For both of us at Sidepodcast, it is a long day's trek to Birmingham for Autosport International and Bloggers Karting. More of that later, as there will still be plenty to talk about in the F1 world:
- Sébastien Buemi, affectionately known as Mr Potato Head, has been officially confirmed at Toro Rosso for this year. We all knew this already, and it's barely news, but the secrecy still remains over who will be his team mate. Obviously I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Bourdais, but others may prefer Sato to return. Things have been a bit quiet on the "other driver" status recently, I wonder when we'll find out.
- Some big news from yesterday was Renault's failure of two crash tests. Autosport reckon that a chassis was completely written off during one of the tests, presumably meaning there's some serious structural work to be done. The engineers are on the case, apparently, but who'd bet against there being a DC-like self-combusting engine at the start of the season?
- Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen is taking his off-season duties very seriously for Ferrari by... taking part in a rally competition. He and fellow Finn Mika Häkkinen will be rallying around at the end of January. I don't know much about rallying, but to do it in the ice and snow sounds pretty dangerous to me.
- Finally, it's Friday, which means it's time for another Sidepodcast Diary. This is the second show of the new year, which means my New Year's resolution has so far lasted ten days. I hope you are impressed.
Normally at this point I would put the voting images up and encourage you to give us some clicks, however, it's time to face the music. We're losing, terribly. There's no shame in it, as we said initially, we're honoured to be nominated. However, even we don't believe the Weblog Awards guys when they say those magnificently out in front can still be beaten. So, the links to vote are in the sidebar if you desire to do so, otherwise, I will be in and out of the comments during the day. Hope to see you there.
I'm agreeing with Ollie that STR should give the second seat there to... Gerhard Berger :-D
I'm not so sure about Buemi. I think he's just about good enough for an F1 rookie, but he has very big boots to fill. STR won in 2008. Sure, it was a bit of a fluke and not entirely down to the amazing car/driver combo. But, given the right circumstances, Vettel scored big when others fell of the road. Will Buemi do the same? It is unlikely. While to knowledgeable eyes that is understandable, it will do his reputation no good to those with shallower minds.
I can see Buemi being on the fast-track to F1-obscurity. Especially if STR are sold to someone who doesn't want him. And on top of all that, I believe the team would have done better with Bourdais and Sato. But as that won't be possible to judge now, I can safely say it! :D
that is class :)
Fair dinkum, mate!
And just to explain... STR want experience and money for the second seat. So I suggested (somewhat cheekily) Gerhard Berger. :)
given the abuse levelled in your direction from diary 11, i'm amazed you ever sat in front of a camera again.
i think you missed an opportunity to show plenty of pictures of girls though.
Woop! The latest Sidepodcast Diary has just reminded me of all the freebies and stuff given away at Autosport International. Fortunately, Dubai Motor City have a stand again this year so hopefully I can blag another six or seven t-shirts.
You can never have enough t-shirts I find.
Ah Saturdays, lie ins, perfect afternoon featuring Football Focus, Soccer Saturday and the Darts. Can put my mind to ease, no F1, Spurs don't play until Sunday, I don't play until Sunday, neither exam is until Monday.
And of course, the beautiful realisation thats it going to be a glorious day in the sun. I love Saturdays.
To be fair.
A) Which youtube video has not generated abuse?
B) Helped more by being on the front page
C) Not everyone who watched was most likely an F1 fan and came up with some random drivel.
Its Friday, aw crap, that means none of the beautiful thoughts of Saturday will happen for another 24 hours ;)
Indeed.
how do you carry it all??
bag?
I think you get around that by wearing them. Cunning trick.
Correct answer! I look like the Michelin Man/Montoya by the end of the show.
Sorry to bring this up as I know it's probably best to try and forget about these things, but... just been reading the comments on YouTube and I find it unbelievable that folk can write such horrible stuff without thinking that it doesn't effect the person on the other side of the computer telly.
Eejits!
I'm sure it's much easier when you don't have to drag around a panda suit too. ;)
:D
it was a surprise to me.
been a bit of a long week actually, as much as we appreciate the free promotion from youtube, i think next time we'll just switch comments off :)
Hmm, Renault World Series or Goodwood? Free event or one that costs money but is seemingly worth it? It's a tough choice....
Sorry, I'm thinking waaay too far ahead.
none of ours in the past really. motorsport fans just must be nicer.
Wht didn't you for 12 then?
Bunch of attention seekers. If they don't give a moments thought about the effort put into a video, then it's only fair we do the same to their comments.
