Bob Barnard Track Engineering

There are a lot of pointers to suggest we may be seeing a new era in motorsport. Bernie's ongoing legal issues must distract him, if nothing else, and CVC have apparently decided to take more interest in what Bernie is doing. There are ongoing reports that American businessman and friend of Leo Hindery, John Malone, is sniffing around about buying F1. Seeing as how Bernie seems to keep ownership every time it is sold that will be interesting to watch. If successful it is deemed likely that his business model will be a better deal all round than the current one of CVC taking the money and running. That in itself makes me more optimistic. As a past promoter I can tell you the current business model is not sustainable in the long term, and I am not talking about being green.

Which leads us to the new F1 cars for 2014. I asked a while ago if anyone understood them, and received no takers. It seems the Mercedes boys don't understand them either.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/video/main-gallery/lewis-nico-uncut-off-the-record/   

I'm sure most of you have seen this, but too funny not to post. Motor Sport has a great article this month to explain the differences to last year's cars if you want to know more. We've had the first test, which went well for some and very badly for Red Bull, so a new era? Don't write them off too soon. The Lotus has run OK with the Renault engine so it is a packaging issue in the Red Bull. Niki Lauda said a while ago that these engines will destroy themselves if the operating temperature is not maintained within a very narrow margin. Pre-season tests are never a great guide to form, so let's see what happens in Bahrain. Early reports suggest a lot more attitude on the cars, which will be good to see. Speeds so far have been similar to GP2 cars, but most drivers feel that will improve. Let's hope so or we could really make the sport cheaper by running GP2 cars. Bernie is getting serious about a budget cap, offering a 1m Euro reward to whistle blowers who tell on over spenders. Let's see if that gets anywhere.

NASCAR is fiddling while Rome burns, changing qualifying and the way the Chase works. I said a long time ago that the Chase should be a knockout deal, with the last placed of the final ten or twelve, or thirteen, what ever Brian decides, being eliminated each race. That could get very interesting with team mates helping rivals out, literally, out against the wall. Nice to see some new blood here though, with the likes of Kyle Larson getting a top ride. Seems like Richard Petty had a few choice words about Danica.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/richard-petty-doesn-t-danica-chances-winning-says-163159096--nascar.html?&co=f000000013912s-1248979085

Is he the only one man enough to say what we all think?

Sportscar racing started a new era with the Tudor United Sportscar Series. Did anyone else find it odd that the first race of the series, sponsored by a watch brand no one has heard of, was the Rolex? The only signage was Rolex, so what is that all about? Can't say I enjoyed the 24 Hour. Thanks to Fox the first few hours were not on our cable system, than around 5 pm they showed the first two hours, totally unscheduled and lucky to even find it. Daytona is a boring track, and can't say the racing was great. Not hard to stage close races when you are running spec cars. Hopefully IMSA will get the balance of performance right soon. I could not believe Calvin Fish's comment about IMSA trying to get the P2 class up to the DP level, when we all know last year they were much quicker at Road America when they both raced on the same weekend. He is either an idiot or a liar, and who benefits from that sort of misleading comment if not the DP cars which are the child of ISC?

If you want to see great sportscar racing then you should have watched the Bathurst 12 hour. No spec racing here, and four cars capable of winning right down to the wire. Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Mercedes, all on the limit after 12 hours. This is real Bathurst, not the spec series the V8's put on with 24 cars all the same. We had Ferrari's, Lambo's, Porsche's, Audi's and Merc's all dicing with Fiat Abarths, and even a Ford Focus with a V8 squeezed in etc. What endurance racing is about, and how Bathurst used to be. I cannot believe how small the crowd was to watch this great racing. Surely worth more of a look than the 1000? But I am forgetting the Ford V's Holden mentality of the Aussies motorsport fan. What are they going to do once both of these stop making cars in Oz very soon, go back to HQ V's Falcon from the 70's? Due to the time difference I am sad to say I did not stop up to see the end, but did watch it later thanks to YouTube, great stuff. Live streaming with Radio Le Mans commentary, does not get much better, but of course ISC knows better so we no longer have John and Paul for the TUSCS.  

So, on to a new year with renewed hope we will not get a repeat of last years snooze in F1. No wonder the ratings are dropping.