Bob Barnard Track Engineering

There being little going on in the outside motorsport world that catches my eye I will give you an update on events going on here. By the way, I want to thank my readers, we have 43 countries logging in to read my blog now, makes me sort of humble. As I hope you've seen there are a couple of you writing very good comments and responses, and I would welcome more as it adds to the overall knowledge and information on events. I will always try and reply.

Life continues to be interesting. Contact from Saudi Arabia the other day about designing a club track, so we will see where that goes, and Singapore is still deciding who they want to use. Life could get very busy. Here in Arizona we are meeting with a variety of people about the project to sort out the corporate structure and to meet with prospective users to make sure we are including what they need at the track. I think I have a pretty good idea, but each group has its own "culture" of how they do things and we may as well sort that stuff out while its just on paper and not set in stone, so to speak. Had a great meeting last night with a local sanctioning body who were very excited about the project. The interesting thing was that the Race Director for the series, a man with a great deal of racing history, but who I had not met before, had been talking about me that afternoon in the context of track safety, with no idea he was meeting me that evening. Very small world is the world of motorsport, and I was flattered by his knowledge of what I have been doing.

So, so far so good, but I am sure there will be speed bumps along the way. The good thing is the developer has a passion for the sport and for creating unique projects, and has the drive and determination to make this happen. More meetings today with CPA and another car club, so we will see how that goes. At least we are moving forward and not spinning our wheels, which has been my feeling for a year now.

Murphy the Bear has a new blog out this week on the state of sports car racing and prospects for next year. www.murphythebear.com. A pretty bleak picture on the ALMS front. It will be interesting, is that the right word, to see who turns up at the next race at Miller, both on track and in the stands.

Mark Webber made an interesting comment after his big accident at Valencia. He said he was glad there was a tire wall there and not the Techpro barrier as there was in Singapore when he crashed last year. Now Techpro is supposed to be the next best thing for cushioning solid barriers, but I have heard some rumblings that despite their development at the FIA Research Center at Paul Ricard, owned by one Bernie Ecclestone, they may not work as well as the old tires. I have had a few clients tell me that they do not want tires, they do not like the look of them, but that is because the ones they see were not built properly. If they are done correctly as they are at the Barber track, or Imola, then they look great, especially if you paint them a nice shade of green. The point is they work, as strange as it may seem for something so low tech, when built correctly and put in the right place they are still a drivers best friend.

Sounds as if the FIA scored an own goal the weekend with the goings on at Valencia. I was driving all day to get to Phoenix, 1450 miles, but drive was easy and scenery in Southern Texas, New Mexico and Arizona spectacular. Reminded me of my time in Alice Springs, hot and DRY! Missed all the racing and the soccer, thank goodness as it turned out for England. Not sure they have played well enough to deserve to go further, but neither has Germany. Who's for the win, Argentina or Brazil?

It seems Red Bull really does give you wings, just ask Mark Webber! While your at it ask him how that asphalt run off worked him at twenty feet in the air? Not a fan of gravel, but cannot help thinking it might have knocked off a bit of speed before he hit the tire wall. As I have said, asphalt is great if you are in contact with the ground and have all the wheels on and are the right way up with brakes. Don't think any of that applied to Mark. It is great he is OK, and man enough not to just blame Kovalainen for the accident. My good friend Tony Dowe was kind enough to give me a blow by blow on the race over the phone and explained how the resulting safety car period then proceeded to be totally mishandled by all concerned. Is it just me or do the safety car rules change each race?

I just love it when Ferrari complain about someone breaking the rules. This is the team that last week ran their new blown diffuser, aka low mounted exhaust, at a "film session." Testing is of course not allowed during the season, but filming for commercials is. FOTA is revisiting that agreement, which obviously expects that it will be observed by "gentlemen."

Over at the two wheel brigade we have Mr. Lorenzo going on his winning way, and at last someone else is raising the subject of too few motorcycles and too old riders. Casey Stoner has spoken out about the manufacturers not providing equipment, even last years, so that new blood can come in. He is not happy about Yoshikawa stepping in for Rossi, but failed to mention Mr. Akiyoshi finished last at Assen, one lap down. What would we rather see, a young turk having a go and throwing it down the road, or some old guy running around at the back and finishing? No contest for me. At the WSBK Max Biaggi scored another double win, but the BMW is showing signs of getting it sorted. No one commented on Stoners' arm pump, come on Eddie, explain, or are you still in shock from England losing?

Is anyone else surprised that Montoya has not done better in NASCAR? I am a great fan of his racing instincts, and keep waiting for him to break through. Thought this weekend might have done it, but no. Jeff Gordon hit him, which seems par for the course these days. When asked about it Jeff just said that is was how they race these days. Well it seems some more than others.

Our young American in GP3, Alexander Rossi, had a torrid weekend by all accounts, and did not finish either race.

I know they are all 24 hours, some just seem longer. Drove 768 miles today, half way to Arizona. Do the rest tomorrow. So short blog. Have not seen anything of racing or soccer, watching USA lose on the Spanish channel as I write. Sad, but it looked like a good game.

