F1 is boring me to death!!!!

[HILLY]

Hey David,

All reports say that the Williams cars were not on the money so I am curious as to your thoughts on Webers performance. Was it Weber, team strategy or a combination of both that kept them in the points??

[David Morton]

Pete,
My numbers for this race are
+44 7767 450989 (personal) and +44 7799 660955 (RaceMet)
What we will do is take a few beers up to Tete de Chien
and call them sundowners. It's very close to where we are located anyway. Do you have any hotel particulars and will you be hiring a car?
Dave M

[David Morton]

Peter,
I'll ask Dickie (Stanford) from Williams and get back to you. I know he is not on the Williams Race Team this year and is in the HQ/factory at Grove, but he is a font of knowledge.
Dave M

[David Morton]

Wednesday testing times from Silverstone

1. ALONSO Renault 1m18.634s

2. FISICHELLA Renault 1m18.972s

3. BUTTON Honda 1m19.378s

4. MONTOYA McLaren 1m19.395s

5. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m19.556s

6. ROSBERG Williams 1m19.643s

7. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m19.691s

8. WEBBER Williams 1m20.186s

9. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m20.482s

10. KUBICA BMW Sauber 1m20.568s

11. VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber 1m20.673s

12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m20.957s

13. LIUZZI Red Bull 1m21.661s

14. MONTEIRO MF1 1m21.790s

15. HEIDFELD BMW Sauber 1m21.878s

[Pete.]

David,
We are staying at the Fairmont Grand Hotel from the 24th to the 30th of May.Phone 377 93506500. I dont have a car hired.

[David Morton]

Great Hotel [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bandito.gif[/img]- and trackside !! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flehan.gif[/img]
I'll be in Nice on Tuesday 23rd then Monaco from 24th until 28th. I can see why you don't hire a car staying at the Grand !
How many are in your group? I hope to have a car so no worries - if we go anywhere we can run a shuttle if necessary. It's a pity you aren't there the previous weekend as well. The Classic is a sight to behold. We watched Stirling Moss [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif[/img]driving in the classic and waving to the crowds [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana.gif[/img]as he was overtaking others less accomplished.
I hope you invite the two of us to dinner in the Grand !!!
Don't be shy - you know you want to ........

[Pete.]

David, Only Di and me, so no shuttle required. I only found out about the classics today. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif[/img]. Dinner is certainly on the agenda if we can organise it. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana.gif[/img]

[David Morton]

Prodrive, the 12th team for 2008 will be building their own car but may have to buy in an engine. They are trying to develope a new site at Honily just south of Birmingham, UK which includes a test track. Thay have come up against planning objections from local residents. Dave Richards, the boss of Prodrive thinks he will get permission by June 2006.
He may, justly so , be disappointed............
I'm sure even the most ardent petrolheads would have comments about a test track for F1 cars and the attendant noise.

[Keith Hardy]

I think you got that right Dave! As much as I would just love to have the sight and sound of an unfettered F1 engine close by, I would imagine a couple of hundred laps by a single car on a saturday morning to be, well, kind of like a Chinese water torture. My mother's place is close to Goodwood and I well remember the McClaren sports cars and asorted F1's testing there and it was, in truth, a nuisance drone after a while.

However, building one's own private test track. Isn't this a bit of a slap for the established circuits who need this kind of activity just to stay afloat? Or is it that expensive/too public? Is the cost of building and maintaining such a track offset by potential revenues from track days and leasing to other teams etc? If so, I can't see that there's much difference between a "test track" and an established race circuit and therefore, as we have a number of perfectly adequate tracks already struggling for existence, a Prodrive track would be superfluous. What happened to the (in)famous Mclaren test track plan at Lydden?

[RobBeddington]

As Prodrive already owns Honily, I can see where Dave Richards is coming from. That said, I think the residents, councillors and local planners have a pretty strong case. It's not just the noise - it's the 800 employees driving through your village every morning and evening.

