Gosh, this is embarrassing. I feel like a wee baby.

So guys, what was it like when they started designing cars with 4 wheel drum brakes?

Ahhhh, just kidding.

 

Not as good as when disk brakes came out. Our '64 Porsche has 'em, and we thought they were hot stuff at the time!

Of course, radial tires made an even bigger difference. I remember when my SAAB Sonett (yes, it's spelled correctly) needed new tires. The old ones went 60,000 miles. We weren't able to reuse the tubes, though--they'd stuck to the inside of the tires...

Now I REALLY feel old!

 

FWIW, here's a one question poll regarding the start of the 2011 season:

https://web.questback.com/haymarketm...td/wsw91c0jqn/

 

Wow, tubed automotive tires are a Coelacanth I haven't seen. What kind of pressures did those run at? I did have bias ply tires on my first truck. They were evil, squirrely things that did not last long at all. In their defense, they were probably 5-6 years old by the time I was let loose on them.

What? No, I am sure that my being 16 had nothing to do with their short life.

 

Hey--you might see 'em yet. Remember, the Coelacanths were "extinct" until they weren't! I don't remember what pressures we ran, but I think about the same as now. I remember that we pumped them up for gymkhanas (the '69s-'70s term for autocrosses), and the Sonett became totally squirrelly. We used a shopping center that was closed on Sundays (they all were then!), and the courses were always rather compact. There was always a short portion in reverse, basically to back up and then do the rest going forward. We kept the pressures normal after we figured out it there wasn't any advantage.

Going back to F1, I got an email today that had the following links:

http://www.formula1.com/video/ (the summary is the latest addition)

http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/ru...ulations/8692/

http://www.formula1.com/gallery/race/

http://www.formula1.com/

 

Woohoo, Friday Practice tomorrow!!!!

Has there been any annoucement on who's going to be replacing PW on the Speed coverage? Please god, I hope it isn't.....ah shoot. His name is escaping me right now. He was the one that made the CBS races (Before they switched to Fox) so unbearable. He also helped with some of the coverage of the US Grand Prix. He's aweful.

BTW Deb, I love Saab Sonnetts. I'm looking forward to possibly accompanying my dad to the National Saab Owner's Convention this summer(if I'm still in the country). Lots of beatiful Sonnetts, 93s and 96s.

 

Who is PW--isn't he the guy who bugged everyone on the grid before the race? If so, good riddance. For some reason he always bugged me.

Nice to meet a fellow Sonett lover--weird car, ugly as you-know-what (first two versions, anyway), but as fun as a MINI to drive.

 

Here you go benjam...


SPEED, FOX Team For 2010 F1; New Grid Reporter Introduced

Eric Arneson: Posted March 1, 2010


The familiar faces of Bob Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett once again will lead the SPEED/FOX Sports Formula One broadcast team as SPEED rolls into its 15th year as the exclusive U.S. cable broadcaster of the FIA Formula One World Championship. beginning with live coverage of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14 at 7:30 a.m. ET. One face, however, will be new to the U.S. viewing audience.

Will Buxton, the 29-year-old founding editor of GPWeek magazine, will report from the grid, replacing Peter Windsor, whose efforts remain focused on his start-up US F1 project.

“First up, I've got to admit that I’m just massively excited about the whole thing,” said Buxton, who will join the team shortly after he and wife Emma welcome their first child. “It’s a huge honor to be joining the SPEED team, and in particular to be doing so at the start of what could be an incredible era in the history of Formula One.

“F1 is a bit of a soap opera at times,” Buxton added. “As a journalist it’s what makes the sport such a joy to report on. There’s always something going on in the background, and I won’t shy away from doing my best to get to the heart of every issue. That said, I don’t think that my job at SPEED is simply to report the news. Far from it. As one of the lucky few who can actually get into the F1 paddock, I think that probably my biggest responsibility is to open it all up to the American fans: to invite them in, sit them down, introduce them to a few people and show them what’s going on. It’s the fans that make this sport, so my job is to give them the access they deserve.”

According to Varsha, the SPEED team is welcoming its newest member with open arms.

