They used to be able to encrypt the radio transmissions, but that changed this year. All radio is in the clear. That wouldn't stop them having subtle, or not so subtle codes.

 

I thought the rule disallowing encryption was just to make it so the stewards would have access to everything. I don't think that means everything makes it to the broadcasters though.....or does it? Doesn't seem like we're hearing every team radio transmission. For example, I know that during the SPEED broadcast of the Melbourne GP I didn't hear one word of (or even about) Hamilton's talk with his crew during the great Hamilton/Trulli fiasco. I learned about it after the fact. Is that because Speed was in charge of the real-time control of the broadcast and didn't broadcast that bit?

 

You don't hear all radio transmissions anyway. The video comes from the local producer, and they throw in radio as they feel like

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cag...urn=mma,176452

But here's one for Bernie:


http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/15072009/58/under-fire-ecclestone-keeps-job.html

 

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/...erested-in-f1/

At the expense of opening a big nasty can of worms, I didn't want to see her go to F1. I just don't think she's fast enough. She's finally gaining consistency in IndyCar. On Speed Report Robin Miller was speculating that she'll end up in a Ganassi Indycar next year...which would be great for her. If there's going to be a female in F1, I'd like her to be competitive. I don't think Danica could do that.

I don't think there's anyone in Indycar, Crashcar or GrandAm that could be competitive in a rookie team, as a rookie to F1. I think there are a few Americans in the European formulae working his way up. I feel pretty strongly that's pretty much the best way to go.

thoughts?

 

I haven't followed her career but I don't think she's done a lot of race winning, and what I've read indicates she's better on ovals than road courses. This may be why I've also seen occasional suggestions that she might move to NASCRAP. Bringing her to an F1 team would be great publicity for a bit, but even that would fade fast if she didn't produce on the track.

 

I think it would be a disaster for her to go to F1. Never mind that she's a she--with extremely rare exceptions (such as Mario Andretti), Indy car and similar racers don't do well when moving on to F1.

I just wish she could have come up with a better reason than "family and friends." Just another excuse for the next woman, hopefully better qualified, to have to work extra hard to overcome. And I say that as a woman who has studied and worked in traditionally male occupations...

 

shes done her fair share of winning

but not as much as most at her level

 

She's been at it a while, and it's only the last couple of years that anything's happening. She throws some pretty good tantrums, too.

My MINI-owner daughter, Ms Wheelchair America, met her at an appearance in Dallas last month. There's a thread on her experience going a bit faster than the speed limit in the back seat in an modified Indy car:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...le-faster.html

 

What has she won in IRL other than Motegi last year?

If she had been selected for a seat o the USF1 team, it would have been to attract sponsorship dollars. There are better qualified drivers than her for the job.

 

You know what really gripes my derriere? It's her ads for Go Daddy that portray her as a sex-crazed bimbo. I know that's her principal sponsor, but she's a DRIVER, for God's sake! Can you imagine a similar ad for men? Sex-crazed stud, that is.

 

You mean she's not? My worldview has been shattered.

Ummm...didn't she do a swimsuit layout for someone else. Don't blame Go Daddy. Danicka is milking this thing for all it's worth. Besides, Helio's Dancing With The Stars was pretty much the same thing.

 

Sorry, I never watch the show. Did I miss something? (For someone who owns an AARP card, that is.)

BTW, how's STL these days? Are you guys batting around on those good old lettered highways? I used to live there, Manchester.

 

I meant previously away from indy. I dont think danica would survive f1 more than a season. but who knows until she tests

 

I didn't watch the show either (also carrying AARP card), but have seen Helio several times at ALMS races. The ladies just love him.

Lettered highways???

 

You know, Y, DD, H--man, if you aren't driving highways like that, you're missing the whole MINI experience! Granted, it's been 35 years since we lived there, but Google says the hills haven't changed. We used to run those roads all the time in our Porsche 356SC (still have it), BMW 2002 (have another Bimmer now), and my SAAB Sonett (fondly remembered)... Used to fly over them, too, in our Yankee (also fondly remembered).

 

I do highway GIR (Gateway International Raceway).

 

Bah. You should have seen MAR in its day. Minis all over the place. Real Minis. The kind they had in the 70's.

 

Two days ago I was lapping around Road America. Spent about 45 min. on track in my JCW.

 

There ya' go! Hubby grew up there--Canada Corner, Carousel, and all the rest. I've only been there twice, once on some fairly fast "pace" laps (hah!) in our 530i. Both times were for the Vintage Races, which had some of the older F1 cars in action.

I still say you should batt around those hills. I'd kill for roads like that. I'm stuck in flat, boring Houston. Fortunately, I'm out in the country northwest of there on Lake Conroe, so I don't have far to go for some minor hills and curvy roads, but you don't know how good you have it.

MAR was Mid-America Raceways, now finally dead and buried, although it still shows up on Google. We spent a lot of time there.

 

Honestly, I don't do the country roads that often, and prefer track days instead. The latter is much safer. For the former I can never go as fast as I'd like because surface conditions are too unpredictable. All it takes is some loose gravel, dirt, or other debris where it shouldn't be ending up with a catastrophic result. I'm happy to wait for the next HPDE and really push the car. I'm in the advanced run group and may do Instructor Training School next year. I've also done the 2-day M school in Spartenburg. Track is really more my thing.

 

heeey you should come to katy this weekend! a bunch of us in s3 are getting together to have alittle showdown

 

Can't--working on another MINI project.

RaceTripper, I agree that race speeds on country roads aren't appropriate, but if you pick the right road, you don't need to go fast to have fun. You know, speed limits and all. Missouri has plenty of good 'uns.

When I retire (soon), I want to move to Arkansas or lower Missouri, just so I can have a view, some hills, and a few curves back in my life.

 

I agree that twisty roads at safe speeds are fun too. I just don't really go out of my way much to drive them, mostly because I'm pretty busy and it hasn't been a big enough priority.

 

I'm no expert and I'm not trying to put her down, but I did a couple searches and even looked through her website and still can't find much about wins. In fact the only wins I can find prior to Motegi '08 are from her karting years (92-97) where she won a LOT. She seems to have done well every year since she left karting but doesn't seem to have won any races other than Motegi. Maybe I'm missing something?

Thinking about it though, I shouldn't have started out with the race wins biz anyway as there's a lot more for potential teams to consider than wins alone. She's fairly consistent, tends to get the car to the finish line more often than most, and her consistency nets her top 10 finishes and top 10 season points totals. In fact, she's consistently improved the latter stat, finishing 12th in '05, 9th in '06, 7th in '07, 6th in '08, and is running 5th in the standings so far in '09.

Granted, it's the IRL and folks moving from US series' to F1 haven't done well lately, but like you said, you never really know until they get a real test. Plus her celebrity status alone is worth sponsorship dollars, and for new teams simply not finishing at the back of the grid will probably = success for a couple years.

I'm with Deb though....she might just be trying to avoid admitting there's not much genuine interest expressed from F1 teams at this point.