Ibadan Motorsports

Brit Mike Conway Takes His First Podium at Monaco of The West.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:31:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji

From Stevenage to Sevenoaks in the UK, English drivers had a good weekend in international single seater racing. Representing Stevenage, driving superstar Lewis Hamilton gave viewers a credible sample of ultra competitive driving at the Shanghai GP, winning the race and leaving commentators breathless in its wake.

However, in North America's premier open wheel championship, at the Izod Indycar Series' third competitive outing in 2011, a lesser known English driver hailing from the Sevenoaks, Kent, stunned many in attendance by pulling out a shock win at the 37th Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach.

Mike Conway (27) had just one Series 3rd place podium to his credit dating back to 2009 before Sunday. Furthermore, going into this race he'd finished in 23rd and 22nd at St. Petersburg (Florida) and Birmingham (Alabama) respectively. Yet despite the harsh nature of the street circuit in Long Beach, he won his first race at the Californian street circuit known historically as the 'Monaco of the West'; a creation of another Brit, Chris Pook.

The lush and treacherous 1.97 mile circuit with its 11 turns can be a hazardous place to go for a podium spot. In 1976, the circuit was made globally popular by the antics of posh British F1 champion and commentator, the late James Hunt who stood trackside waving his fist at another driver after being forced off. Sunday's race was a fitting place to get a surprise win for Conway, who'd just returned from serious injury, and who had had a frustrating end to his first race at St Pete.

Prior to a podium at Long Beach last weekend, Conway was probably best known for suffering multiple injuries during the 2010 Indianapolis 500. But, regardless of a broken back suffered as a result of a massive crash, Conway had expressed his desire to keep racing despite harbouring some well placed self-doubt.

In the aftermath of the 85 lap race on Sunday he told the L.A Times 'after the crash, I wasn't sure I'd get back', further adding the insightful thought 'things like that can definitely stop your career'. But rather than his career stopping, it's just gone up a notch with Michael Andretti's team.

On his way back to Indycar, Conway initially indicating a desire to remain with the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team out of mutual loyalty. However, on his return he decided to switch to Andretti Autosport for the 2011 season replacing Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan who moved on to KV Racing. Andretti Autosport is the team that handles the ever so popular Danica Patrick, alongside Ryan Hunter Reay and Marco Andretti.

Similar to Lewis Hamilton in Shanghai, at Long Beach, Conway had qualified 3rd going into the race. A badly managed pit stop saw him rejoin the race in the middle of pack. Running on Firestone Alternate tyres he manoeuvred his nr 27 car to front, eventually passing Ryan Briscoe's nr 6 car with 14 laps to go till the chequered flag. Briscoe driving for Team Penske came in second whilst Target Chip Ganassi driver Dario Franchitti took third spot.

Conway finished the race 6 seconds ahead of Briscoe, but more importantly he moves up to fifth spot for the championship ahead of team mates Danica Patrick (11), Marco Andretti (15) and Ryan Hunter Reay (22). Dario Franchitti leads the way with 155 points.

Brit Mike Conway Takes First Podium Spot at Monaco of the West.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Brit Mike Conway Takes First Podium Spot at Monaco of the West.

Lotus Renault GP Secure Second Consecutive Podium.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:56:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Sebastian Vettel has increased RBR’s championship points lead, winning the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button who finished the race in 2^nd place. Vettel had led from the front while Button who’d started the race in 4^th, dropped down the grid but later managed to gain 2^nd position thanks to an imprecise pit stop by Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton finished the race in 7^th , which cuts into his championship challenge at these early stages.

Intriguingly, Nick Heidfeld whose route into the 2011 F1 championship was as a replacement driver for an injured Robert Kubica at Lotus Renault, finished the race in 3^rd place. It’s a second consecutive podium position for Lotus Renault, in a race not many had predicted the team to do well following lack lustre practice and qualifying sessions.

Lotus Restores Pre-Season Confidence.

The podium position at Sepang ultimately serves to reaffirm confidence that many commentators had in Renault pre-season. However, a large part of that confidence placed in the Brackley (UK) based team was initially intertwined with the apparent driving potential of Renault Driver Robert Kubica piloting a competitive R30 Lotus Renault car, prior to a serious arm injury . Yet, without Kubica, the R30 with iconic black and gold JPS style livery is signalling intent to measure up to the legend attached to those classic F1 colours.

Lotus Renault GP under the aegis of French Team Principal Eric Boullier is proving a genuine contender. Boullier is decidedly less flamboyant than his larger than life Italian predecessor at Renault F1, but has begun to raise his profile. He was recently appointed Vice-Chairman of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA); replacing high profile Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali. Martin Whitmarsh, Mclaren Team Principal remains in place as FOTA Chairman.

On the track, should Ferrari or McLaren slip up during the chase for F1 supremacy this season Lotus Renault Drivers won’t shy away from pick anyone of them off, as demonstrated by Heidfield on Lewis Hamilton at the beginning, and end of the Malaysian GP.

Petrov’s Flying Advertisement.

Vitaly Petrov may have not finished the race at Malaysia, but the sight of his car briefly flying through the air at Sepang will make great viewing during F1 TV opening credits for years to come. Petrov might go from ‘hero to zero’ having been on the podium in Australia, then attempting to re-enact a WRC Finland rally jump at Sepang, hence a DNF, but it’s all good visibility of the Lotus Renault brand. Furthermore, Petrov’s team mate challenged the top of grid from the beginning of the race by manoeuvring his car from 6^th to 2^ndplace, squeezing Lewis Hamilton out into 3^rd and maintaining the position till a pit stop dropped him back down the grid before fighting back.

Lotus Renault Gaining Momentum.

With an incident between Alonso and Hamilton, the former pitted first. Hamilton Lewis was forced to give way to Heidfield as the McLaren mans’ race went down south following a bad pit stop, a hit from Fernando Alonso, and another additional pit stop which ironically placed behind Alonso in 7^th position till the end of the race.

Nonetheless, Hamilton’s loss is Lotus Renault’s gain. As the next round of the F1 season moves to China next weekend, all podium contenders would be advised to keep an eye on that black and gold livery R30 gaining momentum alongside them.

Vettel Digs Deep, RBR Dig Out KERS.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:44:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Red Bull Racing (RBR) admittedly took the KERS route during the Malaysian Qualifying Session in order to successfully snatch pole position from a determined McLaren team who’d ‘thrown down the gauntlet’ during the preceding practice sessions. The decision by Red Bull to finally use KERS after admitting that they hadn’t bothered with it during the Australian GP Qualifying Session must surely have been deemed necessary as the Woking Team began setting the pace prior to, and during Q2 and Q3.

Sebastian Vettel is once again on pole, but, not with the type of time margin and pace security many expected. An easy pole without KERS was anticipated based on the evidence of his blistering pacesetting pole position a fortnight ago at Albert Park during the first Grand Prix of the 2011 season. On this occasion at Sepang, Vettel had to dig deep and snatch pole of Lewis Hamilton who looked to have secured pole momentarily with a lap time of 1:35.000.

Lap times reached fever pitch with both Hamilton and Vettel pushing the limit, thus, relegating their experienced McLaren and Red Bull team mates to the second row of the grid. Hamilton pushed his MP4-26 to a pole sitting time of 1:34.974 before he was knocked back in to second place by Vettel with a lap time of pure grit, coming in at 1/10^th of a second faster with an unbeatable time of 1:34.870.

Prior to Q3, Red Bull had appeared to be struggling to keep up the pace in Q2, with both Red Bull Drivers qualifying out of the top five. In particular, Mark Webber qualifying below the top ten was confusing; prompting some commentators to suspect RBR was unwilling to lay it all on the line till the final shoot out, having observed the pace of McLaren.

Vettel and Webber who will occupy 1^st and 3^rd on the grid respectively on Sunday have yet again delivered highly competitive pole sitting positions that could see either of them win the Malaysian GP for Red Bull Racing for a second time in a row.

On the other hand, McLaren seems to be picking up pace and getting their car set up right. The Woking team are getting better as each round comes along, albeit being very early into the season.

Nonetheless, Martin Whitmarsh, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and their technical team continue to demonstrate a level of professionalism under pressure. Despite the earlier technical glitches accompanied by adverse media coverage, the Brits have definitely moved closer to Christian Horner and Adrian Newey’s RBR in the technical arms race, in a way many had expected Fernando Alonso and the 150^th Italia Scuderia Ferrari to do.

McLaren's Jenson Button who claims to have a fondness of Sepang International cCrcuit having won there in 2009, will be outside of Mark Webber on the grid in 4^th, while Scuderia Ferrari’s top dog Alonso will be right behind them in 5^th.

Do Believe The Hype: NGTC Injects New Energy Into The BTCC.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:05:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Last year’s MSA Dunlop British Touring Car Champion, Jason Plato, may have come out leading 38 points after the first three 2011 races at the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit driving a S2000 spec Chevrolet ; but, there’s little doubt that the star attraction as this season which got under way on Sunday, was and may continue to be, the 1.6cc turbo charged engines of the Next generation Touring Car (NGTC) adopted by rival teams.

