Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Crazy weekend, and the next few weeks with the World Cup, Le Mans, and then Tour de France, without mentioning MotoGP. F1 and NASCAR races. Made it through the Le Mans 24 Hour again! What a great race. As they said, a lot like old times with cars not running like clockwork and some great mechanics keeping the Audis, Porsches and the Toyota in the race and in the hunt. Made it a lot easier to stay awake with so much going on. Close racing in every class, and for a while a race no one seemed to want to win. Every leader ran into trouble, but then fought back.

I heard Gary Lineker has said that football, the English version, is eleven men running around after a ball for 90 minutes, at the end of which Germany wins. Watching them defeat Portugal today you would not bet against them winning it all. At Le Mans lately it seems it is a race in which 55 cars drive around for 24 hours at the end of which Germany wins. You have to admire Audi for their preparation and ability to keep cars in the race. Completely building a new car at the track in a day, to end up second. 20 minutes to replace a turbo, not once but twice, crazy stuff given the temperature it must have been at. Toyota got the 8 car back to finish third, and Porsche were unlucky for their first time back in LMP1.

So who is going to beat the German cars? Porsche will be stronger next year, but so too should Toyota. Nissan is joining them, but it better not be a gimmick like the Zeod. What a joke. They are behind the real cutting edge cars in the Audi, Porsche and Toyota. The same speed and distance with 25 - 30% less fuel. Like F1 we are the real winners in this amazing technology race.

On other matters Marquez keeps winning, as does Jimmy Johnson. The new kart track opened to the delight of the members at the Monticello Motor Club. and there are some more interesting projects in the wings.

Going back to the Canadian F1 race, I cannot get over the way in which Perez could not overtake Rosberg, but as soon as Ricciardo got passed perez he soon dispatched him to win the race. Some how this did not compute to me. Perez has the Merc engine with full power, and Ricciardo has a Renault supposedly down 30 - 40 hp. Shades of Perez not passing Alonso when he had a Sauber with a customer Ferrari engine?

Good news on Michael, let's hope it continues.

They say money makes the world go round, and it certainly makes the F1 world go round. In fact it has enough money to go around, it just isn't being split up correctly at present. The Resource Restriction Agreement, RRA, was raised again by Horner, and Whitmarsh continued in the  "we must be more relevant and not be seen as gas guzzlers" vein. F1 engines are I believe the most efficient engines around when you consider the power they produce from each gallon, and not just look at the miles per gallon. And there is that old "relevant" again. I guess the World Cup is relevant because most of us have kicked a ball around at some time in our life, but there again most of us have driven a car.

Bernie in responding to the Mayor of Melbourne about the value of an F1 GP compared it to the Olympics and the World Cup, and as far as the Olympics goes he is dead right. I was in Barcelona in 1992 and watched the Sydney Games lead up, and what a con job that is. Go and spend $6 bn  on facilities you did not need and will not use again for two weeks of exposure that no one cares about afterwards. At least you get an F1 race each year. The World Cup  has been different as the stadiums are used afterwards, although we now have South Africa looking for someone to run them and Qatar building stadiums in the desert.

Mark Hughes writing in Autosport the other week said "The sport can't afford to allow money to haemorrhage out." His article concentrated on the cost to promoters of staging a GP and where that money is going. The basic problem is it is not going back into the sport, it is going to a bunch of investors who have done no more than buy the rights. No one begrudged Bernie making a lot of money, he built this sport over many years and with his own abilities, and made others rich along the way, but the current situation with CVC is unsustainable. Hughes questions how many new countries there can be that will keep paying for GP's, and when the existing ones will get tired of it, like Malaysia and Bahrain. Now I met both those track chiefs in Cologne last year and they are already asking those questions. In Bahrain the Parliament is asking what they get for their money, and the circuit chief has a good answer. "What would it cost us to send everyone who watches the race a postcard?" It is a good argument, and has worked till now, but for how much longer? Malaysia says it has achieved it's objective of putting the country on the world stage, now they need the track to make money.

