Entries in Ricciardo (18)
Nice
Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 04:16PM
Nice to have a comment from an old friend. Larry Spektor worked with me on the '93 US Motorcycle GP at Laguna. Thanks for the comments Larry and glad you enjoy the blog. Yesterday was another technology frustrating day with the log in page not wanting to load and then my cable/internet/phone went out for most of the day.
Not that there is much going on. I don't know how they expect us bloggers to keep going. MotoGP from Estoril is the most interesting with Lorenzo snatching the pole. Seems he has the Yamaha how he likes it, but not perhaps how Ben likes it. Spies is disappointing us this season, with Colin Edwards on the non-factory Tech 3 bike showing him the way at times. Running his boot camp seems to have given Colin a new lease on life. Rossi is back off the pace after threatening in practice, but Nicky Hayden is even further off. Still, the forecast is for rain for the race, so who knows where they will all end up.
FR 3.5 is at Spa with Canadian up-and-comer Robert Wickens winning race one from the pole. Australian Daniel Ricciardo is not faring so well despite his good runs during Friday F1 practice with Torro Rosso.
Bahrain is hoping to have a race "in the near future." With the FIA sticking to the May 1 deadline that appears to be 2012. But do we really want to go there just because they have had their Saudi mates suppress their subjects?
Indycar is in Brazil. Let us hope the debacle of last year is avoided.
I am pleased to announce the formation of Motorsport Services International. This is a group of over thirty top professionals in all areas of motorsport, from track design, construction and operation to legal, medical, insurance and yes selling tee shirts. Anything a would-be or existing track owner or operator needs to know, even if he does not know he needs to know it. All from one place, and you can purchase one area of expertise or all of it, to suit your needs. Any interested parties can contact me at racecontrol85@aol.com
Not that there is much going on. I don't know how they expect us bloggers to keep going. MotoGP from Estoril is the most interesting with Lorenzo snatching the pole. Seems he has the Yamaha how he likes it, but not perhaps how Ben likes it. Spies is disappointing us this season, with Colin Edwards on the non-factory Tech 3 bike showing him the way at times. Running his boot camp seems to have given Colin a new lease on life. Rossi is back off the pace after threatening in practice, but Nicky Hayden is even further off. Still, the forecast is for rain for the race, so who knows where they will all end up.
FR 3.5 is at Spa with Canadian up-and-comer Robert Wickens winning race one from the pole. Australian Daniel Ricciardo is not faring so well despite his good runs during Friday F1 practice with Torro Rosso.
Bahrain is hoping to have a race "in the near future." With the FIA sticking to the May 1 deadline that appears to be 2012. But do we really want to go there just because they have had their Saudi mates suppress their subjects?
Indycar is in Brazil. Let us hope the debacle of last year is avoided.
I am pleased to announce the formation of Motorsport Services International. This is a group of over thirty top professionals in all areas of motorsport, from track design, construction and operation to legal, medical, insurance and yes selling tee shirts. Anything a would-be or existing track owner or operator needs to know, even if he does not know he needs to know it. All from one place, and you can purchase one area of expertise or all of it, to suit your needs. Any interested parties can contact me at racecontrol85@aol.com
Trouble
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 11:38AM
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.
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.
What a Difference a Day Makes
Friday, February 11, 2011 at 12:27PM
Yesterday Nico Rosberg was concerned about the lack of pace with the Mercedes, and today Michael tops the timesheets at Jerez, go figure. It seems he had no less fuel than Massa when he did his quick time, so did they find something in the car or is Michael back? Two of the new boys had big offs and bent their toys. Perez and Maldonado both hit something hard, so Maldonado in particular is having a baptism of fire. Alguersuari took note of Helmut Marko's comments that Torro Rosso was not a boarding school, whatever that means, and he is more than ready to replace one or both of the current drivers. Strangely it is not Ricciardo he is favoring but Vergne, but most of what Helmut does is strange. No one answered my question about two Australian drivers by the way.
Button had his go in the new McLaren, but they are still basically doing systems checks, albeit fast ones. Lewis declared he found the car better, which you would hope he would say after all the time and effort gone into it. Lotus had another troubled day, but at the moment the field is covered by just over two seconds, so better than last year. Way too early to judge anything though. Heidfeld gets to drive tomorrow, and Boullier says if he is quick he will sign him. He needs to do something, Petrov is not setting the world alight at the moment. The news on Kubica continues to be encouraging, with Robert vowing to be back before the end of the season, but you would have to wonder why, unless his replacement is not doing well.
Ron Walker, the Australian GP boss is softening everyone up for Melbourne losing the race. Bernie is apparently upset by the remarks of the Mayor. A man not easily upset by personal comments I would have thought. Now Ron did throw in a more telling line that Bernie is concerned that for the first time in 40 years someone is questioning the value of his product. The King's new clothes comes to mind.
