'Dega Lives Up To The Hype

Ooh what a race. I have to say that Talladega was edge of the seat watching racing.

The COT provided the perfect platform for the bump racing that occurs at the Super-Speedway. We had cars running two, three, four and at times even five wide. It was an accident waiting to happen and the fact that the ‘big one’ came in the final few laps is a testament to the driving qualities of the field. It had everything including slingshot overtaking moves that fans of Ricky Bobby would know all about!

Kyle Busch picked up his second win of the year on a day where he didn’t necessarily have the best car under him. He was not without his problems on his way to victory lane. Busch went a lap down after missing his pit-box under green-flag pit’s, forcing the young contender to come around again to make his stop. He took advantage of the lucky dog on a caution which allowed him to return to the lead lap. A driver of his calibre took full advantage and quickly found himself up amongst the mix.

His team-mates both had cars capable of winning, with Stewart and Hamlin leading on several occasions. Stewart’s day took a turn for the worse with a cut tire before been involved in first of two late crashes. Hamlin pushed everyone and their mother to the front but didn’t appear to have a car capable of leading on its own.
The top ten featured unfamiliar faces after Busch, with Montoya pushing him to the line for second. David Ragan and Brian Vickers ran up front all day and were rewarded with fourth and fifth respectively. Robert Yates driver Travis Kvapil came home sixth, a great result for the team which for many a race has come to the track sponsor-less. Fan favourite Dale Earnhardt Junior finished tenth having been involved in the same incident with Stewart. The accident put paid to his own hopes of breaking his own winless streak.

It was an awesome race to watch. Within a lap you could fall from first to twentieth and back up again the following lap. It was that sort of race. We had familiar faces intermixed with new players to the front. If there was ever a race to sell NASCAR as a sport – this one would be it.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Kyle Busch. He appeared to a touch behind his Gibb’s team-mates. Busch fell off the lead lap after missing his pit stall when boxed in. ‘Wild Thing’ kept his head, stayed with the leaders and got his lap back before moving his way to the front. After a few races where he was off the boil, Busch firmly reminded the establishment of his ability.

Raikkonen Wins In Spain

Qualifying set the trend for today’s race, with both Ferrari’s jumping to the front and never looked in trouble.

Of course, the race was anything but simple on a day where we say two safety car periods. The first after Sutil made an over ambitious move that saw him collect Coulthard and knock out Vettel. Sutil is a man under pressure with Fisichella resoundingly trumping the highly rated German.

The second came after a massive shunt for Kovalainen. The McLaren according to reports got a loose stone inside the rim which caused the tire to deflate sending the Finn flying into the barriers. Thankfully Heikki is okay and should make the Turkish race. Accidents like this and those of Hamilton and Kubica last year give a testament to today’s Formula One cars.

The safety cars made for a close finish, something i believe wouldn’t have been the case. Hamilton got the jump on Kubica but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferrari had the extra gear if needed. The McLaren driver could push the car to the limit with his engine on its second race – the Ferrari pair conserved their engines with Turkey in mind. The British star drove a great race behind the Ferraris and his car looked allot better than over the entire weekend. I was surprised to see them last as long as they did on fuel.

Kubica was fantastic today and stayed close to Hamilton all day long. The ultimate race pace of the BMW was impressive today and only goes to show that the opportunity for victory is just around the corner. Jenson Button brought home Honda’s first points of the year in sixth after jumping ahead of Trulli and Nakajima at the pits.

When I read that Briatore saw Renault as being near the BMW’s I thought it was ambitious. Today proved that wasn’t entirely the case. Alonso may have been running lighter but he wasn’t as light as people gave credit for. Renault have jumped ahead of the midfield pack while Toyota and Williams have fallen back. Red Bull have come out winners in that midfield battle with Webber coming up to yet another solid points finish for the team.

One thing that badly needs to change is that safety car rule. It’s already cost Barrichello points in Melbourne and today it cost Heidfeld badly. I know the idea is to stop people piling into the pits when the safety car comes out but I don’t see what is wrong with that? We haven’t had an accident in pit-lane when we have a mad dash to the pits. To be honest, I would fancy a US-style pit race. Now that it has cost a championship runner I would expect to see this sorted sooner rather than later.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Kimi Raikkonen. The world champion was on the pace all weekend. He did the hard work yesterday with pole and never looked like he would relinquish top spot today. The momentum is with him in the team going into one of Massa’s strongest circuits.

