F1 2007

[David Morton]

The previous thread on F1 continues here unabated.
No holds barred......

[David Morton]

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has warned that there is a "high threat of terrorist attack in Bahrain". It goes on to say "We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks against Western interests in the region. Commercial and public areas known to be frequented by foreigners are possible terrorist targets."

A bus driver was killed outside a posh hotel in the capital, Manama, in an incident that may have involved a US Marine.

[Keith Hardy]

F1 2007. Snappy title Dave - that must have taken some real hard thinking...

Are you saying there's a possibility they might pull the F1 circus? We had a similar thing at Silversdtone a couple of years back, and Aintree but we pressed on anyway.

Crikey though, they might kidnap Bernie and hustle him away in a Matchbox car!

[David Morton]

Too much money at stake. Bernie needs to buy his Happymeals for Max so they won't cancel. IMHO.
Yes - the title came to me in a flash !!!
New formula - just announced in New Zealand

Broadcast Time: New Zealand, Wellington. - Zulu Local Time 01h38


Embargo: 12.01am, April 3, 2007

SUPERLEAGUE FORMULA
- TWO GREAT SPORTS, ONE THRILLING CHAMPIONSHIP

- The passion of football joins the excitement of motorsport
- Champion football clubs already confirmed
- V12-powered 200mph single-seater championship
- Kick off in 2008
- Major off-track entertainment package

- Championship partners with Havas Media Group for TV and Sponsorship initiatives, Imagination for branding and sponsorship activation and TBWA (Omnicom Group) for advertising

Today heralds the launch of a major new initiative that brings together two of the world’s most popular sports: football and motor racing.
Superleague Formula is a motorsport series for high-performance single-seaters bearing the colours of leading football teams from all over the world. The first race will take place in the summer of 2008.


Oh well, they have to use up all those engines that Nicholson McClaren produced for GP Masters - which seems dead in the water now.

[Keith Hardy]

GP Masters "dead in the water?" I missed it last year as the TV scheduling was erratic to say the least (good old Motors TV - Chaos Media at it's best.)

What happened, did Nigel Mansell barge everyone off the track, or did the rest of the pilots have to get back to the Home before they shut the gates?

[David Morton]

Keith,
I'm in the dark on this one save that I heard that Nicholson McClaren has a load of engines built for the series last year and then they fell out and the organisers went to another engine. I wonder if he'll let me have one cheap for my car.....
I don't think I ever watched a GP Masters race yet, and I've still to find someone who did.
As an aside, I was reading the report of the last A1GP race in Autosport and a small phrase caught my attention "the crowd sighed" ? What crowd. Any photos just showed empty grandstands. Maybe the one and only spectator sighed. I can't see it going into another year.

[Keith Hardy]

I'm truly suprised A1GP got this far. Pity they roped poor old JS into it - he deserved better. It seemed always to be destined as a slot for failed F1 drivers or those who were never going to be good enough rather than a rival series. Secretly, that is why (shhh, I'm now whispering) F1 is not really boring at all!

But I didn't say that. You were right to change forums...

[Brian Magee]

'JS' - is that John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, Jody Sheckter, Joe Schlesser, John-Louis Schlesser, John Smith or are there any more?

Brian.

[David Morton]

Scheckter?
(shhh, I'm now whispering) F1 is not really boring at all!
My wife thought it unfiitting seeing as it's how my/our mortgage is paid from
the proceeds......

[Keith Hardy]

Sorry, the diminutive and very excellent racer (and former employer) John Surtees.

There are quite a few with the same initials for sure.

My favourite? John Smith's

[Pete.]

Renault technical director Bob Bell has predicted that revised bodywork tests at this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix could have a major impact on the relative performance of the top teams.

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, issued a rule clarification last week relating to deflection of the car’s floor. It followed speculation that some teams could be running sprung supporting devices, allowing the floor to pass the standard deflection test in scrutineering, but then move under higher loads at speed on the circuit.

Oh really? What a surprise.