Shoulda said popular in that sentance as well.
hehehe.
it's not on the homepage. can't imagine they'd feature another diary five days later.
in the past youtube comments were good to us, no reason to disable them. should a video be featured again though, we'd have to shut them off. mid-season, that would have exhausted us.
Is there going to be an attempt by Christine to get a picture with Mr. Montagny at all, provided she doesn't get hot flushes as soon as she sees him? :P
haha. you think she'll be able to hold the camera steady?
talking of which. does the lighting look less orange to anyone?
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/index.php/id/1569
Only when pigs fly :P
i couldn't when i saw Jenson at ROC, even when he was the size of an ant, so i'm thinking no. :P
No offense to anyone here, but, I do like lurking and am making the way through the comments.
A few obseneties (yeah right, a few), which leads me onto the point.
Why did I give a damn?
She'll probably claim she'll be fine, but as soon as she sets her eyes on him, she'll be on the floor with you lot trying to revive her with smelling salts.
the more i learn about autosport international, the more i wish i was going. I hope everyone who is going and/or karting tomorrow has a great time :)
she met him before though, sorta... well he touched her hand.
sorry, didn't mean to do that!
I know ;) it's fine.
Welcome to the Internet. It's a bit like road rage, or speaking behind someone's back. The monitor appears as a barrier of anonymity to some people, and they exploit it all they like without thinking. Just like a windscreen protects the foul-mouthed driver. But as soon as you stop your car, calmly walk up the swearing motorists window, look them in the eye and explain... The facial expression is priceless. As is letting someone you know who spoke wrong of you without reason while pretending to be nice-as-pie in front of your face is. Unfortunately, this 'retaliation' or 'realisation on their part' is rarely achieved online.
I haven't checked out Christine's diaries yet and I'm hoping to catch up this weekend. But only just hearing of possible un-nicey-ness on YouTube doesn't surprise me one bit.
For those who do publish on the internet (or indeed, anywhere), you'll know about thick skin. That doesn't justify abuse, explain or moralise it. But it shows that while it isn't condoned, we'll still develop, create, publish and enjoy for our and others enjoyment.
And now, I really do need a drink (despite the fact that I have now confirmed I'm not really allowed according to the blurb on this bottle)...
It's doing the same to me and all. Damn credit crunch affecting jobs and stuff so no-one has any money and we can't go :(
i think you'll find the comments interesting.
they're more fun after a drink, but go steady on that stuff, i know it's friday n'all ;)
next year we'll have a stand. we can all spend the weekend there :)
Saturday. Its a Saturday, god I need sleep.
Selling panda shaped cupcakes?
is it? oh.
me too then. night everyone :)
Just outta pure intrest, what do people think of the finished car.
Will end up in a mod queue, but what the hell.
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3566/ier5sb4.jpg
http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/4486/ier4xq7.jpg
shaped? how does one bake a panda shaped cupcake?
Now that I like the sound of! :D
Night Mr C, but could you take a comment out of that dastardly mod queue before you hit the hay
me's having an early night. ;)
Night 'me'! have a great time tomorrow! Take lots of photos for us to look at :D good luck with karting ;)
Damn exams probably get in the way again, unless they reschedule it for a more 'R.G' friendly date.
you'd do the face i think.. then ice it?
done.
Thank you sir.
Stone the crows, there's something new. :P
either that or i take the kimi approach and hit the nightclubs until daybreak, before putting in a couple of laps?
Don't worry, we have a year to work it out. :P
you say early... it's nearly 1am :P
well kimi did get a lot of fastest laps during the season :P
Well, he's having an early morning then. ;)
maybe not R.G. What year at school will you be in next year? i suppose it depends on your school's mock exam system really...
Next year will be 11 for me. I'm pretty sure that I'll have Science exams again, most likely French as well at this time of year.
Just remember - no alcohol after 6am otherwise you can't race.
ah yeah, quiet possibly. Don't rule out autosport though, it may be the weekend after your exams or something ;)
According to the Donnington chap - you can't drive to Wembley.
Strange that - I did last year. Parked a whole 10 minutes hobble *crutches :( * away.
So, they want the money by march... that leaves them a whole...10 months for the improvements.
Riiiiiight....
Hopefully. Though, I know I might be going to the Speedway British GP in Cardiff July-ish time, so good for me now.
Out of interest, does anyone else here know if they're going to silverstone yet?
mum says she is 95% certain i can go. i've checked all my exams and they don't clash. and i really want to go, so the answer to your question is hopefully, but it's a little too far into the future for me to have definite plans :)
Right - must go to bed. Will see some of you later on at the kart track.
Until then goodnight.