Believe the hype; the BTCC is going through a revival. The introduction and expectations attached to the NGTC are profoundly responsible for a new level of excitement being expressed about the series this season. There are some doubters of course, but the majority of views are overwhelming supportive of TOCA’s new spec regulations. Positive reviews are being vividly endorsed by the ten manufacturers involved this season, including beleaguered Toyota with its NGTC Toyota Avensis.

The BTCC Director Alan Gow can hardly hide his glee at being at the helm during this transition period which has brought the Championship back from the brink and could see the complete implementation of the NGTC in 2013.

Three years ago, things looked grim all round in the world of Motorsports. The BTCC seemed like it was bound to spend a significant amount of time in the Doldrums, an inevitable consequence of an all engulfing economic downturn.

The signs were ominous. Despite winning the BTCC with VX Racing’s Fabrizio Giovanardi lost his place in the series, as manufacturers Vauxhall announced the intention to withdraw citing the need to cut costs. Vauxhall’s decision to withdraw from the BTCC at the time was almost akin to Ferrari withdrawing from Formula One.

Compounding Giovanardi’s woes, after a herculean struggle to find a driving seat with independent team Triple Eight Racing (888), a sponsor suddenly withdrew, leaving the 2007-08 Champion with no option but to withdraw early 2010. With high costs and lack of sponsorship, the BTCC was in imminent danger.

That threat has somewhat subsided, and the NGTC is helping allay future fears. The cost reduction of approximately £100,000 in capital costs and 50% of running costs respectively have stuck a cord with the fans and media alike.

In spite of some technical disadvantages involved with NGTC (30 kilos extra weight, increase tyre wear, harder overall car handling) the new spec has had a very positive showing, and aims to further equalise racing.

But, not everyone is enthused by NGTC. BMW has expressed its dissatisfaction with new regulations and would like to discourage the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) from going down the NGTC route.

On Sunday Jason Plato also established a new record of BTCC wins. But, prior to Plato pooping an NGTC celebratory party this weekend, his arch rival Matt Neal driving for Honda Racing Team had displayed the prowess of the NGTC engine (in S2000 chassis) qualifying in pole position with alarming pace. Despite crashing out of the inaugural race jostling for position with Plato’s team Mate Alex Macdowell, Neal managed to win the final race while another contender Matt Jackson driving a Blue Oval (NGTC engine) for Airways Racing is in 2^nd place overall with 30 points. Unfortunately, Dynojet and Speedworks teams both using full spec NGTC Toyota Avensis scored no points.

Vettel Dominates Qualifying Session at Albert Park.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 10:45:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Red Bull Resume Qualifying Dominance.

There was an old familiar sight at the Qualifying Session of the Australian Grand Prix Albert Park this Saturday morning, with two Red Bulls in 1st and 3rd pole position .You've got to love the way BBC Pundits feigned ignorance while commenting on Sebastian Vettel's radio message to his crew after a lighting lap that saw his Red Bull Car named 'Kinky Kylie' blow away the opposition with astounding pace to take 1st pole.

Vettel's radio message 'We are, who we are' isn't so difficult to decipher considering reported comments attributed to Lewis Hamilton earlier in the week, in which he questioned Red Bull Racings' future intentions, since the company is primarily a 'Drinks Company'. Vettel seized pole with the ridiculously fast time of 1.23.529 on his best qualifying lap. The intensity of Vettel's car handling was palpable to viewers watching his on-board camera while he flew 'flat-out' through each section during his best qualifying lap. What's more, Vettel placed his car on pole without KERS.

Unfortunately, Aussie favourite Mark Webber struggled to keep up with his team mates' pace during this inaugural 2011 qualifying session, but did manage to place his car on the second row of the grid coming in third, 0.866 of a second behind Vettel's best. According to Team Principal Christian Horner, Mark Webber had more difficulty than Vettel going into the final sector of his qualifying laps.

It’s worth noting that Red Bull Racing have been traditionally fast at Qualifying Sessions over past two years, but have at times also struggled to keep consistency going into Grand Prix races; the real test of Red Bull usually comes down to each race, as Qualifying is usually dominated by them of late.

McLaren Shut Doubters Down.

On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and McLaren proved doubters wrong including BBC Pundits, one of whom was handed a symbolic piece of humble pie from McLaren after the session. Hamilton grabbed 2nd pole position, with a time of 1.24.501.

Despite a KERS failure during his qualifying lap, there's some doubt whether he’d have had the pace to catch Vettel by making up 0.778 of a second, but considering the negative press McLaren has had to endure lately, 2nd place on the grid is way above expectations. Hamilton's team mate and 2009 World Champion Jenson Button sneaked ahead of Fernando Alonso placing his car in forth position. It's the same grid position Button had in the 2010 Australian Grand Prix which he won by applying a winning pit stop strategy.

Ferrari Baffle With Mediocre Qualifying Performance.

Surprisingly, Fernando Alonso and Filipe Massa of Scuderia Ferrari were in 5th and 8th respectively. During pre-season practice, Ferrari's F150 had looked as aggressive and dangerous as a hungry threatened Cobra. Their grid position has come as a inexplicable shock to many who had thought that Ferrari seemed at the cusp of dethroning Red Bull.

Alonso is just in front of 6th placed Vitaly Petrov in the new livery Renault; the man who effectively blocked Alonso's path to the 2010 championship in Abu Dhabi last year. Massa in particular is having a torrid time at Ferrari, and this qualifying session further demonstrated that when he spun out just coming out of the pits.

Hispania Racing Fail to Make the 107% Grade.

At the other end of the qualifying spectrum, only Hispania Racing fell foul of the 107% FiA rule that prohibits any team more than 107% behind the first qualifier taking part in the race. It’d been predicted by analysts that Virgin Racing could also be disqualified by the 107% rule, but the team managed to sneak through in last place.

Top Ten grid positions and qualifying times:

1. S. Vettel 1.23.529
2. L. Hamilton +0.778
3. W. Webber +0.866
4. J. Button    +1.250
5. F. Alonso    +1.445
6 V. Petrov     +1.718
7. N. Rosberg +1.892
8. F. Massa     + 2.070
9. K.Kobayashi +2.097
10. S. Buemi   +3.537

McLaren Struggles to Convince Doubters and Detractors.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:18:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Four days before Australian GP practice, six days before the actual race, and McLaren F1 still finds itself struggling to convince its fans, it detractors, its competitors and objective commentators, that the 2011 season will be anything but uncompetitive washout for its U side-pod MP4-26.

Despite drama and high expectations accentuated by the delay in the car’s public launch, the 2011 car has failed to convince many outside McLaren that it’ll stand a chance against its opposition’s battle readiness. Add to that, adapting to new tyre compounds with high level of degradation.

If it was just about tweaking car at this late stage, then that would be somewhat acceptable. It’d give Mclaren ‘watchers’ some sense of confidence in the cars’ competitive edge. However, what is currently taking place is a profound structural change that’s been described as ‘dramatic alterations’, in order to keep the pace with Ferrari and Red Bull.

Recent news that McLaren has decided to shelve a radically designed exhaust and adopted simpler design with less than a week to go till the 2011 opening race seems to fall in line with a negative narrative being attached to McLaren’s failure to measure up to its competitors during testing. Only one F1 team, Hispania Racing Team (HRT) put in less testing laps than McLaren before the Bahrain GP got cancelled earlier this month. Hispania Racing is so far behind, it will use the Australian GP as a test ground for their new F111 car.

Yet, McLaren still insist that they have a car that can compete while time is runs out. Pessimism is beginning to gain ground amongst supporters, who can’t help but notice that Ferrari and RBR seem ready to rumble, even if Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh and Lewis Hamilton insist that they have a good car.

Nonetheless, Martin Whitmarsh acknowledges that McLaren is cutting it thin saying ‘we hope the risks we have taken come off and we are competitive’. But, ‘hoping’ things come out right against Alonso, Vettel, and Pirelli tires simply won’t do, McLaren know it.

The discouraging news that a much anticipated game changing radical exhaust has been scraped for a ‘simpler design’ is another cause for despondency amongst Mclaren admirers who can’t abide Ferrari’s cocky confidence in its F150. What’s more, the floor of the McLaren car will also undergoing changes, while the team searches for a way to address the car being about ‘a second’ off racing pace.

Regarding the exhaust, the F1 rumour-mill (Blogshpere) had been hinting an engineering loophole that would provide Mclaren with an advantage going into 2011, before eventually being discovered by the FiA. There’d been a rumour of ceramic boxes, multiple exhaust outlets called the ‘Octopus’, and ‘creative ideas’ involving a heat resistant material called ‘Pyrosic’ (which is on the FiA’s banned material list).

But optimism is dissipating as the ever changing MP4-26 set up has proved one bad fit following another. The time consumed has made it almost impossible counter critics like BBC’s F1 pundits. The Drivers’ general assessment of the Pirelli tyres during the limited testing laps hasn’t been encouraging either; so even if they get the car structurally competitive, McLaren still need to find the right tyre strategy.

On the other hand, Red Bull Racing is ready, Ferrari are ready and angry; Pirelli has launched it tyre wall colours, Red, Yellow, White, Silver, Blue, Orange. Pirelli appears ready. What will McLaren bring?

