Bob Barnard Track Engineering

I saw an item this morning that suggested that Valentino being out of MotoGp could be like Tiger being missing from the PGA Tour. Attendance down and TV figures reduced. Now Valentino has been dominant in MotoGp from the moment he arrived in whatever class he rode. His record of thirteen seasons without missing a race is incredible in a sport where the rider is so exposed, the machines balanced on a knife edge and the competition fierce. I am trying to recall what other riders or drivers have had similar records, but the only sportsman that come to my mind is Brett Favre.

I would hope and expect that the sport is big enough to survive his absence, after all he has been rumored to go F1 racing for a few years now, and he cannot go on riding indefinitely, although that seems easier these days. So you would think that someone in DORNA, the MotoGP rights holder would be looking hard to replace him, if as suggested the current high ratings depend on Valentino. As with any great sportsman Valentino has been able to not only be the best at what he does, but at also building an aura about him that appeals to the fans, something Valentino seems extraordinarily well tuned in to. So who is there? His team mate Lorenzo is no slouch, giving Valentino a run in the Championship even before the accident, and then there is yesterday's winner Pedrosa who had been predicted to be the next Rossi. Beyond that it starts to get a bit thin. Dovizioso is not quite there, Spies is in his first season and the jury is still out. We have Edwards and Capirossi , both beyond their use by date, and then a bunch including Stoner, Hayden, Melandri and de Puniet that may have an occasional good day but not going to set the crowd alight like Valentino. Simoncelli has enough hair to be a character, but needs to show something in the top class. We had 16 bikes in the race after Valentino's accident, not good for a world class show.

Mind you, even in the days of Gardner et al the 500cc class was never a large grid, mainly due to the problem of actually getting hold of a 500cc machine, but the depth of quality in the field was amazing when you look back. Rainey, Schwantz, Lawson, Gardner, Doohan, Mamola, Sarron, Magee, Koscinski, and fast Freddie, any one of which capable of leading a race, and often a pack of four or five doing just that. Then behind them you had the likes of Ron Haslam, Chandler, Goddard, Chili,  De Radigues, Mackenzie, and McElnea. Maybe I am biased but I find it hard to compare that lot with today's field.

So where is the next Valentino coming from? Is he already in Moto2? hard to tell, that class is all over the place. Makes for good racing, but we had Kenny Noyes on pole in France and almost last in qualifying in Italy. Hard to see anyone for the US National Series, and I have no idea about the other countries. World Superbike has some young peddlers, Leon Haslam being one that comes to mind, but is he "continental" enough to appeal to Valentino's followers?

It seems harder today than ever for good young riders to rise to the top level. Despite the popularity of the World Championships with increased viewership in a large number of countries across the globe it still seems hard, if not impossible, to find the money required to go racing. It obviously costs a lot of money to race at this level, money that can only come with sponsorship. F1 seems to be able to raise considerably more money for the teams to spend, and yes the audience is larger, but I doubt that the sponsorship levels are in the same proportion. I see numbers of 600m for F1, and I have heard 100m for bikes in over 100 countries, so a good level of exposure. I would doubt that motorcycle sponsorship is anywhere in the same ratio to F1. So why is it so hard? Part of the problem we had when I worked for Kenny was that the manufacturers themselves treated the racing as an R&D exercise, not marketing, with therefore a restricted budget. It made us very annoyed to watch a Yamaha F1 engine explode every race at a cost of probably $100m a year, when we were winning championships at less than a tenth of that, only to be told the F1 engine was marketing !

Where are all the big name sponsors that F1 attracts? Does motorcycling still carry a stigma? Do motorcycle fans not buy anything? I would have thought the young fans I see at races would be a great demographic for someone. It cannot be for want of trying. The downside of course is Moto2. If you cannot raise the money to go racing you "dumb down" the motorcycles to make them cheaper. This is a death spiral which I fear we have already started.

