Here we are then, the first Friday 13th of the year. This is supposed to mean bad luck for everyone, but if you don't believe in superstitions, then this is the place for you. Here, we talk about much more important things:
- More bad weather in Bahrain means less testing for teams. Whilst it's still funny (yes, even after three days) that Toyota went there for the weather, now we're just starting to wonder whether they're falling seriously behind. When are they going to catch up? Does this put Ferrari on the back foot? Would the FIA allow this to happen?
- Steven Roy has written an impressive guest post for us - so we can legitimately blame him for this one. Give it a read, it's a nice bit of history and an untold story that needs to be shared. Let us know what you think, and we can try and convince him to get his own blog.
- It looks like we might not have seen the last of Sato. After missing out on the Toro Rosso race seat, and us reminiscing over his best moments, it now seems like he could be snapped up as a reserve driver. Interestingly, Red Bull might sign him up for both RBR and STR, as a standby in case any of the four were ill or injured. Does this happen often?
- There's a good virtual demonstration of the new Donington Park circuit available on the BBC. Seems like a good track, lots of variation and elevation, but will they get it done in time?
Also, don't forget the Character Cup, and the F1 Big Picture. Two very shameless plugs for you there. Check them out, and when you're done, I'll see you in the comments.
did i read somewhere they're going to extend until the weekend? if not, that would be the sensible thing to do.
:D
i (heart) that preview lap.
crash say 5 sponsors for honda:
http://www.crash.net/formula+one/news/142918/1/brawn_e-mail_hints_honda_f1_saved.html
I did find it odd that Senna (who is believed to have signed for the team) said he would be waiting out for Honda rather than re-sign to GP2 or any other series. But... I still think time is very short. Very, very short.
into super aguri levels of desperation now. one year ago (yesterday):
http://www.f1minute.com/2008/02/12/12-feb-08-super-aguri-new-car-launch-delayed/
'tis true. And with the lack of testing that Super Aguri did, they slipped from 'a team actually going somewhere in 2007' to 'how many times has Sato been lapped now?'. They say the RA109 is good, but as far as I can tell, the interim car has done about 5* miles of testing.
*That may not be an accurate figure.
Paul di Resta for Honda?
Because of the Mercedes connection? One can hope. I think if they make it to the grid though, the drivers are going to be the least of their worries.
plonk this one straight in your too good to be true basket...
mario's response to max's recent criticism:
"It is good that Max is learning about the engineering sides of the car, I think with a little further understanding he may soon know as much as Flavio Briatore."
link: http://www.f1network.net/main/s491/st140063.htm
Now that's a special quote. Respect to Mario. :)
:D :D :D :D :D
*applauds* Great response. :D
just wanted to repost it as well :-D
Now who said the Germans had no sense of humour?
Vettel & Mario are changing that opinion
For the Apple folk
Apple Releases Security Updates, Addresses Safari RSS Vulnerability (note: requires restart)
http://www.macrumors.com/2009/02/12/apple-releases-security-updates-addresses-safari-rss-vulnerability/
Nice one Mario! :)
Steven Roy (sorry - Mark Hughes) dissects the Red Bull RB5
http://directo.thef1.es/tests/
Alonso is starting the day quickest of the '09 bunch. How long will that last, I wonder.
Also, is that Webber again? I didn't realise he was getting back in the car for another go. Here's to another race distance :)
1'20.322 is a pretty quick lap - fastest from any of the 2009 cars this week. Perhaps now he's got that out of his system he'll do some proper testing instead of showboating with the car running on fumes...
Webber reckons he's going to test as normal having got through his first day, they just staggered the drivers this week in case Mark needed a bit more recovery time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7885879.stm
Ah, interesting.
It's a bit scary that he says:
"...my specialist told me before I got out here that my leg would be absolutely functional - that he'd made it do the job I needed it to do."
Sounds like a bionic leg or something!
He might need a bionic leg if the Red Bull drivers are going to have to keep doing those leaps from the car in order to avoid electrocution. I wonder if the BBC can dig out the Bionic Man leaping sound effect?
did the trick though. pretty much shut everyone up on the renault blog :)
Hamilton just rained on their parade though - 1:20.263
Even so, the difference isn't that much.
