Bob Barnard Track Engineering

I spent the last couple of days watching the Rotax US Grand National kart racing from the Gopro Motorplex at Mooresville on the Kart Racing Network. This is an online live streaming site that was a refreshing change from the networks. No one would call it slick, but it gave us great non-interrupted coverage, with a commentator who was just like Murray Walker. Human, and making mistakes, but not glib and manufacturing excitement like Varsha and Diffey. He did not have to, the racing spoke for itself.

I have not watched kart racing at this level, except for odd clips of Senna, and I am so impressed at the standard of driving, even at the youngest class. Here were two 7,8, or 9 year olds racing clean, leaving each other room, and strategising where to overtake. How good are they going to be by the time they are late teens? Each class produced great racing, reminded me of the hey days of MotoGP with four or five drivers dicing it out.

The track was perfect, and not just because I built it, but because the owners, especially Justin Marks uniquely had the vision, had the funds, wanted to do it right, and listened to advice. If only other track owners learned from this. The commentator Ken who was English and had travelled to many tracks around the world, said he believed this to be the best he'd seen. Well done Justin, Michael and Eric.

I will certainly be watching the Rotax World Finals at NOLA later this year.

Last weekend saw three major races, each with their own character, equally interesting and worth watching.

It kicked off with Lewis Hamilton taking an unlikely pole position, surprising himself and everyone else. I will admit to being tired and not getting up to watch qualifying live as it seemed from Friday practice it would be a Red Bull walk over. But we've seen this before haven't we? Just wait for the race. Now Hungaroring is not the most exciting track, we've seen races won from pole because no one could pass, but that was not likely was it? Well no it wasn't because as Lewis said, "today I was not having it." We saw a determined Lewis, but a very different one from the days when it seemed he could not overtake without running into someone, usually Massa. How good does Lauda's move to grab him for Mercedes look now? Great race, with the usual whining from Vettel, and a smooth controlled drive from Kimi to take an unexpected second. I can't see him at Red Bull playing second fiddle and putting up with Marko can you? Great crowd, nearly back to what we saw when the track first opened.

So, who is going to get the second seat at Red Bull? Not sure Ricciardo is the one, don't see Kimi, and certainly don't see Alonso. How about Hulkenburg? Good driver, another German and probably happy with Vettel winning, just to get paid for a change!

And what GP's are going to miss out in 2014? Korea seems good riddance, and New Jersey never really looked like it did it, even with Bernie's lust to have a race with the Manhattan skyline as backdrop. India is being given the Bernie treatment to bring them in to line, or else they just spent loads of money on a white elephant. Appropriate for India. Nurburgring? Is the Red Bull Ring again just something to bring the Germans into line, or is the Nurburgring so broke it is out of the game. It was reported that Bernie waived the fee this year, but that probably meant he took the gate money and the rest of the income.

What is going on at Sauber? Sad day when Peter Sauber has to sell out to a bunch of Russians. Has he looked at Marussia and how well they are doing? And of course the money has not arrived yet.

So, back to the races. Next was the Spa 24 hour. Great track and a great field of 65 GT cars, all of them top class. Who needs prototypes to get in the way? The eventual first and second separated by a lap after racing together with the two BMWs for the first few hours, nose to tail. No rain! Must be a first, but plenty of accidents, including two at Eau Rouge, which thanks to the four row tire barriers the drivers walked away from. Can't help but think what would have happened at Tetre Rouge a month ago if there were similar tires in place?

Finally we saw a very odd NASCAR race at Indianapolis. No accidents, and no one brushed the wall that I recall. The field strung out which I guess reduced the contact, but that was not to say there was no overtaking or it was boring. Well done Ryan Newman, and why does he lose his drive next year when Danica doesn't? The suits are running, or is that ruining, the sport. Nothing like the crowd they had at the early races.

Finally, well done Tony Stewart for the truck race at Eldora. He got the crowd he deserved and the plaudits. He could start it earlier next year if it is going to be mid-week, bit hard to stay up till midnight. Track prep was perfect. With that many laps you might have expected a few problems, but it slicked up just right. Again a good drive by Newman, he just had a couple of young guns that were too quick. Someone needs to sign up Kyle Larson!

I turned on the Indycar races from Toronto last weekend and watched the GoPro lap of the track with Townsend Bell and Steve Matchett driving us around the course quite quickly with neither wearing a seat belt! How do I know it was quickly? Because Steve had to keep grabbing hold of something to stop being thrown around. Why not wear the seat belt idiot! I am sure Honda was very pleased at this fine example of safe driving.

And then of course there is the track where we have been racing for many years, but we still cannot afford to repave it, much like the New Hampshire NASCAR track. Rope tied tire barriers have never been acceptable as far as I know, but Indycar thinks they are just fine. Just as NASCAR thinks debris fence with the post and cable on the track side of the mesh is OK. Is there no one involved who knows or cares? How are we ever going to raise the standard of motor racing safety when we have these examples?

I have not said anything about the accident that took the life of Jason Leffler as I do not know the circumstances, and there are deaths that are "racing incidents." It is nice to see however that I am not alone in wanting more transparency in the accidents that are happening and the causes. This is a piece from Sporting News Web site.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2013-06-18/jason-leffler-death-crash-investigation-safety-daytona-wreck-fans-injured?modid=recommended_2_5

Very well said.

I watched a variety of sport over the weekend; US Open Golf, NASCAR, Indycar, Grand-Am and soccer. The one thing they all have in common is the love of statistics. What would the commentators talk about without all those numbers. How many majors since Tiger won one, how many greens or fairways hit in regulation, what is each hole playing in respect of par? How many shots on goal at the soccer, percentage of possession, games without a goal, or distance run by each player?

Think about baseball, what is there to watch if you don't know the ERA or RBI stats? NBA? Assists, average score, total points, points coming off the bench. It goes on and on. I swear that the golf guys could not complete a sentence without a stat.

So what about motor racing? Laps lead, tracks where Jimmie Johnson has not won, wins from pole, pit stop times, number of races without a win, how many times Ford has won at Michigan, and on it goes.

One stat no one seems to want to count in motor racing is deaths and injuries. I thought America was alone in not adding these up, but no. To try and get some comparison I went to good friends in Spain, Australia, France, Germany, Italy and England, and a friend with FIA connections. Surely the FIA keeps track? I have not heard from all of them, but the message is no one keeps count, or say they don't. How can the FIA Institute know what to research solutions and improvements for if they do not look at accidents? How does the Medical Panel know what injuries to expect, or the Track Committee know what to improve and update? The answer is they must, but no one wants to put the numbers out there. It's the same deal as not publishing standards, only the insiders should know such precious information.

Now I accept that here in the US the sport does not keep count, it is to split up to do that, but the insurers must. That is their business. How do you set insurance rates if you cannot assess the risk. It is an actuarial business, or like legalized gambling to me. What's the odds of having a claim at that track or event? How do we do it elsewhere? Look at the form book, or calculate the odds.

So, the most important statistic of all in motor racing is not how many championships someone wins, it is how many have to die or be maimed to accomplish it? We may never know.