Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Sunday afternoon I watched two very different races, NASCAR at California and MotoGP from Qatar. As different as you could want apart from the empty seats in the grandstand.

MotoGP gave us an exciting race from start to finish with up to 6 riders at times vying for the lead. A few crashes, and no full course yellows. No one had tire problems, and we saw some breath taking overtaking manoeuvres. The race was won by a guy who broke his leg 6 weeks ago and still had a brace on. Only two short ad breaks, no infomercials or stupid commentators. Great stuff and it will make me want to see the rest of the season.

And then there was the NASCAR race. 400 miles with no green flag pit stops due to the plethora of full course cautions. Tires blowing all over the track, including the race leader with three laps to go despite not having had problems all weekend. Jeff Gordon asked after 80 laps of a 200 lap race if they had enough tires? Goodyear supplies 11 sets for a 400 mile race, and they were lasting as few as 15 laps. What a joke, and makes Pirelli look really good. This is what happens when you do not allow testing at tracks on the schedule. The VP of Racing, Robin Pemberton, said that "they are the same tires as last year," and then added "but it is a new car." Exactly, so why would you think you can just roll up with the same old tires, especially on the oldest asphalt in NASCAR, with the biggest bumps.

Then of course we had MIke Joy, who repeated his previous weeks lies about attendance, not once but three times while we were looking at empty seats in the stands. "There are 68,000 seats and they are all sold." So what, did those people stay home, or were they all in the bar? As I recall the speedway was supposed to have over 100,000 seats when I went when it opened, or was that the temperature? Felt like it. Then there is good 'ol boy Darrel Waltrip. "Everywhere I look there are people racing." Duh, it"s a race idiot.

Finally, if you want to know what's wrong with the state of motor racing you need to go no further than to read Marshall  Pruett's interview with TUSCR Chief Scott Atherton in Racer Magazine. Talk a lot and say nothing, that is what he is really good at. Can't say anything wrong that way I guess so you keep a job.

http://www.racer.com/index.php/imsa/item/102091-imsa-sebring-q-a-with-series-coo-scott-atherton

It is interesting, and annoying, to compare the different views the media and those involve have of the same event. A good friend, Allen Petrich, who watched only snippets of the Indian GP, commented how at odds were the comments of ESPNF1 compared to my blog.

I see this all the time, and it has an element of "The Emperor's new clothes" about it. I heard the SPEED pit reporter say what a "fabulous circuit" India was. What basis has he for saying this, is he just mouthing the press release from Bernie? Too many journalists do not know anything about what they are seeing and reporting on, so just repeat what someone with a vested interest has told them. Drivers say they love the track. Do they really are are they just part of the business. I admit India may be a fun track to drive around. There are many like that, Barber here in the US is I'm sure a fun track to drive on your own, but race? That is a different matter, and that is what we are here to do. Tracks need to produce good racing, overtaking opportunities and not just corners thrown in just to have one. There were a few of those in India. The "parabollica" was great, and if you did not have the next two slow corners we could probably have seen overtaking into that nice downhill right, but as it was there was no way to get close enough. 

Of course Bernie says it was all wonderful, he had his check a long time ago, and as an event it went OK, as a race it was awful, but that is my opinion, and a few others. Bob Constanduros has been writing a "postcard" from India on Pit Pass. Bob is a long time F1 track commentator and thought the race was interesting, good battles going on for 14th! Now I am not saying Bob has a vested interest, but who do we think suggests tracks use him? Bob comments in his Sunday piece that he had lots of tweets about the boring race, so there are some more of us out there.

Have a look at the ESPNF1 piece on media reaction. "Great weekend, forgettable race," and see what I mean,

http://en.espnf1.com/india/motorsport/story/63151.html

I understand that people like Martin Whitmarsh are going to say it is all great, they can see dollar signs from Indian sponsors, but the media have a responsibility to tell it like it is. Unfortunately the motor sports media seem to think it is in their interest and their employers to beat up how good everything is. Most of us true fans can tell for ourselves thank you.

The "lease" of Silverstone by a Qatar based group that was denied so strongly now seems to be happening, and a good job too says Bernie. 

"It's what Silverstone needs," he said. "They need to let the professionals run it."

"The new owners will put proper people in, commercialise it and run it properly. They will get the job done. They won't muck around. Europe has got to understand that Europe will be sold to the Chinese or India or these people in the Middle East." Ouch! I'm sure the BRDC who have run Silverstone for 60 years are glad that a bunch of Arabs with no motor racing history can come in and show them how to run it "professionally." Yas Marina is such a success the developer has had to have the Government take over.

Where does Bernie think all the knowledge and development has come from to build the sport to where it is, Korea? As far as I know all the tracks are designed and built by Europeans, and you will usually find a European running the place.

Oh sorry, I guess Bernie is talking about all the essential hotels and BS that he loves to see.

My April edition of Motor Sport arrived yesterday and Nigel Roebuck has a piece in his column about Kubica's accident and racers. He included a comment from Jimmie Johnson that "the car is never right, never good enough." That struck a cord, for the very best the car or motorcycle is never right, how can it be? They will drive or ride it until they find the limit. I recall after one practice session Wayne Rainey bitching about the bike. "Every time we fix something there is another thing wrong!" I told him of course there is, otherwise you would be doing 400 kph. There has to be at any one moment one component of the machine that is at the limit of its performance and therefore the machines. It may be power, tires, suspension, chassis or brakes, but as I told Wayne, if we find a better tire that will just move us up to the next limiting point which may be the front forks that cannot take the increased load.

