Bob Barnard Track Engineering

You have to wonder at the lack of news when there is an item about how the FIA have made three teams change the labeling on the collar of their driving suits from screenprint to embroidered! I know that is what the rules say but seriously, is this news?

In a similar vein I personally do not care who sponsors Niki Lauda's cap, but journalists obviously do.

Meanwhile, back with the real world, Bernie has admitted he paid Gribkowsky the money. He insists it was not a bribe over the sale of the shares, but paid to keep Gribkowsky quiet about his financial dealings, mainly the Bambino Trust, and the British Inland Revenue, or tax man. Bernie says that there was nothing irregular, he had been dealing with the IRS and their enquiry over Bambino and did not want Gribkowsky making the IRS open that up again. His lawyers told him it would cost a lot of money. Well they were correct weren't they, it did, $44m worth! I can only imagine what Bernie's lawyers fees are, but is it possible they could be more than $44 m?  And why would Gribkowsky know anything of Bernie's financial dealings anyway? Bernie was a middle man in a sale of shares from the bank to CVC, not the buyer or seller. There is a lot more to this story yet to come.

In Germany Mark Webber topped the time sheets for Red Bull with the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa sharing the top four places with them. Next comes Mercedes, with McLaren not looking good at the moment. Ricciardo needs to find some time tomorrow to avoid missing the cut at 9 seconds, or 10% off the pace. Lotus are not showing their improved form with Kovalainen 4 seconds off the pace, but in front of the usual suspects at the rear.

I confess I did not watch much of this, the final day of the Tour de France in the Alps was on, and some great TV it was too. What these top riders do is nothing short of amazing. Their mental toughness let alone physical endurance is a yardstick for any athlete. I have to comment on Aussie Cadel Evans who has shown just how strong he is the last two days, and after Andy Schleck complaining about Contador not waiting last year when he had a machine problem I thought it a bit rich that he and Contador rode off and left Cadel today.

Anyway, back to the powered sports and Stoner is in his usual spot at the head of the first practice at Laguna. SPEED obviously prize having the coverage of the MotoGP with qualifying being shown at 11 pm EST tomorrow, and the race delayed to 5 pm Sunday, but we can show Grand Am live?

It will be great to see some action on the Korean track after all the talk and surmising. There are still mixed messages coming out and you can read them on ESPN F1 and Autosport.com as easily as I can repeat them. There is a nice piece by a journalist on ESPN F1 about the trip and the "love" hotel, usually rented by the hour, but quite nice. The photos of the activity on the main straight remind me of a street race rather than a permanent circuit, but as long as it is ready tomorrow that's OK. I liked the quote for the organizers that "We can hardly expect to be perfect from the outset." Well yes you can actually if you know what you are doing or get the right people in to do it, which is what Tilke did in the end to get it finished. He is confident the track will stay down, and has obviously used the strongest, and most expensive, binder to lay it, but hey, it's only money.

Some of the walls look close to me and in odd spots. Liuzzi has commented on this and others say it looks like Valencia street circuit in places. As they are building a city in and around it then I guess that is what it is. It follows on Abu Dhabi where they said the moved the walls in closer, banking on the TecPro barriers to work. They may well do, but I think the drivers are a bit more cautious when the run off is less than they usually have, which results in a procession rather than a race. Did we see anyone overtake at Abu Dhabi last year?

Enough of the talk, SPEED Channel is streaming practice at 9pm EST in the US. You can work out what that is where you are, about nine hours from now. The BS stops when the rubber hits the road.

In other news, well not news, Kimi crashed again, and Hulkenburg will probably lose his ride despite a good season to Maldanado who has a wallet the size of Yamamoto's. The V8Supercars are due to race at Surfers Paradise as a replacement for IRL, shades of Long Beach when they dumped F1. V8's will be a better show, but we in the US will be unlikely to see it.