Either Alonso was showboating or Piquet can't get to grips with the car (which is definitely designed with Alonso's driving style in mind). Add to that Piquet's lack of speed, and Piquet ends up dead last.
I think they can see the sun in Bahrain
of all the people!
Yep, must've peeved Alonso, who duly replies with a 1:20.221. I don't think this is just showboating - that car may have some serious pace, after all.
Woohoo!
Yey! We have a race on!
Which is better - Renault or McLaren. There's only one way to find out -
FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!
can we have a massive w00t! for davidson and fivelive please?
http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/73260
Bestest news this season by far!
No, because it means he ain't driving :-(
Wowzers. My comment is somehow before yours in the bog-standard normal-website-interface-me-do?!
he was never gonna be.
Yay! Must text in loads this year :)
:D
But he's not driving anything? Not a Le Mans drive, ALMS, or testing role?
Poor guy :-(
the bbc are spoiling us rotten this year :)
Thing is though, it was an easy decision before - 5live or ITV. Now what are we going to do?
Oh, that has to be it's official name.
Does anyone know how to get around the block that 5 live have on international sports commentary broadcasts?
huh, how'd you do that?
Dunno: http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/sidepodoppsie-jpg
Your 'can we have a massive w00t' which was posted at 10.15 is fine, but then the two I made after that are showing at times before yours? I'll leave it in your capable hands!
i gotta be honest, if you've perfected the art of time travel, this is a peculiar way of announcing it.
Hahaha.
SPC 1986 F1 Thoroughbred Revival (BATracer)
http://batracer.com/-cj?&D&36956
Password: bourdais ;)
Is the Barcelona test next week completely cancelled?
renault said they weren't going, has everyone else bailed too?
TS said so, but perhaps I just got the translation wrong.
I think McLaren are not testing again until March which was always the plan but I thought it was only Renault who were cancelling their trip.
Interesting BBC article with vid on airbag jackets for bikers
Air Bag Jacket
I wonder why MotoGP hasn't adopted this yet?
*does a happy dance*
As of next week - no crutches are necessary for me! :D
Knee will remain to be seriously strapped up, but it should be ok day to day.
Just so happy at the moment *although that could be the painkillers...*
Seen them before - damn good idea. All they need is trousers as well.
:D
Good for you, what did you do Flibster?
When I was 15 I broke my knee playing field hockey. Hockey ball hit the side of my kneecap and broke it into 3 pieces *plus small fragments*
My motorsport accidents since didn't do it that much good. But it got worse 4 years ago. 2 visits to surgery and a lot of psychopathic man hating physio visits later and it's now at a point where it's slowly approacing normality.
My wife has just come out of her knee brace after he skiing accident. Stairs and Wii Sports are still causing trouble, but she can finally drive and she's not in pain anymore, which is good :-)
Oh but they have. Sort of...
http://www.motogp.com/en/photos/2007/Dainese+unveils+revolutionary+airbag+system
Stars have caused me problems for years. Will for years to come. Wii sports isn't a problem - Mastered the art of playing it while laying down on the sofa :D
I have never seen that before... that looks like it was tested a while ago too. Anyone know why that hasn't been used yet?
It's alright having a (seemingly) competitive Renault again but the Spanish coverage has now gone down hill in response. Why has Webber only done 9 laps? Why has Nakajima done 34 laps but failed to set a time?
a salt truck just pulled up outside with this nugget of info from the autosport forums:
"Nobody on track except Williams. They are not doing full laps because are training pitstops (the whole morning so far) so they are not getting times, neither Nakajima, nor Rosberg"
Cleared up now.
Williams are practicing pitstops so haven't actually done a proper lap (Nico is having a go now) whilst Webber's lap column is just on the blink because it still hasn't gone up despite posting improved times.
another from the same source:
"There won't be extra testdays [in Bahrain] on Saturday and Sunday. Ferrari prevented this because they've hired the circuit exclusively on those days to do promotional/commercial work."
