Bob Barnard Track Engineering

So Michael Waltrip's team fixed the NASCAR race at Richmond with Bowyer spinning in response to a radio conversation? Shades of Renault F1 and Nelson Piquet Jr. There the driver had to leave F1 as did the team chief and chief engineer. What happens in NASCAR? 50 points deducted and a fine, a large fine, but that's all. Bowyer can still win the Championship. Helton says there was no conclusive proof, so how can you dock points and fine people? Either they did or they didn't. If they did why are they still racing? I know everyone pushes the envelope of the rules, but does this say cheating is just a part of NASCAR? This is stretching team orders a bit too far.

So the hot rumor is Kimi is going to Ferrari to join Alonso. That should be interesting, I doubt Kimi is going to move over when asked. Is Alonso staying? That is the next question. I am not surprised Kimi is going back, he did not want to leave and is smart enough to know to not cut off his nose to spite his face. So, Alonso to McLaren? No Lewis there now. 

Well it would be if it wasn't so serious for the teams that have to repair the cars. I asked the question a while ago why anyone watches Indycar, a rhetorical question, but the one that follows is why would Baltimore want to stage a race on a terrible race track that has for three years now shown the city in nothing but a bad light. Some people would give them a pass in year one, not me, but some would and did. But by the third year they have learned nothing, and done nothing to resolve the safety issues. Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result is the basis of stupidity. 

So we have damaged cars, lost points, and short "races." The cost to the teams would pay for the improvements, and if I were a spectator I would be asking for my money back for the amount of racing I saw. The Indycars were hard pushed to do a lap before running into each other, and let's not talk about the ALMS start! If possible there were less spectators on Sunday than Saturday, maybe they saw enough Saturday to know what to expect Sunday. As Gordon Kirby rightly says on his race report for Motor Sport magazine, when are Indycar going to realize that putting your show on at bad tracks does no one any good. I think I have said this a few times myself. Like staging Sinatra in a pig stye. 

It was a big weekend of racing with WEC at Sao Paulo, MotoGP at Silverstone, and NASCAR at Atlanta. WEC lacked any real interest once the Toyota was punted off. The most exciting time was the Ferrari catching fire, and being destroyed due to the lack of effective fire response. Not good enough for a World Championship. MotoGP put on their usual good show, but let's hope there are more competitive machines next year. Marquez is an obvious worthy Champion and following in Kenny Roberts footsteps in what he is achieving in his rookie year. NASCAR was the usual biff and barge, but good to see Kyle Bush winning. With Tony Stewart a real racer. Good to see Kyle Larson getting a ride too, well deserved, he has driven just about anything he can get into this year. Chip Gannassi has had him under contract for a while it seems, but still not sure why Ryan Newman is out when Danica can only run midfield at best. Checkbook race politics. Kurt Busch deserves the chance after what he has done with the Denver Mattress car this year. 

Not sure Daniel Ricciardo has done enough, but I hope to be proved wrong. At least it answers one question about who goes where next year. Kimi was never going to Red Bull, but Ferrari? He was pushed out if you recall, so he might enjoy going back to prove them wrong, but will Alonso really want him? Alonso had everyone going last weekend with the tweets on a big announcement, and great to see him support his local cycling team and hopefully get them up winning with the top teams.

We are still waiting to find out about whose tires F1 is using next year, and where we will be racing, and of course the new engine and car package will shake up the pieces. In the meantime we have Monza to look forward to.

Last weekend saw three major races, each with their own character, equally interesting and worth watching.

It kicked off with Lewis Hamilton taking an unlikely pole position, surprising himself and everyone else. I will admit to being tired and not getting up to watch qualifying live as it seemed from Friday practice it would be a Red Bull walk over. But we've seen this before haven't we? Just wait for the race. Now Hungaroring is not the most exciting track, we've seen races won from pole because no one could pass, but that was not likely was it? Well no it wasn't because as Lewis said, "today I was not having it." We saw a determined Lewis, but a very different one from the days when it seemed he could not overtake without running into someone, usually Massa. How good does Lauda's move to grab him for Mercedes look now? Great race, with the usual whining from Vettel, and a smooth controlled drive from Kimi to take an unexpected second. I can't see him at Red Bull playing second fiddle and putting up with Marko can you? Great crowd, nearly back to what we saw when the track first opened.

