets anywhere.

NASCAR is fiddling while Rome burns, changing qualifying and the way the Chase works. I said a long time ago that the Chase should be a knockout deal, with the last placed of the final ten or twelve, or thirteen, what ever Brian decides, being eliminated each race. That could get very interesting with team mates helping rivals out, literally, out against the wall. Nice to see some new blood here though, with the likes of Kyle Larson getting a top ride. Seems like Richard Petty had a few choice words about Danica.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/richard-petty-doesn-t-danica-chances-winning-says-163159096--nascar.html?&co=f000000013912s-1248979085

Is he the only one man enough to say what we all think?

Sportscar racing started a new era with the Tudor United Sportscar Series. Did anyone else find it odd that the first race of the series, sponsored by a watch brand no one has heard of, was the Rolex? The only signage was Rolex, so what is that all about? Can't say I enjoyed the 24 Hour. Thanks to Fox the first few hours were not on our cable system, than around 5 pm they showed the first two hours, totally unscheduled and lucky to even find it. Daytona is a boring track, and can't say the racing was great. Not hard to stage close races when you are running spec cars. Hopefully IMSA will get the balance of performance right soon. I could not believe Calvin Fish's comment about IMSA trying to get the P2 class up to the DP level, when we all know last year they were much quicker at Road America when they both raced on the same weekend. He is either an idiot or a liar, and who benefits from that sort of misleading comment if not the DP cars which are the child of ISC?

If you want to see great sportscar racing then you should have watched the Bathurst 12 hour. No spec racing here, and four cars capable of winning right down to the wire. Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Mercedes, all on the limit after 12 hours. This is real Bathurst, not the spec series the V8's put on with 24 cars all the same. We had Ferrari's, Lambo's, Porsche's, Audi's and Merc's all dicing with Fiat Abarths, and even a Ford Focus with a V8 squeezed in etc. What endurance racing is about, and how Bathurst used to be. I cannot believe how small the crowd was to watch this great racing. Surely worth more of a look than the 1000? But I am forgetting the Ford V's Holden mentality of the Aussies motorsport fan. What are they going to do once both of these stop making cars in Oz very soon, go back to HQ V's Falcon from the 70's? Due to the time difference I am sad to say I did not stop up to see the end, but did watch it later thanks to YouTube, great stuff. Live streaming with Radio Le Mans commentary, does not get much better, but of course ISC knows better so we no longer have John and Paul for the TUSCS.  

So, on to a new year with renewed hope we will not get a repeat of last years snooze in F1. No wonder the ratings are dropping.

With the raft of ideas coming out of the FIA lately you would think someone has been at the cool-aid. Or maybe Bernie thinks if he makes it more like NASCAR the Americans will understand and like F1. Driver's permanent numbers, compulsory pit stops, what next, yellows for debris?

Bernie has spent a long time making F1 about teams and not drivers. In his words, "drivers are like busses, another one will be along soon." He has built the teams into valuable franchises with permanent numbers except for the current driver's championship. Now he wants to change all that and give drivers permanent numbers, as if we can read the car number anyway. Good for merchandise I guess, except under the current system they get to change numbers so we all need to buy new stuff don't we? 

Then there are compulsory pit stops. Either you want to spice up the racing with short life tires and different strategies or you don't. If you don't then just make tires last the whole race, or more, like the engines and gearboxes and really start getting serious about being green.

Let's not forget double points for the last race. How about a "Chase" where the points get reset so Vettel has to start even for the last four races. Oh yes, NASCAR thought this was a great idea. How to piss off fans without really trying.

This all smacks of that old trick of floating a lot of stupid ideas wherein is the one you really want so you trade those you don't want and seem like a good guy. What is it Bernie or the FIA want? How about a real budget cap? Good luck making that work. How about giving more money to the people who make the show, the teams, so they do not need pay drivers and make it a bit more equitable. Yes the best teams should be rewarded, but the teams at the back are never going to make it if starved of cash. I am not suggesting an NFL style inverse system where the worst team gets the best players. You would see teams trying to lose to get more money, but there should be a more reasonable basis than now. I for one can't wait to be shot of CVC, and not just for another robber baron. 

You may wonder why I prattle on about track safety here in the US. Here is a photo of an incident at what is supposed to be one of our top tracks, owned by the largest track owner in the world.

The photographer suffered three broken ribs, three broken bones in his upper left arm along with two puncture wounds in his arm from the breaks, a small “brain bleed,” and multiple cuts and abrasions. Lucky to be alive. Not much in this photo is correct.

Meanwhile, NASCAR has made up new rules to prevent a recurrence of the "race" at Richmond, including the need for drivers to race at 100%. 100% of what? If a driver is leading but in fuel saving mode, is he disqualified? And then we had the Chicago farce. After sitting around for 5+ hours most of the few spectators that were there had gone home. So what did we do once they actually put cars on the track? Went to a pit stop under yellow. Why not start the race and let them take their chances with a green flag stop? The TV guys were even better, no sooner had the pit stops finished they went to an ad! At that point I turned off, as I suspect both the other viewers did too.

So JPM to Penske in IRL. It always struck me as odd that Ganassi sacked JPM from the NASCAR team and then suggested he might like him in his Indycar. Why not just transfer him? No wonder JPM said yes please to Roger. Should be interesting to see him next year, might liven up the racing.

No surprise that Baltimore is not back next year. Good riddance, awful track, and how they could say they had a larger crowd this year is beyond even most promoters imagination.

Kimi to Ferrari, you read it here.