Iceman Cools Spanish Hearts

Kimi picked up his first pole position of the year with Alonso plopping his car into second. The Spaniard is obviously on a lighter fuel load but it will be interesting to see just how light he is come tomorrow.

McLaren endured a poor last section. I think they could have run light in an attempt to jump the BMW’s. If they have then they are in serious problems considering how things turned out. The third row is not what they expected. Kubica kept up his great form as of late with a second row start alongside Massa.

Major surprises of the day came from Rosberg and Vettel being beaten by their lesser experienced team-mates. Both will be looking for a good race day to save face. Barrichello, on his record equalling 256^th Grand Prix start, depending on whose statistics you read, almost made the top ten. That Honda looks horrid with the ‘Dumbo Ears’ on it. They must look like a crosshair reticule in the cockpit.

Tomorrow’s race day will be one to watch. Can the McLaren’s recover anything? How will Kubica go in relation to the two McLarens? What can Alonso do? What is Ferrari’s race pace going to be like? So many questions that will be answered tomorrow at lunch time. It’s going to be worth watching for sure!

On another note - How long did it take ITV to use the Spygate excuse for McLaren and Hamilton’s poor showing? Just four races. For any of you who saw the ITV pre-show you would’ve seen it. Why am I mentioning this? Well just to prove a point really. I stated a while back this excuse would be brought up when McLaren season took a turn and there we have it. Credit to McLaren for not actually saying it when they could have though.

ITV Sport Win BAFTA....Somehow

ITV Sport picked up a BAFTA award for their coverage of the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix.

I’m sure they are well happy with it and will no doubt prattle on about how great they are. Maybe this is a point where I should say that this goes against everything I’ve said against them? Maybe I and most people who watch have been wrong around about their bias coverage. Maybe we’re wrong....

..and then you think about it. Firstly, it’s a British based award. Secondly, who won the race – Lewis Hamilton - his first race win. Add in the fact that the last time ITV Sport won an award for its race coverage was the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2006. Wait a minute, I bet that sounds familiar.
It was Jenson Buttons first (and only) Grand Prix win.

Hmm... coincidence?

Patrick Wins First IRL Race

Danica Patrick provided a watershed moment, winning her first race at the rain-delayed Motegi. She becomes the first female to win at the top level of closed-circuit motorsport.

After all the hype, Patrick has finally proven that she can win. Sure some people will point out that she won because she conserved more fuel than others but strategy is a part of racing. Just like Jimmie Johnson was able to conserve enough fuel last week at Texas.
Expectations were raised this year as she entered her second year with top outfit Andretti Green Racing. As if that sort of pressure wasn’t enough she had the pressure of been the best hope of a female to win a race. Many pointed to her weight as a reason for her past performances and this year IRL rules dictated that the overall weight must include car and driver. It makes this win even more special, as people cannot use her lighter weight as an excuse for this victory.

For her, this win proves she is more than just a pretty face. She is more than just a marketing tool for the IRL. She is a racer. The first one is in the bag. Now we shall see if she can build on it.

Three And Easy

After Bahrain, it was a double-header of Stateside racing. Television scheduling over here saw the NASCAR live with IRL shown afterwards. Useful thing the IRL not being live, given the rain delays incurred.

Carl Edwards notched up his third win of the season at Texas. The #99 featured in the battle for the lead throughout and took his opportunity when presented. The revitalised Jimmie Johnson came home in second position, given credence to the talk that his team have overcome recent difficulties. The same cannot be said for team-mate Jeff Gordon who had an unbalanced car from the first day of the weekend. Gordon struggled heavily before spinning out trying to stay on the lead lap. Dale Earnhardt Junior started from pole but NASCAR’s most popular driver faded as the day went on.

Kyle Busch put last week’s troubles behind him to finish third, bringing momentum back to his Chase charge. It was a good day for Gibbs with Hamlin and Stewart finishing fifth and seventh respectively. The every present Richard Childress team who announced this week they would be expanding to a fourth car next year had all their drivers in the top eleven. The NASCAR circuit moves on to Phoenix on Saturday night.