Joe Saward asks the question what these latest popular uprisings mean for F1? It is OK to go to all these exotic places with loads of money, but how safe and stable are they? Apparently there are stirrings in Bahrain today, and the F1 circus is headed there shortly. Would a new popular government be so keen to spend millions on a rich man's toy?

In a somewhat related article Sebastian Vettel is asking if the wheel has turned too far towards making F1 a "show" rather than a sport? Movable wings, KERS buttons, all to make the show better, but not for the driver. Alonso does not think it will be any easier to pass a car that is similar in speed, only those pesky back markers, and as I said a week or so ago, timing when to turn the wing back at the start of the braking zone is going to be a tricky problem, with some drivers missing it in early testing. So, we are spending loads of money on "widgets" that we are not sure even work. OK, KERS or some form of energy recovery system is going to be part of future automotive design, but that is being developed in spite of F1, not because of it. Porsche and Williams kept on developing their system when F1 had given it up.

So we have a situation where there is an incredible imbalance between the three parties to the deal. The promoters are not making money, the teams are getting some of the money coming into the sport, and a third party who are a silent partner effectively is creaming most of it off. Is this sustainable? Add to that the alienation of the traditional supporters of the sport by removing the opportunity to see it live and pandering to an elite who will lose interest and move on to the next big thing. Ask NASCAR how that is working for them. And while we are at it let's think about the "Car of Tomorrow" where the rules are so tightly proscribed it is almost spec racing. The teams spend enormous amounts on the smallest, silliest parts just to gain a thousand of a second, and as soon as they find it the part is banned. Does any of this sound "relevant" or "sustainable?" Oh yes, and now we are to have tires that wear out faster to make the "show" more fun, is that being efficient or relevant, or even safe? Interesting how the word "green" has disappeared from most of the motorsport vocabulary, apart from good old ALMS.

The actions of the medical staff at Misano at the weekend have raised a red flag to Paolo Giovagnoli, the prosecutor of Rimini, the City where the track is located. I had forgotten, goodness knows how, that the Italian authorities always investigate a death at a race track. Italian law is different to most countries in that if someone dies then there must be somebody at fault, even if that person is the one that died. Remember Jim Clark's problems after Von Tripps went into the crowd at Monza, and the Williams team after Senna died? The Race Director and the Medical Chief will both be under the gun for the death of Tomizawa. The prosecutor is particularly looking at the handling of the riders at the scene, something we all want investigated.

Martin Whitmarsh, head of McLaren racing and boss of FOTA says that F1 needs to market itself, what billion dollar business does not promote itself? Sounds like a good idea at first hearing, but when I think more about it I wonder what use it is trying to market a product that is not that good at the moment. Yes the season has been better than we expected, but us diehard F1 fans will watch it anyway. It is the new fans Martin is looking to capture. But it is not as if F1 lacks exposure, it is on the TV across the world every two weeks on average. You would have to live in a cave not to notice it. And the TV companies that buy the rights spend lots of time telling us and promoting when it is on, so what more does Martin want? I think of the Olympics and The World Cup. I do not see FIFA buying ads, it is the World Cup sponsors that do that, and the same with the Olympics. Now F1 has very few series sponsors, and those there are do  not seem to spend anything on promoting the fact. I see a similar theme with NASCAR with SPEED and Sprint promoting the heck out of it. So sorry Martin, in the end I do not see that you really have a point.

Talking about having a product you can promote. Watch the video of Chandook's laps of the new Korean track. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86449. As Chandook says, it looks like a street circuit, and not a good one at that. And boy, is there some work left to do, particularly the top course of asphalt. 90 days curing time anybody? Three good straights, but an awful lot of just one corner after another, follow the leader stuff. Show off your product on that. As readers will know I believe you cannot show off your product if you do not take it to the best venues.

