Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Sir Richard Branson is not sure if he really likes a Virgin, which is odd for a team bearing his company name, not just sponsorship. I have commented before about his seeming lack of commitment, but it is really odd the way he has confirmed that he will continue to support the Virgin Racing team in 2011. And then? He is saying Virgin is willing to accept less branding on the car so that more sponsorship from other companies can be brought into the team. An exit strategy?

Superleague raced at a new track in Mongolia this weekend, Ordos, built by the Government for around $140 m by all accounts. There is a lot of discussion on the future of motorsport. Perhaps we are seeing it. As the populations of developed countries get distracted by other attractions, and building and operating tracks gets more difficult, the underdeveloped world is waking up to it as a sport and economic benefit.

Is Casey Stoner another John Koscinski? He seems to be able to win even on a bike he is not sure about the set up. John seemed to be able to ride around set up problems if his head was right, and maybe this is what we are seeing with Casey? There were some questions raised about his odd drops in form and mysterious injuries. The mind of a motorcycle racer is a powerful thing, and one not to be underestimated. No love lost between Rossi and Lorenzo, not that we thought their was any to start with. Yamaha vs Ducati next season could be very interesting, and let's not forget Casey on Honda with Pedrosa. Pity the size of the field is still disappointing. Not sure I like Motegi, bridges always bother me, and I know there are bridges at Suzuka and Road Atlanta, but not something I would put in a track by choice. Acres of gravel, even on the inside of corners!

Good racing both in Japan and France, surprised there were not more people watching in Japan, home of the motorcycle and with Motegi so close to Tokyo. WSBK in Magny Cours had a decent crowd considering how hard it is to get to.

On four wheels Michael Schumacher says he has the answer to framing a new Team Orders regulation. "I have a very clear position on what I think about team orders." I bet you do Michael, and I also bet we all know what that will be. Move over and let me through. I love Lewis Hamilton's comment that there was no value in beating Schumacher, "he's mostly racing behind me."

What other race series has the owner and CEO give TV and radio interviews during the event? Are Bernie and Jean Todt missing out here? I am talking about Don Panoz and Scott Atherton of course during the Petit Le Mans. I would not mind so much if they had anything to say other than "next year is going to be great." If, as Scott said it is for the fans, why don't you shut up and let us listen to the commentary? We listened to Radio Le Mans to avoid SPEED's commentary, but at one point got so desperate when Scott went on, and on, and on, that we turned the sound up on the TV.

The race was great as usual. SPEED was not as usual. I timed the amount of race we saw and how long the ad breaks were, and we got about 2/3 rds of the race, and then if you take out the infomercials and stupid interviews, we saw a lot less than half. Even what we did see seemed to consist of non-stop in-car cameras from LMPC cars, especially the "green" one. The Director, I use the term loosely, had no feel for the race. It was obvious to a fan that cars were setting up a pass, but he would go to an ad anyway. Same with pit stops. The cameramen also have no idea, we will see a pass in progress and they will  not follow it to see it happen. I am close to not watching it in future it is so infuriating.

Congratulations Peugeot, beautiful cars, perhaps the best looking prototypes we've seen? Great strategy and well driven. Sorry to see Allan, Tom and Dindo lose, I admire and respect them enormously, but they have had a good run, and Dr. Ulrich is a class act the way he accepts defeat.

The Petit le Mans is a success story. The races are great and the fans come out to watch. What does it tell us? If you bring the best the fans will come and watch. When we ran the first one I had a potential spectator on the phone asking why should he come. I started to tell him the great cars that were coming, but only got as far as the Le Mans winning Porsche, and he said great, I'm coming! Fans are not bothered by the length of the race, their span of attention does not seem to be a problem. They are not confused by the different classes, or too much technology, foreign drivers, or all those other excuses that have been given lately. So, why is the rest of the ALMS series not as successful? They do not have all the best cars and drivers. Yes they have some, but other than the GT2 class there is one car and driver combination that stands out, and you cannot sell a race on that. And just maybe sports car fans do not want to watch 2 hour sprints?

On the home front we have a couple of very promising meetings next week on the Sol Real project, but unfortunately one project has been canceled so I am currently "underemployed." So if anyone needs a motor racing consultant let me know.

Curious that the second most important sportscar race is on and Autosport web page does not mention it, not even under the ALMS tag? We have Peugeot and Audi going head to head with two cars each, unlike Silverstone, and they covered that race. I know the ALMS is not seen as it once was. Quoting Gary Watkins in the September 6 Autosport, "The harsh truth is is that, despite the rhetoric from the series bosses, the ALMS is a pale imitation of its former self." As Gary says, "should Audi return and be joined by another big gun in LMP1, the ALMS can return to its former glory." That is what makes the absence of news from this weekend mystifying, we have just that scenario, and it has drawn the fans to the track by all accounts. Even SPEED has opted to show us all ten hours! Must not be a truck race on.

Practice is showing how close the race is going to be. Yes the Peugeots are fast, 204 mph at the end of the main straight, and lap times in the 1 min 8 seconds. Audi are about a second behind with the "young guys" car, who have less experience here than McNish and company. Maybe Audi know the race is not won in practice. In fact many teams opted to sit out the wet second practice to install their race set up and engine, saving the mechanics sleep last night. They commented that getting the race set up was more important than qualifying.

In LMP2 the Highcroft Honda is just in front of the Cytosport Porsche, and the GT2 class is its usual close run thing, but with the Patron Ferrari with its nose just in front. All drivers were commenting on the amount of traffic so the race is going to be fraught for the drivers and interesting for us. Luck and patience is going to determine who comes out on top, just ask Pirro.I liked Anthony Davidson's comment that Road Atlanta is a "proper mans track."