[David Morton]

German Nick Heidfeld, 29, is enthusiastic about night racing but says it's not simply a matter of erecting a few lights.
He said "It is not like a football game where you need a few lights. Just imagine if there is a power cut. In football you can stop the game but in formula one, when we're driving at 300kph and it is dark ... I don't want to be in the situation."
What a plonker. Hat er gerade heraus von unterhalb eines steins gekrochen? This is just column inches for the sake of it.
What does he think happens at airports?
Imagine - a Cat 1 approach to 200ft above the runway and Baldrick (the copilot) is calling the baro heights. "DECIDE" he mumbles. Then the lights go out ! (on the airfield that is - not in Baldricks brain where they've been out for a while !)
It just doesn't happen.

I think their biggest problem for night racing is rain and Singapore can be very, very fickle depending on which month they pick.

[Pete.]

It was announced in the local Press today that a $650 million motor sport complex is to be built between Bris Vegas and the Gold Coast. It will be set up for night racing and hopes to wrest F1 from Melbourne when their contract runs out in four years. Part of release below.


A FIELD near the Gold Coast will become the epicentre of motorsport in the southern hemisphere with a proposed $650 million complex set to lure the world's top racing.
The project involves building a motorsport enclave on canefields on 400ha near Norwell, between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, and is expected to inject millions into the Queensland economy and create 5000 jobs.
It is also a bold bid to wrest Formula One from Melbourne.
``This project is what we have needed for a long time ... we need something more than just club venues," race legend Dick Johnson said.
``Queensland is starved for motor racing, and this will be a world-class facility that is not just about motor-racing events but about the whole business around it.''
A world-class international motor racing complex is only weeks away from final approval.
The project is called i-METT (Integrated Motorsport Education Tourism and Technology).
Its first big event, a leg of the World Rally Championship, has already been sealed with Rally Australia, blasting off from the Gilberton-Norwell site, 38km south of Brisbane, from September next year.
There also is a compelling case for Formula One to be lured away from Melbourne's Albert Park circuit, which costs the Victorian Government tens of millions of dollars each year.
Project bosses say the complex has been designed so that major events do not have to be underwritten by the state.

[David Morton]

Is this on your door step Pete?

[Pete.]

Yes sir, a 20 minute drive away.

[David Morton]

Bild Zeitung, The german daily news paper has run an article which says that Toyota hope to replace R Schumacher with Nick Heidfeld at the end of the season.

The replacements manager has gone on record that he has offers from two top teams.

A bit strange really. Why? This article is hot on the heals of Schumachers announcement not so long back that he was amongst the top three drivers in F1. Seems to me that scheisse der offnung (thats gobshite in English) is an enduring trait of the brothers Schumacher.

[Pete.]

Originally Posted by David Morton

Bild Zeitung, The german daily news paper has run an article which says that Toyota hope to replace R Schumacher with Nick Heidfeld at the end of the season.

The replacements manager has gone on record that he has offers from two top teams.

A bit strange really. Why? This article is hot on the heals of Schumachers announcement not so long back that he was amongst the top three drivers in F1. Seems to me that scheisse der offnung (thats gobshite in English) is an enduring trait of the brothers Schumacher.

Well, he finished 10th last season with 20 points. It's hard to figure how that makes him among the top three drivers or why he would think that.
Delusions of grandeur?

[Pete.]

Results Sepang Free practise 2.


Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:35.780 34 2. Fisichella Renault (B) 1:35.910 + 0.130 36 3. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:36.106 + 0.326 37 4. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:36.160 + 0.380 33 5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.523 + 0.743 31 6. Wurz Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.621 + 0.841 21 7. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:36.717 + 0.937 18 8. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:36.760 + 0.980 28 9. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.797 + 1.017 3010. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:36.862 + 1.082 2511. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.906 + 1.126 1812. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:37.041 + 1.261 2613. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:37.203 + 1.423 2514. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:37.282 + 1.502 3015. Button Honda (B) 1:37.578 + 1.798 2916. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:37.712 + 1.932 3417. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:37.855 + 2.075 2618. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:38.334 + 2.554 2719. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:38.419 + 2.639 2820. Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:38.650 + 2.870 2021. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:38.713 + 2.933 2022. Albers Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:39.807 + 4.027 23All timing unofficial