Racing is about little improvements and racers who can work with their mechanics to find them and then exploit them. That is what the article said about Kubica, his "mechanics knew that if they find the minutest improvement in the car it will be instantly reflected in the lap times." That to me is the difference between good drivers and the great ones. We know all the guys who make the F1 or MotoGP grid have to be beyond good, but as I have seen, it is the three or four that have the guts, concentration, feel and determination to take it to the limit, and find it every corner of every lap that are the stars. I used to love looking in the eyes of someone like Rainey before a race. They said "If you want to beat me today you are going to have to drive faster and harder than you want to, and don't think you ever have me beat."

If  a driver feels happy or comfortable with a car or motorcycle then he is not going fast enough. Phillip Island is a great example. I can recall driving around this fast flowing track and feeling great, only to find when I returned to the pits I was ten seconds off the pace. Then there was my one and only win in my class at the Australian Hill Climb Championship. Last run of the day, trailing, so gave it everything. Threw my Morgan up that hill and it felt terrible, more off the track than on and I thought I had blown it. Came back down to find I had taken a second off my time, in 40 + seconds and won!

So, it is the real racers who can find that edge, and are willing to keep it there without stepping over it too often, and are never satisfied. That's why Kubica went off an ran a rally, he has to be racing, and more power to him. The great news is he is likely to walk in three weeks.

In Qatar the MotoGP stars are out and Honda in the shape of Stoner continue to show the way, by over half a second, and he said he was only at 8/10ths. Rossi is doing better, but not as good as the private Ducati of Hector Barbera who was third fast, but apparently had a tow from Hayden. Shades of Criville and Doohan. Still early days,  or is that nights? Despite Stoner's dominance there is only half a second between the next nine riders, so perhaps there is a good race is for second.

At Sebring the dark brought the Peugeot back to the top, and the diesels are again heading the timesheet. So much for equalization. Still, we will see in today's qualifying. As my wife commented, Sebring looks better at night.

Talking of equalization, it seems when it comes to driver's salary at Red Bull, some are more equal than others, as someone famous once said.

It's terrible to see what is happening in Japan and let us hope it does not get worse, one Chernobyl in this world is enough. If you want to read a great book about Chernobyl read "Wolves Eat Dogs" by Martin Cruz Smith, the guy who wrote Gorky Park. Japanese MotoGP is postponed for a second year due to mother nature.

Trouble of a man-made kind in the Middle east with the situation in Libya beyond description. As I said, why do troops do these things to their own people? Bahrain is getting there with a "peacekeeping" force from their neighboring states, particularly Saudi Arabia, coming in to help the Royal Family keep hold on power. That is never going to work in the long term. We need to look no further than Northern Ireland to see what a suppressed people will do when desperate. So, a rescheduling of the F1 race is impossible with a  three month "State of Emergency" being declared. More to the point, does F1 want to be seen in a country that so obviously is repressing its own people? Silly me, we are already doing that aren't we?

On a happier note, it is great to see the HPD LMP1 car doing so well in practice for Sebring. Despite only turning a wheel this last weekend the Highcroft run car is mixing it with the Peugeots and Audis. We are still off last years times, but not by much and that could be down to the restrictions placed on the diesels. Are we to see a level playing field at last? Looks like being a good race, if only it was televised live.

In what must rate as one of the most outrageous pieces of spin ever Colin Kolles, when asked if he thought HRT would feature in the top 10, he said: "I think so yes. I think that others are more desperate than we are to be honest with you." Colin was responding to Bernie's opinion that F1 really only needed ten teams, and of course the media had to ask HRT where that left them. Colin supported the idea!!!

Nice to see Daniel Ricciardo setting the pace in FR3.5 testing. Let's hope he can win the Championship this year and continue his progress to F1. That other Aussie, Casey Stoner looks on course to be the favorite for this year's MotoGP Championship with another chart topping test session in Qatar. But it gets real this weekend when the first race is run under lights. Ben Spies is not far off on the Yamaha and capable of mixing it with the Hondas on paper. Strange it is de Puniet on the private Ducati that is leading the way for the marque. Rossi had another get off and ended up thirteenth. If this is sandbagging it is world class.Sorry to hear Cal Crutchlow lost the tip of his finger, but he is in some illustrious company there. Let's hope it is a good omen.

In other news, Jean Todt in Melbourne for the GP says Australia should keep its race, but he is not paying for it is he? Horner is stirring the pot suggesting Lewis Hamilton will be looking to drive a Red Bull if he has another disappointing season. Is this to replace Vettel? Lewis meanwhile has a new manager and is reported to be open to "music and film" to expand his career. Whatever.

So Vettel has ended the going to Ferrari stories for now by signing a new contract through 2014, but what then? Well, Alonso may have said enough by then so who knows. While Red Bull can give Sebastian winning cars why would he leave? Surely money cannot be a reason, prestige? Vettel is concerned that the rules for the overtaking zone in Melbourne, that area where you can trim the rear wing, are confusing. Due to the short straight and the complex of corners leading into it the FIA have decided that the one second gap is to be measured at the third corner before the straight, not the last one. As Seb says, what if I close the gap through that last complex?

HRT are assuring everyone they will be in Melbourne with their "new" car. After people commented on the similarity to the old car they admitted the chassis was the same, "but 95% of the parts are new." So what does that mean?

In Qatar another World Champion is not having such a good start to the year, although Rossi says the Ducati is getting closer, even if he did fall off during testing. The Honda boys are having no such troubles and continues to dominate, but Yamaha are not so far away. This weekends GP should be interesting with the "semi works" bikes being closer in performance than it seemed last year.

With MotoGP and Sebring this weekend hopefully the news and gossip will increase. Of course if you actually want to watch Sebring you need a good cable to connect the computer to the TV, or just watch it on the computer.