“It's always a good sign when a job interview turns into a 'bench racing' session that goes beyond the appointed time,” Varsha said. “That's what we shared with Will when he visited our SPEED studios. Despite being the youngest member of our lineup, he's a veteran of television and print with experience of both Formula One and GP2. I look forward to working with him on what should be another thrilling and unpredictable grand prix season.”

Buxton, from Great Britain, served as the GP2 press officer from 2004 to the end of the 2007 season, and was sole communications/media representative for 2006 and 2007 He has been covering single-seater racing (F1, GP2, F2 and F3) since 2002.

Westbury Gillett will fill in for Buxton for the first few races of the season.

 

Yeah Deb, he's one and the same (guy who bugged everyone on the grid), and he also moderated the post race interview with the podium finishers.

Here's another reason to dislike him... He also goes by another alias... PW aka Peter Windsor, one of the team principles responsible for the creation of USF1...

 

I get the feeling that you're not totally happy with him, either.

My gripe was that he asked pretty dumb questions of pretty busy people at a critical time. Had I been one of his interviewees, I would have told him where to go!

 

See, I like the way they look. They're different, like all of the pre-GM Saabs. I was also happy to hear that Spyker bought them, because they also have a different look about them. They don't follow the norm.


Friday Practise done. I recorded it and caught the last 15 min. of it. Those lap time differentials are astounding. I cant wait for Qualifying!!!

 

Well I couldn't agree with you more!

Peter Windsor's questions were rather inane at times and I could think of no worse moment to bother a driver, crew person, engineer, etc. than when doing final preparations on the grid with the start of the race minutes away...

I understand that his job as a journalist is to "get the story" but not when teams are preparing to start a race. Sometimes I think that the camera is too intrusive and a bit of courtesy should be shown to the teams to let them get on with it...

Leave the silly questions for the drivers; such as, "How are conditions on the circuit?" (as when the heavens have opened up and a steady rain is falling) for post race interviews.

 

Hubby and I had an interesting conversation tonight. I made the statement that, although Michael's not making nearly as much as before ($20 mil for 3 years), he's worth his weight in gold to the team. And naturally, being married to an engineer, he HAD to figure it out. You know what? He's worth nearly 3 times his weight in gold!

Sheesh!

 

It was an alright race, albeit somehow uninspiring. Strange that Vettel's mechanical issue was a spark plug and not a header like the commentators thought.

I was happy to see Massa do well on his return. He did look a little rusty though, but it took Webber about half of last season to completely shake the rust off.

I couldn't believe how much more compliant the Ferrari looked over that bumpy section compared to some of the other cars. The Mclaren for example was much more squirrly.

I'm not a fan of Herman Tilke's tracks. The best one is Istanbul, and it is great. But Bahrain, Hockenheim (The Remix), Malaysia, China; all just kind of blaahhhhh, medium downforce blaaahhhhhhhh. I would love to see another track like the old Hockenheim. Just straights and chickens. Rip all the downforce off and send them!


Also, I couldn't help but wonder why Williams had spent so much money on developing their KERS to not even run it. Well I got the most recent issue of Race Tech in the mail and it turns out that Porsche is going looking to try the Williams KERS on a 911. Not sure if it's for production or Porsche Super Cup, but interesting nonetheless.

 

If I remember the pre-race discussion, KERS is gone.

I thought it was a pretty good race. Lots of drivers learning to manage their cars with full loads in race conditions, and you can tell who the good car managers are. Looks like it's going to be a three way race in the first half: Alonso-Massa-Vettel. McLaren might get better as the season continues, as so often happens with teams.

Big props to Lotus for not only getting the cars on the grid, but both of them finishing!

I think the new points system is silly. You want to give points to the top ten, fine. But I'd rather see a simple 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 points award.

I LOVED the Hobbism: Rolling Chicanes, ROFL. (Referring to the three new teams).

 

It is and it isn't. From what I've been able to gather, it's "legal," but the teams have mutually agreed not to use it this year.

Hobbs has used this phrase in previous seasons, to refer to the backmarkers.

I could have sworn I heard something that for the first two races, Bahrain and Australia, points would not be accumulated. Anyone else hear this, or was I dreaming? I admit Hubby watched it live and I was only conscious briefly (I am so not a morning person!). I didn't hear it when I watched my recording.

