Monday rolls round again, and this week we are anticipating plenty of announcements regarding teams and their futures. If they're anything like Honda's previous statements, it will simply be a delay until further announcements, however, we shall wait and see.
- As mentioned, we are supposed to be hearing something from Honda today. It may or may not be the deadline for the team, and we may or may not be hearing Richard Branson's name. If anything, it'll be good to have something concrete to go on, so I can stop writing "may or may not".
- USF1 are ready to put their plans on the table on Tuesday, with the countdown on their site ticking down to zero tomorrow. Are we expecting big things, or just a few confirmations that the team does exist and it does plan to race? It is surely way too early for driver decisions and suchlike?
- Both of the above are discussed in depth in yesterday's Sidepodchat. You can view a replay of the live stream here, and the (barely) edited show should be out at some point this evening.
That should keep us going while we await some news, let's hope for more in the way of headlines than last week. I will see you in the comments.
So basically this is the week when stuff is supposed to start happening. Especially as the person who wrote on Force Fans that the VJM02 had started up has also hinted that Force India may be testing this week.
wow, that's very cool.
force india mercedes may take awhile to get used to mind you.
This is a very productive race on GRID. The front of my car is stuck on top of a tyre wall
:(
Force India Mercedes or FIM...
That's Fault Identification Manual for me, oh dear - I hope not
Off to bed I think, driving lesson in the morning so need to get a bit of sleep. Knowing Honda we'll get some news in about an hour or two ;)
If Scott's still around, cheers for the races on GRID. Good fun! As was the show tonight, sidepodchat is such a good idea.
Night all
Night Luke.
G'night Lukeh
Live Oscars streaming anyone, about half an hour to go I think
http://tinyurl.com/bbzdng
Nah, I've got work in the morning.
okay am giving myself an hour to finish ICT, then i'm off to bed. but i'll have a listen to the Oscars while i work. I can't stand just hearing the sound of the keyboard and the clock.
I got up way too late today to be getting any sleep before 5am
Oh Mr C, i forgot to say, when i asked Dad he was pretty sceptical that the public would be able to watch a private test. He said that if the team were still owned by honda, then it may possibly be a different story, as he may have been able to speak to some of his contacts within the team and Honda UK. But seeing as the team's future is 'up in the air' at the moment his friends are not really willing to chat about work or the team, which is understandable. So if the team are testing i have no idea if they will let the public attend, i'm guessing not.
Let's try the current thread shall we
Wiki updated for Best Comment of the Year
for a split second i thought the damn thing was double posting again :D
i need sleeps, night one and all.
I've been removed? :(
What was yours, I don't think I removed any
Night Mr C
I remember
Patronising. Hang on
That was the one. Thanks and goodnight all :)
Night Andy, you been re-instated
[That means put back on there]
night Mr C.
Night Andy.
Oscar coverage ads doin' my head in, had to mute till the ceremony proper starts
everyone's going to sleep and i'm really tired. I hate ICT. oh damn my teacher i'm off to bed. a 15 page detailed report about something i'm not even sure on and an access project is too much over a 1/2 term anyway. Night all who are still away x
*awake.
Night Lou
Oscar's have begun, Hugh Jackman presenting
USF1:
My gut feeling is that they'll simply be announcing that they're running in twenty ten.
However, Peter Windsor is on SPEED TV live right now on a show called 'Wind Tunnel'. He'll be talking about USF1 in the next hr...
I'll report back on what he says...
Listening to it too. Interesting stuff.
Windsor on Danica.
"We're flattered, that she flattered, which makes us flattered."
Highlights at the first commercial break.
- USF1 will buy a engine from a current F1 manufacture.
- Team is opened to bringing in an experienced F1 driver to begin with.
No surprise there.
No surprise there, either.
Hang on, if they're announcing this now, what will they announce on the 24th?
Windsor is on a talk show on Speed and they just took a segment before they talked about the oncoming F1 season to talk about USF1. They opened it up to the phones and to the email. Windsor was holding back a lot but did give some nuggets out.
Names and faces
People were asking about different drivers mainly Danica and AJ Allmendinger. Windsor basically gave the same answer for both: They are great drivers and are in the running for the USF1 seats.
A non-answer, answer. It like I was doing media coaching with him.
Final thing from Windsor:
"The one thing that F1 teams don't do is talk about how cool they are... We are going to open up the factory with web cameras, fan zones, interaction... its' the things that NASCAR do so well. We have to do the same."
Nice to hear. Easier said than done, though. ;)
All the top teams are going to have a team of people monitoring those cameras if USF1 turns out to be any good.
Exactly.
Quick question: Did anyone join the Singapore GP 'Name the Turns' contest? If yes, did you receive a confirmation email after you sent your entry?
I'll be reiterating a lot of what Dan's posted, but here are the key bits I noted from Windsor's interview that I found interesting:
a) "Everything will be American".
b) PW did point out that the exception is that US engines will be impossible for now. (2 reasons for this: 1) US car manufacturers are in dire trouble economically, and 2) The current engine freeze rules basically refuses to allow a new supplier into F1).
c)PW essentially said "We have the money" to compete in F1.
d)Windsor said of Danica Patrick: "She has road dust on her, therefore, we'll consider her". (Whatever that means)...
e) USF1 would ideally like an all U.S. driver line up, but they were looking into having an experienced driver "in year one". PW also mentioned that with the exception of Scott Speed, no U.S. drivers have experience.(which might be a stumbling block).
f) When asked by Dave Despain (the show's host): "Why will you be successful when many others like Paul Stoddart have failed"? PW responded by simply saying that he has a winning staff on board...
g) When asked: Why base the USF1 team in North Carolina? PW
mentioned, among other things the Windshear Wind Tunnel
that they'll be using.
h) And finally, when asked whether the US will embrace his team, Windsor said that his intentions were to bring the US to F1 and not the other way around, which is what Bernie has been trying to do. He also mentioned that NASCAR had the right idea in making the sport as fan friendly as possible. Then he mentioned that there will be Webcams in the USF1 factory etc. Windsor basically said that typically, F1 teams go out of their way to be incredibly secretive and USF1 would go in an opposite direction (within reason, I assume)...
So there you have it. Noon Tuesday will be when we can hear the official word of USF1's intentions in 2010...
Exciting stuff...
Being open to the fans is nice and all, but the other teams won't really emulate them unless they:
1. Become super-popular because of it
2. Start winning races
I have to admit when Peter Windsor said that final bit, I was about to have a heart attack. Even if they do 5% of what he said, it will be amazing.
I think I am going to take a page out of Christine' book and start a I(heart)Windsor website...
Morning all,
No link in today's thread about signing up for the SPC MarioKart Wii Tournament?
I hope you all had a good start to the week... :-)
Writing on the wall for Honda?
Reuters claim this morning that there are no serious buyers for Honda
Pop-up blocker issues now happening to me as well. After unblocking sidepodcast.com, the cause seems to be that merely right-clicking the link already opens the link in a new tab.
Oh dear.
That doesn't sound promising at all.
Wait... so they don't consider the management buyout a serious buyer? Otherwise, why would Brawn and Fry reject Bernie's funds? That just sounds very odd.
Tomorrow, USF1 will announce something that will use part of Honda's resources. I am almost certain of it now!
Today is also the deadline set by Mercedes-Benz to supply Honda with engines as well...
grandprix.com reports that the end of Stepneygate has been reached in the Italian courts
Conspiracy theory one:
Honda never had any intention of selling the team but wished to appear to be making the effort before regretfully announcing no serious buyers could be found. After all, it would be horrendously embarrassing if the team under new ownership did better and also embarrassing if new ownership resulted in a shambolic exit soon after. There does seem to be circumstantial evidence that those with serious offers had difficulty being taken notice of. (GP.com report.)