Over in Abu Dhabi Ferrari protege Jules Bianchi beat Grosjean off the line in the Asia GP2 race, and kept him there for a maiden GP2 win. He beat a class field, so despite being the winter series this is for real. That other series, Superleague, the one with the soccer team cars, says that it is the best alternative to F1 because it has so many ex F1 stars. Narain Karthikeyan, Sebastien Bourdais, Antonio Pizzonia and Robert Doornbos? Not exactly a stellar cast, and all cast offs. Yes they can drive much better than I, but that is not the point. Let's see someone come through this series to F1, not from it.
Button had his go in the new McLaren, but they are still basically doing systems checks, albeit fast ones. Lewis declared he found the car better, which you would hope he would say after all the time and effort gone into it. Lotus had another troubled day, but at the moment the field is covered by just over two seconds, so better than last year. Way too early to judge anything though. Heidfeld gets to drive tomorrow, and Boullier says if he is quick he will sign him. He needs to do something, Petrov is not setting the world alight at the moment. The news on Kubica continues to be encouraging, with Robert vowing to be back before the end of the season, but you would have to wonder why, unless his replacement is not doing well.
Ron Walker, the Australian GP boss is softening everyone up for Melbourne losing the race. Bernie is apparently upset by the remarks of the Mayor. A man not easily upset by personal comments I would have thought. Now Ron did throw in a more telling line that Bernie is concerned that for the first time in 40 years someone is questioning the value of his product. The King's new clothes comes to mind.
Over in Abu Dhabi Ferrari protege Jules Bianchi beat Grosjean off the line in the Asia GP2 race, and kept him there for a maiden GP2 win. He beat a class field, so despite being the winter series this is for real. That other series, Superleague, the one with the soccer team cars, says that it is the best alternative to F1 because it has so many ex F1 stars. Narain Karthikeyan, Sebastien Bourdais, Antonio Pizzonia and Robert Doornbos? Not exactly a stellar cast, and all cast offs. Yes they can drive much better than I, but that is not the point. Let's see someone come through this series to F1, not from it.
Seriously!
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 12:02PM
Are you kidding? Ford is suing Ferrari over the use of the F150 name. Is this a publicity stunt? I know protecting your logos and trade names are serious business but this is just making Ford look foolish. They would be better off making a commercial with an F1 Ferrari morphing into a fast red pick up.
The new Ferrari 458 made it's debut at the Sebring test yesterday prepared by the Risi team who arguably ran the best 430, at least of the ones allowed to race. Most of the big hitters are absent from the test, but there are still enough interesting cars out there with the Muscle Milk Aston quickest at the moment. Duncan Dayton seems likely to finalise the deal to run the HPD LMP1 both here at Sebring and at Le Mans and so give David Brabham a ride for this year. The 24 hour entry list was published yesterday and a great field it is too, quality all the way through.
There is actually a fair bit going on this weekend with Sebring, Jerez, and GP2 Asia kicking off in Abu Dhabi. Renault reserve driver Roman Grosjean is on pole for that event with another strong field of drivers. His compatriot at Renault, Fauzy, is not doing so well though down in 23rd. It is a very even grid though with the top 14 separated by less than a second, and the field by less than 1.7 seconds. Should make for good racing and a lot of action given the desperadoes in the field.
Meanwhile at the F1 test at Jerez it is still way too early to judge anything. Massa is fastest, with Perez in the Sauber next quickest. So it is not just the Mexican sponsorship, he can drive. Meanwhile Maldonado is way off the pace in the Williams, but he did have problems with the movable wing, and as I said it is early days. Hamilton has the new McLaren out and yes it has forward exiting exhausts. Lewis is presumably just doing shake down laps but is fifth so far behind Webber and young Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the Torro Rosso. If I were Buemi or Alguersuari I would be looking over my shoulder right now. How long since Australia had two drivers in F1, if ever? Schenken and Jones? No. I'm sure one of my readers knows the answer.
Petrov dumped the Renault in the gravel trap, not enhancing his claim to the number one seat, which seems to be headed Heidfeld's way. Despite saying they had plenty of time to fill the seat they have Heidfeld testing later this weekend. Nick has had a lot of experience and is a good driver, but is he really good enough? As someone pointed out the other day, when the two Williams drivers both retired in the early eighties a guy called Rosberg filled in after a less than stellar career, and we know how that worked out, so let's see if Nick can do the same.
It now seems that the money from the Williams float is not going to keep the team afloat but to the Patrick Head retirement fund, and presumably Sir Frank's. Not sure I would buy shares on that basis. Not saying they are not entitled to a return on all their years of hard work, but if I buy shares then I would want to know the business I have a piece of is going to survive. It also seems that the float was part of the agreement when the other partner, Toto Wolffe, bought his 10%, so is he looking to get out at some stage?
The new Ferrari 458 made it's debut at the Sebring test yesterday prepared by the Risi team who arguably ran the best 430, at least of the ones allowed to race. Most of the big hitters are absent from the test, but there are still enough interesting cars out there with the Muscle Milk Aston quickest at the moment. Duncan Dayton seems likely to finalise the deal to run the HPD LMP1 both here at Sebring and at Le Mans and so give David Brabham a ride for this year. The 24 hour entry list was published yesterday and a great field it is too, quality all the way through.
