Bob Barnard Track Engineering

So Red Bull let their drivers race, as they should, but I cannot help wondering if they are happy with the Constructors Championship, and congratulations for that, and do not mind if Alonso is the driver's Champion. They probably figure if Mark wins he will leave or retire anyway, so who cares, we've got Vettel who will definitely win it one day and that is who we really want. Helmut Marko looked very happy with the way it finished. It was actually a pretty predictable race, let's hope Abu Dhabi is a bit more exciting, although from last year's example do not hold your breath.

The biggest news out of Brazil is the attempted hold up of Button and the robbery of the Sauber mechanics, which should not be a shock to anyone who has been there. Bernie seemed very concerned, he laughed it off as "someone trying to sell him a hat." I think Bernie was talking out of his. Nice that he cares so much about his stars who have to drive around in bullet proof cars and police escorts. What is it going to take for him to wake up, someone getting shot or kidnapped? And the 2016 Olympics is in Rio!

Peugeot won in Zuhai with some squawking from Audi about the second Peugeot holding them up, but personally I do not see the problem. If Audi could not pass it how were they holding them up, and isn't that allowed, it is hardly a "team orders" issue. The big news is the hybrid Porsche was sixth, ahead of all the GT cars. I checked on the Petit situation for 2011 and my information is that it is not a part of the Intercontinental Cup, wither Petit now?

Lorenzo mad a miracle save and went on to win the race in Valencia, a worthy Champion. Roll on next season when the music stops on the changes in the seats. Ben Spies did well to finish fourth, so watch out for Ben on the works Yamaha next season. Checa finished last and you know my thought about where he should be riding, or not riding, next year.

Just as a reminder I will be in Cologne, Germany, all the week of the 15th speaking at an International Forum on circuit design, construction and operation. It is a very busy week with sessions for me on two of the three days and I am not taking my computer, so you are going to have to find your daily fix elsewhere. If you want to check it out go to http://www.professionalmotorsportcircuit-forum.com.

How great to see a Williams on pole again! I must confess to a soft spot for Sir Frank's Team, as I think most people have. Mine started when Alan Jones won the championship and then to see how Sir Frank has battled his own personal problems and the struggle to stay competitive is an example to us all. Let us not forget it was Hulkenburg and not Barrichello that did it, well done Nico, and what a great way to repay Sir Frank's comments about your ability of just last week. Maybe it was the confidence boost he needed. Interesting qualifying session with nothing between the Red Bulls again, and if Nico had a wet set up then he will probably go backwards fast in the race. Interesting to read his comments of Friday that they would be lucky to make it into Q3.

Hard to see Lewis doing anything other than trying to stay in touch and Alonso, who knows, but both of these guys need the Red Bulls to break again. Mark looked in a determined mood, and it looks more and more like my predictions over the last few months may come true and Mark will leave at the end of the season. Horner's "Mark needs to focus on the job" sounds like a "shut the **** up" to me. Let us hope tomorrow is dry and we can see a straight fight.

On the engine front there are more opinions from Cosworth and Renault that the proposed 2013 engine regs need to be very tightly framed to prevent a runaway spending war, or leave the V8's alone. All is not settled.

HRT has a new partner to help with the money as was suspected, so let's hope for a better season next year. The talk of using the Toyota chassis does not gel with me as the rules change again next year. I think the discussion with Toyota is probably more about using their engineering consultancy they have set up at the old F1 base. I can be wrong though, after all I did not pick Hulkenburg for pole.

Stoner took pole in Valencia so we should be in for a good race tomorrow with Lorenzo, who despite being a Spaniard, says he does not like Valencia. Spain is a bit like Australia, not so much a country as a collection of States. Nice to see Checa managed not to be slowest, just. But he is getting closer to the top lap times.

In Zuhai the Peugeots start at the front. The really interesting thing at Zuhai was the announcement of the Intercontinental Cup calendar for 2011. No Petit, just a "race outside Europe TBA" in October? Sebring is listed. In the GT class the big story is the Porsche Hybrid qualifying second, although it does not actually qualify for points.

What other race series has the owner and CEO give TV and radio interviews during the event? Are Bernie and Jean Todt missing out here? I am talking about Don Panoz and Scott Atherton of course during the Petit Le Mans. I would not mind so much if they had anything to say other than "next year is going to be great." If, as Scott said it is for the fans, why don't you shut up and let us listen to the commentary? We listened to Radio Le Mans to avoid SPEED's commentary, but at one point got so desperate when Scott went on, and on, and on, that we turned the sound up on the TV.

The race was great as usual. SPEED was not as usual. I timed the amount of race we saw and how long the ad breaks were, and we got about 2/3 rds of the race, and then if you take out the infomercials and stupid interviews, we saw a lot less than half. Even what we did see seemed to consist of non-stop in-car cameras from LMPC cars, especially the "green" one. The Director, I use the term loosely, had no feel for the race. It was obvious to a fan that cars were setting up a pass, but he would go to an ad anyway. Same with pit stops. The cameramen also have no idea, we will see a pass in progress and they will  not follow it to see it happen. I am close to not watching it in future it is so infuriating.

Congratulations Peugeot, beautiful cars, perhaps the best looking prototypes we've seen? Great strategy and well driven. Sorry to see Allan, Tom and Dindo lose, I admire and respect them enormously, but they have had a good run, and Dr. Ulrich is a class act the way he accepts defeat.