So they've either shot themselves in the foot or they're going to seriously annoy the other teams by having an exclusive test.
It's reportedly still quite slippery in Bahrain, Ferrari say that the early times were equivalent to running in the rain with extreme wets but times have gradually dropped:
1. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:34.318 (75 laps)
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:34.463 (63 laps)
3. Christian Klien (BMW Sauber) 1:35.535 (52 laps)
if it's the usual promo work they've likely got a whole film crew on standby, plus helicopters etc.
one the one hand, very smart to couple the testing with filming. on the other hand redbull filmed all of their promotional work at that circuit two years ago, so it's not exactly original.
if it's dusty tomorrow, that would make it a very expensive waste of time.
So much for Bahrain making commercial sense to test there instead of in Spain or Portugal!
Obviously they still need to drive the cars round for this promo work. Does that count as testing mileage?
am wondering why williams are doing pit stop testing so early in the year. doesn't it normally happen at the very last test? are they that confident with their aero, or have run out of parts to test or something?
Are McLaren still using an illeagle wing?
No one ever said donnington was not a good driver's circuit.
:)
good question. don't think so, and they'll be running really slowly so the camera car can keep up. it'll be full of photographers and equipment too, so probably be running at pit lane limited speeds.
Donington is a fantastic circuit with many great races and many great memories for me. I love the proposed changes and I really hope it happens in 2010.
There is, from memory, an exclusion for promotional work.
I think so. Mind you, if F1Tech are right about it, Renault are still using an illegal nose.
They used it in a 125 or 250 race weekend once on a couple of riders and it seemed to work quite well. No idea why they haven't made it mandatory like the HANS device or something.
Oficially it's because they don't have a 2009 compliant high downforce configuration wing.
22.1 a) Testing shall be considered any track running time undertaken by a competitor entered in the
Championship with the exception of :
i) promotional or demonstration events carried out using tyres provided specifically for this
purpose by the appointed supplier ;
ii) young driver training, any such driver having not competed in an F1 World Championship
Event in the preceding 24 months nor tested a Formula One car on more than four days in
the same 24 month period.
So does that mean the teams are prevented from doing any serious work by being given a totally inappropriate tyre compound? Extremely hard at a guess.
“It is good that Max is learning about the engineering sides of the car, I think with a little further understanding he may soon know as much as Flavio Briatore.” {Comment #8}
This is brilliant! Maybe Flavio should be President of the FIA in that case ;)
Either Alonso was showboating or Piquet can’t get to grips with the car (which is definitely designed with Alonso’s driving style in mind). Add to that Piquet’s lack of speed, and Piquet ends up dead last. Comment #24}
The latter would not surprise me in the least. Alonso's driving style takes some getting used to!
Of course, Alonso could have been showboating as well...
can we have a massive w00t! for davidson and fivelive please? {Comment #31
Yay! If Ant can't get a space on the grid, then having him commentate is the next best thing :D He certainly knows what he's talking about and is entertaining to boot. A good way of livening up the radio commentary.
So who do you guys like more? Legard and Brundle? Or Croft and Davidson? :D
Alonso has done some reasonable stints setting those times (5+ laps) although doesn't seem to be looking after the tyres in doing so.
can't make that call, never heard legard.
i thought croftie deserved the tv gig though, and i've a huge respect for davidson, so it's likely to be croftie, hamilton and davidson for me.
how holly fairs against lee, might actually be the thing that swings it.
Added something to drop.io in case there is any guys that have forgotten
gah!
oooh, just had a thought. with ant in the box, what happens to mark hughes?
Honda are go... for the first four races?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/feb/13/formula-one-honda-cash
Oooh that sounds a bit too Super Aguri for my liking :-(
Does, doesn't it?
Yay! Must text in loads this year {Comment #36
Of course :) This is a great decision for the mobile phone operators ;)
i gotta be honest, if you’ve perfected the art of time travel, this is a peculiar way of announcing it. {Comment #45}
Very true :)
mind you bernie wasn't backing super aguri, he was locking them out of the paddock.