GT Academy Winner Lucas Ordonez Shines at Sebring.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:54:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

25 year old GT Driver Lucas Ordonez claimed 2^nd place at the 59^th 12 hours of Sebring in the LMP2 class, driving a Oreca Prototype by Signatech-Nissan. Alongside experienced team mates Sohiel Ayari and Franck Mailleux, the nr 26 Oreca 03 Signatech-Nissan team car overcame electronic and gear box problems to gain what must be regarded as an encouraging pole position leading into the rest of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series.

This accomplishment stands out as another poignant moment in Ordonez’s rapid rise within the ranks of prominent motorsports Drivers. It goes against the grain in regards to how professional Motor Racers gain prominence, which usually entails a plethora of junior feeder series and a scramble for individual sponsorship.

Back in 2008 not many could have predicted that a contestant on an experimental reality show aimed at a video gaming audience could have come this far; but, to the surprise of many, Ordonez has continued to show credible potential and promise in the aftermath of winning the inaugural Nissan-Playstation GT Academy. Since then, he’s continued to progress within the GT racing fraternity. He’s gone through intensive training programs, gained a professional Drivers Licence, actively participated in GT4 competitions, and recently had a good showing at the 2010 International 24 hours of Dubai GT2 class.

Having continued to show good form, Ordonez was recruited in February to drive in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) with Signatech. The participation of Signatech in the ILMC signifies a small but major step by Nissan back into international motorsports. The decision by Nissan to provide Signatech with its VR45 V8 3.4L engine (on a two year contract) through its motorsports branch Nismo has raised optimism that other Japanese auto makers may return to international motorsports following the withdraw of high profile manufacturers like Subaru and Toyota in recent years.

The historic significance of 12 hours of Sebring in motor racing should give Ordonez added credibility and high profile experience before proceeding with the Signatech-Nissan team to the 6 hours of Spa, and that 24 hour motor race held at Circuit de la Sarthe in June in the ILMC.

Blackmail, Sabotage, Racism, Denial . The F1 Establishment and Fernando Alonso.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:11:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

When I heard another Bernie Eccleston biography titled ‘No Angel’ (the secret life of Bernie Ecclestone by Tom Bower) came out last week, I initially dismissed it as another Formula One narrative which would inevitably state the obvious; Formula One is as complicated, controversial and corrupt as any big money making business.

I procrastinated downloading it on kindle from Amazon, preferring to wait till the price dropped.

Besides, I assumed most information on Bernie Eccleston’s leadership in F1 is old hat. We know his roots. We know people like the BRDC members may still be upset with him. We know how determined and ruthless he can be. We also know he revived F1, made it the extravaganza it is today by brokering international deals, and taking a hard line on contractual agreements. We know he’s fought numerous acrimonious battles along the way, and made numerous gaffes and faux pas.

What reviewers of the book didn’t expect in middle of all that dirt being dug and mud slinging was a direct splatter on Fernando Alonso; an individual I subjectively refer to as ‘the F1 establishments favorite Driver’.

Bower’s new book alleges during Alonso’s tumultuous time at McLaren he was prepared to thwart his teammate Lewis Hamilton by nefarious means. With this astounding revelation we’re presented with an individual ready to blackmail his boss, and sabotage his team mate, on the way to the chequered flag.

Alonso’s threat to expose McLaren spying on Ferrari if he wasn’t made ‘Number One Driver’ has been common knowledge for sometime now, because he wasn’t made number one; and he went on to expose Mclaren anyway. But informing on Mclaren wasn’t about ‘doing the right thing’, it was about Alonso not getting his way.

What’s surprised many, has been the additional information reveled in Tom Bower’s book on Eccleston that he sought to get Ron Dennis the then Team Principal to bend to his will. He demand McLaren short fuel Hamilton during the Hungarian Grand Prix in August 2007. This revelation has left many stunned. There’s no concrete evidence to back this allegation up, but then again, there never is. Furthermore, judging f Alonso from afar (as most of us can only do in reality) , one is inclined to believe there has to be some truth in this allegation. Alonso has form.

During the 2008 ‘Crashgate’ scandal involving Nelsinho Piquet Jr. on orders from Flavio Briatore in Singapore, Alonso denied knowing anything about the plot to see him win the race. Nelson Piquet Sr. was bold enough to suggest Alonso knew what was going on, since Alonso was de facto managing the Renault F1 team in 2008 due to favouritism. The same ‘favouritsm’ Alonso claimed McLaren were giving Lewis because he couldn’t convince them to relegate Lewis to a supporting role.

Yet, 'The Establishment' chose to ignore his (Piquet Sr.) accusation directed at Alonso almost as if he was above reproach, but took down Briatore and Pat Symonds. During last years’ team orders debacle, Alonso, also denied instigating or being aware of the infamous radio message ordering Massa to let him pass suggesting Massa was magnanimous,. But, Massa’s body language, and Alonso’s history with team mates tells of different. A recently released video of Alonso testing the new Ferrari F150th Italia revels the dynamics of any team with Alonso involved. Watch Montezemolo treat Alonso like his most favoured son at the end of the video; you get a brief glimpse of his team mate.

Then there’s racism. No one’s claiming Alonso’s ever made a racist comment; but, at the height of the battle between Alonso and Hamilton in 2007-08, racism by Alonso’s fans in Spain in particular was rife. Alonso is singularly capable of bringing the ugly underbelly of motorsport to the surface by being who he is, while the establishment continues to laud his talent, ‘tut-tuting’ the chaos he creates along the way.

There seems to be a trend of underhand tactics with Alonso against team mates. I remember last year someone questioning Alonso’s behaviour on the track during one of the BBC’s F1 Forums featuring Murray Walker. Mr Walker, claimed Alonso’s behavior was understandable because amongst other things ‘he’s a Latin’. It’s not the first time this ‘Latin Theory’ has been used as a reason to excuse Alonso’s reprehensible behaviour. The Alonso apologist are already defending their man over these new accusations by denying it’s authenticity. Maybe they should check Tom Bower’s background as a writer first.

So there you have it, Alonso might get fined or penalised here ond there, but the serious stuff that causes chaos around him is left for others to deal with while he denies everything. We should all expect a casual denial from Alonso in the wake of these new allegations; besides if worse come to worse, the F1 establishment will pull out that tired ‘Latin Theory’ when they defend their favourite Driver....again.

Flywheel Hybrid Technology is Williams F1’s Real Stock.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:18:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

The announcement today that the venerated British Formula One team Williams F1 will float 29% of its company stock on the market has been anticipated for some while now. Frank Williams and Patrick Head who created the independent F1 team in 1977 may have delayed its floatation in an effort to remain loyal to the principles upon which the team was created; to be independent. Yet they have never shied away from a good business deal in order to survive .

The principle upon which William F1 has built this iconic team is a format which many have tried to emulate and failed in the past. Aficionados of the sport have a deep sense of pride in Williams F1’s achievements over the years, as well as its ability to survive the piranha infested waters of F1.

Williams F1 sustained longevity in F1 despite being a non-manufacturer team like McLaren, Renault, and Ferrari. However, Williams F1, known commercially as AT&T Williams F1, has survived in the past by making very shrewd business moves with manufacturers like Renault, Cosworth and BMW for tech support. Recently, there’s the 2009 deal brokered between Williams and the Qataris to create the Williams Technology Centre (WTC). This is a Formula One inspired R&D project with commercial intent.

In addition to the business side of things, on race day Williams F1 can still spring a surprise or two with experienced drivers like Rubens Barrichello piloting their expensive machinery around the track.

The F1 Team Value

Most of Williams F1 current finance, which is reported to be in the black to the tune of around 25 million pounds comes from what it gets from sponsors, and its share from F1 commercial rights under the current Concorde Agreement due to be renewed in 2013. AT&T Williams assets in total are in valued at around 250 million pounds.

Yet, an investment in Williams’ meagre 29% stock on offer from its total holding for approximately 24 Euros a share, cannot afford to focus solely on Williams F1’s ability to challenge Red Bull, Ferrari, or McLaren while Bernie Ecclestone, a companion and supporter of Frank Williams holds the reins of power.

To the discerning eye for a good investment, a more valuable prospect, yet understated aspect of Williams’ 29% share lies not in Williams as a Formula One racing team; but, its engineering capabilities, and how it may yet influence motorsports and mobility in total. Hence, an investment in Williams must be viewed in a long term investment in R&D with a long view.

Unlike a lot of stock market investments made in sports in general usually based on players on a field and its entertainment value, an investment in a company like Williams F1 will entail an investment in future technologies, as advertised on the F1 stage in 2011 by Williams FW33 and beyond.

The Value of Green Technology

At the sharp end of Williams’ technical innovations at present is Williams Hybrid Power (WHP), the engineering and high tech branch of Williams F1, and its Flywheel.

The Flywheel Hybrid- Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) is an innovation developed by engineers via Williams that uses an electrical power and good old fashioned mechanical engineering combined with Uranium processing tech-know-how, to achieve additional power and lower emissions in autosports.

This complex technology uses magnetic composite within the flywheels architecture to generate heavy rotation during braking. It then creates reserve energy to reduce fuel consumption. The technical term used for Williams’ specific approach to KERS is Magnetically Loaded Composite (MLC).

The green energy industry seems impressed with what Williams have managed to achieve thus far, the Flywheel Hybrid technology has won two Motorsports International Awards (MIA). The MIA is a bastion and advocate of greener racing.

