Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Joe Saward, an F1 journalist I have followed assiduously for many years, has a post on today's blog about an ethical challenge facing the FIA. Now I presumed he was talking of Sochi, about which there is still no comment from anyone. But no, he is talking about Bahrain.

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/

So it has taken two years for someone to actually raise the F1 race in Bahrain with the FIA as an ethical issue. Now as bad as the situation is there, they have not invaded their next door neighbor. I personally find it disturbing that Joe has not even mentioned the issue, but there again who has among the media, FIA and FOM. Are Gary Hartstien and I the only ones to care. I suppose they all think this will blow over by the time the Sochi race comes around. I would not bet on it. Putin will want East Ukraine soon to protect the Russians there. And then what, the Baltic States?

The purported sale of the Nurburgring raises more questions than it has answered. What was actually sold, and to who? In anybody's money the price paid of around 80m Euros seems very cheap for an F1 racetrack, but I suppose it does not matter how cheap it is if it only loses money. So why buy it?

The Statesman, the Austin daily paper, revealed Thursday that the COTA has applied for more assistance from the Texas slush fund for events. The State paid out $29.3 m for the F1 race it is disclosed, and now they are asking for another $5 m to cover costs associated with the MotoGP, V8Supercars, ALMS and WEC races scheduled for 2013. I always wondered how these events were going to help COTA pay for building the facility as it costs money to bring them, just like F1, but on a lesser scale. And the audience is even less certain, not many Mexicans racing in these classes, and not many Americans either. There are two other MotoGP races in the US next year, so apart from novelty value why would you go to COTA. The MotoGP group inspected the track a week or so ago and expressed their doubts about it for motorcycles. If you look at most MotoGP tracks these days they feature long sweeping corners, not the stop-start type currently fashionable in F1. I can see that Texas will end up footing the bill for this facility in much the same fashion as Nurburgring is being bailed out.

While still in Texas and talking of sport, let me digress and express my disgust at seeing the Dallas Cowboys Center, Josh Brent, on the field with the team during yesterday's match after killing his buddy and fellow Cowboy Jerry Brown while driving drunk at 2:30 am the day before a game! Number one why is he bailed? Would most of us get this treatment. Then why is the team "supporting" him? Being out drunk at 2:30am the day before a game should be enough for the coach to bench him, let alone killing someone, and that someone being another player! What does he have to do to not get their support? The New Orleans Saints management were not allowed in the stadium until the NFL gave them special permission after their part in paying their thugs to injure other players in the course of a game. Why would other players even want to play with those guys again? But here we have someone who has killed another player wandering around on the sideline! Is this behaviour so endemic that it is acceptable? We have a litany of on and off field "incidents" like the unfortunate one at the Kansa City Chiefs, and I could go on. It is now reported that the Players Federation provides a service for drunk players to be given a ride home for $85 a time! Is the stress of earning all that money too much for them?

You know who I mean, bullshit artists. Sorry for the expletive but BS does not quite convey the strength of feeling. You know who they are, they are all around us, at work and especially in motor sport.

In a not surprising move Dany Bahar has been "suspended" from his role of driving Lotus Car Group into the ground. Despite harrasing Joe Saward for saying what was obvious the inevitable has happened and proved Joe correct, and the rest of us with any common sense. I'm not picking on Dany, he is just the latest to be shown up. But do not fear, he will show up again somewhere, that is the nature of the bullshit artist. It is never their fault, and the fact is they have spent most of their time making sure they have that next job instead of doing the one they have. Just look at the guys who persuaded the regional government around the Nurburgring to let them turn that great track into a circus, for hundreds of millions, and who have now handed the problem of making that money back to the government after alienating most of the original clients of the track like Ron Simons. Of course one of these geniuses has already turned up somewhere else as a manager.

Who would hire them? Why other bullshit artists, that's how most of the people in charge got there in the first place, so why would they want someone who was going to tell them the truth instead of what they want to hear. Yes men are in vogue. Just look at one of our major series. Many years ago I was taken to a city in Oz by the local enthusiasts to meet the Mayor and to try and persuade him to spend the money he was going to spend on a street track on a permanent track so it could be used all year round. Total waste of time, he bought the bill-of-goods a bullshit artist had sold him, and when I pointed that out he said "Oh I know he's a crook, but he has great ideas!" What could I say? That person is still around.

So when Dany told us he was going to build five new models and went about spending money on sponsoring anything on four wheels did we believe it for a minute? No, but the owners did until they sold it to someone else who just maybe do not fall for the bullshit. The Indycar engine debacle has to rate up there with one of the greatest farces in motor sport, and to cap it off both cars using it were black flagged early in the Indy 500 as not being able to reach the minimum speed! Nice one. Oh how Colin Chapman must be turning in his grave over what has been done in his name. Not that he was not above pulling a fast one, but at least his cars won races.

Just when we have a World Endurance Championship back one of the key players decides to quit! Peugeot say they are stopping to concentrate on their brand launches, but I do not buy that for a minute. What better place to showcase your brands? Are they afraid that the ACO might finally get the equivalence formula correct? After such a successful season it is hard to believe they won't think they can be competitive next year. It is also hard to think that Toyota is scaring them off, they have a hybrid of their own. Can't wait to see what emerges out of this. Presumably Audi is still in, they ran a long time as the only car to beat, and they have the new car being tested already. I for one will miss those gorgeous 908s.

Elsewhere the big news is New Jersey appoints a President and COO, so something is finally being seen to happen. Damon Hill has come out and endorsed the Bahrain F1 GP being staged, and he has been there to see for himself, so what he says must be taken seriously. The track recently reinstated those staff "fired" early last year, and there are steps being taken to democratize the place. Now we have to see if the opposition agrees.

At the same time the Nurburgring announces 100 jobs cut from the staff, how many do they have for goodness sake? No wonder they are losing money. They hope to stage a GP in 2013. Bernie has been off for a little private meeting with the Valencia President about their race fees, and presumably the sharing of the race with Barcelona. No wonder Bernie is pushing to have Bahrain back.

The numbers are out and the German GP lost 13.5 m Euros last weekend after paying Bernie a fee of 20 m Euros. That's some pretty fast work to put those numbers together. The promoter said before the race he expected a crowd of 65,000, and that's what it looked like, a lot of empty seats despite 6 German drivers, and one that should have been expected to win. That's pretty bad. On those numbers you can't really see the point apart from ego. The 24 hour race on the old track attracts four times that many people and there are probably no fees to be paid to anyone. 

Now Bernie is saying he will cut them a deal the same as Hungary, which is much cheaper apparently. It would have to be. The Hungarian GP has been with us for about 25 years on a track that no one really likes and in one of Europe's smallest countries, so how does it survive and why does it get a break from Bernie? The doings of F1 are strange to behold when Hungary has a race and France does not. 

In an equally puzzling piece it seems the City of Austin is submitting to the Texas Comptroller for the $25m for next years race, and the Comptroller has 30 days to think about this. The puzzling piece is the statement that "it is unclear when the funds need to be paid to F1 officials." I would suggest someone read the contract, I'm sure it is pretty clear there. Why would you say something like this?

Now for something completely different. Regular readers will know of my scepticism about electric vehicles, mainly because at the moment they are still fossil fuel powered, just one step removed. Now that step is causing a problem as an article I read yesterday explains.