As of next week - no crutches are necessary for me! :D Knee will remain to be seriously strapped up, but it should be ok day to day. {Comment #54}
Excellent news, Flibster!
*joins in happy dance*
(edited because for some reason I thought Flibster obtained the injury later than he had. But I'm still very happy)
My wife has just come out of her knee brace after he skiing accident. Stairs and Wii Sports are still causing trouble, but she can finally drive and she’s not in pain anymore, {Comment #58}
That's great! Lots of happy news today and people recovering :)
Wii sports isn’t a problem - Mastered the art of playing it while laying down on the sofa {Comment #60}
Now that sounds like a good way of playing Wii Sports :D
Not quite - this has been on and off for 15 years. :D
I don't have the money that RBR has for recovery. :(
Whats wrong? I'm just trying to help. :D
a salt truck just pulled up outside with this nugget of info from the autosport forums:
“Nobody on track except Williams. They are not doing full laps because are training pitstops {Comment #63
A salt truck (or presumably, the occupants of said truck) told you that? Now that's a novel way of getting your F1 information :)
Pitstop practise sounds like a good way to use testing time, though surely it could be done without using the F1 engines and therefore without using testing allocation? Oh well, I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the increasingly snappish Mr Mosley.
Thanks Ali. It certainly has been an interesting time helping her heal, and she has been very frustrated by her lack of movement. But as she has gained mobility, her spirits have raised too. So it's all good :-)
another from the same source:
“There won’t be extra testdays [in Bahrain] on Saturday and Sunday. Ferrari prevented this because they’ve hired the circuit exclusively on those days to do promotional/commercial work.” {Comment #65}
Ferrari have shot themselves in the foot then, unless they can get the paperwork done to convert the promotional/commercial work (which doesn't get included in the testing quota) to standard testing (which does).
The FIA can't stop Ferrari from having an exclusive test per se, but they can stop a test happening without its occurrence being previously notified.
just passing through on their way to australia :D
Obviously they still need to drive the cars round for this promo work. Does that count as testing mileage? {Comment #69}
It doesn't if it's been declared as promotional running. Bridgestone bring some hard and cheap tyres, the engines can run without standard ECUs (but probably won't because of how central the ECU is to the correct running of the engine) and the FIA still have the right to send observers to ensure there is no abuse of the regulatory exemption.
Alonso has done some reasonable stints setting those times (5+ laps) although doesn’t seem to be looking after the tyres in doing so. {Comment #85
In other words, the Renault looks like being a good qualifier and not so good as a racer. If the OWG recommendations don't work, that could pay off, silly as it sounds.
just passing through on their way to australia {Comment #104}
Did it come through via Gloucestershire?*
* - Gloucestershire County Council dumped 50,000 tonnes of table salt on their roads last week after their grit supply (for preventing roads from freezing) ran out.
I want Brundle & Davidson (as long as he's not driving)
Ha ha, quality!
Or rather, great value! :)
I'd like them in my team as drivers, too ;-)
In hindsight, had you known about the Cryogenic treatment, you could've invested in a big deep freezer :)
You know there's this other fiasco about drivers getting pay cuts or not? Well I've found out that teams might actually be afraid to do so. Because they have drivers signed up under contracts, if they were to reduce their pay they would be in breach of that contract and that means the driver can then sue them because of it.
anybody fancy starting a "bridgestone slicks are so pathetic, we'd rather run inters / wets / michelin rubber" rumour?
they need more tyres don't they?
oops, wrong thread. had to save my own backside there.
They need a limit on how many tyres they're allowed to use at a test more like. Sorry but that's just stupid. They're supposed to be cost cutting in F1 now because of the economic downturn. How on earth can they do that when they're using up all their allocated sets of dry tyres at the rate that they need to start on the wet ones on a dry track?! Ridiculous.
That nose is still revolting.
Was their aerodynamic test model made from lego?
Probably couldn't afford to use carbon fibre so they decided to use that instead to save money. Yeah, Lego's known for its aerodynamic proportions...
Looks like they've been getting a decent supply from Kwik Fit
Oh of course, you see Piquet nip down there all the time
"Ey Bob, gotta 'nother set of Bridgestones ready? These ones have had it."