Trials of the technology in various areas of endurance racing have been positively received. The flywheel in a Porsche 911 GTR 3 has on two occasions at least gathered good reviews in endurance racing. Furthermore, its association with Porsche 911 can’t hurt. So it’s fair to assume that in this specific area Williams F1’s stock is bound to rise further.

Though KERS technology in itself is becoming old technology to tech heads and those who follow F1 religiously, it is a long way from becoming obsolete in general. The potential for Williams Flywheel is huge as an alternative to what is already on offer. Furthermore, Williams Hybrid Power has every intention of expanding its visibility in mobility and transportation.

Trading of Williams’ F1 stock commences on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in March. The question is this, ‘with the limited amount of stock on offer; via meagre total assets on the whole, is the investment really worth the wait for an appreciable return’?

Pirelli’s P Zero Tyre Might Provide the Ultimate Check and Balance in 2011.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:25:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Racing and politics go hand in hand in Formula 1

Despite Nick Wirth’s failure in 2010 to develop a competitive F1 car for Virgin Racing using CFD, his opinion, sentiments, and comments regarding this grand sport still carry an enormous degree of substance. Nick Wirth knows a bit about developing race cars, with a resume which includes Smitek GP, March Engineering, Benetton and Le Mans Prototypes.

Thus, Wirth recently defended Pirelli, the official and exclusive F1 tyre suppliers against some slight yet vociferous criticism of Pirelli’s P Zero’s tyre degradation during F1 testing in Valencia. Stating ‘this is what people wanted after the 2010 Canadian GP’; and as such, Perelli is just responding to the sports’ competitive demands. Wirth says “everybody watched the Canadian GP and went ohh-this is what we want-can we have some tyres that fall apart please”?

In addition, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery recently expressed his personal satisfaction with the outcome of the tests held in Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo early February. Post testing, Hembrey said “first and foremost we’ve enjoyed perfect reliability over the three days, which has enabled the teams to get on with their test programmes at a crucial time of the year as they launch their new cars”.

That Canadian GP

Based on Wirth’s reference to that fine 2010 race I got nostalgic. Hence, I grabbed my TVR (or PVR?) remote control and loaded my own private rerun of that exciting race held on the 13^th of June last year.

The 2010 Canadian GP, oft held up as a fantastic exhibition of F1 racing (amongst many with the exception of Bahrain) is credited for the role Bridgestone Tyres degradation played during the race on that hard acrid Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

The anticipation of tyre wear and degradation (not the same thing according to experts) made it strategically astute for teams competing for pole to pit on three occasions, thus alternating between hard and soft compounds at various intervals. Mark Webber overplayed his hand. The result was a fantastic display of race driving that shut out speedy ultimate champions RBR from pole, thus throwing the Championship wide open for about a minute.

With exception to the Monaco, Belgium and Abu Dhabi GP(s), The Montreal GP is the only 2010 Grand Prix recorded on my Topfield PVR (or DVR?) which I haven’t edited in order to save space on its 500gb hard drive. I often study this race. Naturally, I shut out the BBC’s Martin Brundels’ perfidious commentary that apotheosises Alonso at every turn.

Ironically, at the time the race was taking place in June, nobody knew for sure who would supply the tyres needed for 2011; commentators suspected Michelin might make a comeback. However, Perelli, having already stepped into the FiA WRC, took another ambitious step into the hot cauldron of F1.

Pirelli’s Challenge

As the 2011 season approaches, Pirelli P Zero developers simply must be experiencing intense pressure to address some teething problems involved in developing the optimum equitable rubber compound best suited for all. As usual aerodynamic considerations and accurate tyre scales that mimic actual inflation pressure are immediate challenges. So much will depend on the quality of the R&D Director Maurizio Boiocchi and his team of specialists dedicate to making this 2011 season, a season to remember for all the right reasons; Speedy overtaking, and effective strategy. Paul Hembery’s optimism is admirable if not totally reassuring.

A level Playing Field on Strategy

Considering Nick Wirth’s comments, it’s astute to view the P Zero’s lamented and praise worthy degradation factor as an experimental form of check and balance in F1. With the reintroduction of KERS, and introduction of the moveable rear wing designed to advance the spectacle of overtaking, Pirelli tyre degradation, combined with approximately 150 kilos of fuel might turn out to be the great leveller, reinforcing strategy.

Similar to last year when Nick Wirth set aside conventional wind tunnel testing while developing Virgin’s VR01 Wirth has again bucked the trend and eschewed KERS as too expensive while developing the MVR02. Don’t expect F1 to become more tech-democratic. We are yet to see what McLarens much reported U shaped side pods contribute towards gaining that ever sought after ‘unfair advantage’

Those yellow side walled P Zeros might represent a needed ‘check’, and necessary ‘balance’ on teams with superior R&D.

Fortuna Ferrari

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 21:24:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso’s fast in an F1 car. Regardless of whatever else one may deduce from the young man’s character that fact remains constant. The 29 year old temperamental Spaniard’s speed in a Ferrari, and his indomitable Latin spirit is definitely delivering results, despite the occasional hiccup; albeit, with explicit help from illegal team orders. When all goes well Alonso’s speed is undeniable. With a Ferrari car, and team that seems to in pursuit of this year’s Championship with the zeal of an Italian renaissance sculptor, Alonso keeps bouncing back from the edge. This weekend at Monza, as if by design Alonso and Ferrari are on pole leading into the fourteenth race of the season in Ferrari’s backyard. Alonso qualified ahead of Jenson Button and Filipe Massa, Scuderia Ferrari’s very own ‘Step Child’.

It’s been a good week for Ferrari. However, the legendary Italian F1 team’s good fortune had begun earlier this week. Despite feigned and genuine outcry over Ferrari’s overt use of team orders at the German Grand Prix, in direct conflict of article 39.1 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations, no further punishment was meted out to Ferrari in Paris by the World Motor Sport Council on the 8^th of September. The original $100,000 fine that had been imposed by the Race Stewards at Hokenheim was upheld and a review of article 39.1 is in the works.

The truth as I see it is this, the current rule regarding team orders couldn’t be any clearer. The question is whether the prohibition of these so called team orders was being observed by all teams or being surreptitiously ignored...by all teams. One could justifiably assume that Ferrari came out fighting and turned the argument on its head, luckily forcing the motor sport business establishment to question its own clear cut rules. Ferrari’s competitors, both Red Bull Racing and Mclaren had probably been hoping for some punitive action such as a point’s deduction, but the chances of that were rather slim. Lady Luck is riding with Ferrari right now, but then again Alonso might not like her company because ‘there can only be one’.

Raikkonen Keeps Learning and Pushing In The WRC.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:25:00 +0000

Here's another promo video put out by former Formula One Champion turned Rally Pilot Kimi Raikkonen. It was posted on Raikkonen's website (KIMIRAIKKONEN.COM) featuring the teams prep for the recent Bulgarian (asphalt stage) of the WRC. Raikkonen crashed out again still remains a favourite amongst rally fans. The next stage of the Rally championship moves on to Kimi's backyard in Finland aka 'the land of a thousand lakes', a popular favourite rally stage amongst rally fans for its great jumps and fanatical fans. Lets Hope that all the Finns who don't seem to be able to cope with Sebastien Loeb's pace at present can summon up some that Finnish "Sisu" and get the WRC competitive.

Lewis & Jenson, one car, no team -- Vodafone ad

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:33:00 +0000

The Mclaren and Vodaphone publicity machine are beginning to push and take advantage of the perception of harmony amongst the number one and two F1 Drivers at Woking. It's makes a startling difference to the days of Hamilton and Alonso, and it's actually quite good to see. Why? because rightly or wrongly this ad by Vodaphone manages to provide a true atmosphere of amicable partnership running through the whole Mclaren team. It demonstrates a reliance albeit through satire, of these top Drivers on the Mclaren technical team which in the past has hardly gone beyond lip-service.

In addition, it puts out a taunt to those less harmonious high profile teams competing on the track like Red Bull who must still be sore at each other after Turkey, Scuderia Ferrari who seem to have demonstrably relegated Filipe Massa to perennial wing man to Alonso, and the Mercedes German Silver Arrows team of Schumacher and Rosberg.

It's more than a simple ad, it's a mind game. It works as a combined show of harmony and force through Mclaren's new found confidence and momentum. It might just secure both the Driver and Manufacturing Championship for Mclaren this year.

BP’s Oil Leak Could Pollute Its Motorsport Sponsorship

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:50:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Everybody in America and The United Kingdom should be aware of the catastrophe that looms in the Gulf of Mexico, due to an unrelenting oil leak over the past two months. At the centre of this oily mess is a reputable British Company BP (British Petroleum) who, until this very public disaster, had been trying to promote clean energy within the remit of off shore drilling and oil production business.

The potential disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has moved from being just another spill to an ominous threat to Obama’s Presidency. Furthermore, the future pension payouts in the UK are in jeopardy as the extent of BP in the UK economy is revelled to run very deep. It’s suggested that every £1 in 10 from a pension payout depends on the success of BP.