There is actually a fair bit going on this weekend with Sebring, Jerez, and GP2 Asia kicking off in Abu Dhabi. Renault reserve driver Roman Grosjean is on pole for that event with another strong field of drivers. His compatriot at Renault, Fauzy, is not doing so well though down in 23rd. It is a very even grid though with the top 14 separated by less than a second, and the field by less than 1.7 seconds. Should make for good racing and a lot of action given the desperadoes in the field.
Meanwhile at the F1 test at Jerez it is still way too early to judge anything. Massa is fastest, with Perez in the Sauber next quickest. So it is not just the Mexican sponsorship, he can drive. Meanwhile Maldonado is way off the pace in the Williams, but he did have problems with the movable wing, and as I said it is early days. Hamilton has the new McLaren out and yes it has forward exiting exhausts. Lewis is presumably just doing shake down laps but is fifth so far behind Webber and young Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the Torro Rosso. If I were Buemi or Alguersuari I would be looking over my shoulder right now. How long since Australia had two drivers in F1, if ever? Schenken and Jones? No. I'm sure one of my readers knows the answer.
Petrov dumped the Renault in the gravel trap, not enhancing his claim to the number one seat, which seems to be headed Heidfeld's way. Despite saying they had plenty of time to fill the seat they have Heidfeld testing later this weekend. Nick has had a lot of experience and is a good driver, but is he really good enough? As someone pointed out the other day, when the two Williams drivers both retired in the early eighties a guy called Rosberg filled in after a less than stellar career, and we know how that worked out, so let's see if Nick can do the same.
It now seems that the money from the Williams float is not going to keep the team afloat but to the Patrick Head retirement fund, and presumably Sir Frank's. Not sure I would buy shares on that basis. Not saying they are not entitled to a return on all their years of hard work, but if I buy shares then I would want to know the business I have a piece of is going to survive. It also seems that the float was part of the agreement when the other partner, Toto Wolffe, bought his 10%, so is he looking to get out at some stage?
Shanghaid!
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 12:56PM
DTM is staging their season finale in Shanghai. Yes I know it is the German touring car series, go figure. They sell a lot of Mercedes and Audis in China, probably more than Germany. This is not their first visit, and the street track was used previously by A1GP I think, with similar results. Problems with the layout. Lots of crashes during the last two practice days, including one terrible one by Maro Engel hitting the end of the pit lane wall. Maro is OK, but most of the front of the car is gone. They changed this and a few other barriers Friday night, and the DTM is going to make more changes tonight. Did they not look at this track before they started? Did the Chinese learn nothing from previous years? Who designs/inspects this? There are a few of us who have done this before, there is no excuse just because it is in China or one of their first races. It is a sad way to finish a season with the race potentially decided by an accident caused by a bad track.
I am organizing a session at the Professional Circuit Owners Forum in LA in April next year to look at the responsibilities and liabilities of designers/owners/inspectors, and the role of the insurer/sanctioning body and the legal profession. This is an ongoing problem here in the US and we need to air it out instead of ignoring it. The program will be out in January so book some time mid April to be there.
GP2 try outs going on with drivers swapping seats faster than musical chairs. Young Joylon Palmer has stepped up from F2 and is running well, while a lot of the usual suspects are up the top of the time sheets whichever car they are in. Brendon Hartley is still tyring to make it past GP2, but I fear he is one of those I mentioned yesterday that are destined to not quite make it. Roman Grosjean, the great French hope that had a shot at F1 is mid pack, while rising American star Alexander Rossi is setting similar times. With the swapping of cars and drivers, are the drivers with money auditioning the team, or is the team looking for the best driver?
Speaking of rising stars, Daniel Ricciardo has been announced as the Friday driver for Torro Rosso at every race next year, so he will get a good bit of seat time. Buemi therefore seems safe, until he messes up. Daniel is to continue in FR3.5 with the aim of winning it in 2011. This is a better deal than going to GP2 and does not throw him in the deep end. Where to in 2012?
I am organizing a session at the Professional Circuit Owners Forum in LA in April next year to look at the responsibilities and liabilities of designers/owners/inspectors, and the role of the insurer/sanctioning body and the legal profession. This is an ongoing problem here in the US and we need to air it out instead of ignoring it. The program will be out in January so book some time mid April to be there.
GP2 try outs going on with drivers swapping seats faster than musical chairs. Young Joylon Palmer has stepped up from F2 and is running well, while a lot of the usual suspects are up the top of the time sheets whichever car they are in. Brendon Hartley is still tyring to make it past GP2, but I fear he is one of those I mentioned yesterday that are destined to not quite make it. Roman Grosjean, the great French hope that had a shot at F1 is mid pack, while rising American star Alexander Rossi is setting similar times. With the swapping of cars and drivers, are the drivers with money auditioning the team, or is the team looking for the best driver?
Speaking of rising stars, Daniel Ricciardo has been announced as the Friday driver for Torro Rosso at every race next year, so he will get a good bit of seat time. Buemi therefore seems safe, until he messes up. Daniel is to continue in FR3.5 with the aim of winning it in 2011. This is a better deal than going to GP2 and does not throw him in the deep end. Where to in 2012?