Conspiracy theory two:
Branson is a master at generating free publicity and never had any intention of buying the Honda team. After all, it was only about four days between Virgin showing interest and then Branson claiming the high moral ground on environmental and cost issues that precluded Virgin's entry. Is he suggesting he was unaware of these matters earlier in the week?
Conspiracy theory three:
It is obviously in Mosley's interest to use tactics of divide-and-conquer over the dispute with the drivers on super-licence fees. When he stated three drivers had paid, he knew he could not be challenged to prove it for reasons of confidentiality, that it could not be proved that three drivers had not paid, and the information, confirmed or not, would undermine the drivers' attempted solidarity on the matter.
I like your style, sir!
Autosport's picked up on it too.
:(
Prepare for the adminstrators then.
Cheers.
The third point had to be worded carefully.
I'm on the fence with this whole 'Branson used this as a publicity stung' and then folk refer to what happened with Northern Rock when he showed an interest. Do we honestly believe that he sits back in his leather chair, stroking his beard, and ponders how to gain free promotion? Would that really make anybody go out and buy a Virgin Atlantic flight to Oz, or er, what else is it that Virgin do these days?
I don't know the whole history of Branson, but other than the Northern Rock thing, has he a track record of doing this? Or, could it just be that both Northern Rock and Honda are rotten to the core, which Branson came to realise during discussions with both?
Oh and as an aside, apparently Virgin are looking to bring out some 'green' fuels in the not too distant future.
Looks like it's all gone Pete Tong.
oh. wish i hadn't checked the news now :(
Time to write the Honda post? Or will you wait until 'the end'?
Branson has been known to 'court' publicity on occasion - such stunts as ballooning around the world, dressing up as a bride to promote Virgin weddings and having a TV show (The Rebel Billionaire). So it's not an impossible scenario...
A few years ago, I saw a Branson interview in which he not only admitted but boasted about his strategy of using tricks and stunts to generate free publicity worth millions for the Virgin brand. Yes, I do honestly believe he more than ponders on ways to acheive free promotion. During a dispute years back before the last Concorde deal was signed and there was some threat of a breakaway by teams, Branson offered to run and promote the rival series but his interest did not seem to extend beyond one comment for a bit of publicity.
I'm waiting for him to do a stunt off Brackley F1's buildings then get stuck in the climbing harness :D
Guess all we can do at the moment if you're a Honda fan is just try and stay positive about it. There's nothing much that can be said at the moment though it seems.
i don;t have the time to write it now, as i'm at school. will have to wait till later on in the week when i get chance i suppose.
Let's hope for the best and hope someone buys the team and sacks Nick Fry, so we can all draw a line under this unhappy mess :-(
I would like to write some kind of post about Honda in a historical perspective if you guys would like...?
yeah, but the prospect of a season without the team doesn't really bare thinking about in my mind. it will certainly take something out of the enjoyment i get from the sport. It will be a very long season without them and their drivers.
The thing is we've heard now that USF1 have stated they'd look at an experienced driver when they start. Jenson looks pretty much set to miss out on a drive this season so if this is to be, could he sign up to USF1 in 2010 and spend the year with the team and getting them ready?
Rubens, I'm pretty much feeling we've seen the last of him. Which is a shame like I said on here before, he's gone out with no real bow or thanking unless he gets the drive I just mentioned, but a year without a drive and he'd be 37 then pretty much seems like he'd be unlikely to get it.
By the way, Lukeh and Joe - nice racing last night :)
It was great fun. The first few races like at Istanbul I was stuck in Race Pro mode and slowing down for corners 100yrds from the corner like the F3000 cars on RP. The difference between the games in terms of car control and arcade/simulation racing is staggering, but both games are brilliant in their own right.
Still gutted I lost that one race to you by spinning on a hairpin on the last lap ;)
What bums me out about Honda is the potential loss of the drivers to the sport. Expect to see Rubens do something like the ALMS in future with Gil De Ferran's Acura team...
Just put you under too much pressure ;)
He did say he wanted to do Indy, but the missus wouldn't let him because she considered it too dangerous. As if F1 isn't just as risky!
Speaking of Concorde and Richard Branson... back when he was trying to buy the Concorde fleet after BA decided to take it out of service, having spurned his offer BA rather naughtily left one parked on the apron outside the Virgin hangar at Heathrow for months – as if to say "nyah nyah nyah"...
That sounds very much like how the British Establishment would operate - the same kind of jokers who made a deal with Sir Allen Stanford...
guest post for spc? of course.
steven's set that bar pretty high mind you ;)
did i miss this pic being mentioned somewhere:
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/ollie-pandafall-jpg
hehe :D
They are even cuter upside down.
No one's answered my question yet, so I'll ask it again.
Something doesn't add up here, you see.
Why would Brawn and Fry reject Bernie's money? Especially considering we ALL know they are planning a management buy-out? If they really needed the money, they would've agreed to Bernie's money, FOTA or no.
So that MUST mean they're still planning to buy the team, and that their funding is already good to go. Why isn't anyone picking up on that?
maybethe terms were so bad they'd prefer to be unemployed?
oooh, the man responded:
http://twitter.com/richardbranson/status/1240519910
Hmmm, I don't think so. Business comes first, in this case. I mean, you can figure out how to get round Bernie's terms later - but not without giving yourself a chance! I mean, if Bernie's money was the last thing left that could save the team, would Brawn and Fry reject it? Given Brawn's love for racing and Fry's love to be in the spotlight, I don't think they'd reject it in that case.
Has Nick responded already? :P Goodness, Branson is MUCH busier than him, and yet he's managed to reply!
maybe brawn has an offer to join another team?
maybe the both do?
Possible. But the only position they can offer him now is team principal. And I don't see any vacancies right now.
Fry? NOT possible. No way, no how. :P
someone employed stepney.
The guy knows his motor racing - he wouldn't have been able to stay at Ferrari that long if it were otherwise.
Fry is a completely different banana.
"If I had been talking to Honda, I would have signed an NDA"
Does that mean he is and can't talk about it? Or, he isn't talking to them?
Bah! Frustrating.
Sounds like a non-denial denial. I reckon he is talking to them, we just don't know how serious he is...
Probably the latter, but hey, you never know.
I wouldn't hope too much for it, though.
EDIT: Reading Gavin's reply, I think it's a case of 'exploratory talks'. Anything can still happen, but again, I wouldn't put too much hope on it.
I'm on Twitter now
https://twitter.com/TheWiss
http://twitter.com/CimaRacing
According to this 'inside source':
1. Management buyout will go ahead
2. The buyout does NOT include Fry
3. 50% staff cuts at the Honda factory.
Hello salt! Let me pinch you!
I'm liking this one. Management buyout is staged so it can be used as a scapegoat. Fry and Brawn are going to work for USF1
PRAISE THE LORD! :D
#1 is great to hear!
#2 is too good to be true!
#3 is inevitable given the current economic situation.
RealHondaF1.com's source saying that the information will be out in time to catch the 5PM news.
I wonder how this will play out...
Brawn cant be leaving, he hasnt had a chance to do anything yet!
I hope he isn't. Fry - yes, get out now. Brawn - Please NO!
good stuff, don't forget you can add:
http://twitter.com/sidepodcastdrop
as a friend, to keep up with everything that gets fropioed.
If you have to use a 9th engine this season. Will you only get the grid penalty in the first race you use it or in all races you use it?
Let's quote Alia's wonderful article:
If anyone uses a ninth engine in the season, they will have a 10-place grid drop for every race until the end of the season.
Full link: http://formula1home.com/forum/weblog_entry.php?e=623
The first race you use it in :-)
thanks
Added!
For real?? That is so harsh!!!!!!
quality lens:
http://tinyurl.com/5pintsofawesomecamera
I think I speak for some people here when I say: Lol Honda.
: (
Impressive!
Re: Renault court Indian Sponsor,
My friend has suggested the Reliance Industrial Group, which sounds feasible given the size and the types of business they are in. Any other ideas who it might be?
I can practically see up Mr O'Bama's nose...
Some fellow who serves up nothing but 'me too' stories all of a sudden has an inside source? Pass me that salt...
I mean seriously, what the H?
Honda have been a joke at times and still are even with their departure, that's what.
:D
what happened to your name gavin?
From the Autosport forum:
blimey.
Doohickey problems. I hit Ctrl-refresh but no dice (have to keep manually entering it) :-(
Whoaaoaoaoaa! That means (a) buyout or (b) administration/liquidation...
can you give me more info please?
- are you solely using doohickey?
- what browser / os?
Never mind - it's linked to the problem over the weekend. It seems to be fixed now...
no worries, yell if you have more issues. still have a couple of weird character issues to resolve this week.
Blimey... thats MASSIVE news.
Will we get told anything today then should an outcome come?
If Lou were seeing this right now, she'd probably be going nuts.
They're saying that the team will probably announce it before 5 PM today. Failing that, the announcement can come as late as tomorrow morning.
oooh, thanks. Fingers crossed it's a buyout! Plus this news is not in the early hours of the morning... :P
they being?
The RealHondaF1 'source'.
The plot thickens.
OK, let me rewrite that:
The source is saying that the team will probably announce it before 5 PM today. Failing that, the announcement can be as late as tomorrow morning.
linky: http://www.f1network.net/main/s169/st140565.htm
Before we get carried away, any signs of GMM?
Nothing from what i've read yet...
he's probably having a lie-in.
:D
Someone on autosport forums is saying a new rumour is Virgin will be the main sponsor of the team, rather than being an Virgin F1 team. Not confirmed with any sources though, still waiting for the actual MBO confirmation first of course :P
It's like they're mind readers or something!
That's what I said last night!
Is Richard Branson a Sidepodcast fan now? :)
Mr C has been questioning him about Honda via Twitter AFAIK so maybe he's taken an interest ;)
I agree with Journeyer - Branson is interested but doesn't want to buy a team. He can test the water by being a sponsor and buy in to it if F1 changes how he wants. Otherwise he can walk away and it's easier to do that as a sponsor than sell the team...
Right. Time for a reality check, then. From the Autosport Forum:
And in other news...
Uh oh. Not good.
you never know, if honda are half decent someone might decide that its a worth while investment
true, but then how can that honda prove itself to be half-decent in 5 races? that's a tough act, to say the least.
Perhaps David Sylvian may buy the team as a 51st birthday present to himself?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sylvian
One hour.
Not necessarily, the rumours say up till tomorrow morning
Don't take it as a hard deadline. There's a possibility that the announcement will not be made by the deadline.
Whatever would he do with it? :P
Yes, but if not's there by 5ish, then it will be tomorrow.
They said the announcement could be made this evening. So we should be in a heightened state of awareness for the next 18-24 hours.
seems like everybody is getting excited about that story published on F1network - is there any reason for that source to be taken so seriously ?
Realistically though what is gonna happen?
I get the feeling we've fretted about Honda for the last 120+ days for nothing
I blame Nick Fry!!!
I did not join that contest but I submitted a photo to the other one they run and I got some confirmation and thank you message on the screen. no email though
1. There's nothing else to take seriously.
2. This quote from the Autosport Forum:
But then for that contest, you just uploaded the image on a website. The 'Name the Turns' contest is being done through email.
oh, OK, did not know that, I haven't thought of coming up with names of corners ...
Teach Nick Fry to play fretless bass?
Just had an email from team FIF1 confirming March 1 launch.
I was just about to say, I just noticed it says it on their web site too.
Before that contest, I hadn't thought of any, either. But when I heard of it, a nice name quickly came to my mind. :)
But Fry isn't part of the sale, right? ;)
I wonder what they'll do for the launch...
Looks like just a session on track
http://www.forceindiaf1.com/news.aspx?nid=73399&rt=2
You know your an F1 fan when you are asked to list things you know about China, you immediatly think of the grand prix.
I take it Mr C has reset it back to the new lclt. Is it safe now to uninstall Chrome now?
It pains me to say it, but I think there is little hope for the team. How is a management buy out without huge sponsorship going to survive? I think it would be a lingering and protracted death.
On a purely economic consideration, Honda could say we tried but there were no serious buyers, sell the assets and be less out of pocket that had it given the team away to a new enterprise.
There is a certain commonsense but cynical motive to this strategy.
I am sad that Honda is unlikely to make the grid in Australia, but it might be better for the drivers this situation at the start of the season rather than to expire part-way through as Super Aguri did last year.
nope.
even less reason to do so then.
not sure what you mean?
Can I unistall Chrome without the fear of firefox crashing on lclt again?
3 months of waiting and it comes down to waiting for an annoucement possibly being made at 5pm, what has my life become?
Can Honda just put up or shut up, i'm sick to death of will they or won't they. I know being a fan means we're at the bottom of the pile priority wise but how anyone could consider support them after this escapade is beyond me at the moment. I'm left with a bitter taste whenever anyone mentions Honda and it's nothing to do with Rubens, Jenson, or the hard working staff, it's the inept muppets at the top.
Brilliant way to describe them. So I forgot, the Honda announcement is being made today, what does the announcement mean? If they have been bought or not?
Speculation re Honda on James Allen's Blog http://allenonf1.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/the-honda-story-hots-up/
umm, when did lclt crash ff? soz, must've missed something?
I belive this annoucement that may or may not happen at 5pm relates to a management buyout. Somewhere earlier in the thread someone has noticed that various business forms have been submitted to the goverment which usually means serious and imminent changes to a company..ie taken over, disovled etc
Last bloomin night when my posts kept disappearing.
Apologies, but I have'nt read all the comments today on the Honda subject, but I was wondering..... What happens if they find a buyer, with less than 5 weeks to the start of the season have they got time to pass the crash tests, do their own tests and put a car on the grid that does'nt comprimise any other cars on the grid and complies to the regs. I think it''s a big ask to get all that done in less than 5 weeks, so the next question is will they or can they be allowed to miss the start of the season and still join in later when the car complies?
I believe they are free to join at any race providing they have an approved 2009 FIA entry slot (which the team last know as Honda do). Realistically they'll be legal unable to compete until all safety tests and administration is cleared up. I think Spyker started halfway through 2006???
oh right, soz didn't know that's what you did (had studio squeaks to deal with, have yet to go through comments). ff should be fine now. no more lclt updates until movable boxes arrive in about 2wks.
Am very much looking forward to hearing some actual proper news about Honda that isn't speculation and rumours and 'inside sources' now.
Movable boxes! WOO! You deserve them donations ;)
sounds great mr c, looking forward to it. If anyone wants to see the video and comments at the same time (on Firefox) until then they can always try the suggestion I posted in the comments last night to have a 'split browser'
there's nothing to say they haven't already though?
they have an engine and they've likely fitted it into the car. we don't know how far down the road they actually are?
Branson can get free publicity any time he likes. All he has to do is announce any good news about any of his businesses and a camera crew turns up. If he was to issue any press statement with a progress update on Virgin Galactic he could have got all the coverage he did but his own products would have been the subject of discussion rather than a failed F1 team.
If they pick up Fry, I will drop USF1 like a sack of potatoes. Who the heck would hire that guy after what he has done at Honda? Really, it like hiring Dr. Kevorkian to work in your Emergency Room.
No-one who ever was in partnership with Bernie got a good deal. Can you imagine Bernie putting up $100 million and letting Nick Fry or Ross Brawn make decisions. They would no doubt have some option to buy him out but could never raise the capital to do it. As soon as the economy picked up or Bernie found a buyer he would sell the majority stake from under them.
But again, I go back to my original point: if this was the last option to prevent the team from closing up and unemploying hundreds of people, would you still say no? It's a lot tougher from that standpoint.
Branson say if he was to get involved he would insist Bernie made Honda greener. Was that a slip of the tongue or is he getting invvolved with Bernie at Honda.
I popped over and had a look at that thread. I know I often bang on about this sort of thing, but I do question the mentality of people who preen on web forums – showing off and dishing out 'inside info' from behind a pseudonym. Most peculiar form of self-aggrandisment. I suspect that they just love to get the forumites a-twittering.
He does have 'previous' when it comes to popping up and offering to buy basket cases, though.
Stepney is really good. He turned the Ferrari pit crew from a complete shambles to a championship dominating team. Nick Fry thought he was as good as Dave Richards but he is not fit to lace DR's shoes.
Why would anyone hire Fry
He has propped up a lot of ailing teams out of his own pocket in the past, though. And when he hasn't – eg Super Aguri – it's because he knew the proprietors were taking the p--s out of him.
So what DID James Allen confirm? To summarize:
1. No final decision on Honda for another week or so - i.e. they're extending the deadline, again.
2. Nick Fry is currently not part of the MBO deal.
3. Honda will come back when their company's 'slight cold' has been cured - i.e. after the recession ends, something very typical of a manufacturer to say.
#2 will no doubt be a cause for celebration. If nothing is indeed announced in the next 24 hours, that should keep us optimistic until next week.
TWIT did a thing on gigapan and it is not at all expensive. Don't buy one.
why can't all this honda stuff be over, it's just too painful now.
Best advice is to go to the pub. That's what I'm going to do (just for one, mind).
because business is never straightforward. add to that the ineffectiveness of fry and honda, and you get a shambles of a buyout process.
it's tough, but that's how it works sometimes.
He has the choice of buying a team for a pittance and having sponsors pay for it while he and his companies get publicity for as long as he owns it or paying out a load of money in sponsorship and getting publicity as long as he keeps paying money. The guy didn't become a billionaire by pouring money down a hole ten times when he could do it once.
i would go to the pub if i was old enough to get served anything alcoholic ;), and if i didn't have so much work to do :(
Surely if someone is monitoring Honda GP on the Companies House site they should also be monitoring Honda GP Holdings.
Good point, but maybe the guy had access to the Companies House site doesn't have access to the Holdings records?
I assume they have passed the crash tests since we haven't heard otherwise. The only thing that could screw that up is if they need the correct engine in the car for tests on the rear crash structure but I guess Ali is the only person who knows what the crash tests are. I know there is a head on test and a side impact test and I am sure there are three separate tests but I have no idea what they are.
That is how it is interpreted but he may simply have had a look at Northern Rock and others and not liked the deal. In his position if I had no interest in being involved in F1 I would have done what he did and taken all the publicity. However if I was him and was interested I would have don exactly the same.
$40 million isn't so much of a pittance, to be honest. While it would be very cheap to buy the team, funding it afterwards isn't that cheap.
Stuart C tells underaged teenager to go to the pub. I can see the headlines now.
Anyone can get basic info but I assume he has paid a fee for the kind of access he has and since both companies are the same type of company of he can get access to one he can get access to both.
Hahaha! This should be immortalized. This goes to the Comment of the Year list! :D
If he was their main sponsor he is going to pay the same amount and on 1st Jan next year he has to pay the same again. If he buys the team he can get all sorts of people to sponsor him. I am sure Boeing or Airbus would be happy to put up a few million in return for his next plane order for example. Think of all the money his companies spend with suppliers and if each of those suppliers put 10% of that into sponsorship it would cover the team costs comfortably.
#3 - So should we start taking bets on how long they're going to last when they decide to come back?
And what if Branson suddenly lost interest in F1, like Shnaider did? How would he sell it off? I think that's the point here - Branson isn't so sure yet if he's willing to take that risk now. He'd rather test the waters for a year before committing to a team.
no.
*googles gigapan*
You don't need one.
Honda's 1st stint lasted 4 years, thereabouts.
Honda's 2nd stint lasted 9 years, thereabouts.
Honda's 3rd stint lasted 9 years, thereabouts.
If they'll do a 4th stint, expect it to last 8-9 years.
He is not going to get in without a plan unlike Schnaider. If he did buy he would have an exit plan. One thing is certain there is never going to be a way for a long time to get a deal remotely as good as this one.
Yes, but he garnered that position by being so good at providing journalists with good copy on a very wide variety of subjects, many flash-in-the-pan, but journos worry about what to write today and forget what they wrote last month. He's a genius at feeding the media. Virgin Rail staked their reputation on those leaning trains. Finally after years of delay, they introduced them before the press. The trains failed to perform. Did the media drub him for it? No. He did a Houdini act by choosing that time to announce Virgin were going into space and the train-failure was hardly mentioned. He plays them like a violin.
Virgin have a long record of spending modestly on adverting, especially considering the Virgin brand-name is on hundreds of products and services. Although Virgin Mobile did sponsor in F1 in the past, I believe that back then the brand name was licensed out with the main Virgin group only owning a minority stake.
i want one.
I want a baby panda. We don't all gets what we wants.
You could get a panda and he could photograph it with the gigathing. Keeps everyone happy.
...tempting.
Ooooh... that one hit the spot. :P
if it were upside-down having fallen off of a slide, that would make an excellent gigpan.
with all the honda no-news, i'd forgotten about tomorrow's bbc press conference thingy. word from ms. mckenzie:
"Busy few days ahead. Today:first BBC F1 full run through - should be eye opening! Tomorrow: BBC F1 launch. Exciting times!"
http://twitter.com/LeeMcK/status/1240388884
Ooooh... not very friendly to the panda, I see.
Didn;t even know... looking forward to that now!
worth following the lady on twitter too, methinks.
Is it just me, or is this particular pre-season busier than usual?
personally, i'm just paying more attention this year.
Just signed up. Noticed she doesn't have that many followers at the mo so sent her a nice good luck message for the season :)
I'm really looking forward to the BBC's coverage. I know ITV did a great job minus the adverts business, but I just think the BBC have the technology to provide a whole new platform for F1 coverage.
Oops, that should be just signed up for following, even.
here's what we were talking about this time last year:
http://www.sidepodcast.com/2008/02/
nothing much exciting :)
I have been thinking exactly the opposite. All the drivers were signed up early. We don't have any teams looking for engines. There has been very little testing to follow. For me it is the quietest pre-season in a long time with only cars designed to the new regs providing any real interest.
I was looking through the list for the daily posts and then I remembered we didn't have them then. Amazing how quickly something new becomes the norm.
joe says all is not peachy in abu dhabi:
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/is-anyone-really-safe/
but f1 circuit shouldn't be affected.
Good point. I think what IS true is that there has been much more speculation this year than in pre-seasons past, thanks to the new rules, plus the Honda sell-off.
We didn't even have them until the 2008 season ended - which wasn't that long ago, really. ;)
next year, we'll have "hourly's" ;)
sidepodspace
Those of you in a dark area in North America will have the opportunity to see a comet tonight. It says on the NASA site that it will be visible from a dark site. I blame George Lucas for making me read it as being visible from the dark side.
http://www.nasa.gov/
Christine won't like the idea of having to create at least 24 posts a day. :P
earlier today i wanted to use a mac mini. i was told it wasn't the mac mini i was looking for.
suspecting a jedi mind trick i insisted, but it turns out it really wasn't the one i was looking for, as that had in fact been moved elsewhere.
i blame george too.
Yet another change to engine rules.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73396
makes sense though doesn't it? seems like a reasonable request.
FOTA requested for it, apparently. They think it goes against the spirit of the rule.
FOTA reporting a loophole? What has the world come to?
A recession is what we've come to, apparently.
Yes but why are they never able to consider things like this when they write the rules in the first place. Common sense says if teams are only allowed 8 engines for a season they are going to identify one as a qualifying engine. Anyone on the inside of F1 should have realised that straight away.
not sure if we covered this already, but james allen says "real honda f1" have solid sources:
http://allenonf1.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/the-honda-story-hots-up/
BBC F1 schedule page has been updated again
Bit more info on how the it will all work:
The BBC's red button interactive TV service will broadcast live coverage of all on-track sessions and an extended show after each race and qualifying session, as well as offering alternative video streams, such as on-board cameras and F1 data.
The BBC Sport website will broadcast live video coverage of every on-track session, as well as carrying all the television coverage.
Among a number of other features will be extra analytical data during the race, in-depth looks at the drivers, teams, tracks and an F1 car, as well as reports, news and insight from the TV team, broadcasting legend Murray Walker and driver columnist Mark Webber of Red Bull.
Sounding rather delicious!
wow. agreed.
wow. sounds awesome :) can't wait.
I liked Webbers column last year, so looking forward to more stuff this yeaer.
Sure does, I like how highlights are at 7pm.If a race was really superb, waiting till 11/2midnight was annoying!
Extended show sounds like a brilliant idea...
Hopefully means they will show the whole press conference rather than just tuning in for what lewis said.
They all do it anyway. I just like to watch the tactics they use to try to avoid being asked for ID.
It does, doesn't it? Nice to see our licence fee going on something other than Mastershout.
P.S. It turned into two.
I want
We all do? Do we now?
But I thought they aren't allowed to change engines between quali and race since it's in parc ferme?
not all of us. i don't, some of my friends do. tbh i don't actually have the time to go out drinking on the week, plus i'm not sure i'd really want to.
There were other people in the press conference?!
:P
*weekend
Two drinks then? Heh. ;)
:)
i've never been ID'd, but then again its not illegal for me to buy drinks and stuff...so what i just said was a tad pointless...humm...
Apparently, Ito-san's claim to fame is helping develop the NSX - you know, the car Senna helped design... Google it up.
Meh. That car was the weirdest Supercar... Too sensible and yet goes like stink.
I only realised this when I was sitting in the media centre and it carried on after Lewis had finished speaking. Not only that, they held press conferences when Lewis wasn't on the podium. Knock me down with a feather.
:D
Those pints have gone to your head, don't be so ludicrous!
:D
Five Pints? Awesome!
Been watching David Letterman a lot, lately. Just wanna use his latest favorite line in a sentence.
Honda, I wouldn't give your troubles to a monkey on a rock.
Makes sense figuratively AND literally. :D
Makes a change for Mr Letterman!
Man, it's quiet here tonight. No news about Honda then?
This made me laugh: http://www.f1complete.com/content/view/11463/900/
The chairman of A1GP says now F1 has just one tyre supplier and Force India, Bernie should buy A1 instead of copying it. (??)
The bit I like is what's written at the end of the story: "This year's standard A1 car is based on the 2004 formula one Ferrari." :D
I just saw a Honda Accord outside.
Bit of honda news to send in there.
That story was a bit looney!
:D
I see a Honda Accord outside every day, and a Jazz as well.
sounds to me like a1gp is in heaps of trouble.
who goes to the press and says that?
ooh, i just remembered. in doohickey you can quote a whole comment by clicking on the writer's name, like you can in lclt.
How can you say that A1GP is in a bit of trouble because of that story?
EXCLUSIVE Bourdais admits F1 nearly lost him to USA - Crash.net
I am surprised no-one has posted this yet...
technically it's gmm, so i can't say anything.
but, ontop of all the other problems the series is facing (and they do have problems), who goes on record with the line "[bernie] should buy me out"?
that's a for sale sign right there. as big and as wide as you care to imagine.
I think its called a 'joke' ;)
Very odd.
Fair enough. A1GP has always been at loggerheads with Bernie. Why do you think there is a GP2 Asia series? So Bernie can rival A1GP of course!
hmm. i'm not so sure. i guess you can read it either way, and i doubt that he even said it. but if he did, that's a "golf sale" sign right there.
from what i understand, the people behind the series are a bit clueless and it's a miracle they've lasted as long as they have.
to me it's only a matter of time, but we'll see.
The GMM story uses the word "pleaded". Makes it even stranger...
You could call them that, but there have been things that have happened that were out of their control. I think we have discussed this before and on Sidepodchat Ep. 1 as well...
Hot BBC F1 gossip!
CBBC will have some F1 content! :-D
(don't know what exactly, but hey, sounds good!)
So is it now safe to assume Honda won't make a 5pm announcement?
Depends on what Timezone the announcers are in ;-)
Unless they use sidepodcast time.
5ish.
Uncle Murray's Jackie-nory
Dom Jolly Jackie and Ollie!!!!
:D
realhondaf1.com are reporting:
"a management buyout of the Honda Racing F1 team has been completed, with a change in the senior staff also taking place. With news of significant, but specific, job cuts, we expect to see an official announcement on the future of the team this evening or early tomorrow morning."
more here: http://www.f1network.net/main/s169.htm
btw. didn't know this, but there's a mobile version of drop.io available here:
http://drop.io/sidepodcast/m
in case you're ever short of bandwidth. yet again though, everything is listed in the least logical order
We haven't even sorted out the theme tune yet!
I think we need Giggles.
Can you tell them to wait till I've finished my maths?
Damn. Am not gonna have internet then. :(
:D
surely they must have figured it'll happen at 1am(ish)?
Isn't this the story we've had all day though?
what module and topic?
There is something odd about a management buyout where the senior member of the management is not involved.
I've got it covered, its only Honda...
ahh, so your motivated to do maths, you havent hit "the wall" yet....
we all have...its grim
He IS involved. Brawn is definitely there, and I've always thought that he was the man running the show in 2008, not Fry.
and i've finished my psychology :P
Fry was the guy dealing with Japan that meant he was in charge. Brawn may have been team principal but he was not head of the company. Martin Whitmarsh is team principal at McLaren but we all know who is running he show.
Who knew you could make volume of prisms so hard.
And done, what do you mean he set me more, grrr.
You called :P
I'm just so fed up with the Honda thing I could scream
Quick question: Did anyone join the Singapore GP ‘Name the Turns’ contest? If yes, did you receive a confirmation email after you sent your entry? {Comment #41}
I entered the competition but received no e-mail back.
2) The current engine freeze rules basically refuses to allow a new supplier into F1). {Comment #42}
A new supplier could enter as long as their engine was rated as being no better than those already in the series. It could be done, but there'd be no point.
Of topic, but has anyone seen this?
http://tinyurl.com/stupidcomplaints
I can kinda see why people would say that her job was based on quotas for the stupid amount of political correctness these days but at the same time, how sad to say she's giving people nightmares. Parents on a cbeebies message board too! I just found the whole thing a bit sad...
Windsor said of Danica Patrick: “She has road dust on her, therefore, we’ll consider her”. (Whatever that means)… {Comment #42}
It means "Danica's done some racing, so we'll not rule her out yet in case we regret it later".
A lot of people moaning about nothing, again.
“Why will you be successful when many others like Paul Stoddart have failed”? PW responded by simply saying that he has a winning staff on board… {Comment #42}
Oh no. Craig Pollock said the same about his entry into BAR and we all know how that ended :(
Some people fear what they don't understand
*twitches at the mention of Mr Pillock*
Being open to the fans is nice and all, but the other teams won’t really emulate them unless they:
1. Become super-popular because of it
2. Start winning races {Comment #43}
Jordan did both and teams still didn't follow suit. Only if 1 appears inextricably linked to 2 will other teams follow :(
Good on USF1 for trying though :)
I'd be up for that.
"Now children, are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin...
Once upon a time, in a far away land, corruption, bribery, spying and blackmail was rife."
The wheels on the bus go round and round
And Niki Lauda took all the drivers off to a hotel in it and that is how the 1982 drivers strike started.
Honda conspiracy theory I've-lost-count:
Honda executives accept a bid from USF1 partially backed by Virgin (to the tune of a few million rather than the many millions for a title sponsorship) and underwritten by Honda for 2009 only (while other sponsors are sought). Brawn stays in current position with the USF1 staff slotted round him. Fry is sent to another department (possibly Honda road car marketing) in a sideways move.
Honda gets to say that it regretfully could not find a buyer for the whole thing, but that in line with its sporting heritage, was willing to supply engines for the medium term in support of the organisation best positioned to protect the workforce. The team is known as USF1 Honda and gets to enter F1 a year early. An American driver is hastily pushed into the test seat, with a view to promotion in 2010 if Bruno Senna doesn't work out or has his contract bought out by a big team.
Lots of problems solved in one go.
Indeed. This morning's news of a management restructure, and the news of few serious offers for the F1 operation, came pretty early UK time. About 6am or 7am, I think. Tokyo are 9 hours ahead. So 5pm their time is 9am UK time. I think, once again. It's too late to be dealing with timezones, gah! :)
When Honda were rumoured to be withdrawing, I stayed up for the official announcement which came at a similar time I think. Maybe a little bit earlier.
:D
I am glad someone else thinks there is a link between USF1 and Brackley...
Wow.
I'm now thinking of Murray reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar
I knew it! Bob the Builder has put in a bid for Honda.
Can He Fix It? Well Nick Fry Couldn't...
For a site owner, it was big news and well worth staying up for. From a site owner's perspective. Maybe not from a fan's.
I think it may have been earlier though, but either way, Tokyo, where the announcement would likely be made from, is 9 hours ahead. So 5pm Tokyo is 9am UK.
I think it means she needs a shower and he's offering to scrub her back.
@me: http://drop.io/sidepodcast/asset/real-time-doohickey-beta-1235424106206-png
Summink ain't right. Had to manually adjust before I was able to comment.
Nope. Still doesn't turn me on. There's something repulsive about Danica and I think it's because of her attitude!
Ooh, I had that one on Saturday
Ctrl-Refresh. Fixed it for me.
Well, the sooner we can get her to Bahrain, the better! (Sorry.)
when honda were rumoured to be withdrawing, the two of us delayed our planned trip to paris by a day.
who wants to raise me?
:)
Oh, a simply F5 did it for me. Must have been because it was the first time commenting since me had maybe changed something??? Either way, the problem hasn't repeated itself.
Ta Gavin.
hmm. suspicious. nothings changed since about 1am, can't track this one down.
nah, couldn't beat that. i didn't have any internet connection. but i came into school a whole hour early for find out what the hell had happened. I spent most of the day in a state of shock.
You're welcome :-)
Did the comment about back scrubbing not...
(I'll be good and proper from now on, I promise.)
:)
I didn't hear about it all weekend because I went to Taupo for a holiday :-)
I was in bed.
I said a naughty swear word several times when I got phoned by a friend to tell me, then got home from town and sat at my laptop in awe. that was about it for me.. then felt really sad as it kicked it :(
Was it a word that rhymed with "Firetruck"?
Just had an email from team FIF1 confirming March 1 launch.
I wonder what they’ll do for the launch… {Comment #156}
From what I've gathered, bung it round Jerez a few dozen times. Then repeat for another seven days of the following two weeks. I don't think they're doing a formal launch this year.
From what I've been able to gleam, this is the plan. A few photos, a few shoddy poses. Then on with the business of installation and data gathering.
F1 launches this year have been relatively passion-less. But hey-ho, 'tis a sign of the times.
You know things are low key when toyota come out with the most extragavant launch :D
Jarno sadly didn't go away with an Oscar last night though, hollywood couldn't more biased.
Don't get me started on the Oscars!
We had enough 'shoddy photos' when FIF1 released that awful calendar...
Good night all... Sweet 'Earth Dreams' everybody! ;-)
I'm just saying, Ledger was great as the Joker in Batman but in comparison to Jarno in the Toyota launch, well!
That moment of fear on his face with the lift opening and closing and the classic line "Yeah." deserved more recognition ;)
night gavin.
I was on sidepodcast: http://www.sidepodcast.com/2008/12/04/daily-4th-december-2008/#comment-155918
Cheerio Gavin
:D
Night gavin!
Rigged!
Wow, I comment when I'm asleep
See ya Gavin.
:D
:D
That's 'me's' special skill!
G'night Gavin.
I believe they are free to join at any race providing they have an approved 2009 FIA entry slot (which the team last know as Honda do). Realistically they’ll be legal unable to compete until all safety tests and administration is cleared up. I think Spyker started halfway through 2006??? {Comment #173}
The one thing that stops it is the Concorde Agreement. A team may only miss one race in a season unless it does so through force majeure. It is the FIA who has responsibility for deciding whether an excuse a team provides constitutes force majeure. The last team to use it was Arrows, which was granted leave to miss five races (two retrospectively) while it successfully negotiated for a buyer.
On that precedent, ex-Honda would likely be treated leniently. Except that a lot has changed in the seven years since the rule was last invoked. I would not like to guarantee the FIA's response to ex-Honda missing races in any way, shape or form.
Having a car that doesn't meet the safety requirements would automatically prevent that car from being used in a race weekend. If that meant the team could not compete, then it would probably get a response of "tough luck". That said, Red Bull managed to get a component approved on the evening before scrutineering - as long as the appropriate paperwork is generated and reaches the stewards in time, there's no need for the components freighted to Australia to be pre-certified.
Spyker entered in round 11 of 2006, but that was OK because it simply took the race entry of a predecesor team and got special permission to do a mid-season name change. The situation did not invoke the Concorde Agreement in any way.
Whether the FIA feel like remembering Concorde still applies or not in this instance is unknown - I see little benefit to them either way.
I deny all association with Mr C.
Unless I'm sleeping again.
Speaking of car launches, a reminder of how Jordan did it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1UBtHAvnuE&feature=related
I like how Jarno nearly falls over when Eddie does a spot of Irish dancing.
If I remember correctly, the change in livery caused more of a bruhaha than the change in team name.
As an aside, can someone put Alia's name forward as a challenger for the 2009 FIA presidency election.
Against Steven Roy? Man thats gonna be more exciting than the 08 US Presedential election
what can't he do? Jarno should just launch all the teams!
Sounds like I'm gonna have no internet on the day everything happens. :(
I'm betting that nowt happens tomorrow.
should we text you?
and when i say we....
Oh, now that's a battle! That deserves a post and vote. I think I may have to post that nearer the time later this year. If I can't get him a blog, I might be able to get Steven to run against Alia and Max for the FIA presidency role. :) (I'm still joking, Steven.)
you have to do that!
It's already partly written and in the draft section of my site. :) (Jokingly, of course, Steven.)
Sidepodcast could host live debates...
:D
Time for bed, here's hoping for a big day of news ahead of us tomorrow. Night folks.
Night Luke and I'm off as well, bye
Seeya tomorrow for the discussion. G'night. :)
Thanks, but I'll manage. Am quite busy tomorrow anyway.
Early night sounds good today. Night all. :)
night to everyone.
is my clock wrong or something?
:)
Even I'm still awake.
Because most are heading to zed-land early? It is a bit odd, but then it is a big day tomorrow. A big day of anti-climaxes, I believe. But still, a big day.
wheres everyone gone!?! wow, the world is wrong... lol
that's true. with the bbc + usf1, it's also a good day to bury bad news...
I think so too.
"An inside source tells us that some tumbleweed has been spotted outside the Honda factory in Brackley. Whether the tumbleweed is connected to a bid for the team is yet to be confirmed."
(GMM)
help the universe is going to explode! Mr C is going to bed at 10:30! ;) night 'me'
nooooo. i'm still up. i can't fathom where everyone else went to though?
btw lou, is doohickey quoting better now?
:D
oh i see. :D
I"m still here, trying to get the motivation to do some website work.
what ya workin' on?
yep seems to be, although it often ha good and bad days ;) nothing so far though :D
im sticking bits of paper to other bits of paper! this is fun times guys and gals.
you may have to fropio that one!
All this news expected tomorrow and I'm back at school. Damnit.
i didn't realise you did textiles too? :P
fropio?? :s
funnily enough its resistant materials....although im yet to see how...lol
Surely if someone is monitoring Honda GP on the Companies House site they should also be monitoring Honda GP Holdings. {Comment #195}
Checking the forms that have been submitted is free at Companies House using the WebCHeck service. You type in the company you want to look at in the Company Name box (leave everything else alone unless you need them for some specific purpose) and click on the name of the company number when the search results appear and click on "Order results for this company". Don't panic - you don't need to buy anything (unless you have a burning desire to see exactly what is in a given report, in which case it's £1 per download). Every form filed with Companies House since the company was registered will be there, in reverse chronological order.
You will need the document explaining what the form numbers mean to get it to make complete sense. Be warned that the service can be slow and the whole site closes down between midnight and 7am GMT.
The last thing that happened to Honda GP Holdings that involved a submission to Companies House is the termination of Yashudo Wada as a director. That happened on the 18th of November.
Nothing is coming out about Honda GP Holdings because there is nothing to report (as far as is publicly accessible at the moment).
Strangely enough, nothing shows up on the Honda GP page since Yasuhiro Wada's resignation as a director in September 2008. 403 forms are recorded when filed (an example can be seen at Force India Formula One Team Limited for April 2008 (the conclusion of the concrete episode to you and me), but none appear for Honda GP. Either the source is really good and has seen/been told about the forms before they were filed or this rumour is false.
Incidentally, I can tell you that Honda Racing Development's accounts are overdue.
If you want to know what a change of ownership will look like, type "FORCE INDIA FORMULA ONE LIMITED" into the search box and go through the procedure in the first paragraph. The giveaway is that you will get at least one, and sometimes several, director resignation forms (288b) filed on the same day. Once that happens, there's a good chance that the form we want to see, the change of company name "CERTNM", will appear in the few weeks following. There are quite a few reasons for directors resigning, but under the circumstances a buyout of some description would be the most likely.
If you see a 652a (voluntary strike-off), or LRESEX (extraordinary meeting to wind up), that's bad news and means the end of ex-Honda.
At the moment it's all to play for.
I'm thinking about updating my MobileMe page because it's a bit rubbish.
http://drop.io/sidepodcast
the f key is apparently close to the d :)
My comment on the Honda 403a rumour landed in the spam bin through excess linkery. I'm putting it in my blog because the links are important and I'm not wasting time editing the links when you could be using the information.
are there any new styles in iweb?
off topic: Marcus Grönholm will drive the Portugal rally. Retiring seems really difficult :)
cheers alia.
lol. i have currently just finished my textiles for this evening, and i can hardly close my sketch book (which is a good sign) :) just a little more psychology revision for my mock tomorrow and i'm calling it a night... hopefully a reasonably early one
:)
ahhh, thought as much hehe
So Honda belongs to Brawn now?
ive also found my rocket motors from my old rockets, and the ignition too.. :D so i may be making a rocket tommorrow :D
and poor Button will earn only half as much?
I'm sure having a seat for the '09 season is a little more important to him atm ;)
The entry on the Honda 403a rumour is now posted.
Edit: One day I will remember to switch out of BBCode mode when leaving my blog...
That's strange. My comment has just appeared as Comment #404 on my screen - two refreshes and 20 minutes after I first posted it. Never mind...
The Finnish article about The takeover mentions something about Snetterton which I don't understand. Any ideas?
I don't believe you Ollie
i pulled it from the mod queue.
That sounds like another new show. Debate a different subject ever 20 minutes. Have two people on to debate points systems or technical regulations or which circuits should get race or whether USF1 or Honda will last longer.
Is it just me, or is this particular pre-season busier than usual? {Comment #222}
Only because of Honda. Otherwise there's been practically nothing to do most weeks.
Despite this my February Mini Blog Post Month (MiBloPoMo) is going well...
oooooooh! yessss :)
WHAT?
c'mon, that's a great idea (except maybe the 20min thing).
nothing much exciting :) {Comment #226}
I bet it was for you and Christine ;)
By the way, thank you for pulling my comment out of the mod queue. There wasn't a message about it on screen, so I assumed that the two-line-long links had caused it to go straight to spam and into oblivion. Luckily I'd saved a copy first...
Snetterton is a racing circuit in Norfolk in the east of England
i have nothing about snetterton kathi. do ya have any more context?
Yeah. I will probably need longer :D
Is that where they might be shaking the car down? *Ollie checks Google Earth to assess how far away Snetterton is...
they'd have to drive past silverstone?
And most importantly, it was Steven's fault. Ultimately. :D
I think they might test there, "where f1 cars haven't been seen within living memory"
It would he a two or three hour drive for Honda to Snetterton. Lotus used to test there a lot.
does it say when?
I think we may need to debate that.
before the test in Silverstone which will be on the 5th
I'm not really checking Google Earth - I really couldn't be bothered. Snetterton's in Norfolk country, isn't it?
Christine won’t like the idea of having to create at least 24 posts a day. {Comment #233}
By this time next year, "me" will probably have cracked the mystery of artificial intelligence and got a robot to write the more menial posts, leaving Christine to add creative words to the "hourly" reports when something new appears in the blogosphere (or she's miffed that "me" hasn't given her the Valentine's Day she wanted).
cheers. wonder what snetterton access is like?
Yes
If it's where I think it is, and Steven has just said it is, the ex says it isn't great.