How is it that every World Cup England gets drawn with Germany? I recall watching that penalty shoot out at Spa in 1990, it was as good as being there with all the English and Germans in the room. Come on England, just this time let's play like we know you can and beat Germany.

A German that is need of some help is Mr. Schumacher. 15th! I know Rosberg is only 12th. Mercedes going backwards at a rapid rate of knots. Williams making some strides though, good to see. Ferrari playing fast and loose with the rules on testing, but what's new? Could still be a good race tomorrow, pity I won't see it, but need to get going on Arizona.

Great to see the BMW and Troy Corser on pole for the WSBK race. They seem to have been improving every race, and having a new manufacturer in there is great to see, refreshing compared to MotoGP. I know Troy is another older rider, but at this stage of BMW's development it makes sense. Sorry to hear of Casey Stoner's arm pump problems, bit young for that isn't he?

So, a busy morning but still not much happening worth commenting on. Watching F1 at Valencia, and oh goody, we have Lee Diffey commentating, Radio Le mans where are you? Still can't see what they were trying to do with that track. Lots of updates on the cars so should be an interesting weekend.

Drivers are not thrilled by the movable rear wing for next year. Some concerned about safety, but the Chaparral did not lose any as far as I remember, and they ran longer races, so do not really think that is an issue. Webber sees it as a gimmick like the "push to pass" and thinks there is little value in seeing passes on the straight, shades of NASCAR or IRL. There are lots of rules about its use. Cannot use for the first two laps, car being overtaken cannot use it, you have to be within a certain distance or time from the car in front. Sounds like another difficult thing to police and cause for dispute.

Melandri dislocated his shoulder, so we are back to 15 bikes for Assen MotoGP. Akiyoshi improved to only 4.6 seconds behind the leader and stone motherless last. Eddie Oliver suggested that the test rider was the better choice because he had experience with the Yamaha GP machine, but that does not translate to racing Eddie and without testing how else is a young rider going to get experience with the GP machine? F1 is to stage a four day test at Abu Dhabi at the end of the season to give young drivers a chance to show their stuff, and for two days they will have the new Pirelli tires. Mumblings from the mechanics about the extra work. F1 may have less races than NASCAR, but the season never ends, and the pressure to develop the car continuously is immense.

Casey Stoner is concerned tracks are too safe these days. Now when I read that headline I had to admit I thought he had lost it, but he actually makes a point of view that I have had for a while, and the introduction of asphalt run off has only made things worse. What Casey said was that the standard of racing had got worse because riders, and probably drivers, now knew that the penalty for a crash was a lot less, if you crashed at all. Looking at the NASCAR race from Sears Point I saw the same problem. At the top of the course there is a blue and yellow piece I presume is supposed to be a curb, that all the drivers ignored and drove over onto the asphalt behind, and then just got back on the track before they ran into the wall that comes back in at that point for some reason. That was not how the track was designed, and someone will complain when they do hit that wall.

We saw Capirossi run off at Copse at the end of the pit straight at the British GP last weekend, and try to ride it out, but finally dropped the bike just before the wall. This is the classic "I can save it" mentality that lots of run off encourages. It does not even need to be asphalt, I have seen it with gravel , and does anyone else think that gravel does not seem to work as well as it used to, and grass. Mat Mladin had about a 500 yard get off on the redesigned infield course at Daytona at the first practice, and I followed his tire tracks for about 450 of those before he laid it down and then complained about lack of run off!

Now do not get me wrong, I am not advocating less run off. Space is our best friend when it comes to racing, riders and drivers just need to understand why it is there and not use most of it before they bail out. I am not a fan of asphalt. OK, we do not have cars stuck in gravel traps requiring a caution to get them out, and we do keep more cars and bikes in the race, but there needs to be a penalty for using it. Abu Dhabi last year I saw a car run wide during qualifying and the time counted! It was like the Sears Point deal, it is the fast line. OK, but it is not the race track, and stewards need to start penalizing people that do it consistently. It's like cutting a chicane to me. And to work effectively the car or bike needs to be the right way up, in contact with the ground, in the case of the car have all the wheels on, and have brakes. If we are going to the extreme let's go back to the Ceasars Palace parking lot.

First practice for MotoGP at Assen, the race is on Saturday, saw Lorenozo just pip Stoner. Another replacement rider, this one for Aoyama, appeared on a Honda, and Akiyoshi is another test rider from Japan. 6.2 Seconds off Lorenzo's time, and 4 seconds behind the next rider in 15th place! This is shades of Ferrari last year. The Team Manager said "For the meantime we are looking for a stable replacement. At the moment we don't have a rider apart from Assen and Barcelona and we are looking for a suitable solution." As a few of us have commented, this is a very sad situation when the top flight of motorcycle racing cannot find young riders to step up. The various National Championships are obviously not doing their job as training grounds for riders, and the people in charge are not doing enough to ensure the future of their sport. My contract with the Australian Body had a clause that we would sponsor a young rider to go to Europe. I wanted to make sure we would always have a Gardner, Doohan, Beattie, or Magee to guarantee the future of my race. Events as we know never let us get to that point.