Yeah, it's unusual for me to have actually organised something... :P
Night.
am off too. Night x
As the designer of the Weblog Awards graphics, I just wanted to thank you for doing such a good job customizing your Weblog Awards finalist badge graphics. The right typeface, the right colors, and a sense for the white space. Seriously, good job. It's a pleasant surprise to see one's work modified to good effect.
I've been reading some of the comments at youtube about the Sidepodcast Diaries I only got through about about 4 pages and I just had to exit out, there are too many people over there I think that have either gone off their meds or that need to up the dosage. I have only been aware of Sidepodcast for about 4 months now and I hadn't known about the Diaries until they were posted about a week or so ago and I think they're great stuff, little vignettes in the life of an F1 fan. Keep up the excellent work Mrs. C and remember the only way that some people can feel good about themselves is by saying or being rude and nasty to others
cheers sean. you guys provided all the info needed to make our lives easy :)
They have put F1 in the top ten blogs Bernie.
Time to put your hand in your pocket or at the very least, give them an exclusive interview, I think.
BRB
It's really amazing: Mateschitz's passion for people named Sebastian. Maybe he's just saving on car stickers as the Gravel Trap once suggested, I think it was the GT. Or maybe it's a disease: the Sebastian Syndrome, affects only middle-aged Austrians. I was saying that Sato must change his name to "Sebastian", Sebastian Sato sounds cool. There's one Sebastian I would like to see in F1 and it's Loeb, the Sebastian fleet is taking over, soon Bernie will call himself Sebastian. Sebastian Ecclestone, Sebastian Mosley, Sebastian Briatore or Sebastian Dennis. The Wombat of Sebastian?
From a recent interview
Who is your favorite 80's English middle distance runner?
Sebastian Coe
If you could be a German international footballer, who would you be?
Sebastian Schweinsteiger
Name your favorite band?
Belle & Sebastian
And finally, Who is you favorite character from Blade Runner?
J.F. Sebastian
I forgot to mention Ollie that someone clicked on a link from your blog to mine the other day, then sent me some abuse to the tune of:
Which I thought was quite funny. In that I haven't disabled comments and my grasp of the English language is slightly better than theirs :-D
People eh?!
NoooooOo NoOoO!
Let's not give up with the voting!
We can still win! WoooHoo!
I'm voting every 24 hours!
:D
Hi everyone I'm in charge at base today - I have been released for 1 day only - your comments are always interesting - carry on
hi. wifi in this place is rubbish, but 3g connection is good :)
Ah, hello once again, nice to see ya.
Mr C, hows it goin?
Soo, some F1 on ESPN classic at 1, I fancy watching it. The Dutch and Monaco 1965 GP's. Something to do before the football starts.
Hey guys, what's the show like this year and have you met any of us lot yet? :P
Hi there, I'm sure you'll be fine :)
You mean they didn't invite you to go karting?!?
That's no good... ;)
'Teams will accept fan-backed changes'
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72702
I would like to know your opinion on the particular subject of 'reversed grids'. I used to think like Ron Dennis (faster guy on the front), and still think that. But lately I was able to see what happens when you implement that (in the Argentinean touring car series), and the result was awesome. People coming from 10th or 15th to win the race, massive amounts of overtaking at every race. To be clear, the system they implemented work like this: you make the qualy and the drivers get 'penalized' with grid positions both by their championship position and their last race performance (up to 20 places if you have won and you're the championship leader...). At the end, the same drivers and teams won most of the races, but not by losing into distance but by showing real driving and overtaking skills. I know that Touring Cars offer more opportunities to overtake, but my 100% belief in the 'traditional' system has lowered to something like 75%.
Yeeeees! I got a point on BATracer! Wooohooo! :D
PODIUM. WOOOOOOT, YA, Ding Dong Thats what were talking about.
Final results for those elsewhere.
# P1 Andy Trig
# P2 Swaroop Surendar
# P3 Ryan Gault
# P4 Scott Woodwiss
# P5 Al Grogan
# P6 Michael Van Spaandonck
# P7 Dave Monks
# P8 Dominic Glover
# P9 Gavin Brown
# P10 Joseph Sweeney
# P11 Lou Johnson
# P12 Jackie Saltire
# P13 Dan Cross
# P14 Alex Andronov
# P15 Steven Roy
# P16 Mrs Christine
# P17 Mr Christine
------
# P18 James Lynch R Collision lap 50
# P19 Christine Swain R Collision lap 50
# P20 Dan Brunell R Collision lap 34
# P21 Luke McCarthy R Fuel System lap 26
# P22 Matt Kamalsky R Collision lap 1
Well done to Andy Trig to be the first person to knock Scott Woodwiss off the top spot.