The Petit le Mans is a success story. The races are great and the fans come out to watch. What does it tell us? If you bring the best the fans will come and watch. When we ran the first one I had a potential spectator on the phone asking why should he come. I started to tell him the great cars that were coming, but only got as far as the Le Mans winning Porsche, and he said great, I'm coming! Fans are not bothered by the length of the race, their span of attention does not seem to be a problem. They are not confused by the different classes, or too much technology, foreign drivers, or all those other excuses that have been given lately. So, why is the rest of the ALMS series not as successful? They do not have all the best cars and drivers. Yes they have some, but other than the GT2 class there is one car and driver combination that stands out, and you cannot sell a race on that. And just maybe sports car fans do not want to watch 2 hour sprints?

On the home front we have a couple of very promising meetings next week on the Sol Real project, but unfortunately one project has been canceled so I am currently "underemployed." So if anyone needs a motor racing consultant let me know.

Curious that the second most important sportscar race is on and Autosport web page does not mention it, not even under the ALMS tag? We have Peugeot and Audi going head to head with two cars each, unlike Silverstone, and they covered that race. I know the ALMS is not seen as it once was. Quoting Gary Watkins in the September 6 Autosport, "The harsh truth is is that, despite the rhetoric from the series bosses, the ALMS is a pale imitation of its former self." As Gary says, "should Audi return and be joined by another big gun in LMP1, the ALMS can return to its former glory." That is what makes the absence of news from this weekend mystifying, we have just that scenario, and it has drawn the fans to the track by all accounts. Even SPEED has opted to show us all ten hours! Must not be a truck race on.

Practice is showing how close the race is going to be. Yes the Peugeots are fast, 204 mph at the end of the main straight, and lap times in the 1 min 8 seconds. Audi are about a second behind with the "young guys" car, who have less experience here than McNish and company. Maybe Audi know the race is not won in practice. In fact many teams opted to sit out the wet second practice to install their race set up and engine, saving the mechanics sleep last night. They commented that getting the race set up was more important than qualifying.

In LMP2 the Highcroft Honda is just in front of the Cytosport Porsche, and the GT2 class is its usual close run thing, but with the Patron Ferrari with its nose just in front. All drivers were commenting on the amount of traffic so the race is going to be fraught for the drivers and interesting for us. Luck and patience is going to determine who comes out on top, just ask Pirro.I liked Anthony Davidson's comment that Road Atlanta is a "proper mans track."

The Porsche Hybrid is performing extremely well, as you would expect from a car that almost won the Nurburgring 24 hours. Even though it is racing itself the comparison with the GT2 cars will be inevitable, and should it beat them, what then? Porsche are making statements about rejoining F1, and Audi staying with LMP1. It has been a long time since Porsche ran its own F1 car, without much success, but supplied engines to help McLaren win world championships in the mid eighties. It seems that is likely to be the way they will return, although probably not with McLaren. I think we can look forward to McLaren making their own engines when their deal with Mercedes runs out.

Talking of McLaren, Lewis says he will hold nothing back in Japan, that will be something to see! Look out world, I'm coming through. Poor Massa has finally been told what he already knew, he is there to help Alonso win the championship.

Over at MotoGP at Motegi, Pedrosa has helped Lorenzo win the championship by falling off and breaking his collarbone in two or three places, depending on what you read. He is out this weekend, so maybe they can plate it and get him back for later rounds, but what's the point? Valentino topped practice today and was surprised by the lack of shoulder pain and his speed. Let's hope he can keep it up and give us a race Sunday. Lorenzo only needs to cruise around, but if he is any sort of racer he will want to beat his team mate.

Well it is here at last, and with a good field of cars. To help you sort them out Radio Le Mans web site has a "spotters guide" you can download and print so you can keep up with the cars and drivers, very useful. Radio Le Mans coverage is live for all the sessions, and qualifying for Petit is streamed on SPEED's web site at 3:10pm eastern. Peugeot driver Anthony Davidson, who has not been to Road Atlanta for ten years, had forgotten how awesome the track is, and difficult for drivers with so many cars on a much shorter track than Le Mans.

It is a round of the Intercontinental Cup, the unofficial sports car World Championship, so it has attracted some serious contenders, not the least of which are the Peugeot's and Audi's. Peugeot won last year's rain shortened event, but expect Audi to want this one badly. Peugeot will have fixed the engine problems that robbed them of victory at the 24 hour this year, and won handily at Silverstone recently, but informed comment says that the development of that car has peaked while Audi is still potentially finding more speed. For once SPEED are showing the entire race without going to a truck race, so enjoy. I know what I am doing Saturday, and it does not involve college football.

The MotoGP is off to Motegi for the next round with plenty of racing left yet, including Phillip Island. Lorenzo still has a 56 point lead over Pedrosa, but with the number of races still to go it is not over yet. Lorenzo would still have to DNF in my book for Pedrosa to get up, but it keeps it interesting doesn't it? Not sure that I am a great fan of Motegi, Suzuka has some fond memories, but I guess Honda owns both, so he who has the gold makes the choice?

Rumors resurfaced about the possible sale of Toro Rosso. Since Gerhard Berger sold his interest it always seemed likely it would be sold. Owning one F1 team must be expensive for Dietrich Mateschitz, let alone two. It sounds like a bargain for one of the would-be F1 teams that wanted to enter next year. How about it Jacques? The cars have performed well this year, so it would be much better than starting from scratch.

Again, based on rumors, it seems Chandook could be going to Lotus, or whatever they are called next year, to drive with Kovalainen. They just announced Trulli as the other driver so it is probably time to fire him based on the musical seats going on. There is a piece on ESPN F1 about "no money no drive" goings on at HRT. There are also more great photos from India.