Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Poor old Damon Hill, he just had to be the Driver Steward when Michael decided to pull one of his stunts. Now the Schumacher fans are sending him hate mail. Number one, we do not even know how Damon voted on this, and two, he was not the only Steward so presumably a few people agreed on the decision. Now Damon is saying perhaps the driver should not be a Steward, just an advisor, as if that would placate the masses. Like most referees or umpires they  will never please everyone, so just follow your conscience and like the drivers, do the best job you can. You cannot always be right, just ask Jarno Trulli.

Quote of the week."The teams are subsidizing the Canadian GP." Tell that to the Canadian Governments that are forking out a reportedly $70 m to get the race back. The poor teams, who we all know are struggling to build their $20 m motorhomes, say that the cost of going to Canada is more than they will receive. Well, they should be asking Bernie about where all that dough is going.

The teams are reportedly talking to Bernie about other things like improving the show. Now there's a concept. Concerned at the empty seats, as "blogged", (is that the right term?) the other day, they want to "tweak the weekend." Now I have to agree that the changes to the qualifying have made for a more exciting session, even though I am a bit of a purist and liked the old days I have to agree the punters see more cars on track this way. But, let's hope we do not get too carried away with the racing. Let's not go to two races, or reverse grids or even shorter ones. Yes, these can liven up the show, but this is supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport and as I have said before the races now are no longer than the average soccer or football match, and a lot shorter and more interesting than baseball! As we keep coming back to it is what is happening during the race that is the problem. Give us more overtaking and we will all be happy, and when the economy improves we will buy seats again.

We hear a lot about green racing and alternative fuels. It is interesting that in the British Touring Car Championship the Ford Focus that is running on LPG is going to made to go slower! So alternative fuels do not always mean giving the user a break to encourage their use, as we have seen with the diesels at Le Mans. It will be interesting to see the Hybrid Porsche at the Petit and I hope IMSA does not make it run as a "demonstration" excluded from the competition. Some may think from my previous writings that I am against alternative fuels. Far from it, I love the creativity and innovation and should allow almost anything and then equalise the performance. What I object to is the way going green is used as an apology for racing using resources, when we all use them every day, and other sports are not exempt. How much gas gets used with 100,000 people going to a football match?

Another busy weekend coming up with ALMS back in action at Laguna Seca, Indy Qualifying, and the French MotoGP at Le Mans using the Bugatti circuit, not the full road course. As Murphy the Bear commented today, Lord Drayson now has a lot more time on his hands to run his race team, so we will see if it improves.

I live in a nice gated community with an 18 mph speed limit and lots of stop signs to keep us safe and peaceful. Who are the biggest offenders to ignoring both? The residents of course. This morning was a particularly bad example with a Mercedes, how appropriate, going by me at twice the limit and not giving the meerest hint of a hesitation to blow through the stop sign. Some people obviously do not think the rules apply to them. And so to Michael Schumaker. Now, if what he did on Sunday was an isolated incident then perhaps we could put it down to being mislead by his team who must also share some of this rule "interpretation," but as we all know he has a history. How desperate do you have to be to want to make up one place at the end of a race ending under the safety car. I guess if you are a racer then every position counts, but none of the other racers out there thought it proper to try this, and Michael is hardly racing for the World Championship! Maybe he has watched too may NASCAR finishes? Now was a twenty second penalty too harsh? Under normal race circumstances it is probably OK, but when the field is nose to tail behind the safety car it is probably a bit much. Perhaps just putting him back where he was with a caution would have been more appropriate.

What do we think of Massa by passing the new chicane and not being penalised? I know he did not gain a position, but in a normal race situation he would almost certainly have lost one to Hamilton who had pressured him into the mistake. It's a tough call but on balance I would have moved him back behind Lewis. I am sure there are plenty who will not agree with me, and so be it, we are all welcome to our own opinion and free to express it thank goodness. We are still human.

Speaking of human we were reminded this weekend that for all the technology and wizardry in F1 there are still humans involved and races are won and lost by them. The poor guy who left the intake cover on Button's sidepod will live with that for the rest of his life. It is a sad fact that we can do 1000 things right, but if you really care, it is the one you do wrong that haunts you.