"Sorry Nelson, outa stock till fursday
Got some remoulds if that'll 'elp"
"Nono, I only take the new ones. Screw you, I go up the Halfords up the road."
I'd like to start a "Alonso is too hard on his tyres and will need to 6 stop in the races" rumour.
"Fernando! These are supposed to last 20 laps, not 2!"
"Well, they were fine for Mr Coulthard, nevva did 'im any 'arm!"
Google Chrome news: Early Screenshots from the Mac Version
Unfortunately, they are saying there's still a "very very long way to go" and they can't predict a possible date
:D That's awesome news. I'm pleased i decided to check the news now before going to my rehearsal. Can't wait till melbourne :D yay.
i'd put more smileys in this comment but i don't want to get moderated. ;)
:o *controls excitement* erm.... well... i suppose that's kinda good....
i'm going to take it as good news :D
will be back later this evening, but that may have possibly made my day, who says friday 13th is unlucky ;) although i am aware it's not on autosport yet... so i'm not taking it as definate.
I've won my first BATRacer championship! Ended up beating my team-mate by 24 points in the BTCC Touring Car championship, though the fact that my team-mate was a mid-season replacement may have had something to do with it. My nearest rival from another team also got replaced mid-season, so this probably wasn't the strongest championship ever, but I'm still pleased :)
Just to balance that, my mid-season F1 1997 championship most recently saw both me and my team-mate crashing out of the race... ...and my team-mate telling me not to post my test setting because he thinks it'll save me some typing. This is a Pro championship, so it's not like my team-mate is unused to the game...
Whadya mean Friday the 13th ain't unlucky, I think I've pulled a muscle in me arm. :(
Despite honest temptations to say Croft, for obvious reasons, I go for the first two.
I personally wouldn't go that far, again for obvious reason (Davidson)
And that, is why we love the doctor.
Congratulations! More than I've ever achieved. Closest I got to winning a championship was the 2nd place in our 2008 game.
Here's a bit of trivia for you guys - McLaren are already 2 months into development for next year's car. ;)
Sounds about normal.
Could we not go for Croft and Brundle? Come on Beeb give the people what they want!
That would be quite good actually.
Who's the bloke that was the ITV stas man, he used ot sit in with Brundle and Allen....Mark Hughes perhaps?
Who's the bloke that was the ITV stats man, he used to sit in with Brundle and Allen....Mark Hughes perhaps?
This month's F1 Racing has shots of the 2009 Force India in scale model form (sort of). ;)
I think my current car knows it's being replaced - it's broken down....
Poo.
Daytona 500 this weekend...
Anybody going to give it a view? I can't stand NASCAR but with zero chance of their being any other motorsport on the tv this weekend I'm willing to let them try and convert/impress me.
Still I can't see how driving in a virtually straight continous line for 500 laps is the limit of driving...
Maybe that's why Montoya loves it so much
could do. anyone up for live commenting it. i watched montoya's debut and it was a pretty awesome race. any idea what time / channel it's on?
I think Serge Saulnier the head of Peugeot's sportscar operation is trying to get into Christine's good books. In Autosport he says that they signed David Brabham because Franck said they should. He then said "I don't have McNish but with Brabham, Sarrazin, Minassian and Montagny I have four of the top five or 6 sportscar drivers in the world.
I heart Serge.
It's like the James Bond inflatable ski jacket. Definitely a good idea if you can get bikers to actually use them properly. Of course there is a flip side. Bikers who die in accidents tend to be young, healthy and fit and as a group they make great organ donors so if you save the bikers a lot of people are going to suffer.
That has to make your life a lot easier.
I think that they are allowed a certain mileage for promotional stuff. No doubt Alianora will give us the details.
Our good friends at Sky Sports are showing it, no idea when though
I said that on a show a couple of weeks ago
Mile Doodson
Mike not Mile
I only read it in F1 Racing today. Probably wasn't listening when you did. :P
technically he said it twice. live and during the edited version.
