Dan Gurney proposed that America has little following of auto racing becuase it has so many varieties and classes of high money racing.
He proposed a single big league of racing, like the Europeans have, and explained that the following of racing is so incredible in Europe, that the pinnacle is held in a country that has no stake in the race. The Nurburgring F1 racing is held in Germany, a country that makes no engines, enters no cars, and has no drivers participating, yet has a 1/4 million people show up the the race to spectate. Same for Monte Carlo.
Showing posts with label F1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label F1. Show all posts
1.27.2010
Flotsom and Jetsom thoughts to ponder
Flea market prices are often ridiculous because the parts aren't prices to sell, they are valued that only the person who truly needs the part will pay it's price.
6.29.2009
Aerodynamics In Car Racing
Aerodynamic efficiency is the goal of all race car designers. It is the most important element in developing a competitive race car.
4.12.2009
2.24.2009
2.10.2009
Red Bull F1 Rule Book video, very cool explanation of F1 car design and improvement, skip right to the 15 second mark
an executive summary of the 2009 Formula 1 rule changes narrated by Sebastian Vettel
The target is to improve overtaking, making for better racing action and fan enjoyment, is realized by moving back to slick tires, and marginalizing the wings and aero appendages to enact a reduction in downforce accompanied by the introduction of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/special-f1-2009-a-step-into-the-unknown/
The most important job of the Overtaking Working Group (OWG) is to improve overtaking in Formula 1 and the OWG has been formed by three of the most respectable technical engineers in the sport – McLaren's Paddy Lowe, Renault's Pat Symonds and Ferrari's Rory Byrne
The main reason why rear diffuser designs have been modified recently, as well as front and rear wing formats was to make sure cars that want to engage themselves into an overtaking will not suffer as much from the pursued car's air flow as before.
Mishi and Peter of http://stipistop.com/ finds the coolest stuff!
1.28.2009
Reports say problems with new Renault
Jan.28 (GMM) The opening test of Renault's 2009 car did not proceed as planned for the French team, the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell reports.
Although the Portimao test was badly marred by the weather last week, it is suggested that Renault struggled with the early performance of the new R29.
The aerodynamics of the unique-looking racer is apparently the culprit, and at the end of the only dry day in Portugal last week, Fernando Alonso was easily the slowest of the four new cars.
Read More
Other article:
Renault F1, Altran want new talent
1.27.2009
Rome grand prix possible
Jan.27 (GMM) It is "possible" Rome may organise a formula one street race, a spokesman for the Italian capital's council has admitted.
We reported one month ago that Maurizio Flammini, superbike promoter and a former F2 driver, was proposing to organise a grand prix in Rome.
"With the new trend for city races, there are perhaps opportunities for Rome to organise a F1 grand prix," he said.
"The idea has been around for a number of years. Never say never," Flammini added.
Read More
Other article:
Oh Canada, Oh Brother: the GP Limo for six
Massa says new Ferrari is totally different
1.19.2009
Oh Canada, Oh Brother: the GP Limo for six
The concept is fairly straightforward: build a grand prix-style race car, only instead of a single-seater, why not give it room for seven: driver plus six ride-alongs.
There have been efforts in the past to create tandem or 1+2 versions of F1 chassis, but this is taking it to the next level, approaching the look of a theme park attraction.
Stretching the wheelbase to such an extent is bound to wreak havoc on its handling, but its creators are targeting the Bugatti Veyron's 250-mph top speed. So it may be hideous (and street legal), but between the requisite helmet and the bonkers top speed, nobody will see you riding in it anyway. The project is the brainchild of inventor Mike Pettipas, hailing from – where else – Canada, where they're apparently desperate to fill the void left by the departure of the Canadian Grand Prix. Hate to break it to my fellow Canucks, but this ain't it.
With a handful of the teams filling the F1 grid for the upcoming season – including Ferrari and Toyota – having already unveiled their 2009-spec challengers, some have bemoaned the effect the new regulations have had on the cars' appearances. But after looking at this monster, we have no doubt those qualms will quickly disappear in its shadow. And quite a shadow it casts: you're looking at what its creators call the GP Limo.
More Photos
1.14.2009
Massa says new Ferrari is totally different
MUGELLO - Felipe Massa gave Ferrari's new Formula One car its track debut on Monday and said it felt entirely different to the one he drove to victory six times last year.
Formula One has made major changes for the coming season with new aerodynamic regulations and slick tyres brought in to boost overtaking.
New rules on weight distribution have been drawn up and the KERS system, which gives cars a limited power boost by recovering energy from the brakes, introduced.
"It really is a car which is totally different to what we were used to up to last year," the Brazilian told a news conference as the constructors' world champions became the first team to unveil their car. "KERS and the aerodynamic changes mean the car is completely different to drive. This is just the beginning of a new cycle in Formula One and it will not be an easy experience."