The fallout has spread from the ecological, to the political and economic, with a social dimension to boot, as residents of Louisiana find their way of life about to be changed for many years to come. The White House has made a conscientious decision to apply visible political pressure on BP, while BP shares have fallen sharply over the past week. BP still has bucket loads of money in profit, but that bucket has seen a sizable loss in both political and financial weight. While BP continues to capture about 630000 gallons a day, the wellhead leak which is approximately 5000 feet beneath the water is spilling around hundreds of thousands more into the Gulf.

At present, BP’s reputation will only be fixed by a complete fixing of the leak and payment in compensation to those affected. The latter point means emergence of that dreaded class of opportunistic people so essential to the American way of life, Lawyers.

According to reports in the UK, clean up costs are now in the region of 1.1 billion Pounds Sterling. Within this context of costs, the BP board recently made a decision to suspend its hefty dividend payout to shareholders prompting another fall in share prices by 10%. All this could mean enormous cost to BP, in addition to covering costs of stringent safety regulations bound to be implemented as a result of the leak. It seems highly likely that BP shareholders and Board will consolidate and cut sponsorship funding for motorsports amongst other things.

The flip side of that coin is whether Motorsport Teams, who in the past would have jumped at chance of sponsorship by a big multinational like BP, won’t be a little more restrained in their association with a company that is being damned globally as a big time planet polluter. The most visible benefactor of BP on the international stage is the Ford BP Abu Dhabi Team in the World Rally Championship. In the past BP has been involved with the Dakar Volkswagen Team and Ferrari Racing.

Audi Motorsport Win Important Battle in Diesel Wars.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:48:00 +0000

Charles Oladeji.

The long awaited test of the Audi’s R15 Plus at the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours race took place last weekend with Audi, to the surprise of many observers shutting Peugeot’s powerful 908 HDi’s out of top 3 positions. Audi’s success at this level of endurance racing is not so much a surprise having won the race eight times previously. However, what seemed most intriguing is how Dr Ullrich’s team managed to overwhelm the seemingly dominant diesel powered Peugeots, who had hitherto appeared unstoppable.

The initial impression given was that Peugeot would once again win in the battle of the big diesel engines at this Le Mans, having gained momentum over the season and having dominated qualifying. The French had all four LMP class at the top of the grid.

Audi Motorsport team and Team Boss Dr Wolfgang Ullrich must draw maximum satisfaction from this win at the Le Mans 8.4 Mile circuit, having completely shut the HDi’s out from any podium positions.

Prior to this race, the R15 Plus had lost its first real test against Peugeot at Spa Francochamp. The Audi R15 of Rockenfeller, Bernhard and Dumas won Le Mans 24 hours with 397 laps followed by Lotterer, Fassler , Truluyer and Kristensen, Capello , McNish for Audi Sport Team Joest with 396 and 394 laps respectively

Lewis leads Formula One Championship.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:33:00 +0000

Charles Oladeji.

After what might have appeared as an almost impossible task at the beginning of this season, Mclaren has undoubtedly started assert its technical superiority over Chris Honer’s Red Bull team. Following on from an eventful race in Turkey where the two Red Bull cars collided under pressure, and then the Mclaren number one and number two car had the team and supporters tearing their hair out for a few mad seconds, the Canadian Grand Prix was a welcome fix for fans whose appetite has been wet.

Lewis Hamilton who snatched pole during a qualify race that seemed just as breath taking as the actual race, managed to provide fans with another great performance in the art of competitive racing, while the smooth and savvy current World Champion, Jenson Button followed his team mate across the line, in another 1-2 finish.

With this win, Lewis has unexpectedly leap-frogged both Mark Weber and Jenson Button to lead the Championship with 109 points. Jenson Button follows close in the chase with 106 points while Mark Webber has 103. It’s also worth noting that Weber was penalised and moved down to 7^th on the grid despite qualifying in 2^nd place on Saturday.

A second ‘1-2 finish’ in two weeks means that Mclaren continues to move in the right direction in regards to clinching the Manufacturers Championship having now established a solid lead of 22 points over RBR Renault. As the season schedule moves races back to Europe, Ferrari and Fernando Alonso will also be keen to build on the progress they have made with car by making it more competitive at Montreal. However, it’s worth noting that although Valencia is Alonso’s backyard, he has not had great success on the street circuit which some have referred to as a ‘Mock Monaco’ circuit.

The April Review.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:31:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

WRC, MotoGP, Formula One, BTCC.

April was dominated by the appearance of volcanic ash thrown up in Iceland which led to air travel all over Europe and around the world being affected by severe delays and cancellations. Many aspects of Motorsports logistical preparations in particular were affected; furthermore, this might continue to be the case in future as nature shows us all who’s the boss on this planet. This article is symbolically late to demonstrate the delays suffered by all travellers.

There have been many adventure anecdotes of the struggles by motorsports crews moving to and fro races; my favourite being the 70 hour coach journey the Ford BP Team embarked on to get back to Britain after the World Rally Championship (WRC) Turkey Stage. Ironically, prior to that exhausting endurance test, the team had dreaded in anticipation the 24 hours it usually takes to get to New Zealand which is the fifth stage of the 2010 WRC scheduled for 7-9 May. The journey from Turkey must have put that travel preparation in another light. However, with the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano still throwing up ash up north, and subsequently grounding airplanes in N. Ireland and Scotland as recent as this afternoon, there are no guarantees for any of Europe’s motorsport crews making any of the scheduled events around the world in the near future.

During the Turkish WRC (16-18 April) Sebastien Loeb and Citroen continue to move away from Mikko Hirvonen, Ford BP and the initial promise of a believable pretender to the WRC crown. Hirvonen has failed to measure up to the brilliance of Loeb since the 2010 inaugural race in Sweden which he (Hirvonen) won. Thus, with Loeb winning in Turkey, after a winning the Mexico and Jordan Stages, he has a substantial lead of 41 points over Hirvonen. On the other hand, new Privateer Racer, and Former WRC Champion Petter Solberg has continued to grow stronger during the rally competition and is currently in 2^nd place, albeit just one point above Hirvonen on the Drivers Championship Table.

Taking a different perspective on BP Ford, it’ll be interesting to see if the current oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico which has splattered BP (British Petroleum)’s hitherto carefully manicured public image with sludge, will also rub on to the Ford BP team in the WRC should things get worse for the environment. A week prior to the WRC race in Turkey, MotoGP retuned for the 2010 season at Qatar with those familiar faces that have dominated the top end of the sport for a number of years including Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo, Hayden, Devisioso, alongside newcomer Ben Spies.

Last year I wrote a short article about the Medias fascination with Ben Spies going into MotoGP which I found slightly over the top considering all the talented riders that already occupy the 800cc grid. I especially drew a bit of criticism for suggesting during the article that Valentino Rossi wasn’t just the MotoGP equivalent of the old Michael Schumacher but, was also ‘very lucky’. I had to endure some minor abuse, the argument against me being, how dare I call Rossi ‘lucky’. Well, despite the mild opprobrium of some commentators levelled against me, I stand by my comment, especially after watching Casey Stoner bewilderingly fall off his Ducati bike in Qatar and surrender the lead to Valentino Rossi on the fifth lap. It was a complete shocker that saw the return of normal service with Rossi winning the race with a heavy dose of good fortune.

This article was written after Jorge Lorenzo had won the MotoGP race in Spain (2 May) with Rossi coming in 2^nd and Stoner 5^th. The race in Spain served as a second season race due to the postponement of the originally scheduled 2^nd MotoGP race set for Motegi Japan , now moved up to October 3rd.

Briefly, it’s fair to say that Ben Spies (Yamaha) has performed rather well thus far; he’s currently on 11 points with Stoner (Ducati) and Melandri (Honda). Lorenzo’s recent win in Spain means he now leads the points with 45 with his esteemed team mate Rossi has 41.

This weekend Formula One returns to Europe having been mildly affected by the travel chaos leading up to the Chinese Grand Prix (16-18 April). With Jenson Button winning again in China due to a steady race, and Lewis Hamilton emulating a Demon Driver to gain 2^nd in China, the McLaren duo appear to be the team to beat right now not Red Bull or Ferrari. That could all change of course.

On the other hand, commentators have become more vociferous in their criticism of Michael Schumacher at Mercedes GP. Life has become difficult for the German maestro, with the surprising determination and competitiveness of his team mate Nico Rosberg in the same car set up. With Rosberg competing at the top at the grid, the lack of competitiveness from Schumacher can only be as a result of Schumacher lacking the ability to compete. Jenson Button now leads the Championship table with 60 points, while Rosberg has 50 in second. 2010 season continues to fascinate fans barring the inaugural race at Bahrain.

Yet, despite thoroughly enjoying this F1 season thus far, there’s been enormous excitement to my mind at a British national level with the arrival 2010 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in April.

The withdrawal of a prominent player (Vauxhall Racing) in 2009 has had less impact than probably expected. The 2008 BTCC Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi who lost his seat with the withdrawal of Vauxhall secured a last minute drive with Triple Eight Racing, only to lose it soon afterwards.

Ironically Giovanardi won a double victory at the opening rounds at Thruxton (4^th April), but could not continue into the next rounds at Rockingham (25 April) having failed to secure much needed sponsorship. He joins the plight of Colin Turkington, the 2009 BTCC Champion unable to defend his title as his West Surrey Racing team sponsors (RAC) decided to scale down its involvement. With Turkington and Giovarnadi out, in came former Renault Clio 2009 Champion Phil Glew who has generated some excitement alongside vets Jason Plato and Matt Jackson. James Nash formerly of RML will replace Giovanardi at Triple Eight. Both Plato and Jackson current lead the Championship on 67 points each after the recent 3 rounds at Brands Hatch.