I'm glad to see that the traditionally strong teams are good this year, right from the start. And that the ones that were traditionally weaker in the past look pretty good.

 

Hmmm--you mean it's not the greatest thing in the world to have slugs at the start and no pit strategy wars?

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/150320...e-changes.html

 

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-...urn-to-the-us/

Hear that? We're not the right sort of people. What a ****!

 

I noticed these articles, too:

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-...ulation-ideas/

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-...-difficulties/

Of course, Webber's comments are likely of the "shoulda, woulda, coulda" variety; still, it's hardly surprising that passing is difficult. Whatever made Max/Bernie decide that there would be a bunch more passing with a whole bunch more fuel on board was nuts, but we knew that already, right? In past years, a driver's diet was important--a pound or two was considered important. Now, with gas weighing 6 pounds per gallon, they might as well have NO driver, to keep the weight similar...and that's not counting the additional structural changes to hold that weight. Oh, and let's not forget that the front tires are smaller, too. Recipe for disaster? Hmmm.

Just think, next year we have no tire warmers and no diffusers to look forward to!

 

There is no denying that Bernie the Troll is an @$$****!

But maybe there is some grain of truth in what he is saying...

Now before you all show up at my doorstep, torches in hand, yelling, "Kill the monster..." , let me explain how I see it.

In the good ole USA, the 800lb gorilla of motorsports is NASCRAP, uh, er, uhhh... I mean NASCAR.

Stock car racing is the most popular form of motorsport in the US and garners alot of TV time thanks to the efforts of the sanctioning body (NASCAR) and FOX Network (and its affiliate SPEED Channel).

Every weekend throughout the season there is a stock-car race being held somewhere in the US typically sanctioned by those wonderful folks at NASCAR.

Now, I am no fan of stock car racing, but I do give NASCAR credit where credit is due... they know how to promote their sport! They have a grassroots approach that creates fans by employing local tracks across the US. They post a gruelling schedule of races for their premiere series (Nextel Cup) that showcases their sport weekly across the country so that they are never really out of the public eye. They have different divisions of the sport (e.g. NASCAR Truck Series) in an attempt to garner as many fans as possible. They make the drivers and teams accessible to the fans and allow the fans to get close to the cars.

Other than Indy/Tony George's attempt to bring fans closer to F1, by contrast, Bernie and F1 take a more aloof, prima donna approach, keeping the masses at bay... pitlane and the garages are reserved for the privledged, the cars shut away in their garages seen only by the teams and FIA scrutineers when not on track, and the F1 drivers... well lets just say that they aren't user friendly for the most part (when was the last time you saw or heard of an F1 driver signing autographs for the fans after the race like Richard Petty waiting until the last fan received an autograph and no one was turned away empty handed).

Now to the question at hand... Are we (US fans) F1's kind of people?

Well, since NASCAR rules the roost and the number of fans in the US, we will use it as the prime example of the typical US motorsport fan.

The NASCAR fan (based on my experience after talking to several die-hard fans at a NASCAR event) has no interest in open wheel, non roundy-round racing, that is populated by foriegn drivers whose names they cannot pronounce and even worse from somewhere other than south of the Mason-Dixon line. Additionally, the "If it ain't rubbin` it ain't racin`" mentality is hard at work among most NASCAR fans. In open wheel road racing that is shunned lest catastrophe overtake the grid.

Also, there are those fans just waiting for the Big One, the multi-car crash/pile-up (something that NASCAR promotes via restrictor plate racing and the soft penalties issued for overly aggessive driving... Look what Carl Edwards got as a punishment for his payback move that resulted in the flipping over of a fellow competitor - a one race suspension... bah!). Yes Virginia, blood still draws many to the sport, just like the chariot races of old in Rome.

Those are some of the obstacles that F1 must overcome if they are to create a fanbase for the sport in the US.

So, where do we begin? How do we put the 800lb NASCAR gorilla back in its cage?

Until we have the proper promotion, an American team/driver, and a home GP we will have to suffer the idignity of being an unknown sport as far as the typical US fan is concerned and in that respect Ecclestone may be right.