So, who is going to get the second seat at Red Bull? Not sure Ricciardo is the one, don't see Kimi, and certainly don't see Alonso. How about Hulkenburg? Good driver, another German and probably happy with Vettel winning, just to get paid for a change!

And what GP's are going to miss out in 2014? Korea seems good riddance, and New Jersey never really looked like it did it, even with Bernie's lust to have a race with the Manhattan skyline as backdrop. India is being given the Bernie treatment to bring them in to line, or else they just spent loads of money on a white elephant. Appropriate for India. Nurburgring? Is the Red Bull Ring again just something to bring the Germans into line, or is the Nurburgring so broke it is out of the game. It was reported that Bernie waived the fee this year, but that probably meant he took the gate money and the rest of the income.

What is going on at Sauber? Sad day when Peter Sauber has to sell out to a bunch of Russians. Has he looked at Marussia and how well they are doing? And of course the money has not arrived yet.

So, back to the races. Next was the Spa 24 hour. Great track and a great field of 65 GT cars, all of them top class. Who needs prototypes to get in the way? The eventual first and second separated by a lap after racing together with the two BMWs for the first few hours, nose to tail. No rain! Must be a first, but plenty of accidents, including two at Eau Rouge, which thanks to the four row tire barriers the drivers walked away from. Can't help but think what would have happened at Tetre Rouge a month ago if there were similar tires in place?

Finally we saw a very odd NASCAR race at Indianapolis. No accidents, and no one brushed the wall that I recall. The field strung out which I guess reduced the contact, but that was not to say there was no overtaking or it was boring. Well done Ryan Newman, and why does he lose his drive next year when Danica doesn't? The suits are running, or is that ruining, the sport. Nothing like the crowd they had at the early races.

Finally, well done Tony Stewart for the truck race at Eldora. He got the crowd he deserved and the plaudits. He could start it earlier next year if it is going to be mid-week, bit hard to stay up till midnight. Track prep was perfect. With that many laps you might have expected a few problems, but it slicked up just right. Again a good drive by Newman, he just had a couple of young guns that were too quick. Someone needs to sign up Kyle Larson!

I turned on the Indycar races from Toronto last weekend and watched the GoPro lap of the track with Townsend Bell and Steve Matchett driving us around the course quite quickly with neither wearing a seat belt! How do I know it was quickly? Because Steve had to keep grabbing hold of something to stop being thrown around. Why not wear the seat belt idiot! I am sure Honda was very pleased at this fine example of safe driving.

And then of course there is the track where we have been racing for many years, but we still cannot afford to repave it, much like the New Hampshire NASCAR track. Rope tied tire barriers have never been acceptable as far as I know, but Indycar thinks they are just fine. Just as NASCAR thinks debris fence with the post and cable on the track side of the mesh is OK. Is there no one involved who knows or cares? How are we ever going to raise the standard of motor racing safety when we have these examples?

Now I know you were expecting a blog about the economy run that was the Malaysian F1 GP. Well, I think there is enough being said about all that, and I agree. But as Mark Webber said, if it were not for the fact that they have to drive to conserve tires, or in Mercedes case, fuel, then the situation with Vettel would not have arisen. 

As with last weekend, after being up half the night to watch the F1 race, and the aftermath, which was a lot more entertaining, and as it was raining and cold, no soccer thanks to the International break, I was forced to watch the Indycar race. Now I watch it for professional reasons, but it struck me sitting there, why does anyone else watch it? This is a serious question. It goes to the heart of the recent blogs on the death of spectator racing. I also watched the NASCAR race from Fontana which seemed to belie this as there were more spectators there than I have ever seen for a race at that track, notwithstanding that they had some seats covered up. Like most NASCAR races though you only needed to watch the finish.

Seriously though. We have a spec race series, with awful looking cars. We saw stupid driving, including an incident that this car design was supposed to stop, i.e. a car riding over the back of another. The drivers are either never-will-be's, or never were's, mostly from overseas, on a bad race track where overtaking is just about impossible, just ask Castroneves. We have interminable yellow flags, and the road sweepers must have done half the race distance. And they do not even have a female pit reporter! What are they thinking, at least some eye candy for the guys. And then there is Leigh Diffey, enough said.

If anyone can tell me why they watch, please comment.