Non-F1 - if Lou's about, apparently they've just put on sale tickets for Michael McIntyre at the Manchester Evening News Arena :D
In October.
oooooo thanks Scott, have literally just turned the doohickey on so good timing.... in Manchester tho? hmm... tis a way away. I'll have too see if he is doing one nearer to me. :) thanks for the heads up though.
He's on Jonathan Ross tonight, apparently.
Just been reading up on todays events. Davidson on Five 5?
....seriously? I've got nothing against the guy, he seems a nice fella, but I didn't think he did that well with his few commenatry jobs on ITV at times. I still have him and James Allen's 'response' to jenson's win circling my mind when I think of him on the mic, some may see their response as passion I suppose but I just wasn't a fan of such a fantastic moment.... ehh, we'll see how he does though :)
:o will have to watch that. thanks :D
Sorry, that should be Five Live, even.
They've got tickets for him at Wembley too.
wembey? now that is interesting... and in october.... i'm sensing that might be the perfect birthday present :)
i can tell you he taught me more about the importance of tyres and tyre degradation than any other single person, and he did that whilst we were sitting at luffield listening in on the kangaroo tv.
i missed about 25% of what he said due to pesky f1 cars going by and it was still utterly compelling. after the explanation you could tell croft and hamilton were impressed up in the box, and they couldn't think of anything to add or to ask.
So I'm wondering, does being full time commentator mean he is effectivley 'retiring'?
wel to be fair, they were a little excited and happy ;) i mean after 113 GPs i think a first win deserves to be celebrated ;) howevr i think Allen cold have had a little more self control lol. but I think Ant is an amazing commenter. Who else would text in to correct Hamilton and Croft.
it means he has nothing much to do on a sunday afternoon. i'd imagine there's a get out clause if something turns up though?
:D
i think it means he definitely doesn't have a drive for next year. not sure it means he wont try again in 2010 to get a seat (not that his chances of an f1 drive will have improved).
Also, wasn't Davidson the tester for Honda as well.
Hmm, though if Honda do get bought, wouldn't he be like near top of the list to get a test role or summit, like Sato at the Toro's?
yep, and mates with Jenson if i remember rightly.
maybe... Wurz would probably be top of the list though
Oh I have no reason to argue against that for sure, it's a little hypocritical of me because when jenson won I was just as happy as them!
He'll definitely be an interesting addition to the team though, hopefully the red button services will allow us to change between radio 5 and tv commentary like it does with the football if a change is fancied.
Maybe it was just james allen distracting myself, who knows :p
I wasn't an awful lot calmer. Luckily I wasn't commentating, though... ;)
i would good money on that :)
sidepodspace update
Nicked from nasa.gov
"NASA's Space Shuttle Program managers are holding a special meeting today to review flow control valve data and determine whether to proceed with the Joint Flight Readiness, or FRR, scheduled for Feb. 18.
The official launch date will be announced at the end of the FRR, although for planning purposes, liftoff currently is scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 22.
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, installation of the ordnance that will separate the shuttle from the mobile launcher platform during liftoff is expected to continue into Saturday."
haha funnily enough I wasn't that calm either :P
Hey, I'm a Sauber fan and even I was celebrating.
Just a quick q for those who enjot racing games...
...anyone thinking of picking up Race Pro next week? Looks very tasty, the formula 3000 stuff looks fantastic too.
General rant here, why do they never give out decent race sims for the PSP? Apart from a few, the Grids and the others are not going for it. So thats why I am more excited by Dirt 2 when it comes out for psp this year.
Yossidlr on you tube has just published today's testing at Jerez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFYBYRksq2k&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8wyOf4SAgI&feature=channel
Today's testing videos in moderation
cheers jolly.
Does sound tempting. Might try and pick up a cheap copy on Amazon. Depends if I can afford to spend the money though.
shopto.com are selling it for 30 but preorders have 'temporarily stopped' :(
Shame because I've used them countless times ands the game has arrived on the wed or thurs before it's release date. Even buying any game before 5pm arrives the enxt day, it's an amazing website.
hehe the medication must have worked ;)
It's always difficult to make judgements based on testing and especially on short video clips when you don't know the circumstances but Lewis looks very comfortable in that McLaren.