Stay tuned for the May Review including the venerated Monaco GP, ADAC Nurburgring 24hrs, the Isle of Man Time Trial (IOMTT) and WSK in Italy and South Africa.

Japanese MotoGP Postponed Due To Volcanic Ash.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:16:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

The fallout from Iceland’s’ Eyjafjallajoekull Volcamo continues to wreck havoc to the travel plans of individual s, and upset business schedules of planned events having very far reaching consequences. The latest event to fall victim to the threat of volcanic ash thrown into the air from Europe’s northern outpost is the second MotoGP event of the 2010 season initially set to place between the 24^th and 25^th of this month in Tokyo.

On Monday, The operators of the TwinRing Motegi Race Circuit Mobilityland Corporation announced that flight chaos has caused the race to be postponed form this Sunday to October 3^rd. Company President Hitoshi Oshima said "although the situation is beyond our control, we sincerely apologise to fans who have been eagerly waiting for the world's top-level race." The push back of this week’s MotoGP event to October means it will get sandwich squeezed in between scheduled events set for Spain and Malaysia.

Thus far approximately 6 million passengers have had their travel plans pushed back due to volcanic ash over Europe including Formula One teams struck in China after a fabulous race this weekend. The cost in Britain has been suggested to be in the region of 130 million pounds per day. However, in Britain restriction are set to remain in place till at least 13.00hrs on Tuesday.

Loeb Wins In Turkey While Solberg Keeps Going Strong.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:17:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Sebastien Loeb won seven stages of the Turkish World Rally Championship to come out on top overall with a total time of 2:29:14.0 in Istanbul. This means that the Citroen Total team continue to move further away from the BP Ford, with Loeb further establishing his dominance in the WRC despite promises of a more sturdy challenge from Mikko Hirvonen.

Hirvonen had seemed up for a hard battle leading into the 2010 season winning an exhibition run with the International Rally Challenge (IRC) at Monte Carlo with a fantastic looking S2000 Ford Fiesta in January, and then winning the 2010 inaugural rally of Sweden for BP Ford a month later. However, since the second stage in Mexico, Hirvonens’ team mate and fellow Finnish Driver Jari-Matti Latvala has gained more prominence. Latvala has continued to gain points while Hirvonen continues to slightly drop down the pecking order.

Nevertheless being Finnish, both Drivers can always call on ‘Sisu’ (a Finnish term often referenced by Finnish WRC Drivers loosely interpreted as ‘strength of will’). The other popular Finn and fans favourite Kimi Raikkonen continues his on WRC learning curve this season setting his best (top ten) times on every stage in Turkey. He’s in 10^th position overall.

Privateer and former WRC Champion Norwegian Petter Solberg seems to be getting stronger with every round after a difficult start to his 2010 season in the Swedish snow. In the aftermath of gravel and asphalt rallying over 23 special stages in Turkey, Solberg is currently in second place 54.5secs behind Loeb with his 2007 spec Citroen, an astonishing and commendable achievement. Hirvonen is in third 1:43.4 secs behind the top French man.

Loeb who recently decided not to participate in the Le Mans 24hrs for his family reasons seems unstoppable at the moment completing his 57^th win in the WRC. After the fourth round in Turkey Loeb has 93 points, Solberg in second has 53 while Hirvonen has a lot of catching up to do if he intends to win this season having accumulated 52 points. Citroen Total now has 126 points to BP Fords’ 111 in the Manufacturers Championship.

Next stage of the WRC moves on to New Zealand 7-9 of May Volcano permitting of course.

McLaren 1-2 Puts Jenson Button on top.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:32:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

McLaren now lead both the Driver and Constructors Championship tables in F1 after an exhaustively wet and tense race in Shanghai in which tire maintenance and tire degradation played an absolute pivotal role.

Jenson Button proved once again that he could hold his nerve while others lost theirs, choosing a risky but ultimately correct strategy of changing tires later than the rest of the field for the second time. His ability to manage his tires might just prove to be the edge he has over his McLaren team mate. The choice was a good one and was reward with a podium win for the second time in a row with a time of 1:46:42.163. If Jenson Button is indeed making these key strategic calls to win the races in the McLaren Team, then he may indeed be, as Eddie Jordan put it ‘the greatest asset they’ve got’.

Yet, Racer of the day in my humble opinion once again goes to Buttons’ team mate Lewis Hamilton who came in with a time of 1:46:43.693, behind Jenson having changed tires four times compared to Buttons’ two times in the pits. Despite the dark cloud of Lewis possibly having to face the Race Stewards for bumping Vettel in the Pits during the Shanghai race, the excitement that Hamilton is delivering almost single-handedly continues to make all the difference to the 2010 season.

The Red Bull Team of Sebastian Vettal and Mark Webber will probably be trying to forget another lost opportunity to lead from the front in both Driver and Constructers Championship. After seeming almost invincible yet again in qualifying both Vettal and Webber were caught out by tire strategy which seemed to try and pre-empt all weather conditions, thus, coming up short with additional technical difficulties hampering the teams overall progress. Vettel finished in 6^th while Webber finished in 8^th behind Renault new boy Russian Vitaly Petrov. Renaults’ number one Driver Robert Kubica once again finished towards the top of the grid in 5^th .

As for Ferrari who won the inaugural 2010 (less than impressive) race in Bahrain, the Shanghai GP was a mix of the good, the bad, and super-ugly. The ‘good’ meaning Fernando Alonso ultimately finishing in forth thanks to the Safety Car allowing him to catch up after the ‘bad’ start that saw Alonso jump the lights and having to serve Pit-stop penalty. The ‘ugly’ part of that Ferrari team combination , saw Alonso pull ‘a winners takes all’ overtaking manoeuvre on his team mate Filipe Massa, as both moved into the pits. It appeared such a blatant act of disrespect towards Massa (and the spirit of fair play) that I was reminded of what Lewis Hamilton said whilst commenting on the Alonso-Massa combination before the first race in Bahrain when he said ‘I think, Filipe has got his hands full there’.

Jenson Button now leads the Drivers Championship with 60 points, leading Nico Rosberg who finished second in Shanghai for Mercedes GP by 10 points. (The Great Schumacher could only manage a point in this race). Fernando Alonso is 3^rd , with Lewis steadily climbing up the table into forth with 49 points. This means that McLaren now lead the Constructors’ Table with 109 points with Ferrari in second with 90 and the erratic Red Bull Team in third with 73 points. F1 returns to Europe May 7^th, barring future travel disruption brought on by that Volcano up North.

Vettel Delivers for Red Bull on Third Attempt.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 11:04:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji

Sebastian Vettel has won the Malaysian GP third 2010 Formula One race with a time of 1.33.48s, after being the favourite in two previous races (Bahrain and Australia) in which he failed to deliver a podium position for Red Bull. On this occasion the Red Bull Driver once again proved that he is a dominant force in a race where he audaciously snatched pole position off his team mate Mark Webber on the first lap at Kuala Lumpur.

Webber , favourite after a daring qualifying lap that had him sitting on pole Saturday, came in 2nd behind Vettel making it a Red Bull 1-2. Nico Rosburg of Mercedes GP came in third while the fans favourite German Driver (aside from Vettel), Michael Schumacher failed to finish the race retiring earlier on. Robert Kubica in Renault was close to the top again finishing behind Nico Rosburg in 4th. Rain had been expected but unusually for Kuala Lumpur did not fall.

Astonishingly Fernando Alonso blew out on the last lap in a last ditch attempt to pass Jenson Button for 8th position. The Ferrari ace had been experiencing mechanical difficulties which had impeded his natural aggressive racing style. The McLarens team of Button and Lewis were able to move up the track after starting at the back of the grid in 17th and 20th position, with Lewis starting behind Button and pulling out another good performance while Button kept it steady all the way. Lewis finished in 6th passing eight cars and once again putting on a great driving performance; while Button who was passed by Massa’s Ferrari held off Alonso’s last ditch attack and brought his car in 8th. Button later confessed to have probably adopted the wrong tire strategy starting off on soft compound tires and pitting very early.

The outcome of this Malaysian GP race, which saw Vettel dominating from start to finish had been expected in the two previous races based on Vettels’ natural talent and the Red Bulls’ pace during qualifying, but mechanical problems had set Vettel and Red Bull back. There’s no denying Vettels’ natural talent but the cars had been slightly unreliable and fragile and criticised as being so.

The Malaysian race put Red Bull and Christian Horner back in the mix. More importantly Red Bull is back in contention for the Championship. The pace of the Red Bull cars is such that both team mates were racing against each other up front for a short period with Vettel winning out.

With Felipe Massa passing Jenson Button during the race and subsequently finishing in 7th place, he moves above hitherto championship leader Fernando Alonso by two with 39 points. Alonso and Vettel are locked in 2nd and 3rd respectively with 37 points each while current Champion Jenson Button with 35 points remains above his demon-driver-team-mate Hamilton Lewis. Nico Rosberg also has 35 points while Lewis has 31 and is in 6th overall behind Button in 5th and Rosberg in 6th.