[David Morton]

If David Richards is successful, surely it would create loads of employment at that location but I doubt that many locals would fit the Prodrive criteria so there may well be some disingenuity in his planning application.
If it were successful, would the facility in Banbury close down? I imagine it will. In addition to the F1 facility would he set up a gravel and off road area for Subaru ?
It may be successful if Prodrive built an access from a bypass so the village is unfetterd by commuters and simultaneously enough local council officials are 'bought off' - Like how about a new primary school or sports hall or railway station (or even a holiday or two in far flung places away from prying eyes)or a big discount on your new car.
Oh yes - it happens elsewhere.........

[David Morton]

Keith,
If it were permitted, there may be so many restrictions on
'noise hours' that renting to other teams /track days etc would not be possible. As much as I love the sound as you do, in my advancing years there has been a price to pay for being around loud engines - the RR Griffon and Spey spring to mind. Nowadays my hearing is damaged enough so that I have to concentrate specifically when someone is talking to me in a noise environment such as in a crowded and noisy room. High tone deafness - and the advice is get away from noise or face more damage so if I'm at a track where F1 cars are running, I use 'gun'cotton stuffed into the outer ear with Ampliguard defenders on as well. Sennheiser have just brought out another active noise cancelling headset and I've asked for details but which have not been forthcoming. But back to the noise of racing cars. The 24h Le Mans is the most evocative of all and I like to go up high in the main grandstand above the pits about 03:30 to 04:00 in the morning and dream. That is if I have no 'trade' such as in 2001 where we did not stop from Saturday morning until the end on Sunday. I digress. Just one more glass of Barolo and then it's time to pack my suitcase for going back out on the road tomorrow.
Is anyone going to either Nurburg or Barcelona this year ?

[David Morton]

If any body is going to the N-ring this week, our equipment is located in the parking area to the east of Nurburg village on the left hand side as you approach Nurburg, just below the old Scloss? We go to the Piston Club in the Tiergarten most evenings.
Telephone in the radar trailer is is +44 7799660955.

[DavidTC]

David
Not sure about the Renault strategy again; feeding Fisi out behind Villneuve didn't seem too smart. Fisi for the chop ?.
Great lap from Fernando BUT how much fuel is he carrying ?. The two Ferraris look on the pace.
Nice to see decent weather in the Eiffels.
David

[Chris Ardern]

Formula 1 is not boring. That was a Motor Race today. Technology so far ahead of any other form of racing by lightyears. Seeing the display of teamwork getting results like that in a world of no mistakes. Awesome Awesome Awesome.

[ChrisL]

Originally Posted by actvpwr

Formula 1 is not boring. That was a Motor Race today. Technology so far ahead of any other form of racing by lightyears. Seeing the display of teamwork getting results like that in a world of no mistakes. Awesome Awesome Awesome.

Lightyears ahead and still moving in leaps. Did I hear the commentary correctly? The average corner speeds have gone up by 25km/h from last year? Wow!

[David Morton]

Expected crowd here today is 150,000. As I write I am hemmed in by a fantastic and fanatical crowd from Tenerife and Toulouse who just want to party all night so I can't argue with them.......I think it's going to be a fireworks and caiperinha party all night with lot's of aching heads by sunrise.
And we had a sucessful day on Saturday - P1 and P2.

[Gary Gibbs]

For those of you less thrilled with watching F1 this year I have determined an optimized viewing strategy:

1.)TIVO (season pass) all broadcasts.
2.)Delete the practice event.
3.)Watch qualifying at FFx3 until there is 5-6 minutes left in Q3 session then watch at normal speed.
4.)Watch race at normal speed through lap 1 then at FFx1 for rest of race (except commercials skip or watch at FFx3).
5.)Watch post race to suit your tastes.

You can get “watch” qualifying in ~15 minutes and “watch” the race in ~30 minutes without missing much.