We saw two serious fires yesterday, one at Watkins Glen Grand-Am 6 Hour, where the driver had to drive the car into pit lane to find a fire crew, not where I would want him to take it, and the other at Texas Motor Speedway during the IRL race. In both cases the responders were presumably professional crews, but the response looked anything but that. The IRL was the worse, with the crew trying to get the hose to work on the truck, which they never did, instead of going straight to the extinguishers, and the one they eventually used looked like the wrong type and used the wrong way. While all this is happening the rest of the crew is trying to drag, yes drag, the driver out. Fortunately she was not otherwise injured or else I hate to think what would have been the result in terms of permanent damage to her. Look at it for yourself on YouTube, and contrast it to the fire we saw at the Sebring 12 Hour earlier this year. It was a similar serious conflagration to the back of the car, and when one corner worker ran to it with one extinguisher I thought to myself that that will never get it. But I was wrong, he had it out quick smart, right type aimed at the right place I guess.

Fire is a driver's worst nightmare, and we expect better from responders than this. I am not saying I could do better, but then I am not a trained specialist, and I do know how it should be done and how it should be organized. When we organized the first F1 GP in Adelaide one of my staff built an F1 car out of 50 gallon oil drums, cut up the barrels to make wheels, wings etc, and then we set it on fire and let crews practice on a real example, so if they had the real thing they knew what to do instinctively. We also shut off portions of the course on the weekends prior to the race and brought the fire and ambulance crews and simulated an accident, with race cars up against a wall. Every track has to have emergency response plans these days, but not much use if the are not executed by trained people who have not practiced for it.

I was watching the Watkins Glen 6 Hour as there is not a lot else on the box this weekend. Speed Channel (aka NASCAR Channel) did their usual stellar job. Despite telling us what an important race this was, world renowned, they deigned to show us 4 hours of it, leaving to watch that other world renowned race, the ARCA from Pocono. Then we were treated to an incessant dose of Lee Diffey talking about anything but the race. At one point we were treated to a driver interview during one of the few lead changes! On screen graphics did their best to cover up the racing, and then there are all the other snippets some producer thinks we need to fill in the time during the broadcast. Visits to the local Motel, footage from past races etc. I've talked about this before. If we have bothered to tune in then presumably we want to watch the race, just show us the race! We had one whole lap when Diffey shut up to let us hear the car on an in-car lap.

Nice to see J.C. France back in a race car, I'm sure his fellow drivers were just thrilled to see him, and Jeremy Mayfield would like to compare notes with him.

The commentators made much of the changes to Watkins Glen that improved the safety. All I could see was that they paved what used to be gravel traps, so it stopped the yellow flags, but did not increase the run off. There continues to be a lot of areas where there is little or no run off, with acres of grass outside the barrier and the tire barriers are clearly not built correctly. The last corner where the Krohn car had it's big accident has not had the barrier moved back, but a speedway "SAFER" wall installed that actually reduced what little room there was. Of course there is a bridge there so I suppose we could not move that. It is a classic case of the track being made to fit the surroundings, and not the other way around.

So, just a week after the Turkish F1 GP, they of no spectators and a track used three days a year, when Bernie has ensured us that the race will continue beyond their current contract, he has asked for twice the fee for the next ten years. This bumps it to $26m a year, about the figure the Governor of Texas says he is willing to tip in for Austin. Apparently discussions with the Government were cordial but unresolved, and they do not seem likely to cough it up, but if they do not they say the track will have to close as no one else uses it. Is Austin watching any of this?

Bernie has the best connections. Just when it seems that the Korean GP track will not be ready, an embarrassment for all, he makes a call to his mate in North Korea, and we have an international incident. Now we will have to cancel the race out of safety concerns. It is interesting that reportedly none of the teams had made travel or hotel reservations.