Dunno if this has been mentioned, but something to what Abu Dhabi will look like
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/abudhabi-jpg
I'm oddly looking forward to it.
There's a 3rd part of today's action just up on YouTube now.
Watching that first part of today's testing, Alonso seemed so calm and relaxed and considerate standing there with his engineers, it was almost hysterical. :D
Oh look...
Long straignt followed by a hairpin...
Going by the position of the gravel traps it is an anti-clockwise track.
No, it's an anticlockwise circuit - hairpin followed by long straight... (followed by tight corner)
Near enough a hairpin at both ends.
It looks a bit like the infield part of the Indy circuit.
But much more angular, like the old Phoenix street circuit.
If there's one book I want now more than anything, it's a book called Ayrton Senna's Principles of Race Driving. Trouble is, on Amazon the lowest price is £125 :(
grandprix.com seem to be giving a lot of coverage to USF1. Today's story is about the areas of American sport that can still raise finance. Clearly USF1 are targetting Silicon Valley as a source of sponsorship.
"Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson were is Silicon Valley in California last week talking to some of the mega-wealthy from the digital industries based there hoping that they can be shown the value of F1 for their businesses."
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21182.html
It's a very good book.
I've got a dogeared copy here and my Dad has my signed copy.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! <3
From Jeremy and Zoe
Jackie Stewart wrote a very good driving principles book which is a lot cheaper and then Bob Bondurant wrote one of the classic driving technique books or you could try and find a copy of the video "Drive to Win" by Mario Andretti. You will get all three several times over for the Senna book.
Congratulations! More than I’ve ever achieved. Closest I got to winning a championship was the 2nd place in our 2008 game. {Comment #130
Thank you Scott :) I'm sure you'll get a championship soon (hint: BTCC is easier because people are more likely to give up mid-season - my two biggest rivals quit mid-season, which helped me a lot).
Here’s a bit of trivia for you guys - McLaren are already 2 months into development for next year’s car. Comment #131}
Is that wise, given the FIA's tendency to change its mind at the last minute?
Who’s the bloke that was the ITV stas man, he used ot sit in with Brundle and Allen….Mark Hughes perhaps? {Comment #135}
Yes, it is.
This month’s F1 Racing has shots of the 2009 Force India in scale model form (sort of). {Comment #137
I noticed, and got very excited about it. Also noticed the massive shadows artfully positioned to conceal everything but the silhouette on the largest picture. Evidently information security is a high priority even when apparently opening up to the press.
I thought it was Mike Doodson who did lap charts and the like.
I think that they are allowed a certain mileage for promotional stuff. No doubt Alianora will give us the details. {Comment #145
As long as the FIA are properly notified and Bridgestone provide promotional tyres, teams may do an infinite number of promotional miles - at least in theory.
In practise, if Bridgestone smell a rat and withold promotional tyres from a team that's already had a decent number of them in a given season, I doubt the FIA will intervene to force the supply to happen. However, no defined limits are given on the number of tyres that Bridgestone may supply for promotional purposes.
I had a feeling that Mark Hughes was in the commentary box controlling the flow of information to James and Martin.
it means he has nothing much to do on a sunday afternoon. i’d imagine there’s a get out clause if something turns up though? {Comment #164
The original reason Martin Brundle was allowed to take one race weekend off per season was to enable him to do Le Mans, which he duly did between 1997 and 2001 (resulting in him missing the Canadian Grand Prix more often than not).
Maybe Anthony could arrange something similar.
I wasn’t an awful lot calmer. Luckily I wasn’t commentating, though… {Comment #171}
Neither was I. Luckily the living room had no breakables in it because I was bouncing up and down a lot. Then I had to go and find Mum during the ad break and share the news with her (she'd watched most of the race but left the room with Alonso still in the lead to sort out some horses that wanted attention).
But much more angular, like the old Phoenix street circuit. Comment #192
Somehow that's not such a great omen...
there are various people who've taken the role. doodson used to feed murray lines, but i wouldn't be surprised if it's all done by a guy in a truck on the ground or something now.
those boxes are small.