The March Review.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:46:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

Formula One, Nascar, IndyCar, American Le Mans Series.

March proved to be the month which most European based motorsports enthusiasts and commentators gasping and salivating at the prospects of high octane racing would get tangled up in the highs and lows of cutting edge motor racing, as the Formula One season began 12-14 March in Bahrain. There’s hardly any point in further boring you with the many various dimensions that have been over-analysed to exhaustion regarding the new team set up of Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren; however what took many aback at Bahrain was Red Bull and Sebastian Vettels’ ability to qualify at a speed that even alarmed maestro Michael Schumacher.

Thus, the 2010 Formula One season began under new rules banning refuelling during races, contributing to much heavier cars gracing the arid difficult track at Sakhir. The combination of heavy cars and high desert temperatures made for a tentative race in order to ensure reduced tyre degradation. There was no overtaking or dogfight. The more experienced outfits adjusted strategies accordingly, while the new teams found the combination a bit too demanding and came up short.

The Lotus Teams’ high profile Principal Tony Fernandes hailed the Lotus T127’s participation at Bahrain with pilots Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen a success by way of simply finishing the race, while others (Hispania and Virgin Racing in particular) failed to make any impact. Hispania Racings’ Driver Karun Chandhok seemed perpetually frustrated at his lack of practice time in the car due to mechanically adjustments that needed to be made. On race day he completed two laps after a very long gruelling weekend.

At the other spectrum, despite allusions to Christain Horners’ Red Bull Team being a game changer with Sebastian Vettels’ phenomenal qualifying speed, the race proved too much for the premier Red Bull car and Vettel was forced to fall back from pole to forth as the race progressed. Fernando Alonso followed by Philippe Massa (Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (Mclaren) passed Vettel accordingly. The reason why Vettel had to fall back has been subject to various rumours and technical theories.

Alonso won his first race for Ferrari in Bahrain to much singular applause from Ferrari fans. By the race’s end one fact remained amongst those afore mentioned gasping and salivating enthusiast and commentators, the Bahrain race had failed to quench their thirst or satisfy their hunger.

It seemed like everyone and Lewis Hamilton’s momma, claimed that the Bahrain race had been boring. The only dissenting opinions were expressed by the Bahrain race victor and the German Maestro, who said “if you think Formula One is boring, watch something else”. Former Mclaren Driver and current BBC Formula One Pundit David Coulthard held everyone’s favourite scapegoat former FiA President Max Mosley culpable for leaving a legacy of soporific Formula One racing. But, that was about to change in Australia.

The Australian GP 26-28 March, and things couldn’t have been more different to Bahrain. However, like last year, Lewis Hamilton was caught in much published controversy off the track, for a tire burn out in his private C 63 AMG £90,000 Mercedes at a public road junction. Apparently if you do that in Australia, you get your car impounded under Aussie Anti-Hoon Laws.

The one constant was Vettel again blowing away the competition in qualifying, then falling short during the actual race. On this occasion the Red Bull Car blowing out on the 27^th lap, handing the lead to Jenson Button in the No 1 McLaren. The Australian GP was won by Jenson Button due to a good, (albeit lucky) call (made by Button) to change to slick tires earlier than others. The race was phenomenal with both Brits at the front and centre of the action. With Australia delivering a universally acknowledge epic race as opposed to soporific, will David Coulthard attribute one of the best races in recent history to Mosley’s legacy as well?

The award for race intensity definitely goes to Lewis who had the drive of his life wrecked by a bad strategy call, and Mark Webber. The C63 AMG Lewis broke Aussie law in has been in demand by buyers with numerous offers. With all the drama around Lewis over the past two years in Australia I won’t be surprise if he eventually manages to put together an Aussie anti-hero cult following, similar to NASCAR’s Brad Keselowski in the U.S.

Over in the US the world of NASCAR was set alight by Carl Edwards exacting revenge on Brad Keselowski during the Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta (7 March). To expressed horror of NASCAR Officials, with just 4 laps remaining of the 341, Edwards pursued Keselowski in the number 12 car, tapped him in the right spot and sent him airborne close to a fans stand. The fallout and punitive action taken against Edwards was a 3 race probation and no fine. Hardly a case of the punishment fitting the crime, but I suppose Keselowski’s history of ‘breaking bad’ including Denny Hemlin’s highly published retaliation against him at the back end of the Nationwide NASCAR Series last year was taken into consideration. The Edwards-Keselowski drama overshadowed the Atlanta race ultimately won by Kurt Busch who is a Keselowski team mate at Penske Racing.

Two weeks later Jimmie Johnson was back in the news winning The Food City 500 in Bristol. This victory marked a personal breakthrough for the Hendricks Motorsport and 2009 Cup Champion, as Bristol was one of only six circuits Johnson has not won after numerous attempts. The Goody Fast Pain Relief (29 March) was pushed back from the 28^th (Sunday) due to rain. The race was subsequently won by Denny Hemlin. Jimmie Johnson is at the forefront of the Cup race with 898 points with the next race at Phoenix Arizona scheduled for 10 April.

Rain also affected the second scheduled race of the 2010 Izod IndyCar season at one of my favourite street circuits, St Petersburg, Florida. The race got pushed back to 29^th from the 28^th March. Will Power won the ST Pete Honda GP race on Monday, to build on his March 14 return to IndyCar at the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 season opener.

Will power returns to racing with Penske after breaking his back in four places in 2009 and seems to go from strength to strength, while last year’s Champion Dario Franchitti seems to be struggling in the early stages of the season. The Sao Paolo season opener which coincided with the Bahrain F1 race was hailed as a success by organisers despite having to make overnight repair work to the street track following vociferous complaints from Drivers. The event attracted approximately 46,000 spectators in Sao Paolo surpassing the 40,000 that had been expected. Will Power leads with 103 points going into the Indy GP of Alabama April 11. March was essentially a Danica Patrick free month but if you’re interested she’s in 10th with 41 points.

Lastly, there’s the great road racers of the ALMS (American Le Mans Series) season opener with the 58^thAnnual Mobil 1 (Fresh from Florida) 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Tequila Patron (17-20 March).

With 17 turns, high speeds, and Thirty five aesthetically pleasing cars, there is no denying that the ALMS is nothing short of spectacular to the average motorsports fan. The 12 Hours of Sebring is essentially venerated as part of the tradition of American road racing and it golden era of Can Am, Trans Am, GTP Racing and Mark Donohue. Indeed, I own an episode of the Surf Side 6 series called Spinout at Sebring first aired in May 1961 because it features a Sebring endurance racing. However, at Sebring in 2010, the 12 hour race outcome was somewhat predetermined by the Audi R15 Plus not taking part, hence leaving the field wide open for the Peugeot 908 HDI’s in the LMP 1 class.

By the ninth hour Peugeot supremacy in LMP1 had been established. Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene outclassed all the other competition including Drayson Racing who came in 12^th overall and 4^th in the LMP1 class. Dyson Racing and Mazda in LMP2 added to the plethora of alternative fuels in the ALMS by using IMSA approved Isobutanol (iBE20). Other alternative fuels currently being used in the ALMS include E10, E85 and hybrid electric powered cars. Mazda’s adoption of yet another fuel alternative is understandable, I have written in the past of Mazda’s efforts in road racing as a pillar of motorsport.

The FiA may have launched a GT1 series in Paris on last day of February this year but the Automobile Club de L’Quest (ACO) has seen the GT1 class fizzle out. With the absence of a GT1 category in ALMS, a lot was expected of the GT2 class this year. Furthermore, a lot was expected of seven time GT1 Sebring winner ‘Corvette Racing’ by Corvette fans in the GT2 class. What wasn’t expected was the spectacle of two Corvettes colliding together in the pits. Watching the collision again on video, it’s a small miracle no one was seriously injured. The collision ruined Corvette Racings chances of an eighth win at Sebring, allowing Houston based Risi Competizione’s Ferrari F430 GTC to win the class and came in 6th overall.

The ALMS moves on to Long Beach on April 17 and MotoGP kicks off April 10 in Qatar, watch out for the April Review.

The February Review.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:51:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

With less than two weeks before the 2010 Formula One season gets under way in Bahrain, final tests continued this weekend in Spain. Februarys’ F1 testing started in Valencia moved on to Jerez and finally Barcelona. Despite some bad weather in Spain ( also affecting the America’s Cup in Valencia), just about every Driver worth noticing had some positive time on the track. Alonso, Button, and Kobayashi (Sauber) posting fast laps at one time or another came as no surprise. Nonetheless, professional, technical, amateur and geek commentators have been keeping scores and disseminating the information to an audience eager for the games to begin between the 12^th -14^th of March at Sakhir. The tests are mostly a publicity stunt. Since the cars will be carrying heavier fuel loads in actual competitive grand prix races, these tests reveal little. That is, unless the PR goes horribly wrong, as it did with Virgin Racing.

First, the launch of the VR-01 developed by brainy Nick Wirth’s Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) suffered a PR set back when it’s online launch crashed, after which Virgin Racing Driver Lucas Di Grassi crashed the car during testing on Thursday at Barcalona. Furthermore, there are some pace issues linked to the cars hydraulics, and the official statement is the car is being “debugged”. Being a fan of Nick Wirths’ work in ALMS, and his influence on yacht racing design by CFD, I had hoped Wirth Research would prove the doubters wrong; but the real test will be on the track in Bahrain.

