Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Watched the Australian V8Supercars from The Circuit of the Americas this weekend. With Texas paying for these events wouldn't you think they would want Texas somewhere in the track name? Texas International Raceway perhaps, as corny and over used as that is, but perhaps some 1/4 mile drag strip or oval already has that. Goodness knows what it cost to fly that circus to town, and I hope Texas thinks it got its monies worth. The size of the crowd was never going to pay for it. Cars no one knows driven by people they have not heard of is not a recipe for success, ask Indycar. If possible there were even less people at Indy for Pole and Bump Days than at COTA. Does no one watch what goes on elsewhere in the world? Why do you think V8Supercars do not go to Bahrain any more, and Bahrain has more money to waste than Texas. This incredible white elephant cannot survive.

Talking of white elephants and people paying for them, Bernie is so determined to have a race in New York, or at least New Jersey looking at New York, that he is willing to pay for it.

http://www.pitpass.com/49086-Ecclestone-ready-to-buy-New-Jersey-race-promoter-to-get-race-off-the-ground

As soon as I heard the news of Long Beach and Pook I could see this coming. Well at least the race will happen, as long as Bernie is on the outside. The German Authorities seem to have other plans, but his mates at CVC say they will stick with him, as long as he is outside. And why not, they are on a "nice little earner" as they say in the classics.

So New Jersey is postponed because good old American know-how cannot get a road paved with two years notice! This is no surprise, not much about this race has made much sense, and the photo they keep showing as evidence that things are happening look like a parking garage at the ferry terminal to me. As I have often said, I have never had more than a year to build a track, and yes that includes a street track. My last construction job was a $3.5 billion oil refinery built in just over two years, and rebuilding Daytona took less than a year and we needed permits from just about anyone you can name, include FAA, FCC and the Corps of Engineers. So what is really going on? No money to pay Bernie or do the work would seem the likely answer. As with USF1 Team, it makes us, that is the US, look incompetent.

Which leads me to the inevitable question, why is it that would-be track owners do not hire people who know what they are doing? There are a few of us, but it always seems someone turns up who has never done it before. Are these just mates, or do owners just not get it that this is not an easy thing to do if you don't know how? There is no manual for this, experience is the key.

As readers will know I have been off in Mooresville finishing the kart track there which opened October 8th and has been acclaimed as the best in the US by anyone who has seen and driven it. Modelled on the famous Parma track, reworked to modern standards by my friend Jarno Zafelli, it is a technical, fun track to drive. So much fun that NASCAR drivers like Joey Lagarno went out and bought a kart! Working the last few weekends to get the lights installed and the last barriers set up means I missed the last two F1 GP's. Not much loss by the sound of it. Is it not strange that Hamilton suddenly has suspension issues?

When I first arrived in Australia the Premier of Queensland was one Joh Bjelke Petersen. If that sounds like he should have been running South Africa then you get an idea of his politics. Joh loved to have press conferences, "feeding the chooks" as he called it, or feeding the media a line of misleading information more like it. Bernie seems to have gone to the same school of media management. He is famous for putting ideas out there to get a reaction or put pressure on someone.

This week we have seen him question the New Jersey F1 race, saying they are behind in some of the contract requirements, presumably a payment. Now we all know Bernie has been waiting for a race with a view of Manhattan for years, so I doubt he is serious, so what's his game? He played the boys in Texas well too to the extent of a reported increase in race fees of $10m, and he is dangling the Mexican GP as a stick to beat anyone not living up to his standards.

We also have Bernie blaming KERS for the Williams pit fire, without any reports to back that up. Now, that is a possible cause, but why say that now? Bernie does not like KERS or the other energy recovery systems, electric motors in pit lane etc, and is presumably putting pressure on the FIA to back off on these.

We also see reports today that the float is to be delayed due to market unrest. But I thought this was a golden goose that anyone would want to invest in? Didn't they just sell $1.6 bn of shares without floating? As Joe Saward says today, we have seen this before, a delay becomes a change of mind. I've asked before why Bernie would want to have the books open to public gaze. Was this just another ruse to get the big teams into line on the next Concorde Agreement? Or was Mercedes too big to fight? One thing is for sure, Bernie will come out smelling of roses.

In other matters the opposition to the Canadian GP looks more serious than Bahrain. Perhaps people are waking up to how much these ego boosts are costing the country. How many university places would a race fee pay for each year?

Over in Barcelona Casey Stoner has shown impending retirement has not dulled his competitive spirit. How about Bradl and Marquez on Hondas next year?

Finally, it is June 1, and I hope you are well rested. We have the Euros kicking off in a week's time, Le Mans test day this weekend and the race on June 16, Five F1 races and the Tour de France all before the end of July, not to mention MotoGP and WSBK. Phew!

India is receiving a lot of press at the moment, which is I guess why they wanted the race. Coverage is a two edged sword though if you have the corruption and poverty that India enjoys. The following is a report from Fox News:

At the end of the interview I did Friday I was put on the spot to say racing is safe, and I said at the time that it was bound to come back and bite me. Well it did not take long. Marco Simoncelli passed away from injuries he received on lap 2 of the Malaysian MotoGP after falling, losing his helmet, and being run over by Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi who were too close to avoid him. Marco had his fair share of falls, and it appears to be just the wrong one in the wrong place. Did his hair contribute to his helmet coming off? Who knows but I'm sure someone will look at it. Very sad, too young, and spare a thought for Edwards and Rossi.

At least this time they red flagged the race.

Other big news is the "Grand Prix of America" F1 race to be run on the streets of New Jersey with the Manhattan skyline in the background to give Bernie his New York race. Given Austin is the "Circuit of the Americas" I would have thought that should have been given this title rather than the US Grand Prix. Rumors have abounded for this for a while, and this is still not official, press conference scheduled for Tuesday. So who is going to lose out, or are we headed for 25 races?