Motorsport Update

After watching the Dutch TT last Saturday, a few things sprung to mind about motorsport and racetracks.

I would never argue that the conditions that bike racers put up with in the 60’s and 70’s were anything but sub-standard. Racing on circuits that made no effort with safety provisions and next to non-existent pay (unless you were a top rider with the gift of the gab, step forward Mr Sheene), is not a situation that one would want to return. However, progress, big business and professionalism isn’t always a good thing as we do appear to be in the middle of an era where the racetrack takes a poor second to grandiose pit buildings and hospitality suites. Racetracks have to be TV friendly, i.e. short with plenty of slow corners so sponsors logos can be seen and not much else going for them. Unfortunately many old tracks are following these developments and seem desperate to copy them, including Assen.

The Cathedral of racing

There are only two permanent racetracks in Holland: Assen and Zandvoort. Whilst the latter is regarded as one of Formula One’s great tracks, the former has hosted the Dutch TT as part of the Motorcycle World Championship since it’s beginning, held races since 1923 and is regarded as the ‘Cathedral of Racing’. Originally a loose triangle of local public roads, the track had two long road layouts before settling on a more permanent 5 mile (approx) arrangement in 1955.

The track consisted of local farm roads and featured lightly banked curves that helped maintain a bikes speed. As a result, the track was quite narrow, yet it retained the ‘crown’ of a normal public road and was ideal for bike racing. One interesting fact is that despite the changing layout of the track through the decades, the start/finish area remained the same, with riders lining up on the same grid that their predecessors lined up on back in the forties.

If you want to see Assen in it’s classic guise, click here to see local hero, ‘Jumping’ Jack Middelburg, take a well deserved victory at the 1980 Dutch TT. It is also interesting to note that the second place man is one Graziano Rossi, Valentino’s father, who was gaining a name for himself as fine rider before injury cut his career short. You’ll also notice that the Assen track was twice the length, with the full Northern loop in operation. Whilst a real challenge with some quick corners, it was no Nurburgring or Imatra (both on the calendar that year) in the danger stakes, with the latter requiring the bikes to wheelie over a railway crossing!!!

Watching the clip it was also interesting to see how Health and Safety hadn’t got to the Netherlands at that point. Crowds are closer to the track and there are trees and tractors on the infield (admittedly nowhere near where riders were likely to crash). As cars break for the Strubben hairpin you can see a pond, a car and a pile of people positioned inside! Not to mention a large pile of cigarette ends and crisp packets everywhere…

Modern day woe

Compared with this film, Assen 2009 seemed a far more clinical affair, despite a master-class from Valentino Rossi, fine weather and what looked like an incredibly drunk crowd. To say that the circuit has been emasculated in recent years is something of an understatement. This may be in the owners desire to attract more money and a Champ Car. Hire Hermann Tilke and to redesign your track and you will see fast stretches replaced by second gear complexes and challenging corners made easy.

As of 2006, the whole of the North Loop was discarded (a small amount was cut out in 1984) and a Tilke complex of slow bends were put in to replace it. The second half of development has yet to be completed: a museum about the Assen TT circuit, built on part of the Assen TT circuit!!! Just shows that some people get promoted higher than they should…

However, as this article from the MotoGP matters website shows, there are other problems that Assen faces in this hypocritical, money-only-matters age. With people like F1’s Bernie Ecclestone squeezing every last drop out of them in fees and cynical businesses biting the hand that feeds, race circuits don’t have a great time of things do they? Ok, that’s my rant over, I’ll go and quiver in the corner of a darkened room now.

Now for something slightly different…

By the way, it’s the US Grand Prix for MotoGP this weekend. Let’s hope for some more superb racing, like we saw last year!

Valentino Rossi made history on Saturday when he took his hundredth victory in the Dutch TT at Assen. After starting from pole, the Italian took the lead from teamate Jorge Lorenzo on the second lap and didn’t look back. Lorenzo finished in second place and 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner took third, but neither could catch the leader before the end of the race.