I noticed Formula One commentators who usually ‘know it all’ have been hesitant to endorse any Driver they consider a cut above the rest. The field this year has a lot of oomph, with the inclusion Schumacher, Hulkenburg and Kobayashi added to Button, Vettel, Alonso, Massa and Hamilton. Such is the level of ambiguity amongst experts that the latest Autosports Magazine (UK) dated Feb 25^th has Robert Kubica and Renault up on the front cover as ‘ F1 2010’s Dark Horse’.

Yeah. Right.

Off the testing race track Ferrari.com launched a sideswipe attack on Max Mosley, Stefan GP and all new teams engaged in an uphill struggle for grid positions on the 2010 season. While Virgin CEO Richard Branson called Ferrari comments ‘sad’, Mosley hit back saying Ferrari was acting like a ‘jealous middle aged woman’. Mosley knows exactly what buttons to press. I’m with Mosley on this one, but not so much with Stefan GP. I can’t help but feel there’s an ulterior motive involved when it comes to Zoran Stefanovich. I could be very wrong.

Leaving the royal court of F1, the beginning of February brought forth the World Rally Championship (WRC), opening in my wife’s’ backyard, Sweden. The Swedish Snow Rally was always an ambition of mine, so imagine my torment realising I wouldn’t make it Karlstad after all. There’s always next year I suppose, Colin’s (Mcrae) Crest will just have to wait. As for the racing, last year’s second best Diver Mikko Hirvonen returned to the championship in 2010 with a vengeance.

Hirvonen flat out took no prisoners, beating current world champion Sebastien Loeb by 42.3 sec, forcing Loeb to conscientiously settle for second place. Since his multi crashes last season Loeb he lives to fight another day. The Citroen Team of Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo are fired up and vowing to recover from the Swedish set back come the next stage in Mexico. All the while, this year’s WRC sensation, former F1 Driver Kimi Raikkonen, debuting for the Citroen Junior Team is end the Swedish rally in 30^th position, 37mins behind Hirvonen, having crashed out earlier on SS10.

Last year, the exciting news of Iceman Raikkonen participating in the WRC was complemented further by the announcement that American Gymkhana Video giant Ken Block would be joining the WRC in a Ford Fiesta. Yesterday, (27^th of Feb) Block won the second stage of Rally America (100 Acre Wood) up in Washington State USA. The Acre Wood Rally was a WRC Rally between 1983-86 when Group B cars ruled the championship. Block will make his 2010 WRC debut 5-7 March in Corona Mexico.

Unfortunately, Rally America means little to the generic American Motorsportsports fan. After the fun and games of the Budweiser Shootout with Danica Patrick dominating racing news for just ‘being Danica Patrick’, what most American fans were waiting for on Valentine’s Day was ‘The Great American Race’, The Daytona 500. It was the start of NASCAR 2010 season; and the promise of more glimpses of Danica.

In reality, Danica Patrick did little more during the race than Sarah Palin did in the stands as a high profile spectator. The NASCAR 2010 season began with a surprise win for Jamie McMurray at Daytona 500. With nearly three races into the season, Kevin Harvick leads 331 points going into the third race in the Sprint Cup, while Carl Edwards leads by 335 points in the Nationwide Series. Kevin Harvick won the Sam Towns 300 race in Las Vegas yesterday (Nationwide Series) but remains 116 points behind Edwards.

As I write this piece the current NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson seems to be edging his way back to the top , winning the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 400 after winning the Auto Club 500 last weekend. That leaves Johnson and Hendrick Motorsport just 78 points behind Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress Racing.

Leaving American motorsports, and looking ‘Down Under’ at more stockier Stock Cars from Australia, the V8 Supercars Series got under way in Yas Marina Abu Dhabi with two night races, much to the chagrin of many Aussie race traditionalist who disagree with the break with tradition of holding the first race in Australia. Despite some muffled grumbles, V8 series boss Tony Cochrane has expressed his desire to see more overseas races take place in the future adding to New Zealand, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain by 2015.

On the track, having changed from Ford Falcon to Holden Commodore, Jamie Whincup has begun to dominate by winning all four races in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain thus far for his new TeamVodaphone outfit. The series moves back to Australia in Adelaide for the Clipsal 500, 11-14 March.

Lastly, for this review I’ve included the 33^rd America’s Cup (Sailing Regatta) which took place in Valencia four days after schedule between the 12^th and 14^thFebruary. The America’s cup won by USA 17 (BMW Oracle) by challenger from cup defender SNG represented by Alinghi 5 was a defining moment and raised questions about technology in relation to sailing skill in regatta races. The sophistication and technical influence of auto racing has found its way into sailing and thus divided opinion over what direction the America’s Cup should go in. Personally, I feel that the genie’s let out of the bottle in terms of how design and CDF influence sailing, USA-17 and it’s sail wing was a game changer. The good old days of racing regular monohulls, in the America’s Cup, are ending.

February brought forth a new day in ocean racing, even the Volvo Ocean Race may need to adopt more extreme sailing in future and move beyond 70 ft monohulls. Watch out for the March Review.

Ferrari Indulges A Horses Ass In Mosley Attack.

noreply@blogger.com (Leye K deji) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:51:00 +0000

By Charles Oladeji.

I admire Italians. I’ve worked with numerous Italians and found them equally passionate and petulant. Then there’s the undeniable sense of fashion, food and feistiness. Whenever I’ve engaged an Italian in a heated exchange they have stood their ground without seeking the convenience of a subliminal or slick racist jibe (and I’ve had many of those). Whilst in Italy I’ll never forget the sun setting on Tuscany, the golden texture of the landscape got me forever yearning to go back to Florence. However, there is also a darker side to the Italian psyche, and I’m not writing about the legendary ‘Cosa Nostra’.

Recently (22^nd Feb), a point of view titled 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' was expressed by a Ferrari associate called the “Horse Whisperer” on the Ferrari.com website. While one may tolerate many views as valid (up until a point) I feel on this occasion that this expressed 'point of view' is what 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham called “nonsense upon stilts”.

Because the article/opinion piece is attached to Ferrari.com this ridiculous piece has got a lot of media traction. It is horse manure. What hubris and lack of humility could have prompted this particular article, from a member of Ferrari is alarming. What was the aim? What was the point? WTF?

Indeed, the newly signed up Formula One team’s of 2010 are struggling. But, so are teams that have been around for a while such as Renault, who don’t have tolerance to continuously throw R&D money at a sport/hobby, ‘currently run by Bernie Ecclestones’ FOM and his private equity financiers CVC . Ferrari and Mclaren have that luxury, how do you spend so much money (and training) on KERS, and then decide not to use it if you don’t have money to burn? (Mark my words KERS will return in 2011).

The astronomical cost of running an F1 team is nothing to laugh at. BMW pulled out of F1, Toyota pulled out of F1, Honda pulled out of F1. These global and historically car companies have pulled out of F1 recently, yet, the CVC and FOM stays above it all. How?

They stay profitable because they (FOM and CVC) have the ability to exploit ‘Corporate Welfare’ induced through the visceral nationalism of countries in the Middle and Far East for their own benefit. Such is the pulling power of Formula One that the FOM and CVC stay profitable doing business with governments of China, UAE, Singapore and Bahrain using state finance to bring F1 to their countries. Ecclestone et al bank the profits and short change the actors.

So bearing that in mind, there is a slight element of truth when this pompous Ferrari fan lashes out and mentions Stefan GP (run by Zoran Stefanovich) who seem overly-determined to join F1 after taking up Toyota’s leftovers. Bernie Ecclestone is said to be in favour of Stefan GP gaining an 11^th hour entry into Formula One. And again, why? Because Stefan GP’s been promised financial backing the Serbian Government.

Ferrari’s fortune is tied to the whole corporatist edifice. Ferrari, prominent member /president of the FOTA, is part of that ‘Corporatist arrangement’, building a Ferrari World theme Park at Yas Marina Abu Dhabi. If Stefan GP is a vulture as Horse Whisperer suggests, then it’s equally fair to call out Ferrari as bloated hippo at best or a Shark at its worst. Either way it’s a lot more dangerous than its appearance would have us believe.

Small privateer teams like USF1, Campos, and Virgin that don’t have the financial clout of Ferrari, Mclaren, and Red Bull have invested their mind and souls in a dream. Then a writer for the Ferrari blog has the sheer audacity to start trampling on that dream with from a comfortable saddle on that hitherto lame horse? Who is this Horses Ass anyway?

It is convenient to label Max Mosley as the arch villain of the plot. He was never much liked anyway, or as I like to put it, ‘never truly appreciated’. Forget Ecclestone’s ‘Mosley for PM’ comments, his (Mosley’s) intentions in Formula One were good even if the solution was flawed. If in fact Mosley had engaged in ‘holy war’ as Horse Whisperer has suggested he would not have fell on his sword and fought to have a member of the corporatist Ferrari fraternity replace him in the person of French man Jean Todt. Todt is a Ferrari company man through and through who would ensure that Ari Vatinen’s radical changes never took place.

Talk about ingratitude.