How sweet it must have been for Mark Webber to win the British F1 GP  yesterday. "Methinks they protesteth too much" is how I would treat Red Bull's continual assurances that Vettel is not getting preferential treatment. Team Principal Christian Horner insisted that the differences between the two wing versions were minor, and only affected driving characteristics. If that was true why risk having a problem with Mark by changing it over to Vettel's car after Vettel's wing had broken in practice? Sources have revealed that there was both a lap time and a weight difference between the two versions. Mark commented that the car felt better with it on. Horner saying that they gave the wing to Vettel because he was ahead in points makes more sense than "there were minor differences." It's like the Turkey deal all over again, they cannot stick to a story. So, if Mark wins the World Championship are we going to see a Champion walk from his team again? You have to love him for his honesty and lack of PC!

Not that winning the Championship is going to be easy. They said that Jim Clark could just drive around a car's problems, as did Senna. Now I am not yet saying that Hamilton is in that illustrious company, but you have to admire his ability to take a car that is not well set up and putting it fourth on the grid when  his World Champion team mate can only manage 14th and says it is undriveable. Then he runs a strong second in the race, setting fastest times. Cudos to Button to take that ill handling car and get it up to fourth, he has a different style to Lewis but is still very effective. You do not really see how he does it. McLaren have a great team with these two and of course the engineers and mechanics, and yes I am biased.

Ferrari are again exercising their selective memory and "the rules do not apply to us" mentality. Do they not recall Spa three years ago and that great duel between Raikkonen and Hamilton? When Kimi pushed Lewis wide at the "bus stop" and Lewis did pass Kimi, let Kimi back past him again, and then overtook him, only to be penalized for not letting Kimi by far enough! Lost the race and the Championship. So why was Alonso's pass on Kubica any different?

Nice to see Williams up there again, and the Cosworth is obviously not too shabby. Yamamoto ran around last, must have been weighed down by his wallet! Well done Nico Rosberg, beat your elderly team mate again. Michael is not driving well and cannot be enjoying his time back in the car. Even the TV commentators are now comparing his age with every other driver he gets passed by.

Did not get to see the ALMS at Miller, but well done Highcroft, and it seems that the Drayson car ran well. Keep Emmanuele in the car so we have some competition for Brabham and co.

Did not see WSBK either, but it is turning into a Biaggi benefit. Pity about Corser and the BMW's. Did anyone see the accident in practice? Brno is a safe track so I am surprised at his injuries, was it just a high speed get off?

Congratulations Spain for the World Cup. I lived in Spain for a year and love the people and the Country, so if England could not win I am glad Spain did. Hard to believe it was their first final and win.

Sad to see Lance Armstrong having such a tough time on the Tour, but I guess when your luck runs out. He is still amazing, but in a way he is finding out what Michael is finding out, the current crop of riders are pretty damn good! I know I am an Aussie, but I think Andy Schleck is who I would like to win.

Air travel, who needs it! It is supposed to be fast and convenient when in truth it is neither. A good friend back in Australia who was a pilot told me "if you want to be sure of getting somewhere do not fly." And that was in the late seventies, how bad is it now. Missed the blog yesterday while flying from Phoenix to New Orleans on Delta, via Atlanta of course, and taking twelve hours with only four of that actually flying! I would not mind that they have delays and problems with aircraft if they actually told you the truth and not the continual lies.  Only one very nice lady actually told me the truth. They must all go to school to learn how to lie to customers, yes customers, something the airlines have forgotten about, and to threaten them with not flying at all if they dare to complain. Try and find a complaints button on their web site.

So, here I am back in Louisiana finishing packing and getting set to drive back to Phoenix. We have a hanger to set up at Falcon Field, a municipal airport in Mesa, where we are going to promote the new track. Put in some toys to compliment the helicopters, planes, and power boat already there, and set up a projector and some couches and we are ready for our first group in two weeks. As I said, the project is evolving and we are now planning to place"casitas," garages with living space above, along pit lane so it looks like a European track. Getting nicer every day.

Big day today which I will try and watch between packing. World Cup final, British GP, ALMS Miller, and Tour de France. Hope you all enjoy, back Monday!