The US round of the MotoGP world championship will be held next weekend at Laguna Seca. The 125’s and 250’s will not be racing there.

Well, the details are sketchy to say the least, but it appears that the three protagonists (FIA, FOTA and Bernie) have come to a deal. All the FOTA teams have now signed up for the 2010 season and have called off their plans to run a breakaway championship. It also appears that Max Mosley has agreed to stand down as President of the FIA.

So what concessions has either side made? We’ll have to see…

Sebastien Vettel and Red Bull Racing hammered the opposition at the weekend and issued a strong challenge to championship leader, Jensen Button. The Englishman seemed to have problems with the Brawn car all weekend and could only manage sixth in both qualifying and the race. However, it was three more points on the board and Vettel will have to do more than that to overhaul Jensen’s current lead in the championship.

Yours truly was at the Grand Prix for all three days and can honestly say that Marc Webber and Seb Vettel were outstanding. The updates Red Bull implemented for the car seemed to be very much the icing on the cake and both drivers took full advantage. I was massively impressed with Marc Webber, who seems to be very much in form; the Australian was very unlucky to be caught behind Barrichello in the opening laps, stopping him from keeping his team mate honest. Seb Vettel is certainly living up to his early promise and was incredibly quick all weekend.

Elsewhere further down the field, Fernando Alonso had was having a bit of a race to forget. He overcooked it at Chapel, while under pressure from Lewis Hamilton, giving them both the opportunity to do some off-road driving. It must have been rather galling for the Spaniard to know that the winning car had the same engine as the one behind him.

As for Hamilton, despite ringing the neck of his McLaren in spectacular style, he could only finish a lowly 16th. However, in contrast to the rest of his season so far, the reigning world champion seemed to be in good spirits and giving it his all. It has been said many times that a home race can often lift a driver’s performance (Nigel Mansell was always pretty lethal at the British Grand Prix), so Lewis’s exuberance in a seriously slow car can be perfectly explained.

The William’s Nico Rosberg drove well finishing fifth with Phillipe Massa’s Ferrari just ahead of him, thanks to a good pitstop strategy by the team of the prancing horse. However both of them found themselves being chased down by Jensen Button in the closing stages, as the Englishman took advantage of his new soft tyres. Unfortunately for Jensen, he could not catch Rosberg in time before the fall of the chequered flag.

So, is the championship about to be blown wide open? Will Button be ruminating this on the flight to Nice airport? Car hire will probably be the only thing he’ll be thinking about, in order to get back to Monaco. This is because the Red Bull’s clear superiority on very fast race tracks will help at Spa and Monza, but the Brawns all-round stability, handling and pace will no doubt help them on tracks such as the Hungaroring, the Singapore street circuit and Suzuka. I can still see Jensen Button taking the championship this year, but Seb Vettel and Marc Webber are going to make it very tough for him indeed.

The entries for the 2010 Formula One World Championship have been announced today, with all the usual suspects signing up, along with some new blood. Five teams (Renault, Brawn, McLaren, BMW and Toyota) have submitted provisional entries and this has obviously annoyed the FIA. This is because they believe that the teams contractually committed themselves to the championship by signing with them and FOM in 2005. The teams on the other hand, are not happy about the budget cap and the racket that runs the sport etc.

So it looks like there will be another damaging battle for power, with neither side paying attention to what happens in the real world (Bent politics, global warming, recession) or to what happened in the aftermath of the CART/IRL split over ten years ago. So there they go rolling down the hill in their safe little bubble, towards the rocks below…

Yes kids, he won again. For the average Brit, this is fantastic news. For those of you who do not live in the land of Hope and Glory, you may not know that the country is going down tubes. In a very big way. The last twelve months has seen one disaster after another, with the current MP expenses scandal threatening to tear apart the Government and the British political process. So as you can imagine, if Jensen or Lewis get a win we’ll happily get our Union Jacks out.