Massa was runner-up last year to McLaren's 23-year-old Briton Lewis Hamilton, who won the driver's title by one point.
Massa had expected the first outing at Mugello to be tough but saw positive signs ahead of a proper test in Portimao, Portugal, later this month.
"This was the first day and we weren't looking to do 100 laps and good times given that they've changed the rules," he said. "Today there were small problems like on any first day but I'm happy with how it went.
"It will certainly be very different to drive this car...but you get more familiar and eventually it will be automatic. When changes are introduced it is always like that and at this stage we suffer, like last year with the lack of traction control.
"This is a situation where the driver is more important."
NO REGRETS
The 27-year-old had no regrets about last season and felt confident ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 29.
"The mood inside the team is pretty good. There have been great changes and maybe it will change some of the ways we work. I'm pretty happy with the work done by the team and I hope they'll continue to improve week after week," he said. "During this holiday period I just put myself in a very normal frame of mind and tried to draw a lesson from last year. I'm not looking backwards, I'm always looking to the future."
Some observers have said the aerodynamic changes have made the new cars look ugly but Massa thought Ferrari's F60 was not too bad.
"I was positively impressed. I prefer to have an ugly car with very high performance levels," he said.
Agencies
Formula One has made major changes for the coming season with new aerodynamic regulations and slick tyres brought in to boost overtaking.
New rules on weight distribution have been drawn up and the KERS system, which gives cars a limited power boost by recovering energy from the brakes, introduced.
"It really is a car which is totally different to what we were used to up to last year," the Brazilian told a news conference as the constructors' world champions became the first team to unveil their car. "KERS and the aerodynamic changes mean the car is completely different to drive. This is just the beginning of a new cycle in Formula One and it will not be an easy experience."
Massa was runner-up last year to McLaren's 23-year-old Briton Lewis Hamilton, who won the driver's title by one point.
Massa had expected the first outing at Mugello to be tough but saw positive signs ahead of a proper test in Portimao, Portugal, later this month.
"This was the first day and we weren't looking to do 100 laps and good times given that they've changed the rules," he said. "Today there were small problems like on any first day but I'm happy with how it went.
"It will certainly be very different to drive this car...but you get more familiar and eventually it will be automatic. When changes are introduced it is always like that and at this stage we suffer, like last year with the lack of traction control.
"This is a situation where the driver is more important."
NO REGRETS
The 27-year-old had no regrets about last season and felt confident ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 29.
"The mood inside the team is pretty good. There have been great changes and maybe it will change some of the ways we work. I'm pretty happy with the work done by the team and I hope they'll continue to improve week after week," he said. "During this holiday period I just put myself in a very normal frame of mind and tried to draw a lesson from last year. I'm not looking backwards, I'm always looking to the future."
Some observers have said the aerodynamic changes have made the new cars look ugly but Massa thought Ferrari's F60 was not too bad.
"I was positively impressed. I prefer to have an ugly car with very high performance levels," he said.
Agencies
1.06.2009
Ferrari to use pit 'traffic lights'
Ferrari plans to bring back its controversial 'traffic lights' pit stop system for the 2009 season.
After several incidents last year, the Italian team abandoned the unique automated system following the Singapore Grand Prix, where Felipe Massa dragged the fuel hose down the pitlane.
Read All Article
Other article:
Schumacher Completes Ferrari California ...
Ferrari Already Testing 2009 Car
Chocolate Ferrari F1 Car Must be Eaten
Raikkonen Wins Spanish GP
Brawn confirms Ferrari engine talks
Honda team boss Ross Brawn has confirmed he is in talks with his former employer Ferrari about securing a customer engine supply for 2009.
The Briton told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he and colleague Nick Fry are also speaking with multiple potential buyers of the Brackley-based team.
"Honda has already said it will not supply us with engines, so that's why I contacted Ferrari," said Brawn, who was the Maranello team's technical director until 2006.
more detail. ...
Other article:
Honda set to pull out of F1
12.14.2008
2010 season _ WRC switching to S2000-spec car
For whom does the cost-cutter's bell toll? It tolls for Formula 1... and for the World Rally Championship. The FIA has announced that from 2010 the WRC will use Super 2000-spec cars, instead of the current championship's Group N racers.
As with the FIA's moves in F1 to standardize components in order to help teams save money, the S2000 cars all have third-party-supplied gearboxes and drivetrains, use 2.0-liter engines with 8,500 rpm rev limits, and are prohibited from being excessively modified.
more detail. ...