Other info, Alex Andronov stalled, Steven Roy lost 14 places and then collided with Kamalsky.
Monks attemted pass of Brunell ended up in a wreck, caused the latter to retire.
Lynch made a mess of passing Alianora and that also ended badly for both drivers.
Mrs Christine was ahead or Mr C for pretty much the whole race.
I led for 2 laps :D
I dont think I'm going to fair too well come my race (midnight) - my team is dog slow this weekend despite having what looks like a pretty decent setup :(
w00t! Only my second ever BATracer win!... and in such fine style too - These Ferrari's are alright after all.... :)
I just can't get over the pace of Christine Swain in the Force India. Fantastic.
tis true. in this case, the best answer to the critics, is more of the same :)
i likes it, bob!
you sure they didn't click through from youtube?
le bol, that's gotta be done :D
:D
:D
that's a massive question there, guille2306. i get so confused watching btcc and gp2 split grids that i think it's a barrier to entry for newbies and therefore is a bad thing.
by all means improve the show, but people need to be able to follow the action. at least after putting a bit of effort in. i still don't get btcc grids and i watched pretty much the whole of last year.
Yeah, another wonder wombat then... One day...
From the little I know of BTCC, I see what you mean... That reverse grid system is too much complicated. The Argentinean version is much simpler, I guess. You win a race, you get a 10 place 'penalization' for the next round.
I don't see what's so complicated.... Winner of the second race spins the wheel/picks the ball out of the bowl to decide how many places on the grid are reversed for the third race.
One of the racesuit manufaturers had a Montoya suit from last season. Either his weight has been greatly exaggerated or he wears a second suit on the other leg.
Are you planning a lottery win?
It looks better than a lot of F1 teams have manaaged. I thought sidepodcast was meant to be on the rear wing.
a very small stand. probably an ice-cream van.
Panda shaped cake moulds
gotta be done.
We had problems fitting it on.
or like this with the icing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blempgorf/934223180/
or simply like this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/perfectpandas/2720761883/
Motor racing should reward excellence and not penalise it. Im agine a reversed grid at Monaco or Valencia or Singapore or Barcelona or any Tilkedrone. F1 cars can't overtake in any of those places. The reason for the lack of overtaking today is the tech regs and particularly those that apply to aerodynamics. Couple that with ludicrous circuit design and cars can't overtake.
So the ice cream sales will pay for the stand unless us lot turn up and scoff the profits.
no, no. the ice-cream van will be the stand. it will be promotional and profitable at the same time :)
i'm of course assuming that the nec don't steal confectionery sales like bernie.
oh.my.lord.
easily done, i think it's just lots of icing and choc buttons ;)
That sounds like an offer to me.
i wasn't offering... i was just saying...
i'm gonna end up making them aren't i?...
you have a year to practice
lol i suppose it will ensure i will be going to autosport next year... :P
Ice cream in January? Are you sure that's a sound business plan?
Besides, the NEC controls all food concessions at exhibitions, so you'd have to either give it away or pay the protection^W licence fee.
Flickr never fails to amaze. ;)
just like bernie. rats.
maybe we could hold an auction?
Is it only me that's thinking we should put the ice cream van and panda cupcake ideas together, here?
Auction ice cream?
My local football team was told how to get round the licensing laws regarding selling alcohol at games by a local politicin who best remain nameless. No-one is allowed to buy alcohol but they are allowed to buy raffle tickets and ever raffle ticket wins a prixe of the winner's choosing.
I wonder if you could sell panda cupcakes for charity without a license. Of course you would have to cover reasonable expenses first.
just got home from autosport, firstly;anyone get wierded out when they heard the inside track music playing in the live action arena....and secondly....was anyone in the 9.30 performance this morning where terry grant crashed his car and broke it....priceless!!
no? didn't hear it. i guess someone's watching then :)
so. we buy a stand. raffle tickets on the site, and anyone who turns up wins a free cupcake?
this i like.
i thinkk its inside track, dont quote me though
yeah, it's a copyright free loop. i hear it in a lot of motorsport related videos... now.
I've heard it in at least 18.
:D
I agree with you in the part of overtaking problems, and I believe that's the strongest reason why reverse grids can't be introduced in F1 (at least, in the present). But I'm starting to doubt about the 'reward excellence' thing. If you are really good, then you should be able to work and win under any set of (stable) rules. I'm not really convinced yet about reversed grids, but I wouldn't be too much opposed to see it working once (of course, AFTER resolving the overtaking issue)