A good friend of mine, "Snoopy," Jean-Marc Bonnay commented to me on the standard of the track workers at Monaco, and prompted me to also give them acknowledgement. Most other series and tracks could take a lesson from how quickly they cleaned up some major wrecks. To see the number of workers running to get to the scene of Barrichello's crash was pretty amazing. Yes the track allows for cranes to be set up close, but how many tracks would go to that expense to have them, and they were obviously well drilled in how to hook a car up quickly. It actually should not cost too  much for cranes. When we did the Adelaide race we were offered them for free just to have the exposure. Watch out for Snoopy at this year's Le Mans 24 hour race managing the Luc Alphand team.

Talking of good friends and Le Mans, check out Tony Dowe's web site at www.atenmotorsports.com. Tony has done just about everything in four wheel racing on the team management side, including winning Le Mans. He is currently engaged on preparing a Ferrari for the Grand Am series.

The Nurburgring 24 Hour has been run and won, with BMW victorious, but only just. Audi's challenge faltered with accidents and mechanical problems, and in a shape of things to come the race was led up to the 23rd hour by a Porsche GT3 R Hybrid. The car uses the flywheel regenerative system developed but not used by the Williams F1 team last year, and is rumored to be coming to the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta later this year.

The WSB round at Kyalami was also run last weekend with the second race especially producing some great racing. Congratulations Leon Haslam, your dad must be proud. Nice to see Troy Corser on the BMW hanging in there, and let's hope they can coax a bit more speed out of that machine to let him get amongst the front runners.

Mark Webber drove a masterful race from pole to win the Monaco GP despite four safety cars. His ability to pull away from Vettel each time displayed a surprising level of superiority to his young team mate. In every team he has driven for to date Mark had  been able to establish a mental domination over his team mate. There were questions as to whether he had met his match with Sebastian, but it looks like his toughness is showing through again. Last season there were questions raised as to whether he would keep his drive with Red Bull, but let's not forget he drove all season with the remains of his injuries following his off season bicycle crash. This year he is fully fit and obviously back on top of his game. It will be interesting to see how Vettel handles this situation. Mark has denied signing a new contract, but all the signs say he has and he is showing he deserves it.

It was a typical Monaco race with almost no overtaking except for Alonso on the slowest cars, and even then not without difficulty. Pity about poor Chandook being taken out while leading the new boy's brigade. The accidents provided the highlights, and it looks as if Williams not only have a lot of work repairing cars, but more importantly working out why something broke on each one. Pity we did not see the problem with the drain cover. These are a potential problem on street tracks if not properly bolted or welded down. Obviously they did not have time to weld it so it must have been a bolted version that came loose.

Interesting the number of empty seats. Barcelona had empty seats despite their man Alonso being in the Ferrari, but I put that down to just the large number they had for the race so did not sell out, but Monaco is notorious for being hard to get a ticket, so something is going on. Turkey will give us no clues as they have had terrible crowds the last few years. It will be interesting to see what happens at some more established venues. Silverstone will probably sell out for the Lewis and Jenson show. Just perhaps the economy in Europe is starting to bite and fans just cannot afford the crazy prices for an F1 race.

Interesting radio conversation between Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren pit about saving the brakes halfway through the race. Our Speed commentators, more on which later, made a big deal about Lewis getting snarly with his team in public. PC gone mad. You hire a guy like Lewis, a real racer, who you know is going to give you 110%, and then wonder why he is a little annoyed at being told to conserve while in the middle of a fight between two Ferraris! It's different when you ask Vettel with only a few laps to go and no one behind you to keep slowing down, but in Lewis' situation I do not think it unreasonable to ask as a racer "do you want me to race or just drive around?" It's what makes sport so great is the emotion and the commitment, let's not destroy that.

So to our Speed commentary team. David Hobbs is funny and knows what he is talking about in respect of driving almost anything. Steve Matchet is an experienced F1 mechanic and also know his business, but is anyone else fed up to the back teeth with Bob Varsha, Mr "I must talk all the damn time whether I have anything to say or not, or whether I have said it in every session." If I hear one more time that Monaco and Monte Carlo are not the same I will throw something through the TV. He is there as the commentator to tell us what is happening, and he can keep his opinions to himself, that is why he has David and Steve for informed opinion, and it is OK if there is no one talking for a nano second. We can see for ourselves what is going on and would just like to hear the cars from time to time.