It was a shame to see that the Turkish Grand Prix was so underattended, because the Istanbul track is probably the only new circuit from the planning office of Hermann Tilke that could be classed as a modern classic. Much is said of the multiple apex turn 8 (can’t they give it a proper name?), but there are several other points on the track that make an F1 car look spectacular such as the right-hand downhill sweep after the pits and the flat-out kink at the back of the circuit. It would be a shame if this race was dropped, but hey, my name isn’t Bernie.

Anyway, Jensen Button consolidated his lead in the world championship, taking his sixth win of the season. The only other driver to take a victory is Sebastien Vettel, who took the laurels in China earlier on in the year.  We may not be at the halfway point in the season yet, but it will be very difficult for anyone to over turn Button’s lead if the Englishman continues to finish in the points.

Rubens Barrichello continues to have a run of bad luck, with the anti-stall mechanism kicking in on the starting grid, leaving the rest of the field to swarm around him. The Brazilian bravely fought his way back up through the order, only to retire. This is obviously worrying for him, as Ferrari and Red Bull will breathing heavily down his neck at Silverstone and a good result, maybe even a win will help hold them off.

Lastly, a special mention for Marc Webber, who performed superbly to take second place in the race. at the beginning of the year, was assumed that Vettel would naturally take the No1 driver position, and Webber’s pre-season injury seemed to make this inevitable. However, the Aussie has matched him in every race and his late charge at Monaco was especially impressive, as he set successive fastest laps around the demanding street circuit.

And finally…

Valentino Rossi rode the Isle of Man circuit with motorcycle legend Giacomo Agostini and seemed to be enjoying every mile (while going rather quickly). TT king John McGuiness won the Superbike race and was presented with his trophy by Mr Rossi himself. Michael Dunlop carried on the family tradition by winning the Supersport race, leading all the way to come home 31 seconds ahead of Bruce Anstey.

So what’s been going on in the world of motorsport lately? Well, Jensen Button and the Brawn team are still leading the Formula One world championship after a dominant performance in Monaco two weeks ago. I bet the powers that be are glad that they did not implement the ‘medals’ rule, as Button would have nearly sewn the competition up by now.

Valentino Rossi is currently playing catch-up to his Spanish team mate Jorge Lorenzo, who is currently leading the MotoGP world championship. Casey Stoner won the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello after a thrilling two wheel battle that saw Rossi, Lorenzo, Stoner Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri all in contention.  Britains James Toseland put in a cracking performance, aided by cleverly stopping early to change his bike in drying conditions, to finish seventh.

It is also quite exciting to note that Oxfords Bradley Smith is leading the 125cc Motocycle World Championship after an excellent victory in the 125cc category at Mugello. Let’s hope he can keep things going and take the world championship. If he does, he will be the first British Motorcycle World Champion since Barry Sheene took his second world title in 1977.

Talking in of Motorcycle racing, it’s the big one this weekend, the Isle of Man TT. Probably the most famous motocycling race in the world, the TT will be inviting some of the worlds best road racers to take on the challenge of it’s tortuous 37.73 mile long mountain circuit. Even the world’s greatest motorbike racer, Valentino Rossi will be there to ride a demonsration lap in his grand prix Yamaha! I don’t know about you, but I’d love to see him take part, just like Agostini (who will be there also this weekend), Read and Hailwood used to do. Fantasy aside, John McGuiness looks like he will take the honours again this year in the senior race, however watch out for Michael Dunlop and Cameron Donald.

Finally, keep an eye out this weekend for the next installment in the F1 FIA/FOTA show down. Who will break from FOTA? Will the budget cap be enforced? Will they all just grow up?

This is one Grand Prix that I always look forward to. The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the only races left on the calendar that oozes charisma, a circuit that has a name for every corner (most of them famous) and is set in one of the most famous towns in Europe: Monte Carlo. The home of the world’s rich and not-so famous is the most glamorous date on the F1 calendar, where some of the most high-profile guests will be seen (despite Ecclestone’s efforts, movie stars would rather be at Monaco than Shanghai) . It’s a place where an armco barrier is never far away, car floors are battered by wicked bumps and drain covers, plus finding a way past your opponent is notoriously hard.