Perhaps (I hate to agree with the @$$****) Bernie has a point... the typical F1 fanbase is non-existant here in the US as the masses are focused on NASCAR. That is not to say that there is not an F1 fanbase because there are groups such as ours who follow the sport. But the numbers are small and that does not evolve into big money. Remember, Bernie likes the money trail... with him it's not about the sport its about the $$$$$$$$$!

Yes, Ecclestone may be correct but he has done nothing to aid the cause of F1's growth in the US. Where Bernie the Troll falls flat on his head is in the fact that F1 has done little to promote the sport in America.

The US has so many great circuits and having F1 cars race on REAL circuits (i.e. Road America, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca) rather than mickey mouse tracks (like Indy or worse yet cobbled up street circuits such as Dallas, Phoenix, and Las Vegas) can only showcase the cars and drivers in the proper environment. Places where tradition lives, such as the home of the USGP for many years Watkins Glen, can only add to the glamour of the sport.

So are we (the US racing fans) F1's kind of people... Well some of us are but that's not enough to fill the stands and get the turnstiles revolving. More of us are needed and until then I'm afraid that F1 will eschew the US market. Add to the fact that Bernie seems to have a dislike of North America and you can see where this is going...

Ok, I'm going to gingerly step off my soapbox, go sit in my corner, and be good...

 

There is much in what you say, Sabre. NASCAR does appeal to the masses in a way F1 never has, and almost certainly never will. Want proof? What were Americans driving in the 60's? And the Europeans? The best we could hope to do is align ourselves with Indy-type cars (regardless of their current sanctioning body). And actually, a subset of THOSE--ones who watch or go to "THE" race in Indianapolis, and forget it the rest of year's efforts. There just aren't that many open-wheel-high-speed-and-interesting-track fans in the U.S., and probably will never be. Even a massive publicity effort probably won't put a dent in NASCAR's popularity.

 

Is anyone from the U.S. going to Montreal? It's Hubby's birthday, and we're seriously thinking of making the trek. It would be roughly 3700 miles, but there are things we could do along the way.

MINI or not? Too soon to tell. I know what I'd take, though.

 

My wife and I were thinking about it, but I think we're going to hold off till next year. It'll be easier on the youngins if we leave them with the grand-parental units for the weekend.

I've heard that Indy (which I've been to 3 times and she's been to 5) was one of the only, if not the only, track that allows you to go to different areas for Practice and Qual, regardless of where you sit on Sunday. I heard that Montreal has you in your seat for the whole weekend. At Indy, we'd watch practice from the infield, Qualifying from Turn 13 and then our seats were at Turn 4 of the oval, so we could see the first four corners. It was the same kind of thing for the MotoGP race and it was great. I'd hope the other tracks are like that, but I dunno.

My first year at Indy was '06 and I watched Heidfeld get flipped and barrel-roll accross the gravel. I even recorded it on my video camera! lol.

 

Sabre, I live about three hours from Laguna Seca, Since the changes made for IRL and MotoGP, Laguna Seca is the definition of Mickey Mouse circuit. It can never, ever be an F1 track. Believe me absolutely on this.

 

I think street circuits are a big mistake, with the exception of Monaco, which is both traditional and repaved annually. They're just too rough, and hard on drivers and cars alike. We had a couple (few?) races on Houston's streets when CART was still in business, and it was horrible.* There were complaints right and left about the rough concrete, manhole covers, etc.

Of all of the ones Sabre has suggested, I think Road America has the most chance. I haven't been to Road Atlanta for decades, but remember it as interesting. F1 in the middle of NASCAR turf??? Ain't gonna happen. Road America at least has a long history of sports car races, and vintage races feature F1 cars, albeit in jest.

Unfortunately, as long as Bernie holds the reins, none of these tracks has a chance. He wants NEW, with all the bells and whistles of NEW. And NEW costs massive dollars with an iffy return, as several countries are discovering. Driver safety will take some out, too, in which Bernie's NEW purpose-built tracks make some sense.


*I won a 3 day pass for 2, all-inclusive, at a BMW dealer event. Unfortunately, that was the year when CART crashed, and the race was never held.