Sad news about Valentino Rossi, sounds like a nasty break to his leg. Riding with basically one arm could not have helped. Great to see Dr Costa there on the spot, looking like he has not aged a jot. If you do not know the story of Dr. Claudio Costa, the motorcyclists doctor and his Clinica Mobilia, then make it business to find out. He and his compatriots are amazing people. I know riders literally owe their life and limb to them. I am sure Valentino will do everything he can to get back on the bike, as I said yesterday, these tough cookies. Who can forget Mick Doohan riding almost all the '93 season with a broken leg, a leg he only had at all thanks to Claudio, and a thumb brake courtesy of Jeremy Burgess, now VR's Chief. It was not until he broke his collar bone at Laguna he stopped and had it fixed by Art Ting in California, wearing the worst looking contraption you have ever seen to get it to knit and straighten. Made me wince just to look at it, let alone have to turn the screws every morning to realign it.

So the 2010 Le Mans 24 hour officially starts tomorrow with inspections. If you ever plan a trip be sure to make a week of it, the inspection is as close as you will ever get to the cars and drivers and it is a great show that goes on for two days. While you are there do as we did and drive up to the Normandy beaches, especially Omaha which has the most incredible visitors center. Tomorrow is the anniversary of D-Day and real heroes.

In a way it is an unfortunate fact that this great race interrupts the ALMS season. The next ALMS race is in July, a break of two months. As others have found out, including the IRL, it is hard to build any momentum for a series if it does race on a consistent basis. I would believe that NASCAR has benefited from this, although I doubt there was a marketing genius behind it, more supply/demand, but you know almost without exception there is a race every weekend from February to November. Having worked with the TV guys I know they love to build a consistent program, so viewers do not have to look for them, like watching "House" or "Lost." Same day, same time every week, just turn the TV on and there it is. Channel Nine in Australia was trying to make the 10 pm slot Sunday nights a motor sport "series." This was the time we got the F1 and MotoGP races, and as inconvenient as it was any fan was not going to miss it.

So, how does ALMS build a TV audience when they do little or no advertising or promotion, and even a fan like me does not know when the next race is. They have to build up a better schedule, along with a car count, if  it is going to survive. This is a problem for those US teams that want to compete in Le Mans, but they have made it from Laguna two weeks ago, and presumably could be back in two weeks, thus limiting the damage to the home show. The shortening of the Indianapolis 500 "Month of May" is as much to do with maintaining a presence on the track as the drop in interest in the 500. It also asks the question again, despite the value of the Le Mans name, dubious in the US context to any but avid fans, why should a US series be interested in anything other than maximising it's own show? Being tied to the Le Mans class structure and specs is unlikely to produce the best racing, and after all that isn't that what the fans want?

Well a year actually. I know that to those of you reading that are motor sport fans would just love to earn a living at it. Let me tell you now that is has its moments, but it is like many other jobs, it is repetitive, and frustrating. There is never enough time or money, and the challenges come thick and fast. The good and bad thing about the sport is there is always the next race. So if you lose you can say oh well, there is next week, and if you win you can say oh well, there is next week. You are only as good or bad as your last race.

Being a track designer is no different. You are certainly only as good as your last track, and actually getting to the point of designing the next one, and then having it built is another story. It is actually a daunting prospect being given a blank page and laying it out, you only have one chance to get it right, and a lot to get it wrong. And of course not everyone is going to like it. One of the best accolades I have had is when I redid the infield track at Daytona for the motorcycles at least no one said they did not like it!

Actually getting to work on a track, unless you are Herman Tilke, is a long drawn out business. Let me tell you my life since this time last year. At that time I had one prospect that had been talking to me for three years and was almost ready to start. As always money was the last thing that was lacking. I am still waiting on that track. A second prospect actually involved a track I had designed and which we had the earthworks done before the money ran out. Now someone was going to revive it, and that dragged on until February before that fell over again. Lo and behold a third person is trying over the last month or so to pick this up, but of course we are waiting for money.

I had an initial contact for another track in late 2009 which did result in a commission to design it in March, but now they have the design and can see that it is possible to build it on their difficult  site, they have to decide to spend the money, which they have, but it is actually more expensive than they thought, so it is a hard decision. Still waiting. This year I have also had approaches from Canada, which comes and goes, and is currently gone. I had an approach to do a concept plan for Qatar on the Persian Gulf, which the Emir is still considering. I have been contacted about another track in the US that is in a very early stage of concept, and a track here in Louisiana that is waiting on some land acquisition. An invitation to bid on some changes to the Singapore GP track is still pending, and just yesterday I had an approach out of the blue for another track here in the US.

