Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Was anyone else underwhelmed by the new qualifying session for NASCAR? Unlike F1, which this is presumably based on, starting on pole is meaningless in NASCAR, so not really any sense of excitement. The first session saw cars backing out into pit lane, blocking other drivers, and then parked at pit out, effectively blocking that. Not a good arrangement in my mind. I know they are trying to build the show at the track, but the old system was actually more exciting with one car on the track, but with the speed tracker showing us where the car was at all around the track, and the fast guys in practice going last. Let's see what NASCAR does to tweak this.

My last blog talked about the lack of spectators, and there were certainly none at PIR yesterday, but they did show up for the 500 on Sunday, on the front stretch at least, only to sit in the rain, lightning and tornado warning. See what the Weather Channel thought of their severe weather response.

http://www.weather.com/news/nascar-daytona-500-severe-weather-did-track-officials-do-enough-20140223

Not good enough from what should be our best track operator.

Who watched the Daytona telecasts last weekend? Certainly no one at the track. I can recall in the mid 2000's and before when people would come and camp for Speedweeks starting at the Rolex and stay through the 500, and watch the races. Not any more. One week before the 500 and the camp grounds are nearly empty, and the grandstands are totally empty. Granted a few turned up for the "demolition derby" they now call the "Unlimited." It was limited, to 18 cars, and by the time the race ended there were a lot less. Qualifying had nobody watching.

NASCAR has become a "made for television" event. The fees Fox et al pay are the only thing keeping this alive, you certainly cannot make money from admission any more. Makes you wonder why they are building a new stand at Daytona? The back stretch is coming out and going to Phoenix to replace the old front stretch there. So gone are the days of 250,000 plus at the 500.

There is some hope though with the crop of rookies racing this year. As I said we are seeing a new era with nearly a quarter of the field being rookies, and good ones too. Good racing might just turn this around.

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.

I have just started reading Bill Bryson's latest book. If you have not read any of his you need to find them. Always entertaining and full of great information. The latest is about the year 1927 in America, which was quite amazing actually. He focuses early in the book on aviation and how the US lagged behind the rest of the world. He has one paragraph about the state of aviation at that time.

"Aviation in America was almost wholly unregulated. The country had no system of licensing and no requirements for training. Anyone could buy a plane, (or a track) in any condition, and legally take up paying passengers. The United States was so slack about flying that it did not even keep track of the number of airplane crashes and fatalities." And so he goes on.

If this sounds familiar he could just have easily have been commenting on the current state of motorsport in America. Indeed, with the number of deaths worldwide this year he could have been commenting on a wider stage. As I have said before, motorsport at the top level gets the attention while the majority of the sport goes its merry way, ignoring the basic measures that could be taken.

I continue to receive expert witness cases involving death and horrific injuries which should have been avoided if a professional were consulted as to the proper way of designing, constructing and running a track, but it seems most track owners know better, and who is there to tell them otherwise? Just building tire barriers correctly, not hard, not expensive, would save so many injuries and fatalities. But as I keep asking, does anyone care? 

Let's all send good vibes to Michael Schumacher. Not my favorite driver, but not one I would wish ill of.

And so on to 2014 and all that beckons. F1 with 1.6 liter turbo engines, the United Sports Car here in the US and Porsche back at Le Mans. Happy New Year everyone, and safe racing!

With the raft of ideas coming out of the FIA lately you would think someone has been at the cool-aid. Or maybe Bernie thinks if he makes it more like NASCAR the Americans will understand and like F1. Driver's permanent numbers, compulsory pit stops, what next, yellows for debris?

Bernie has spent a long time making F1 about teams and not drivers. In his words, "drivers are like busses, another one will be along soon." He has built the teams into valuable franchises with permanent numbers except for the current driver's championship. Now he wants to change all that and give drivers permanent numbers, as if we can read the car number anyway. Good for merchandise I guess, except under the current system they get to change numbers so we all need to buy new stuff don't we? 

Then there are compulsory pit stops. Either you want to spice up the racing with short life tires and different strategies or you don't. If you don't then just make tires last the whole race, or more, like the engines and gearboxes and really start getting serious about being green.

Let's not forget double points for the last race. How about a "Chase" where the points get reset so Vettel has to start even for the last four races. Oh yes, NASCAR thought this was a great idea. How to piss off fans without really trying.

This all smacks of that old trick of floating a lot of stupid ideas wherein is the one you really want so you trade those you don't want and seem like a good guy. What is it Bernie or the FIA want? How about a real budget cap? Good luck making that work. How about giving more money to the people who make the show, the teams, so they do not need pay drivers and make it a bit more equitable. Yes the best teams should be rewarded, but the teams at the back are never going to make it if starved of cash. I am not suggesting an NFL style inverse system where the worst team gets the best players. You would see teams trying to lose to get more money, but there should be a more reasonable basis than now. I for one can't wait to be shot of CVC, and not just for another robber baron.