Having got that off my chest, another Aussie won at Monaco, Daniel Ricciardo emulated Mark Webber winning the World Series 3.5 race from pole. Let's hope he gets some sponsorship from Australian companies to help him. It was not that long ago that we had another great young driver, Craig Lowndes, who had one season in Europe thanks to Qantas before the money ran out and he returned to drive tin tops in Australia, finishing second at Winton Raceway today in the V8Supercars. Young American, Alexander Rossi, drove well in fourth place for most of the World Series 3.5 race before being pressured into an error by the more experienced Brendon Hartley from NZ. Good job Alexander and let's hope it results in better rides in future.

So, Mark Webber does it again, way to go Aussie! We actually have two Australians on pole at Monaco with Daniel Ricciardo fastest for the World Series 3.5 race. American Alexander Rossi qualified third in his session before having a big accident that brought out the red flag. They actually ran a split qualifying, with the second group getting the benefit of the track rubbering in at about a second a lap, so Rossi will start fifth on the grid once they put the groups together.

Talking of split qualifying the predictions of traffic being a problem became a reality, but not until there were only the ten fastest and best drivers on track who could not or would not get out of each others way! Massa again being a major culprit. Q1 passed without incident that I could see.

Massa's supposed replacement at Ferrari, Mark Webber, has now apparently signed a new contract with Red Bull, which makes much more sense. Why would he want go and play second fiddle to Alonso, or more to the point why would any of the top drivers, and why would Ferrari really want to replace Massa? Ferrari has rarely fielded two equal drivers, and Massa seems the perfect "other" driver. Not many drivers in the paddock  are going to do a better job. He only lost the World Championship by one point two years ago.

Continuing with Ferrari, it will be interesting for us to see Alonso fight his way through the traffic following his accident, but not sure he will enjoy it. He is  a fighter though and an overtaker, so it will make for good viewing.

I know Monaco is a slower track, but it is interesting that Virgin and Lotus are now only three seconds off the pace. I guess when you are that slow it is easier to find improvements and it will get harder, and more expensive, as they improve.

Good to see some comments from readers, thanks Eddie, and I will try and follow up where appropriate. I am going to try and give equal thought to most forms of racing, but as I said this is not  a news source, there are plenty of those out there. This is a commentary, so it is only when something grabs my attention and I feel I have something worth saying that I will move myself to write on it.

Well the silly season has started early this year, with Mark Webber the latest driver to be replacing Massa at Ferrari. Do not be surprised if tomorrow you see it's that other well known Australian, Bob Barnard, who is replacing him. I am waiting for the phone call now.

Speaking of Ferrari, they pulled the barcode off the cars after the European Parliament complained of subliminal advertising for Marlboro, which of course it was, but somehow have forgotten the drivers helmets, driving suits and team uniforms.

It is a quiet day in Monaco for F1, but the support program goes on, and there is plenty of motor sport action elsewhere around the world. World Superbike, WSB, is in action in Kyalami in South Africa. Nice to see that track still hosting big events, even if it has gone through a lot of changes over the years. WSB is surprisingly going strong, despite the GP machinery switching to four strokes, with more manufacturers competing than I can remember. Nice to see BMW in there with Troy Corser. The series is run by Mauricio Flammini, a very smart operator who is behind the promotion of the Rome F1 GP on a street circuit. Bernie is still saying it is on for 2013 so Italy will be back to two races a year. Hard to see how Mauricio is going to make a dollar out of a street race for Bernie, ask Chris Pook how hard that is, but if anyone can he will.

Also this weekend is the Nurburgring 24 hour on the daunting Nordschleif, the old GP track from pre-war days. 15.7 miles long with lots of corners and mostly nowhere to go if you get it wrong. The race virtually dropped out of sight for a number of years, and in recent times seems to have been the province of a bunch of amateurs having some fun. No longer it seems. The manufacturers are back with a vengance with the race being run for GT2 machinery and some very very good drivers. Audi have three teams of R8's competing among the 220 cars that can qualify! And they say Monaco will be busy. 800 drivers are involved, with the opportunity to drive more than one car. If you wanted to pack a lot of track time into a race this seems to be it.

Thanks to everyone who has been following the blog and glad you are enjoying it. If you need to have a weekly update on what is happening across the board in motor sport on two and four wheels, log on to www.sarnimotorsport.com and receive Greg's Thursday reports.