Bob Barnard Track Engineering

The Petit Le Mans is now on the Intercontinental Cup Calendar for 2011 on October 1st. So, was that just a negotiating ploy? I am personally glad to see it included as I was very much involved in the inaugural race when there was no ALMS, and it deserves to be on the calendar. To me it is a better race than Sebring.

Luca di Montezemolo, Mr. Ferrari, is concerned that the rules for 2011 are still somewhat open to interpretation, particularly in respect to the movable rear wing. Patrick Head warned recently that the latter innovation is "not set in stone," and that is my understanding, so when is that going to be clarified?

It seems the Olympic Commission is concerned about the planned staging of the first Russian F1 race the same year as the Winter Games in Sochi. They question whether you can run two such events in one city in the same year, but I would have thought that many of the facilities, especially temporary stands for instance, could work for both and save money.

So Paul Di Resta survived the Shanghai track to win the DTM for 2010, well done. Pity the race had to start behind the safety car for three laps and then have yellow flags at the first three corners to try and make it safe at the start. DTM needs to have a serious look why it is racing at such venues when there are perfectly good permanent tracks to go to, even in Shanghai.

The GP2 musical chairs ended today with the results being mixed up again. Alexander Rossi ran 4th in the last session after an 8th place in the morning. Surprising to see Karun Chandook so low down in the timesheet, and Joylon Palmer struggled to repeat his form of yesterday. This is the end of the testing until next February, by when I guess we will know who has taken their checkbook where.

Bernie said  that the muggers went over the top, he would have given them the money, watch and the jewelry without the agro. One of my friends was bad enough to suggest that the muggers were a promoter trying to get some of his money back.

DTM is staging their season finale in Shanghai. Yes I know it is the German touring car series, go figure. They sell a lot of Mercedes and Audis in China, probably more than Germany. This is not their first visit, and the street track was used previously by A1GP I think, with similar results. Problems with the layout. Lots of crashes during the last two practice days, including one terrible one by Maro Engel hitting the end of the pit lane wall. Maro is OK, but most of the front of the car is gone. They changed this and a few other barriers Friday night, and the DTM is going to make more changes tonight. Did they not look at this track before they started? Did the Chinese learn nothing from previous years? Who designs/inspects this? There are a few of us who have done this before, there is no excuse just because it is in China or one of their first races. It is a sad way to finish a season with the race potentially decided by an accident caused by a bad track.

I am organizing a session at the Professional Circuit Owners Forum in LA in April next year to look at the responsibilities and liabilities of designers/owners/inspectors, and the role of the insurer/sanctioning body and the legal profession. This is an ongoing problem here in the US and we need to air it out instead of ignoring it. The program will be out in January so book some time mid April to be there.

GP2 try outs going on with drivers swapping seats faster than musical chairs. Young Joylon Palmer has stepped up from F2 and is running well, while a lot of the usual suspects are up the top of the time sheets whichever car they are in. Brendon Hartley is still tyring to make it past GP2, but I fear he is one of those I mentioned yesterday that are destined to not quite make it. Roman Grosjean, the great French hope that had a shot at F1 is mid pack, while rising American star Alexander Rossi is setting similar times. With the swapping of cars and drivers, are the drivers with money auditioning the team, or is the team looking for the best driver?

Speaking of rising stars, Daniel Ricciardo has been announced as the Friday driver for Torro Rosso at every race next year, so he will get a good bit of seat time. Buemi therefore seems safe, until he messes up. Daniel is to continue in FR3.5 with the aim of winning it in 2011. This is a better deal than going to GP2 and does not throw him in the deep end. Where to in 2012?

I trust all my American friends had a great Thanksgiving, I certainly did. Spent it with Aussie mate also from Adelaide and we watched the movie made of the set up for the first Adelaide F1 GP that I recently managed to obtain a copy of.

It is sort out time for the remaining seats in F1 next year, so let's look at who's where and who might be. McLaren is set with Hamilton and Button, and it looks like despite everything Webber and Vettel will be back at Red Bull. Christain Horner is tipping Mark for the title, so he must think he will be back. Ferrari will have Alonso, but is Massa safe? Who is available that is a better #2 to Alonso? Kubica and Webber have been mentioned, but neither look like moving and would not want to be a number 2 anyway. Mercedes has Nico, and maybe Michael. He says he likes the Pirelli's, and I don't think his ego is going to let him give up that easily. If they wanted a German driver there is Hulkenburg or Heidfeld, or even Glock, that would do as good a job or better, but Michael's name is great marketing for Mercedes. Renault has Kubica and looks like it might keep Petrov. The car is improving all the time so Kubica will stay, and Petrov did well at the end of the season, and with the Russian connection it seems smart to keep him. Force India is likely to keep Sutil, another German that Mercedes could take, but it seems Liuizzi might be replaced by Hulkenburg which would be a smart move.

Williams are retaining Barrichello, how long can this man go on, and I presume Maldonando with his sponsorship, although that is not announced.  Torro Rosso has given a big hint that Buemi is not coming back and could make room for Ricciardo. When was the last time Australia had two F1 drivers? Answers on a postcard please. Sauber has Mr. Overtaking, "I do not see the other cars" Kobayashi and the young Mexican driver Perez. Lotus, or whoever, will have Trulli and Kovalainen back, but the other two new teams are still up in the air. Glock will probably stay at Virgin, or whatever it is next year, with just maybe a Russian partner, Aleshin. HRT will take whoever has a big check book, and will anybody care?

So the GP2 winner may again not find an F1 seat, and drivers are bypassing it from FR3.5 and GP3 etc. Far from being a stepping stone it is becoming a support series for F1 for drivers that are not quite good enough.

On a final note, Bernie was mugged entering his home last night. Some journalists are unkind enough to repeat Bernie's comments after the attempted muggings in Sao Paulo, "They look for victims, they look for anyone who looks like a soft touch and not too bright," Bernie said in Sao Paulo. "People who look a bit soft and simple, they will always have a go at." I cannot for one moment subscribe to Bernie being "a soft touch and not too bright" so it seems no one is safe.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the US, so probably will not write a blog, not that there is much to comment on today. Hendrick is changing his crew chiefs for three of his teams in NASCAR, except Jimmie Johnson of course. Smacks of deckchairs on the Titanic, but I guess he knows his business and different personalities can make a better team. Earnhardt Jr. is a curious case. We know he can drive so why is he running around at the back when a sister car is winning the Championship? I'm sure if the answer was simple Rick Hendrick would have done it, but I cannot imagine it is just a change of crew chief.

Mario Theissen is stepping down as BMW's motorsport chief, and I don't know about you but I'm not sure he achieved much for them. Is he retiring or going somewhere else, the press release did not say.

Torro Rosso say they have a long hard winter in front of them to stay ahead of Lotus and Virgin. I guess you can say that for all the teams. I agree that Lotus, in whatever name, could challenge them, but not sure that Virgin, or whatever they are called next year, can make a big step.

Kobayashi says he intends to make no mistakes next year. I for one hope he does as he is actually going for it, not just driving around, and as we have seen with Hamilton, that will lead to mistakes, but it also leads to some exciting races like Kobayashi ran at Suzuka.

So, to all my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving!