Categories
2014 Racing Season

Racing Round Table II

With two races and two champions still to be crowned in 2014, I think it’s time for a conference call with my Gang O’ Buzzards, Haybale Murphy and Tab St Claire.

The following is a transcript from the call:

Bul Bulifant:  Well gents we are about to witness history and close the books on yet another year of motorsports.  Before we get into our picks, how was Texas?

Haybale Murphy:  Bul we did it right this year.  Piled the boys into the old ‘85 Ford Tioga Arrow with the Big Pig Trailer Rig in tow at noon on Wednesday and headed for Austin.

RVBul Bulifant:  Jesus you drove the Tioga to Texas?

Tab St Claire:  Who tows a BBQ to Texas?  That’s like bringing sand to the beach.

Haybale Murphy:  That old Ford would chug all the way to China with the Big Pig Trailer Rig along for the ride

Tab St Claire: I like the idea of Haybale driving North to Alaska, crossing the Bering Strait and cruising through Siberia and into China, all the while feeding the locals Costco burgers from a grill the size of their homes.

Haybale Murphy:  Don’t tempt me St Claire.  I’ve always wanted to track tigers and sleep in a yurt.

Tab St Claire:  I thought the Solano County assessor does show your house as a yurt?traditional-siberian-yurt

Bul Bulifant:  Okay boys – Motorsports – Texas – Focus – Haybale you have the floor

Haybale Murphy:  We arrived in Austin on Thursday and drank Shiner Bock’s all night down on 6th St while watching a Stevie Ray Vaughn clone.  Friday we went out to the circuit, got our F1 fix, then packed it up and headed North towards Ft Worth and the Texas Motor Speedway.

Bul Bulifant:  So Nascar over F1?

Haybale Murphy:  Heck I would rather watch evening commuters on the 80 than these quiet F1 cars.

Tab St Claire:  Wow

Bul Bulifant:  How did Max Verstappen look in FP1?

Haybale Murphy:  That kid was easily able to get to the limit and lay down some quick lap times.  Heck he was 10th in the session.  Pretty impressive for a young buck.  Reminds me of my youngest boy Billy until the poor SOB grew to 6’4” and 275lbs.  Shit the only thing he can fit in now is a tractor.

Bul Bulifant: Yes I remember Billy dominating the Junior Sportsman class out at Dixon and then running over to the snack shack for a third serving of nachos and a bucket of Mountain Dew.

Haybale Murphy:  A Murphy’s gotta eat!

Tab St Claire:  Guinevere and I stayed at the W and missed FP1 because we were at the spa.  The highlight of my day was a pit walk on Friday evening hosted by Force India. They had Perez and one of their engineers on hand to explain the intricacies of the ERS and the steering wheel.  So cool.  I had Perez sign a Tel-Mex sombrero that I purchased and we took some pics.   We then had a wonderful Indian/Tex-Mex fusion meal in a suite above their garage

Haybale Murphy:  Fascinating

Bul Bulifant:  So Tab which engines do you prefer?

Tab St Claire:  I prefer the technology of the turbo but miss that sound of the V8 from afar.  Guinevere likes the fact that we can now talk on our cells during a session.  Either way, F1 is still the pinnacle of motorsport.  The pole time this year was 3- tenths quicker than last year so these cars are hauling the mail.

indycar-wheel-1011-deBul Bulifant:  I love how Rosberg claimed he lost the race because he used the ERS switch instead of the ERS button.  With 30 something buttons, knobs and switches on the wheel, can a driver really use them all and pound around at 10/10ths?  That seems like a lot for a human brain to tackle.

Tab St Claire:  That’s like the modern day equivalent of missing a shift.

Bul Bulifant:  Speaking of shifting, I watched a ‘90 Senna lap of Jerez last night and was blown away by the skill required to handle a car on the edge with one hand.  Moment of silence for Ayrton………    Okay Haybale how was TMS?

Haybale Murphy:  Great until we found out that Vallejo’s Jeff Gordon didn’t make the Final 4 after the race.  I was fired up and sennadrunk and when a guy in my section dressed in Keselowski gear said Gordon sucks, I lost it and jumped on him.

Tab St Claire:  How old are you Haybale?

Haybale Murphy: Old enough to witness Mario Andretti hold off Lauda at the ‘77 Long Beach GP!  Were you there St Claire?  Anyways, I beat the guy up pretty good but I’m so bummed because when the cops arrived they threw me down and ripped my favorite #24 Dupont jacket.  I had to spend Sunday night in Denton County jail but that wasn’t so bad.  In fact it was better than sleeping next to Bubba in the Tioga at a rest stop.

Bul Bulifant:  Haybale you are the real deal!  So predictions?  Tab you take F1.

Tab St Claire:  Hamilton gets punted by Vettel on the opening lap in the hairpin and has to fight back through the field to place third and win the title.  He then shocks the F1 world by getting out of the car and announcing that he’s retiring from racing to focus on his hip hop label.

Bul Bulifant:  Very cool.  Haybale how does the Nascar finale play out?

Haybale Murphy:  You have a lot of pissed off drivers who got left out the Final 4 cruising around out there with nothing to lose so I’m expecting fireworks.  In the end, Ryan Newman finishes 6th and wins the Sprint Cup that should have been sitting on the #24 car’s mantle being dusted by Ingrid Gordon in a French maids outfit.


Bul Bulifant:  
Hey Now!  Well there you have it.  Enjoy the next two Sundays.

 

Dupont

Categories
2014 Racing Season

Shake It Up!

While Typhoon Phanfone is threatening to wreak havoc on the Japanese GP, it feels like an EF5 level tornado has already swept through the paddock.   In the past 48 hours the future landscape of F1 suddenly looks dramatically different.  And as an ardent fan of the Silly Season, a lover of speculation and a proponent of Schadenfreude, this is Buzzardly bliss.

What we now know:

  • Alonso is ending his 5 year roller coaster ride with the Scuderia to return to McLaren
  • Vettel is ending his illustrious run with Red Bull to fill Alonso’s seat at Ferrari
  • Daniil Kvyat is getting the call up to the big team and will fill the vacancy left by Vettel

 

Now for the fun part:  The Amateur Judgement Call

 

Alonso

First off, are you telling me 2007 is now simply water under the bridge and Ron Dennis is welcoming the Spaniard back with open arms or is this just a case of desperate times call for desperate measures?  The reality is, McLaren have been horrible for two years, an eternity for their standards, and need the one driver in the world who can make a shit box look semi fast.  That driver is Alonso.  Ron must cringe seeing Jenson lose out to Magnussen and certainly must have received a few polite phone calls from the Honda brass expressing their concern as well.  “Ron-san, you promised us domination.  We cannot lose face again!”

130516123234-senna-1988-honda-win-horizontal-galleryFrom Alonso’s perspective, he must occasionally look at his passport and notice that he is now 33 years old in a game where 16 year old kids are sought after property.  He sees that Ferrari have officially reverted back to their pre Shumacher dysfunctional mess and the only potential solution to his title winning dry spell is McLaren-Honda.  That name does have a little prestige and allure that a graybeard like Alonso probably remembers.

Outcome:  As sad as this sounds, I think Alonso will retire as a two time champ.  A McLaren-Honda partnership will not be able to challenge for 3-4 years and by then Alonso’s title winning window will be closed.  I’m expecting heroic drives and the usual domination over his teammate, but the official Bulseyeview call is Fernando goes down in the history books as one of the greats who was a bit unlucky.  (Don’t feel too bad for the guy – have you seen his new girlfriend?)Fernando-Alonso-girlfriend-pose-300x218

 

Vettel

What is one to do with this peculiar case of Sebastian Vettel?  Just last year I was publicly claiming that this man was a better driver than Senna.  Now I don’t know if he’s top 10 in the field.  Was he strictly a blown diffuser master?  Case in point: He has completely dominated Suzuka the past few years, a track where the trick Newey diffuser was vital, but last night without the aid he was consistently .3 sec/lap slower than Ricciardo.  It’s hard for an outsider to accept results like that.  I think with Newey stepping back and Vettel realizing that Ricciardo is now the darling of the team, the time was right to move on.  To use a blunt nature analogy, a young lion just arrived, whipped his butt and now it’s time to leave the pride.

Outcome:  I think Schumacher’s record of seven titles looks safe again.  Vettel will attempt to build a super team around him, but what Michael accomplished will never be duplicated again at Ferrari.*

*Unless Ferrari hire Newey of course

The official Bulseyeview call is Vettel-Kimi will be closely matched and Vettel P6 signs will be the norm moving forward.

 

Kyvat

I’ll come right out and say that I think the young Russian, born just days before Senna perished, is a fantastic talent who will step right in and give Ricciardo a fight.  Whether he has the mental fortitude to fight for a title next year remains to be seen.  I expect that he still a few silly mistakes to make before he’s a hardened Spetsnaz assassin, but he should be a podium regular.  And think of the new market that he will expose Red Bull and F1 to.Russian Rave

The Bulseyeview outcome – 10+ GP wins are in the cards for young Daniil.

 

Now it’s time to close this down and go watch Japan!  Lewis or Nico?  Or Typhoon Phanfone?

Categories
2014 Racing Season

Racing Round Table

If you are a fan of motorsports in the USA, particularly the various forms of road racing, you know that it can at times be a nomadic experience.  Do the math.  The Indy race on Sunday in Toronto drew an average of 484,000 viewers during the telecast on NBCSN.  Sounds great until you factor in that there are over 317,000,000 people living in this great land.  So, with only roughly .153% or 1 out of every 655 people watching, it’s easy to understand why there isn’t a lot of Monday morning office motorsport talk around the water cooler.

But don’t let those depressing stats get you down.  Simply invent some imaginary friends to have a chat with.

For this first installment of the Bulseyeview motorsports round table, I’ll be moderating and firing questions at my “friends” Alfred Haybale Murphy and Tab St Claire.  To give you a quick background, Haybale is a big old lug with a Duck Dynasty beard and a love of anything with a motor.  Tab is an urban metro-sexual who takes his motorsport flashy.  Haybale is a working class family man who loves to get his hands dirty and karts on the weekend while Tab rides ten speeds, dates beautiful women who always look annoyed and attends races with a button-down shirt tucked in and cologne on.  But they are both passionate racing fans so they are hired!

Bul Bulifant:  Well gents the racing has been fast and furious the past few weeks and we are still no closer to figuring out who will prevail in the F1 or Indycar title fights. Haybale we will start with you.  What’s on your mind today?

Morgan In His Prime
Morgan In His Prime

Haybale Murphy:  Bul I still can’t shake the vision of a 72 year old Morgan Shepherd taking out Joey Logano in the Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire a few weeks back.  I thought Morgan Shepherd hung up his helmet with Cale Yarborough and Harry Gant!  It sucks for “Sliced Bread” but it gives me hope to be out there when I’m 70 something.

Bul Bulifant:  How is your racing coming along these days Haybale?

Haybale Murphy:  3 cracked ribs this past weekend after I launched over the rear wheel of some clown who checked up early into the first corner of the main.

Bul Bulifant:  Cool!  Over to you Tab.  What did you think of the German GP?

Tab St Claire:  Two Words — Daniel Ricciardo!  This guy is rapidly becoming my favorite driver in the field.  I’m starting to sing the Elton John song “Daniel” when I’m on a long ride and thinking about racing.  His fight with Alonso was exceptional and his moves into the turn 7 -10 complex were like a page out of the famous Gilles Villeneuve/Rene Arnoux battle at Dijon.  I also love how he just gets out of the car and has a laugh about the whole affair.

Bul Bulifant:  Agreed. The kid has no pressure on him and is basically playing with house money.  Nobody saw this coming.  I may try to write some revised lyrics for

Oh Daniel!
Oh Daniel!

our F1 “Daniel”.

Haybale Murphy:  Damn the both of you are a couple of queers!

Tab St Claire:  I was wondering how long it would take for Haybale to use the gay card.

Haybale Murphy:  What am I supposed to do?  Elton John and F1?  Queers!

Tab St Claire:  Mark Knopfler wrote a song about Nigel Mansell

Haybale Murphy:  Must be a British thing.  I don’t recall Bob Seeger singing about AJ Foyt.

Bul Bulifant:  Haybale if this was a debate competition I would award you two points.  To your point Tab, I’m starting to think that the turn 7-10 complex is my favorite piece of racing real estate on the F1 calendar!  A fast kink, no DRS, heavy braking into a corner where you can use a couple of different lines and then a fast S bend where you can run two wide.  Beautiful!  My early driver of the race, Russian sensation Daniil Kvyat, tossed away his chances in turn 8 for big points by trying to go around the outside of Perez, but hey, that’s what the Torro Rosso is for.  Get it out of the system now before he takes over Vettel’s seat next year!

Tab St Claire:  Ouch

Haybale Murphy:  Confession:  I’m rooting for Ricciardo because he went with the Dale Earnhart 3 for his number.

Bul Bulifant:  Haybale did you just come out of the closet?   A quick moment of silence with 3 fingers raised.  Okay silly season starts now!  Tab what happens next year?

Tab St Claire:  Ferrari dumps Kimi and hires Bottas.  McLaren pries Alonso to lead the Honda project and Button goes back to Williams.  Ferrari, in a panic, then buyout Lewis Hamilton, leading Vettel to jump on the Silver Arrows ride.  Red Bull roll the dice and promote Kvyat to partner Ricciardo, leaving Hulkenberg on the sideline another season waiting for his big break.

Bul Bulifant:  Wow!  I like your thinking!  Shifting to Indycar: Last weekend in Toronto we witnessed a 2004 Sebastian Bourdais rout in the morning race and then Mike Conway won the afternoon lottery in the mixed conditions.  Indycar is so bizarre!  In Conway’s ten starts this year he has two wins and a next best finish of 11th?!  Haybale who wins this Indycar title?

Haybale Murphy: First off, those guys in Toronto always remind me of a C-Main at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico.   I would like to say Power but I think that Aussie has a screw loose.  Probably too many concussions.  Trust me I can relate.  Montoya is my guy but I’m going to  have to go with that goofy Helio.  At least they finish with Mid – O, Milwaukee, Sears and Fontana.  That’s cool.  By the way, if you want to join us, two of my brothers and a few cousins will have our RV on the S’s at Sears all weekend and we are towing our Big Pig Trailer Rig.  All you can eat brisket and unlimited bottles of Bud!

Tab St Claire:  I’ll try to stop by on Sunday Haybale.  I’m taking my girlfriend Guinevere wine tasting in St Helena on Saturday and we have tickets with the Infinity Q50 club in an air conditioned tent near turn 3 for the race.

Bul Bulifant:  Oh boy!  Moving along, the F1 match score is now 5-5 for Rosberg and Hamilton.  Who wins in Hungary and who finishes third?

Haybale Murphy:  Hamilton wins, Vettel finishes 3rd.

Tab St Claire:  Hamilton wins, Ricciardo P3.

Bul Bulifant:  Can the Williams win Monza?  That car is a rocket ship in a straight line and seems to have excellent traction out of the slow stuff.

Tab St Claire:  That may be the only race left where the Merc’s have to fear the competition.

Bul Bulifant:  Well gents.  Anything else that you would like to talk about?

Haybale Murphy:  If Marc Marquez wins the next Moto GP at Indy he will tie Giacomo Agostini for 10 wins in a row!  That’s badass.  I’ll be there by the way.  Camping next to the circuit with some of our Midwest aluminum suppliers.  These aluminum guys like to get a little rowdy if you know what I mean.

Bul Bulifant:  Love it Haybale!  Tab?  Final word.

Bentley-Continental-GT3Tab St Claire:  I’m into this Bentley GT3 World Challenge program.

Haybale Murphy:  Gee really?

Tab St Claire:  I can’t wait to see the car at Sears.  What a gorgeous machine!  I’ve got this cool white and green linen team shirt that I purchased and can’t wait to unveil.

Bul Bulifant:  Can it Haybale!

Tab St Claire:  You know the more I see the World Challenge series, the more I think that the Tudor Series should drop prototypes all together and just become an exotic factory GT series.

Bul Bulifant:  Like your style Tab.  Well your choice of cars anyway.

Haybale Murphy:  Zing

Bul Bulifant:  My final thought is of the recent sale of Caterham F1 by Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors.

Moreno at Work in the Eurobrun
Moreno at Work in the Eurobrun

Under Fernandes, the team competed in 86 GP’s and never scored a single point.  Not a single finish by either driver in the top 10!  Hard to believe.  It’s not like the team was a farce such as the Eurobrun’s or Andrea Moda’s of yesteryear.  This was a professional looking outfit with competent people such as Mike Gascoyne designing the cars.  F1 is just that competitive these days.  Let this be a warning to Gene Haas.  How do you make millions in auto racing?  Spend billions!

Haybale Murphy:  What we aren’t going to talk about the Brickyard 400 this weekend?  Look out for my main man Kyle Larson!

Bul Bulifant:  My call is Bad Brad K.  Tab?

Tab St Claire:  This pick is for Haybale.

Haybale Murphy:  Oh Lord I’m bracing myself

Tab St Claire:  I’m going with whoever drives the ExtenZe car.

Bul Bulifant:  Well there you have it folks.  The experts have spoken.  Until next time.

 

Wheel to Wheel Combat
Wheel to Wheel Combat
Categories
2014 Racing Season

Racing into July

While the World Cup has a two day break in the action and the Tour de France is about to get underway,  I’m feeling the need talk about the men who do the sensible thing and use a motor to do their business.  Men who simply push a pedal and steer their way to glory and riches.*merzario

*Side note: If you are ever in a bar and somebody says a race driver doesn’t have to be fit, go online and have them sign up for a 125cc shifter kart class immediately.

“Even the fittest of the Crossfit, TRX, Yoga/Pilates, spinning gym junkies will be suffering after a mere 10 minutes in a kart”, said Kenny Habul.

Here is a quick round the horn look at motorsports as we head into a big July of racing.

F1:

After racing in front of 100,000 plus rabid F1 fans in the Austrian countryside two weeks ago, F1 gets to test their new product out on the loyal British buzzards for the first time at Silverstone.  Will it be Lewis-Nico or Nico-Lewis?  The match score is now 4-3 in favor of Lewis.  I’ve often heard people compare watching F1 to watching soccer because you have to be patient, let the strategy unfold and be ready for a quick strike.  This season certainly feels that way as Lewis and Nico have been routinely staging a full 90 minute battle on the track that often doesn’t play out until the last lap.

Here is a look at the Merc 1-2’s so far this season:

Malaysia:  Lewis P1- Nico P2  +17.3 seconds

Bahrain:  Lewis P1 – Nico P2  +1.0 second

China:  Lewis P1 – Nico P2  +18 seconds

Spain:  Lewis P1 – Nico P2  +0.6 seconds

Monaco:  Nico P1 – Lewis P2  +9.2 seconds

Austria: Nico P1- Lewis P2  +1.9 seconds

Avg 1-2 time differential:  8 seconds.  As a comparison, the 1988 battle between Senna and Prost had an average time differential of 18.013 seconds in their ten 1-2 finishes.

See you Monza!
See you Monza!

What the heck is Bernie doing now?  I read today where Bernie is going to drop Monza after next season.  For What??  Baku, Azerbaijan???  I have a new theory that Bernie only awards races to countries where he can still get laid.  Forget about getting paid, he’s got enough dough already.  I’d imagine he and Flavio will be able to “purchase” some choice dates that weekend.  If he strips Italy off the schedule in the name gaining a foothold in the coveted Caspian Sea market, then I say it’s time to oust the old codger.

 

Indycar:

If anybody wants to win the Indycar title this year the month of July will likely sort out the players as they race 4 times over the next 3 weekends (2 ovals and 2 streets).  Will Power should have a solid lead with 2 wins and 6 top 5’s, but he possesses a choke gene that keeps everybody in the game.  Similar to last year, an Indycar race is next to impossible to predict and the form of each driver seems to swing wildly from week to week.  I can’t recall ever watching a series where every single car in the field can win a race if they get the breaks.  It’s really a testament to how competitive the series is at the moment.

Indycar needs Black Jack's belt to award the victor
Indycar needs Black Jack’s belt to award the victor

The double header in Houston this past weekend reminded me of the WWF Battle Royal that I had the good fortune of attending at the Oakland Coliseum Arena back in ‘85 where Black Jack Mulligan emerged as the victor.  All 23 guys were scraping for every inch of track out there and miraculously rookie Carlos Huertas drew the lucky card and won in the wet conditions.  Amazing stuff.  Of course after winning on Saturday, Huertas finished last on Sunday……And somebody please, for the sake of TV ratings, enroll Huertas in a PR class on acting excited and fired up after winning a major race.  His straight faced, monotone victory interview must have made Nascar people race for their remotes to get a dose of a Waltrip.  Maybe he was in complete shock?…….You know the Indy street tracks are still semi bush league after hearing that two fans managed to cross a hot track during a practice session……Cool to see AJ go nuts on the competitors after the customary Sato crash-out……Is the absence of Dario’s feedback the reason the Ganassi guys are mid-pack at best?………I always hated PT on the track, but I love the PT/Matchett TV team…..I am still Indy!!!

 

MotoGP:

The brilliance of Marquez continues as he has now won 8/8 races this year.  It helps that he really only has to beat his teammate and the two Yamaha’s, but I’m not taking anything away from the guy.  Phenomenal style.  Classy Rider.

I’m excited for 2 years or so down the road when MotoGP is dominated by the Marquez and the Espargaro brothers.  Two sets of brothers going at it will make for fun TV.  Bummer they won’t be putting on a show at Laguna Seca for the foreseeable future.

I know it’s old news, but I’m still boggled over Lorenzo jumping the start in Austin because he had mosquitoes in his eyes!  Ah the old mosquito in the eyes excuse eh Jorge?  Only in Texas!

 

Formula E:

Look at this buzzardly lineup.  This will be 12 more hours that I will have to budget into my already insane sports viewing log.

 

Drivers confirmed so far:

Audi Sport Abt

Lucas di Grassi/Daniel Abt

Virgin Racing

Jaime Alguersuari/Sam Bird

Mahindra Racing

Bruno Senna/Karun Chandhok

Andretti Autosport

Franck Montagny

TrulliGP

Jarno Trulli/Michela Cerruti

Venturi Grand Prix

Nick Heidfeld/Stephane Sarrazin

Aguri

Katherine Legge/Antonio Felix da Costa

e.dams

Sebastien Buemi/Nicolas Prost

Dragon Racing

Mike Conway

 

Rallycross:

I’m officially on the Rallycross bandwagon!  Wild ass, short attention span racing at it’s finest.  And I’m just talking about the stateside Red Bull series with the likes of Nelson Piquet Jr, Scott Speed, Ken Block, Tanner Foust and a bunch of Scandinavian rally drivers I’ve never even heard of.  Can’t wait to see the FIA version.

 

F3:

I’m pumped to see Max Verstappen, son of The Dutch Devil, taking command of the Euro F3 season with six straight wins.  The Verstappen’s still have some unfinished business in F1.

 

Nascar:

Call it a NorCal bias, but I’m on the Kyle Larson bandwagon.  I think the kid has the goods and I hope he can get out of that Ganassi contract and into some real equipment ASAP!

 

Buzzardry and Business:

I’m always intrigued to see the TV ratings numbers and I was able to gather the following info today on the excellent racer.com website:

NBCSN reports that it has averaged 390,000 viewers for IndyCar coverage thus far in 2014, up 34% from the comparable point last year (291K). The network has had similar success with its F1 coverage: Over the first six races on NBCSN, F1 has averaged 377,000 viewers – up 111% from the first six races of the 2013 F1 season (179,000 viewers).  The NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky, meanwhile, continued a recent downward trend in ratings for NASCAR’s top series. TNT’s telecast of the Saturday night race earned a 2.3 rating and 3.6 million viewers, down 12% in ratings and 10% in viewership from last year (2.6, 4.0m).

 

GoPro Goes Public!  Everybody knows that GoPro is deeply entrenched in motorsports so I’ve been an interested onlooker as their shares have had a wild ride after 5Woodman Wall Street trading days on Wall Street.  They came out of the gate like 2013 Sebastian Vettel and posted a staggering 103% increase, but gave back 13.85% today to close at 42.04.  The Wall Street sharks are smelling blood now so it could get ugly in a hurry.  I wonder how many shares Bernie owns?

Have a great 4th of July!!

 

 

 

marc-marquez-indianapolis-elbow-scraping

 

Categories
2014 Racing Season

Oh Canada!

O Canada!

Home Of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve!

You Let Alesi Have a Win!

And Made the 2014 Season Fun Again!

 

Yesterday really did have all of the ingredients that can transform a F1 race into something special.  We had Mercedes AMG teammates duking it out for the lead and then simultaneously suffering a bizarre overheating issue, leading to brake failure for Lewis and leaving Nico to soldier on while giving up chunks of a 20+ second lead to a 7 car pack in desperate pursuit.

Then there was Force India attempting to pull off a miracle one stop strategy for both drivers from the middle of the grid and just missing out.

And suddenly, it was enjoyable to watch Red Bull exhibit their championship pedigree and execute flawlessly to offset their shortcomings down the straight and get the jump on their Mercedes rivals.  I’m one who is seldom moved by the technical brilliance that goes into a F1 car, but when the team was asking Ricciardo where he needs his extra energy boost to fight Perez, I was clapping like a trained seal.

It was a display of unpredictable, dramatic racing that has seldom been seen this year and appropriately ended with a bang!  Literally.  Massa and Perez had a 170mph “misunderstanding” on the last lap and suddenly the race was over.  As the dust settled, the amazing Daniel Ricciardo was a first time winner and AMG Mercedes’ quest for 19 race perfection was over.  The race was so chaotic that Nico Rosberg thought he finished 5th!

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve really is the perfect place to hold a race.  It has long straights into heavy braking zones, variable weather conditions, ominous concrete walls at the exit of every chicane waiting to punish a driver for the slightest mistake, a brilliantly devised pit exit that creates a drag race to the exit of turn 2, and massive grandstands on top of the corners that transforms a hairpin into a electric stadium environment for the passionate fans.  It was great to see the old park roads on the Île Notre-Dame produce another thriller.  Somewhere the great Gilles approved.  Let’s just hope all of the marmots made it through the weekend unscathed.

Witnessing a race of that caliber restores my faith in F1 and provides affirmation that YES, it is totally rational to spend 90 minutes on Saturday and 2.5 hours on Sunday in front of the tube ignoring family, responsibilities and perfect weather.  Here’s hoping that the Austrian Red Bull Ring will provide some more fireworks in two weeks time.

Score:  Wins: Lewis 4 – Nico 2.  DNF’s: Nico 0 – Lewis 2.  Suddenly that double points season finale at Abu Dhabi is looking more exciting by the minute!
Side thought- I can only imagine how nutty the peripheral Red Bull activities will be at their showcase track.   Will they bring out their entire stable of death defying stunt wackos to entertain the drunk buzzards?  That could be the best show on earth!  A Red Bull Buzzard Fest is the new Burning Man.

 

sittingMarmotL

Categories
2014 Racing Season

We are Green!

RACE FANS……TO YOUR COUCHES!

It’s that time of year again!  Time for Monaco, The Soda 600 and The Indy 500.  For Indycar, it’s a chance to step out of the shadows of obscurity and into the national media spotlight.  For one day only, open wheel racing in The USA stages “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and moves from the back page of the sports page to the lead story on ESPN.

Here is what I’m envisioning:

ESPN SportsCenter Anchor Stuart Scott:  “And on the final corner my main man Simon Pagenaud was as cool as the underside of the pillow as he stuck to the back of Andretti like a cheap suit and then, BOOYAAA, like Adrian Peterson abusing a safety, Simon got busy and took the checkers!  More on the little Frenchman’s improbable run to Indy glory coming up later in the show but now back over to Sal Paolantonio for the latest on Johnny Manziel’s left testicle injury suffered in spring drills.”

Sadly, for the couple hundred thousand of us hardcore fans who will tune into watch the race live on ABC, we will have to listen to the crap banter between Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever as they explain the nuances of the race to racing neophytes.  New Rule:  Steve Matchett should be involved with all motorsport broadcasts in America!

Regardless of the TV situation, there will be plenty of intrigue to follow at The 500.

 

Here are three levels of intrigue:

 

Grade A Intrigue:

The Returns of Montoya and Villeneuve:  Clinging to the romantic notion that F1 is the end all-be all of motorsport, I still get excited when F1 legends cross over to the Brickyard.  Memories of Mansell rolling around in the grass with Dennis Vitolo or Nelson Piquet shattering his legs in practice are hard to forget.  And how can one dismiss the confounding scenario that took place just last year when my all time favorite driver, Jean Alesi, came out of deep retirement in the guise of a Lotus Ambassador to plunk around in a pathetically under-powered car prepped by a mid pack Indy Lights team!  What was he thinking??  Anyways, Montoya and JV are no strangers to turning left and it will be exciting to track their progress.  JPM should contend.  JV, not so much.

 

Kurt Busch:  For the first time since Tony Stewart finished 6th in the 2001 Indy 500, we have a bonafide Nascar hero driving in the race.  While Busch may be a polarizing personality*, there is no denying that he is a mega talent behind the wheel. (*I prefer the old eccentric, pre ear job KB who used to win titles, occasionally get arrested and seemed to fight Harvick once or twice a year).  Busch should have no trouble getting comfortable running in the draft, but I hope the ABC director has a camera on him when it comes time to execute his first green flag pit stop and green flag out lap.  Braking from 225 down to the pit speed limit while the adrenaline is flowing in a foreign car sounds like a recipe for disaster.  Hopefully, he keeps the car off the wall and inspires his brother to join next year.  Side note:  Remember a few years ago when Kyle Busch was being mentioned with a couple of F1 rides?

 

Grade B Intrigue

 

Sage Karam: This is the story line with the potential for a Hollywood ending that could put Indycar on the map and connect the series to the ever so elusive Millennial demographic. An all American 19 year old high school kid with a unique name and movie star looks from Andrettiville, PA (aka Nazareth) making his first ever Indycar start in the 500 for the Chip Ganassi stable.  It doesn’t get any better than that.  And I’ve read something about a feud with the Andretti family?  Brilliant.  I hope he is the chosen one.

 

Marco Andretti: Is this the year Marco breaks through and ends the Andretti curse?  It’s hard to fathom that from 1966 through this past year, the Andretti family collectively has one lone victory in the 500.  Thousands of laps led yet only one win   Marco comes in as the Vegas favorite to win.  He’s bound to get one at some point.

 

Buddy Lazier:  The ‘96 Indy 500 winner will start last and likely be the slowest car on the track, but seeing that name makes me nostalgic for early IRL shenanigans .  Trivia question:  What do Tony Stewart, Michele Alboreto, Racin Gardner, John Paul Jr, Danny Ongais and Lynn St James have in common?  Answer:  They all took part in the ‘96 Indy 500.  Very peculiar if you ask me.  Well done Tony George.

 

Grade C Intrigue

 

The Colombians!  JPM, Seb Saavedra, Carlos Huertas and Carlos Munoz will start the race on Sunday representing Columbia.  The only country to have more than 4 drivers in the race is the USA.  I don’t know what the level of fervor is for these young gents at the moment in their homeland, but provided there is no soccer match on at the same time, the country will be glued to their television sets rooting these guys on.  (Note to self- find a Colombian bar to watch the race in)

 

Helio Castro Neves:  With a win on Sunday, Helio would have 4 Indy 500 wins matching AJ Foyt, Al Unser Sr and Rick Mears for the most by any man or woman.  I don’t know about you but that just doesn’t seem right.  For the sake of proper records, early IRL wins should not be counted.

 

Anybody not in a Penske, Ganassi or Andretti car contending:  Since Montoya’s win in 2000, only 3 drivers not in a Penske, Chipper or Andretti car have won the race.  Best bets this year look to be Simon Pagenaud, Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden.  Don’t sleep on once a year driver Townsend Bell either.  Or Justin WIlson.  Or Oriol Servia.  Or…….?

That’s the beauty of The 500!

 

Monaco Spoiler Alert

 

Mercedes finishes 1, 2 with Rosberg winning for a second year in a row!  Okay that may only be the grid but the race in Monaco is won in Q3.  Tomorrow is just the parade.  Well played Nico!  Way to park the car Schumi style and force Hamilton to abort his flyer.  Very Professorial Prost like in application.  But like Prost in ‘89, when your teammate has the pace, you have to resort to psychological tricks to win the war.

 

And Seb Vettel??  Wow, he is now the clear cut #2 with Kyvatt waiting in the wings to take his seat.  Will he go down as a man who had to have a trick diffuser to win?  I’m starting to wonder.

My TV plan of attack: Day starts at 6:45am with a recorded version of Monaco and I’ll try to time the crossover to live Indy coverage just as Jim Nabors is hitting the final notes of “Back Home Again in Indiana.”  This way I’ll be able to catch the awkward command by Mari Hulman George to “Start Engines” and get my game face on. The Soda 600 will be watched in SC highlights brought to me, of course, by the great Stuart Scott.

Let’s hope we have a spectacular AND SAFE day on the couch!

Categories
2014 Racing Season

Mercedes Whitewash?

The opening 4 flyaway rounds of 2014 are in the books and the tally is 3-1 in favor of Lewis.  In reality, it should be 4-0, but Lewis was plagued by mechanical gremlins from the outset of the opening race and has suffered the only Mercedes retirement of the year to date.  Nico turned in a valiant effort under the lights at the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain and has done a nice job of riding shotgun, but Lewis has otherworldly speed that only a handful of peddlers have ever possessed.

For the sake of keeping the championship interesting, I’m scoring it like a soccer match.  It’s simply a two car race with teammates free to fight it out, reminiscent of the 1988 campaign.  That season the mighty McLaren team won 15/16 rounds and Ayrton won the battle with Prost 8-7.  Can Mercedes top that and win every round?  Can Nico continue his run of 100% reliability and pounce when Hamilton hits trouble?  This is the hand we’ve been dealt in the new “easy on the ears” 1.6 litre V-6 turbo era.

It sounds a bit premature, but for the rest of the pitlane, this weekends Spanish GP marks the final chance to see if they have a sniff at a race win this season.  Each team has now had a few weeks to hunker down at their headquarters and address whatever issues hampered them in the opening rounds.  Major upgrades will be unveiled, and there will be 11 nervous team managers watching the timing monitors come Friday morning.  Bottom line, if you are still over one second behind after this weekend, it’s time to start holding 2015 meetings.

The racing may not be vintage at the moment, but F1 is always full of drama and intrigue.  If I possessed a super all access Bernie hard card deluxe pass, here is how I would play the weekend:

Thursday afternoon I would love to see both Vettel and Ricciardo arrive at the Red Bull garage.  Would Vettel be all smiles as he arrived?  Or conversely, would the team be all smiles for Seb now that he is the clear cut #2 driver?  Okay that may be a tad over the top, but it’s been shocking to see Vettel outperformed in 3 of the 4 races by a relative newcomer.  We know that Vettel is not fond of losing, so has the psychological warfare between teammates begun?

On Friday morning, I would have to be a fly on the wall in the Renault engine transporter as the telemetry starts streaming in after the cars take to the circuit.  The troops in Viry-Châtillon have no doubt been working furiously to close the gap to Mercedes, and the long .651 mile front straight at the Circuit de Catalunya will be the ultimate test. If they can reduce the absurd 22kph differential that they had in China down to something in single digits, Ricciardo, yes Ricciardo, may just be able to exploit the Newey aero tricks and take the fight to the Mercs.

After FP1, I would hit the Ferrari garage to gauge Kimi’s level of interest.  Alonso has buried the Finn, who can’t seem to adapt his driving style to the car, and I’m wondering if Kimi already has that far away look in his eyes?  Kimi may be the only man on the planet capable of being bored with being a Ferrari F1 driver, and with his championship aspirations already totally shot, he could be dreaming of Nascar, WRC, dirt bikes, or debauchery.

For lunch, I’m thinking I’ll stay at Ferrari for pasta to observe how new team boss Marco Mattiacci is settling in at the helm of the most pressure cooker seat in motor racing.

For FP2, I’m hitting the circuit on foot to see what makes Russian teenage sensation Daniil Kvyat so special.  Kevin Magnussen may have grabbed all the headlines after his amazing performance in Australia, but it’s been Kvyat who I would consider the rookie of the year.  I got to witness Daniil in Austin last year under braking at the end of the long back straight and he was not very precise, but he was clearly exploring the limits.  With everybody starting out in the same boat this season due to the major rule changes, Kvyat is not as disadvantaged as rookies in the past and is doing great things in the Toro Rosso.  In fact, 3 top 10’s in 4 races and one trip to Q3 is pretty mega for a teen out of GP3!  Red Bull clearly have found another gem and when you play the totally unfounded, unscientific driver comparison game, Kvyat is faring about the same alongside JEV as Ricciardo did last year, and Ricciardo is clearly better than Vettel. Therefore, is Kvyat also better than Vettel?  Love it.  Let the debating begin.

To close out my day I would stop into the Mercedes debrief to get a sense if they are even pushing and what type of downforce they are running compared to the others.

My Friday night is reserved for an open air three hour dinner with prime views of the evening strollers.

On Saturday, I’m all about Alonso buzzardry.  This race really should be called The Alonso GP of Spain.  I’m standing in the middle of the sea of Asturia flags and Ferrari red for qualifying, downing a few cans of San Miguel and screaming like a teenage girl at a One Direction concert every time our hero passes by. Fernando has been complaining about low speed grip all season and with Barcelona having mainly middle and high speed corners, Alonso may be able to keep the silver cars in sight.  Ole ole ole ole…. Alonso Alonso!

After qualifying, I’m sitting in on the Mercedes strategy session to see how they plan on conquering on Sunday.  It would be fascinating to see how each side of the garage arrives at their tire strategy and then pitches it to the top brass.  What if they want to stop on the same lap?  Does the car in front get to make the 1st call?  What is plan B?  What if they are on different strategies and the car behind is clearly quicker?  Do they move over for one another and let it play out? Nice problems to have!

Saturday night I’m seeking out DJ Jaime Alguersuari and partying like a Spaniard into the wee hours.

Sunday, after hanging out in the Kobayashi area at Caterham all morning downing coffee and staring at my idol, I’m heading out to the best seat in the turn 1 grandstand and watching it all unfold.  Hopefully, we have a Mercedes duel and a reinvigorated chase pack fighting for 3rd.

Now about getting this hard card!

 

Kobe Krash

Categories
2014 Racing Season

First Impressions

After 3 hours camped in front of the tube last night rejoicing over  having Matchett, Hobbs, Buxton and Diffey  back in my life, I’ve seen the season unfold after just two practice sessions.

Here is what we have to look forward to once we get used to the ugly, heavy looking cars with their quiet turbo whoosh:

Lewis and Nico should be able to control the pace up front for the first few races but Vettel and Alonso are going to drive out of their minds to make this a season to remember.   Alonso’s lap in FP1 was special, but watching Vettel attack in FP2 is what really pumped me up.  Call me nuts but this is the year Vettel cements his legacy as someone who may just be in the same league as Senna.  He’s had the car the past few years to make us all question if he was just a very good driver in a Newey car, but now that he’s in the chase pack, he’s going to give us material to tell our grandchildren.  You can’t have anything better than the tenacious Alonso and the brilliant Vettel chasing Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Sit back and and enjoy the qualifying laps tonight.

And keep an eye on Generation Next.  Bottas, Magnussen, Hulkenburg and Ricciardo all look like they have a car to go to battle with.

Having said all that, don’t be shocked to see a calculated Jenson Button manage his fuel and tires to perfection and sneak through the chaos.

The possibilities are endless.