Other article:
2010_ WRC Champ Loeb would switch to F1
Other carmakers committed to F1
Honda set to pull out of F1
Legendary Brabham Racing Returns as BMW Tuner after 16 Years
Webber seriously hurt in bicycle crash
12.12.2008
Car News: McLaren try 2009 wing, nose at Jerez test
Thursday 11 December at 12:00 : Dec.11 (GMM) Another piece of the 2009 formula one grid fell into place on Wednesday, when McLaren debuted a front nose and wing conforming with next year's radically altered bodywork rules.
more detail. ...
Other article:
2010_ WRC Champ Loeb would switch to F1
Other carmakers committed to F1
Honda set to pull out of F1
Legendary Brabham Racing Returns as BMW Tuner after 16 Years
Webber seriously hurt in bicycle crash
12.11.2008
2010_ WRC Champ Loeb would switch to F1
The multiple rally world champion, who is contracted to drive for Citroen in the WRC next year, impressed observers and experts alike when he was firmly on the pace ofF1's regular drivers during the recent Barcelona test.
"The team bosses think I am too old, but mentally I am not: age would not be an obstacle for me," the 34-year-old told the French newspaper Liberation.
The winner of the last five world rally titles admitted disillusionment with the WRC, criticising the 2009 calendar, the evolution of the cars, and the regulations.
Loeb said: "With a testing programme in 2009, I would go to the formula one grid in 2010."
In the wake of his Red Bull test last month, Sebastien Loeb has admitted he would seriously consider an offer to switch to formula one in 2010.
via:World Car Fans
Other article:
Other carmakers committed to F1
Honda set to pull out of F1
Legendary Brabham Racing Returns as BMW Tuner after 16 Years
Webber seriously hurt in bicycle crash
12.07.2008
Other carmakers committed to F1
F1's other manufacturer-backed teams have rushed to insist their commitment to the sport is not diminished by Honda's shock decision to quit amid the worsening slump in global car sales.
more detail. ...
Other article:
Honda set to pull out of F1
Legendary Brabham Racing Returns as BMW Tuner after 16 Years
Webber seriously hurt in bicycle crash
12.04.2008
Honda set to pull out of F1
TENERIFE, Canary Islands _ Honda will pull out of Formula One unless a new buyer can be found within three months, The Associated Press has learned.
Honda Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain is seen making a pit stop during the second practice session of the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps race track in this September 5, 2008 file photo.
The Japanese car manufacturer has the operating budget to keep the team running into early 2009, but escalating operational costs amid the worldwide financial crisis have the Brackley-based outfit in danger of shutting down if a new sponsor is not found quickly.
A formal announcement will be made from Japan on Friday, but a person familiar with the decision told The AP that team bosses Ross Brawn and Nick Fry informed the near 700-member team late Thursday.
"Their intention is to pull out entirely _ as an engine supplier and sponsor," the Honda team member said on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss it. "It's a shock. I think this came as a total surprise to everyone. No one in the UK was aware of this decision before Thursday night."
Brawn and Fry had returned from a FOTA meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, where they informed the other F1 teams of the manufacturer's decision.
A pullout by one of the world's biggest car manufacturers will send shockwaves through F1, which could start the season with only 18 cars on the grid. Japanese team Super Aguri, which was backed by Honda, pulled out of F1 this year.
The season opens at the Australian Grand Prix on March 29.
Earlier Thursday, Honda announced it was cutting jobs in Britain and Japan because of plunging vehicle demand. It has already reduced its annual production of consumer cars by more than 140,000 worldwide.
If Honda does withdraw from F1, Jenson Button will be without a car seat for next season along with promising rookie Bruno Senna, who was trying out for the No. 2 seat at winter testing last month.
Honda, with an operational budget of around 200 million pounds (230 million euros; $294 million), finished ninth in the constructors' standings last season with Button 18th out of 20 drivers with three points. Rubens Barichello, who was dropped by the team going into 2009, was 14th with the remaining points.
Honda, which originally entered F1 as a constructor for a stint in the 1960s before returning as an engine supplier in the 1980s, bought out BAR Racing in 2005.
FIA president Max Mosley had described F1's combined $1.6 billion (1.25 billion euros) spending in 2008 as "unsustainable," saying the teams were relying too heavily on the goodwill of rich individuals and corporate sponsors. Mosley has vowed to push through cost-cutting measures by 2010 in a bid to make the sport more feasible.
The governing body has already reached a deal with F1 to cap the cost of engines supplied to smaller teams as part of a plan to save money during the global financial crisis.
Over recent months, the 10 teams have been meeting regularly with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to discuss reducing costs, including streamlining engines.
[Agencies]
Honda Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain is seen making a pit stop during the second practice session of the Belgian F1 Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps race track in this September 5, 2008 file photo.
The Japanese car manufacturer has the operating budget to keep the team running into early 2009, but escalating operational costs amid the worldwide financial crisis have the Brackley-based outfit in danger of shutting down if a new sponsor is not found quickly.