Despite the current bullet-proof reliabilty of Grand Prix cars, attrition rates will be higher here, as gear boxes get a real hammering, tyres glancing on the barriers can break suspensions and collisions are more likely as drivers try more desperate moves to get past. Mechanics will be grumbling as the cramped pits make things difficult when preparing the cars and the sponsors will be wondering where to put their guests (ideally in grandstands behind the paying public).

Like the Dutch TT at Assen, the Monaco grand Prix is one of the only races left that marches to it’s own tune. The famous motorcycle race is always held on a Saturday, an uncommon occurance these days. Monaco runs practices on Thursday and keeps all the money taken at the weekend. Surely an arrangement that Silverstone would love to have!

Yesterdays practice proved that even though his car is a bit of a dog, Lewis Hamilton could be contention, as he was third fastest in both sessions. Niko Rosberg and Williams topped the lap chart, however this has become a common sight over the last few Grand Prix’s as the German often dominates practice but disappears in qualifying and the race. Championship leader Jenson Button is a little further down the order but expect him to shine massively tomorrow. He’s a bit good, you know.

Hello again, can I just apologise for not writing about the Australian Grand Prix this week, I’ve got a few personal affairs to sort out and therefore updating this blog has had to take a back seat. But, I can now take time out from my ‘busy schedule’ to give my ten pence worth on the opening round of the season.

As we all know, the Brawn cars lived up to their pre-season testing form and dominated the race. Jensen Button took a commanding race win, despite being pushed hard by Sebastien Vettel after the first safety car period. In a post-race interview with the BBC, he also admitted to making a hash of his pit-stop, but I doubt anyone will hold it against him.

The Brawn car is very quick and also built like a brick outhouse. Rubens Barrichello proved this by hitting and being hit on the front and back of the car, without much damage. Thanks to the rock-hard build of the car, the Brazilian was able to make up for his start-line problems and finish second.

Jarno Trulli drove a cracking race, starting from the pit lane, dragging himself up to third place. Unfortunately, his passing of Lewis Hamilton during the safety car period meant that the stewards penalised him 25 seconds after the race. This gave Lewis Hamilton the third place, but should not detract from the Englishman’s charge from the back of the grid. The reigning World Champion may not have the best car, but like fellow champ Fernando Alonso in 5th place, fought hard to make the best of a bad situation.

Darkness falls…

The decision to run the Grand Prix later for the benefit of European TV audiences meant that the latter half of the race was held in low light conditions, which prompted criticism from the drivers such as Rosberg and Button, who commented that it was not safe to race. It is interesting to note that as circuits get dropped or un-necessarily emasculated in the name of safety, re-fuelling and dusk racing are allowed in the quest for more money.

CVC will get their money back but some of it may end up stained in blood, if the above causes a huge accident. Will they care? Probably not. Remember what Gordon Gecko said, “Greed is good”….

The soap opera that surrounds the ex-Honda Formula One team continues as the first Grand Prix of the season approaches. Several questions seem to just float in the air without any resolution. Will they, or won’t they get there? Who will buy the team? Is the car any good after all?

Well one question has been answered. There is no buyer. Forget David Richards and forget Richard Branson’s recent posturing about Virgin acquiring the team. Honda’s president Takeo Fukui has gone on record to say that they have not found a buyer. According to the BBC website, the deadline for finding a new owner is this week.

Bernie Ecclestone, talking through the medium that is the News of the World, has said that he offered to help Nick Fry and Ross Brawn undertake a management buy-out. His help was refused and now Mr Ecclestone has positioned himself as the genial benefactor concerned only with doing the right thing, in order to make Fry and Brawn look ungrateful and misguided. However, the pair are not daft.

If they had allowed Ecclestone to help them in the buyout, this would have given him access to FOTA and their private meetings. Once there, he could set several cats among the pidgeons and rip their unity to shreds. In the short term, it means that the old Honda team looks increasingly doomed, yet for the long term Fry and Brawn may have helped saved the sport…