NOW – It’s time to go make a first impression on my daughter!!!  Wife is due in a few hours.  My little F1 baby..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
2014 Racing Season

F1 2014!!

F1 is reborn again with a radically new formula!  The cars that completed the Brazilian GP just a few months back are now strictly museum pieces from a bygone era that will be remembered as The Vettel/Newey years.  From a fans perspective, call it Saved by the V-6 Turbo.  Red Bull Racing had achieved a level of performance so dominant that race meetings were becoming processional affairs with the outcome never in doubt.  Fans the world over were tuning out in droves and in some cases, becoming downright hostile towards the victors.  The sport was in serious need of a major infusion of drama.

Thanks to the new regulations, we are set for drama galore and a championship that feels impossible to predict.  For Melbourne at least, the engineers won’t be able to plug a few variables into their simulators and predict to the second how quickly their cars will complete the GP distance.  100% reliability is no longer a 99% absolute certainty.  The FIA has gone so far as to issue a statement today stating that the race will be stopped if no cars are able to complete the race distance!  I’m loving the visual of two drivers side by side attempting to push their cars over the line at some point this year for a podium.  Either way, when the lights go out all 22 men will be racing into the great unknown, instead of a controlled automotive laboratory experiment.

Here is a brief nontechnical look at the major technical differences:*

*cut me some slack, my wife is going into induced labor in 5 hours!     

Basically, the new car is powered by a 1.6L V-6 Turbocharged engine that incorporates a trick energy recovery system.  The total HP will be about the same as the normally aspirated V-8, but power delivery will be significantly different.  Drivers will now have to contend with enough torque to spin the wheels through the first 5 gears.  Opposite lock blackies on exits anyone??

Other items to factor in:  The cars are heavier, have less downforce, will carry less fuel and no longer have the aid of blown exhaust gasses planting the rear in corners.  They will also have a bigger opening in the rear wing when the DRS is activated, achieving much higher top speeds down the long straights.

What does this all mean??  

1.  I think the engine manufacturers for this season are now more important than the technical directors.  Based on testing, F1 may start the year with three distinct classes:  The Mercedes Class, The Ferrari Class and The Renault Class.  Adrian Newey may have penned another masterpiece, but if the lump behind Vettel is 1.5 seconds a lap off the Mercedes powered cars, Vettel will not be winning a 5th title on the trot.  

2.  Alain Prost in the MP4/2C Tag-Porsche is the odds on favorite for the title!  Would the FIA allow that car to enter a few races?  No??  Okay well at least the Osterreichring is back for 2014!  

There are so many questions that will be answered after that 1st qualifying session.  If Red Bull have been sandbagging and Vettel storms to a commanding pole, I will attempt to windmill on the floor of the hospital.  (note: dad- the windmill is an old breakdancing move from the 80’s that I was never able to do properly)

Here are the Bulseyeview Picks for 2014:

1. Lewis Hamilton – 7 wins

2. Nico Rosberg – 5 wins

3. Fernando Alonso – 4 wins

4. Jenson Button – 1 win

5: Kimi Raikkonen – 1 win

6. Seb Vettel – 1 win

7. Valtteri Bottas

8. Nico Hulkenberg

9. Magnussen

10. Massa

11. Perez

12. Ricciardo

13. Sutil

14. Grosjean

15. Vergne

16. Gutierrez

17. Maldonado

18. Kvyat

19. Bianchi

20. Kobayashi

21. Chilton

22. Ericsson

 

Final Thoughts:

It will be sad to lose the roar of a normally aspirated engine.  My favorite memory of the era was sitting in the final corner at the Phoenix circuit in 1990 and listening to the symphony of V8’s, 10’s and 12’s bouncing off the buildings.  Alesi flinging the V8, Senna dropping the hammer in the V10 and Alain Prost nailing the sublime Ferrari V12!!! Ahhhhh I’m tearing up and getting goose bumps just thinking of it.  

Here’s to Williams regaining honor in 2014!  They start the season leading in the good vibes department.  I love their new livery and expect Bottas to become the next hot property in F1.

Enjoy!

Categories
2014 Racing Season

My Fantasy Season

*Authors Note:  This little piece was actually completed in early 2013 but didn’t make it onto the site because I felt the season was too far along when BEV went live.  Therefore some of it may feel like old news.  I’ll change a few bits to make it more relevant, but in the name of saving time I’m just going to post it now, complete with outdated makes and models.

 

Chaos reigns supreme!

There has been upheaval in F1 and the manufacturers and sponsors have bolted in the aftermath of Bernie’s arrest and imprisonment for laundering billions of dollars earmarked for the constructors into offshore accounts traced to Vlad Putin, Kate Upton and the self appointed King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Jean Todt has done Max Mosely one better and disgraced himself and the entire FIA after it was reported that he and wife Michelle Yeoh used the headquarters in Paris to stage a erotic enactment of Napoleon’s coup d’etat of 1799. 

The Indycar team owners have again mutinied and are once again under the control of Tony George and Brian Barnhart, but the Hullman-George family are fighting back and are threatening to turn The 500 into a Purdue School of Engineering solar powered kit car race.

After learning that Obama was reelected to a second term, the France family, with the backing of Toby Keith, attempted to take Nascar and secede from the Union.

In other words, racing is in shambles and there is only one person who could put together a 2014 season.  You may be thinking that I’m about to introduce Paul Gentilozzi, but no, that person is me!  Without hesitation I quickly broke out a box of Autocourse season reviews and viewed the Duke Video 1990 F1 season review VHS tape for 5 consecutive hours.  Properly fired up, I then consulted my 1980’s rolodex and started making calls and sending fax messages.  The amazing result of my labors is a 22 race schedule that will span the globe and once and for all determine who is the greatest driver in the world.  Granted, the actual greatest driver in the world may be a cabbie in Kabul or a getaway driver in inner city Chicago, but in order to get corporate backing and TV contracts in place I had to use all big name professional drivers.

I. The Drivers:

The following drivers all agreed to place their reputations on the line and participate because this will be the only racing taking place this year on a professional level:

From F1: Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, and Jenson Button.

Note: The Slim family offered me quite a large sum of dinero to include Perez but I held strong and declined.*

*But it did give me a “lucrative” idea to set up a wildcard category to be discussed later.

From NASCAR: Jimmy Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards.

Note: Similar to the pressure I received from the Slim’s in F1, I started receiving very threatening calls over my Dale omission so I set up an “Offspring of Legends” category again to be discussed later.

From Indycar: Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Note: Oddly enough I didn’t get a single call from a reporter or sponsor regarding my announcement but a Chinese blogger did inquire about interviewing Ashley Judd.

From the Sportscar world: Mark Webber, Stephane Ortelli, Tom Kristensen, Alex Wurz and Jorg Bergmeister.

Note: The guys on Radio LeMans were pretty fired up over a few of my picks.