But after all that, in one year I have spent a week actually working on a track design! The clients have wanted to know about construction costs, operating costs, potential revenue, noise and other environmental issues, certification and insurance, timing, lighting etc.etc. It is a hard way to make a living, and when the decision to finally build one of these it will be a full on project with no time to scratch myself. Wouldn't change it for quids though.

Last but not least, there was an article that Rossi's (the motorcycle racer, not the GP3 one) shoulder injury was much worse than realized. Here he is today quickest in practice for the Italian MotoGP in Mugello. As I have seen first hand with Wayne Rainey and Mick Doohan, these motorcycle guys are tough!

For a team owner and sponsor as media and marketing savvy as Red Bull the management of the race incident at Turkey has been unbelievably bad. A different story every day and different people putting them out. The first thing you learn about emergency or crisis situations, along with the response the problem itself, is that only one nominated spokesperson talks to the media. You agree on a message, the sooner the better but give yourself time to work it out, and stick to it. As soon as this happened Christian Horner should have put a clamp on the drivers and the team. Instead we have had Webber is to blame, the Mechanic did not pass on the message to save fuel, Mark did get the message and that is why Vettel caught him, Webber's rear tires were going off, Webber moved over on Vettel, etc, etc. Today we have a nice photo of Mark and Sebastian being friends again. Does anyone remember "Days of Thunder?"

We also see today that Red Bull is negotiating to extend Vettel's contract, which runs through 2012 already, to 2015. I said the other day that he is obviously the team's future, but what message does that send to Webber who is on a one year contract and no one seems in a rush to sign him for next year. Now, I don't know that Mark is not the one delaying this, and who could blame him? Are we going to see a repeat of last year when the World Champion took his Number 1 plate somewhere else?

That raises the question as to where would that be. As I wrote a few weeks ago, the silly season seemed to have started early, with all the rumors about Massa. I said at the time that it did not seem to make a lot of sense for Ferrari to bring in someone else, or why anyone would want to go there to be Alonso's number 2. Given the cars erratic performance I say again, why would anyone want to go there unless they are star struck by the name? It seems Ferrari are going to retain Massa, so what are the other teams and drivers likely to do? McLaren appear on the surface to have it perfect, so I cannot see either of those guys moving. Mercedes also looks set, unless Nico gets tired of hiding in Schumacher's shadow or Michael gets tired of being beaten, but not likely at the moment. Ferrari looks like Alonso/Massa, and Renault and Kubica are doing nicely thank you, with Petrov doing well for a rookie, so I do not see a change there. Force India have Sutil and should be happy to do so. Not sure Adrian is, but where can he go? Webber's seat would suit(il) him nicely, but will it be open? Luizzi is probably in trouble, so Di Resta may get a seat before the year is out.

Williams may let Rubins go at the end of the year, but not sure Hulkenburg will be ready to lead. I love Sir Frank and Patrick Head and what they achieve, but they are not likely to be back at the front soon, so not sure who would take that seat. Torro Rosso's two drivers are both improving and at times getting amongst the bigger teams, so I would expect them to stay. Sauber is in trouble, de la Rosa will not last, but Kobayashi has some periods of good driving, and he is still learning so will probably survive, depends on who takes over the team. Then there are the three new teams, so none of the top drivers are going there yet, especially Webber. So where does that leave Mark? Maybe looking for a big paycheck in his final seasons? Nah, that's not his style.

If the drivers are not moving it seems some of the designers are. Lotus continue to steal personnel from Force India, so why would they bother to steal their design as Force India has alleged in a court action? This has been going on a while now, and there is obviously some story there, just not sure what it is. If Lotus stole Force India's design from the wind tunnel, then presumably it was this year's car, so why is Lotus not as fast as Force India?