The Porsche Hybrid is performing extremely well, as you would expect from a car that almost won the Nurburgring 24 hours. Even though it is racing itself the comparison with the GT2 cars will be inevitable, and should it beat them, what then? Porsche are making statements about rejoining F1, and Audi staying with LMP1. It has been a long time since Porsche ran its own F1 car, without much success, but supplied engines to help McLaren win world championships in the mid eighties. It seems that is likely to be the way they will return, although probably not with McLaren. I think we can look forward to McLaren making their own engines when their deal with Mercedes runs out.

Talking of McLaren, Lewis says he will hold nothing back in Japan, that will be something to see! Look out world, I'm coming through. Poor Massa has finally been told what he already knew, he is there to help Alonso win the championship.

Over at MotoGP at Motegi, Pedrosa has helped Lorenzo win the championship by falling off and breaking his collarbone in two or three places, depending on what you read. He is out this weekend, so maybe they can plate it and get him back for later rounds, but what's the point? Valentino topped practice today and was surprised by the lack of shoulder pain and his speed. Let's hope he can keep it up and give us a race Sunday. Lorenzo only needs to cruise around, but if he is any sort of racer he will want to beat his team mate.

Well it is here at last, and with a good field of cars. To help you sort them out Radio Le Mans web site has a "spotters guide" you can download and print so you can keep up with the cars and drivers, very useful. Radio Le Mans coverage is live for all the sessions, and qualifying for Petit is streamed on SPEED's web site at 3:10pm eastern. Peugeot driver Anthony Davidson, who has not been to Road Atlanta for ten years, had forgotten how awesome the track is, and difficult for drivers with so many cars on a much shorter track than Le Mans.

It is a round of the Intercontinental Cup, the unofficial sports car World Championship, so it has attracted some serious contenders, not the least of which are the Peugeot's and Audi's. Peugeot won last year's rain shortened event, but expect Audi to want this one badly. Peugeot will have fixed the engine problems that robbed them of victory at the 24 hour this year, and won handily at Silverstone recently, but informed comment says that the development of that car has peaked while Audi is still potentially finding more speed. For once SPEED are showing the entire race without going to a truck race, so enjoy. I know what I am doing Saturday, and it does not involve college football.

The MotoGP is off to Motegi for the next round with plenty of racing left yet, including Phillip Island. Lorenzo still has a 56 point lead over Pedrosa, but with the number of races still to go it is not over yet. Lorenzo would still have to DNF in my book for Pedrosa to get up, but it keeps it interesting doesn't it? Not sure that I am a great fan of Motegi, Suzuka has some fond memories, but I guess Honda owns both, so he who has the gold makes the choice?

Rumors resurfaced about the possible sale of Toro Rosso. Since Gerhard Berger sold his interest it always seemed likely it would be sold. Owning one F1 team must be expensive for Dietrich Mateschitz, let alone two. It sounds like a bargain for one of the would-be F1 teams that wanted to enter next year. How about it Jacques? The cars have performed well this year, so it would be much better than starting from scratch.

Again, based on rumors, it seems Chandook could be going to Lotus, or whatever they are called next year, to drive with Kovalainen. They just announced Trulli as the other driver so it is probably time to fire him based on the musical seats going on. There is a piece on ESPN F1 about "no money no drive" goings on at HRT. There are also more great photos from India.

Tony Fernandes is learning what most of us around racing already know, changes to rules cost money. They cost the car builder and the track owner money, everyone except those making the rules. I noticed this when running motorcycle GP's. I would go to meetings of the Road Racing Commission of the FIM, along with sponsors, teams and manufacturers and other track owners, and be forced to listen in silence while 16 men with not a dime invested between them discuss changes to rules. I well remember one poor soul from Yugoslavia, as it was then, who had made all the upgrades to his track as requested, and then was not given a race! He just about cut his wrists on the conference table.

The FIA and FIM keep going on about cutting costs, and then proceed to make the teams redesign the cars or motorcycles each year. And not just a little. We go from movable front wings to movable back wings next year, or has that been dropped? It is hard to keep up, let alone try and design a car for next year. The 125cc class disappears, so what happens to all those machines? Are they now so much junk?

Korea is a running sore now for Bernie, and it seems our friend Mr. Tilke is getting some flak about the lateness in completion. To put the record straight I met Peter Wahl, Managing Director for Tilke, at the Forum in New York back in April, and he said then that the Koreans only wanted them to design the track, the Koreans would build it themselves. Now it seems the Koreans are pleading that they had not built an F1 track before so should be excused for being late! I presume they knew before they started that they had not done this before. When I did Adelaide I had not done it before either, but we still got it done. I know what they mean though, it is more complicated now, but there are also people available now that know how to do it, so there is no excuse if you choose to ignore them. As I try and tell potential clients, it costs just as much to build it wrong as build it correctly, the only difference is the fee for someone like me, and that is peanuts in the scheme of things. The cost of rebuilding it, or not completing it is enormous, as the Koreans are about to find out.

If you want to see the next disaster go on the ESPNF1 web site and look at the photos of the Indian track for next years GP. They are already complaining that the weather is delaying them. When I built Eastern Creek there was a famous photo of the Minister for Sport and I under an umbrella standing in a lake it was raining so much. That was January, and we ran the first race in July. It was not pretty, but by September we ran a test for GP teams following the Oz GP at the Island. You can either get it done or you can't.