The Touring Car contingent: Bruno Spengler, Yvan Muller, Gary Paffett, Jamie Whincup and Mike Rockenfeller.

Note: There was an outcry in the German newspaper The Bild over my decision to leave out Dirk Werner and a Twitter campaign calling for my ouster started gaining a lot of traction throughout Bavaria.  #bulseyeidiot  #bulblindeyeview

From the world of dirt: Sebastian Loeb, Steve Kinser, Mikko Hirvonen, Donny Schatz and Stephane Peterhansel.

Note: After hearing that he was grouped with Loeb and Hirvonen, Kinser was heard muttering, “Are these the dudes that race those little economy cars up hills in places nobody has ever head of?”

The Wildcards:  Youtube trick driving star Ken Block, two wheel hero Valentino Rossi, all rounder Juan Pablo Montoya, the aforementioned Sergio Perez and sprint car ace and future Cup star Kyle Larson

Team Nippon:  Kamui Kobayashi

Note: What did you think I could put together a good show and not include a Japanese driver??

Offspring of Legends: Dale Jr and Jacques Villeneuve

Tasmanian Devil: Marcos Ambrose

The Over 40 Family Guys: Scott Pruett and Jeff Gordon

Chaos Providers: Paul Tracy, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch

From Russia with Love: Vitaly Petrov

Down with the PRC: Ho Ping-Tung (we needed the ratings!)

Team Nico: Nico Rosberg and Nico Hulkenberg

Father vs Son: Jan and Kevin Magnussen

The Inspiration: Alex Zanardi

The Body: Danica Patrick

Note: We needed somebody to push our sponsor’s products in a bikini so Danica gets the nod.  I toiled with the idea of selecting Milka Dunno after receiving a substantial offer from Citgo, but after conducting a secret day long test in the Ferrari F168 at Maranello she was still 14 seconds off the pace!

So there you have it.  52 drivers listed to compete in the championship!

Note: Robert Kubica has been granted permission to enter any event that his mangled hand will allow.

II. The Cars:

Don’t ask me how I achieved it but I was able to persuade Ferrari to manufacture 52 F1 cars, Penske to build 52 Dallaras, Hendrick to build up 52 Chevy Cup cars, etc.  Like Tom Petty sings, “It’s Good to be King!”

III. The Schedule:

  1. Monaco Rally – Car: Citron DS3 WRC – 52 starters
  2. Daytona 500 – Car: Hendrick Chevy – 43 starters based on qualifying
  3. Phoenix Indy 250 – Car: Penske Dallara – Two 100k heat races of 26 cars determined by qualifying with the top 12 in each heat advancing to a 24 car main
  4. Baja 500 – Car: Robby Gordon trophy trucks – 52 starters
  5. Hockenheim DTM – Car: BMW M3 – 52 starters based on a one hour qualifying session.
  6. Monaco F1 – Car: Ferrari F1 – 24 starters based on a knock out qualifying format of two 30 minutes sessions of 26 cars with the top 12 in each advancing to a final 24 car 30 minute session.
  7. Indy 500 – Car: Penske Dallara – 33 starters based on 4 lap qualifying
  8. Charlotte 600 – Car: Hendrick Chevy – 43 starters based on qualifying.  Note: this will run the same day as the 500.
  9. Nurgburgring 3 hour – Car: Factory 911 RSR – 52 starters based on  a one hour qualifying session.
  10. SPA F1 – Car: Ferrari F1 – 24 starters based on a knock out qualifying format of two 30 minutes sessions of 26 cars with the top 12 in each advancing to a final 24 car 30 minute session.
  11. LeMans 3 hour – Car: Audi R18 e-tron Quattro – 52 starters based on qualifying
  12. FFord Brands Hatch (Grand Prix Layout) – Car: West Surrey Racing FF’s – Two 30 min heats of 26 cars determined by qualifying with the top 12 in each heat advancing to a 40 minute 24 car main.
  13. USAC Silver Crown at Indy Raceway Park – Car: Tony Stewart Racing sprint cars – Saturday Night Special with 4 heats, C, B and A Main
  14. Macau F3 – Car ASM Dallara/Mercedes – Two 30 min heats of 26 cars determined by qualifying with the top 12 in each heat advancing to a 45 minute 24 car main
  15. Rally Finland – Car: Citron DS3 WRC – 52 starters
  16. Bathurst 500 V8 Supercar – Car: Holden VE Commodore – 52 starters based on qualifying
  17. Monza F1 – Car: Ferrari F1 – 24 starters based on a knock out qualifying format of two 30 minutes sessions of 26 cars with the top 12 in each advancing to a final 24 car 30 minute session.
  18. Bristol 500 – Car: Hendrick Chevy – 43 starters based on qualifying
  19. Knoxville Woo – Car: Kinser WOO cars –  Saturday Night Special with 4 heats, C, B and A Main
  20. Aragon, Spain Kart – Kart: KF2 125cc Zanardi karts – Two 15 min heats of 26 karts determined by qualifying with the top 12 in each heat advancing to a 30 minute 24 kart main
  21. Suzuka Formula Nippon – Car: Nakajima Racing – 30 starters based on a knock out qualifying format of two 30 minutes sessions of 26 cars with the top 15 in each advancing to the final.
  22. Laguna Seca – Mazda MX-5 Cup – Car: Mazda MX5 – 52 starters based on qualifying

 

IV.  The Rules:

The above 22 races will take place in equally prepared cars and use the point system of 20, 16, 14, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Elaborate software will be fixed to each car providing telemetry back to an undisclosed warehouse in Acapulco where a team of engineers will closely monitor the performance of each car.  As a precautionary measure the engineers will only see the data of the cars and will not be privy to who is handling the driving duties.

Preseason testing will be kept to a minimum but will entail: 2 day F1 test at Jerez, 1 day in the FF cars at Snetterton, 2 day Indy test at The Brickyard, 1 day Silver Crown test at IRP, 2 day rally test at the Citroen test facility outside of Paris, 1 day test in the Audi at LeMans, 2 days in the draft at Daytona, 2 days in the WOO sprinters at El Dora and 1 day to play with the Robbie Gordon trucks in Ensenada.

At each race we will follow the current rules of that particular series.  For instance, only 24 cars will qualify for the F1 races, only 33 will start Indy and only 43 will make the Cup races.

Nigel Mansell has been named the chief steward and will work with series and circuit officials to ensure that race meetings go off without any bias towards certain drivers.  Nigel still carries a black belt in Karate and mentioned he would consider a punch or kick in the name of fair play.  It is worth noting that AJ Foyt was initially offered this position but he declined citing a lack of desire to work with long haired European men of a different sexual persuasion.

 

This is going to be a big year!  Stay tuned for a mid-season update.

 

 michael-schumacher-get-well-hat