A formal announcement will be made from Japan on Friday, but a person familiar with the decision told The AP that team bosses Ross Brawn and Nick Fry informed the near 700-member team late Thursday.
"Their intention is to pull out entirely _ as an engine supplier and sponsor," the Honda team member said on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss it. "It's a shock. I think this came as a total surprise to everyone. No one in the UK was aware of this decision before Thursday night."
Brawn and Fry had returned from a FOTA meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, where they informed the other F1 teams of the manufacturer's decision.
A pullout by one of the world's biggest car manufacturers will send shockwaves through F1, which could start the season with only 18 cars on the grid. Japanese team Super Aguri, which was backed by Honda, pulled out of F1 this year.
The season opens at the Australian Grand Prix on March 29.
Earlier Thursday, Honda announced it was cutting jobs in Britain and Japan because of plunging vehicle demand. It has already reduced its annual production of consumer cars by more than 140,000 worldwide.
If Honda does withdraw from F1, Jenson Button will be without a car seat for next season along with promising rookie Bruno Senna, who was trying out for the No. 2 seat at winter testing last month.
Honda, with an operational budget of around 200 million pounds (230 million euros; $294 million), finished ninth in the constructors' standings last season with Button 18th out of 20 drivers with three points. Rubens Barichello, who was dropped by the team going into 2009, was 14th with the remaining points.
Honda, which originally entered F1 as a constructor for a stint in the 1960s before returning as an engine supplier in the 1980s, bought out BAR Racing in 2005.
FIA president Max Mosley had described F1's combined $1.6 billion (1.25 billion euros) spending in 2008 as "unsustainable," saying the teams were relying too heavily on the goodwill of rich individuals and corporate sponsors. Mosley has vowed to push through cost-cutting measures by 2010 in a bid to make the sport more feasible.
The governing body has already reached a deal with F1 to cap the cost of engines supplied to smaller teams as part of a plan to save money during the global financial crisis.
Over recent months, the 10 teams have been meeting regularly with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to discuss reducing costs, including streamlining engines.
[Agencies]
11.22.2008
Webber seriously hurt in bicycle crash
Mark Webber has sustained serious injuries while competing in his outdoor adventure race in Tasmania. more detail. ...
11.08.2008
Legendary Brabham Racing Returns as BMW Tuner after 16 Years
Legendary racing car manufacturer and Formula One team Brabham has been brought back from the dead after being inactive for nearly sixteen years when the company that was founded in 1960 by two Australians, F1 driver Jack Brabham and designer Ron Tauranac, collapsed financially in 1992. For its relaunch, Brabham Racing will lift the covers off three new tricked-out BMWs at the forthcoming Essen Motor Show in Germany that runs 29 November to 7 December.
Read All
Other article:
BMW X6 Active Hybrid Concept
BMW X6 Production Version Debuts
BMW X6 Sports Activity Coupe to Debut at Detroit, New V8 Twin Turbo
BMW X6 details
BMW X6 ActiveHybrid Spied
11.02.2008
Car News:High Drama as Last Corner Crowns Hamilton F1 Champion
Nov.2 - Timo Glock and Sebastian Vettel played a vital role in the outcome of the 2008 world championship, played out over a dramatic Brazilian grand prix where emotions ran high.
In the drizzly confusion on the last lap, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton lost his necessary fifth place to Toro Rosso's Vettel, only to win it back again at the final corner of the 71-lap race when Glock, who drives for Toyota, could not hold the Briton at bay on his unsuitable dry tyres. more detail. ...
10.18.2008
Hamilton on pole at Chinese F1 Grand Prix
McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain competes during the qualifying session for Sunday's Chinese F1 Grand Prix at the Shanghai Circuit Oct. 18, 2008. Hamilton took the first with 1 minute 36.303 seconds.
SHANGHAI, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of Ferrari rivals Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.
Britain's Hamilton, who can become Formula One's youngest champion this weekend, put in a flying last lap in final qualifying to head the grid in a time of one minute 36.303 seconds.
The 23-year-old McLaren Mercedes star delivered the fastest time in the dying seconds of a close-fought qualifying session to pip Ferrari's outgoing champion Kimi Raikkonen and title rival Felipe Massa.
It was Hamilton's seventh pole this season and the 13th of his career as he targets the drivers' championship, which he allowed to slip through his fingers despite an even more commanding lead at this stage of the season last year.
With just the Chinese and Brazilian legs to go, Hamilton needs only six points here to wrap up the trophy provided Robert Kubica, the only other title contender, does not win.
Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalaien was only fifth ahead of Australian Mark Webber in a Red Bull. Webber has to drop 10 places because of an engine change on his car in the morning.
(Source:Xinhua)
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