That sounded odd, but made sense in my mind. :)
:) as long as you don't blame me
It's a long time since I was there but is should be easy to get in because there is a little industrial estate in the centre of the circuit with race car builders and the like and they need people to be able to get in and out. Fans can drive round most if not all of the track. But like I say it was a while ago since I was there. I guess Scott will know more as it is his local track.
http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/snetterton/find-us.asp
How to find Snett
Yet another change to engine rules. {Comment #235}
You mean the FIA have finally figured out they'd let through qualifying engines by the back door? Good on them for fixing the error, even if they should have come up with a simpler system to avoid confusing themselves in the first place.
thank you :)
This is just typical FIA. Forever making up for their stupid errors. It's been going on for donkeys years.
Well actually the FIA didn't figure it out the teams told them.
They all do it anyway. {Comment #246}
I never did! (Having been asked for my ID to buy a pair of scissors with an age indication of 3+ a few weeks back, and having never found an alcoholic beverage I like, this is just as well...)
i once bought a tin of spraypaint for a project i was doing, went back some time later, same shop, exact same paint, same colour etc, wasnt allowed to buy it because im under 21. pfft
oh that's further away from me than silverstone. I live too far south. Doesn't this all assume that the team survive though?
But I thought they aren’t allowed to change engines between quali and race since it’s in parc ferme? {Comment #249
A team willing to take a 10-place grid drop could make that change. Also, a driver starting from the pit lane is exempt from parc fermé (though such a driver would not gain a qualifying benefit from a qualifying engine no matter how good it was).
An engine no longer has to last a whole weekend, though parc fermé changes are still not generally permitted. That said, parc fermé starts three hours after qualifying ends...
I hope I'm still making some sort of sense.
There were other people in the press conference?! {Comment #251}
At least two others, unless it's the Thursday conference (when there are four others) or Friday (when there are four people, but they rarely include Lewis so we don't see much of that).
Well Heikki Kulta says it does and I tend to believe him, he was only wrong once since I started reading
The chairman of A1GP says now F1 has just one tyre supplier and Force India, Bernie should buy A1 instead of copying it. (??) {Comment #266}
Um... ...didn't all those ideas come from other series before Mr Teixiera took them for A1GP? Also, I'd have thought he'd learned from the amusing rebuttal he received last time he tried picking an argument with Mr Mallya.
Depends on what Timezone the announcers are in {Comment #285}
If it's Japan, we could be waiting until the early hours of tomorrow morning, like on December 5th...
Someone else had a go at him today. He made some comment about USF1 being a national team just like they have in A1GP. The writer replied that F1 cars ran in national colours until the late 60s.
Of topic, but has anyone seen this? {Comment #310}
That's a horrible thing to happen! Simply because someone has one arm shouldn't disqualify them from presenting a children's show. A sensible attitude from parents will prevent fear in children - the complaints say more about the parents than about Cerrie.
The day Mallya earned my respect. His response was well executed, politely put and contained fact after fact. It was simply brilliant.
who wants to raise me? {Comment #333}
I got woken up by a loud "Alia!" by Mum. Radio 4 was blaring the explanation downstairs. I can't say my reaction was anything like lou's though. I just spent a heap of time writing out that day's blog entry because I knew I'd be unable to concentrate on much else until I'd done it.
Edit: Something went slightly wrong when I did that link...
Okay, I'm off to do a bit more of revision for my psychology mock tomorrow morning before I go to sleep. Night all x
There are, plus new widgets, which make it easy to add HTML code and things like a countdown timer. Perhaps USF1 used it to make their site :)
I believe so, plus new widgets.
Night Lou. Good luck with the psychology mock tomorrow.
:D
night lou.
{Comment #333 is actually here...
Sorry that double posting was my fault.
no probs. didn't give it a second thought. my confidence in the code must've increased :)
That and the different text in each post...
oh... :D
We had enough ’shoddy photos’ when FIF1 released that awful calendar… {Comment #348}
Do I take it that you're not particularly disappointed that they only showed three pictures out of it?
As an aside, can someone put Alia’s name forward as a challenger for the 2009 FIA presidency election. {Comment #366}
If there are any General Senate representatives reading this, please note that I would need the post to be made primarily a homeworking post. Otherwise it would be impossible for me to do the job even if I permitted myself to be nominated.
nooooo. i’m still up. i can’t fathom where everyone else went to though? Comment #391}
I'm still here!
*waves*
I don’t believe you Ollie Comment #421}
He's got to be kidding. What are the chances of either of us convincing a General Senate member to nominate us, let alone both?
Windsor wants to do a top secret Skunk works operation with webcams all over the place. I'm confused.
I think they might test there, “where f1 cars haven’t been seen within living memory” {Comment #435}
Unless Snetterton's acquired a 1T licence without getting a press release done on the subject, then it'll be straight-line testing if that.
me too!
What's this about Snetterton? :D
If I was going to set up an F1 skunk works it would be somewhere with a pool of very talented F1 technical people and not North Carolina.
Honda may be running at Snetterton.
:D
also a very valid point.
'cos you both know more about F1 than all of the senate and the president combined. And you both have common sense. Ah, actually, because of that, you've got no chance! Common sense is apparently frowned upon in F1 circles.
We'll have our own election instead, me thinks.
When?! :D
4:30 am this morning
Did you miss your honorable mention earlier? :)
Why so early?
classified goings on.
Kathi posted this a couple of hours ago
The Finnish article about The takeover mentions something about Snetterton which I don’t understand. Any ideas?
From what I've known going around the paddock there, access is very good. I've been able to stand on the pit wall during a track day event and on race weekends anyone can walk about in there.
To get you out of bed and at the track early
Hmm. I'm not really sure. Honda must be doing something extremely covert and secretive if they're running a car round Snetterton and half 4 in the morning. Apart from that, I can't think why.
Can I get a link to that article?
Covert and secretive? With that livery!? That's like a Marine going into battle dressed and made-up like a clown! :D
:D
:D
What about their black interim livery? ;)
Alright smarty. ;) :D
how would they know when the car returned to the pits?
Alright, plain white then. :P
Windsor wants to do a top secret Skunk works operation with webcams all over the place {Comment #480}
That sounds like a contradiction in terms.
Mechanics on the floor in agony/
That has to go in the wiki for comment of the year.
If you can get me the link to that article, I can translate it and see what it says.
So Nakajima would be driving by mistake?
Only Kathi has seen the article.
i don't think we had one. but the conversation is earlier in this very thread.
isn't it always?
:D
People - BIG news! Codemasters has released it's first development shot of F1 2009. It's a laser-scan image of Spa. OK, so it's not a major picture, but I'm pleased to hear they're going down the laser scan route when modelling the circuits. Doing this allows them to accurately recreate every bump, elevation change and detail in amazing quality. There's a couple of laser-scanned circuits for rFactor and the kerbs are as realistic as you like.
http://www.virtualr.net/f1-2009-first-development-shot/
any idea when it'll be released?
Pass.
Laser scanning can take a frighteningly long time, but to be fair the rFactor circuits were done by just one guy. With a whole team of people I'm pretty sure they could get a few circuits done much quicker. Plus, not all the cars have been released, we don't have any data in terms of lap times and so far it's just one image. So at the moment I'd say it's early days but knowing Codemasters, they can move bloody quick when it comes to game development.
For more about the advantages of laser scanning, have a look at this post on the iRacing site. :)
http://iracing.com/technology/track.php?lc=1
Off to listen to some tunes before bed. Night everybody. :)
night ollie.
Night Ollie
Night all.
night andy.
I took my Honda to a Subaru dealership for a trade in quote (on a WRX) based on the rumour that Dave Richards (of ProDrive fame) might buy the team*
*story may not be true. I just miss my 1997 WRX :-(
Great news, cheers Scott
It's gone.