PC's Driver of the Day: Carl Edwards. Over the last few weeks the likeable native of Missouri has had to deal with the shadow of his 100 point penalty after victory at Las Vegas. The #99 team has come out fighting since and got justly rewarded. It's a reminder to the rest of the field that he means business.

COT Proves a Point

It may have his critics, but the Car Of Tomorrow, or Car Of Today, or whatever people fancy calling it now proved its worth during qualifying for the race at Texas.

Rookie Michael McDowell who is piloting the #00 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing survived a massive, massive shunt during his qualifying stint. I heard about it but I didn’t actually see it till the pre-race show now. Personally I was surprised that he got out of it unscathed after such a smash. It’s a perfect example of how far car safety has come over the last few years. Not only did McDowell get out of the car safely, but he will be competing today in the race.

Below is a video of the actual crash he had.

IRL Round-Up

At the same time the second round of the IRL season was run at St. Petersburg. The first race off the ovals promised to close up the gap for the ex-Champ Car drivers and the addition of rain spiced things up. Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver Graham Rahal, son of Champ Car legend Bobby, came through to become the youngest winner in open wheelers. This was also Rahal’s first IRL start having missed out at Homestead due to lack of parts to repair his damaged racer. Even before the rain the street course showed that the discrepancy between the two groups of drivers will not be a factor. Champ Car converts Will Power and Justin Wilson both qualified in the top three. The rain brought out the strategic minds and Rahal pipped the vastly experienced Castroneves after eking out his fuel mileage to the flag.

Massa Back In The Hunt

Felipe Massa got his championship back on track with a dominant win at Sakhir, leading home his team-mate for a Ferrari one-two.

The Brazilian needed to produce a performance and he duly delivered. What makes his performance this week all the more impressive was that he carried more fuel than Raikkonen. Once the Ferrari’s hit the front it became apparent it would be one a Ferrari one-two but credit to the BMW’s who kept them honest to the flag.

Most of the talking points will come from the opening few laps. Hamilton bottled it at the start with his McLaren getting off the line late, leaving him mid-pack. A lap later he proceeded to run into the back of his former team-mate Alonso, much to the disgust of the ITV commentary team. Immediately the calls came that it was on purpose, that Alonso had taken revenge on his former team-mate.

Oh come on!
If someone sneezed near Hamilton they would blame them for getting a cold. Back in 1998 when a similar incident occurred between Coulthard and Schumacher, there was never a bad word said about Coulthard. But when Alonso does it, things are different. Did they ever think that he is was pissed off after a bad start and his famous patience they prattle on about go out the window?
After his car showed signs of damage as the car proved a handful on track. For some strange reason he was pointing fingers at people he was overtaking for position. Why I don’t know. He was racing for position and had no given right for these cars, albeit slower, having to let him by.

Regardless of his issues, the McLaren's didn’t have an answer for the BMW’s, let alone the Ferrari’s. Kubica’s pole was on merit and not because of a significantly lower fuel load. Heidfeld used his experience to jump up to fifth by the end of the first lap before taking Kovalainen for fourth. It’s the second year in a row that Heidfeld can add a sweet pass on a McLaren to his scrap book. BMW are quickly becoming a legitimate threat to the top teams and the points that the German-Swiss outfit take off the top two could ultimately decide the championship. I don’t know if they will contend, I think they still need to make a few more steps before that. Much will depend on how BMW keep the development on the car throughout the year. A first win is looking more and more realistic for them.

The McLaren of Kovalainen finished fifth and never really looked like he could hang with the top four. Best of the rest fell to Jarno Trulli who again produced a good race performance. Why haven’t we seen this kind of consistency from Jarno earlier in his career? Right now he’s earning a contract extension with Toyota. Webber, another hero from Malaysia continued his fine run of form, beating Rosberg and showing up Coulthard who like the rest of the Brits had a torrid day. The final point went to Rosberg who will no doubt be disappointed after showing a good turn of pace throughout the weekend to be left with a single point.
Timo Glock got his Toyota to the flag for the first time finishing ninth after early battles with Alonso rounding out the top ten; The Spaniard struggled after his altercation with Hamilton with damage to his rear wing. Fisichella had a great day in the Force India finishing 12th. Had to laugh as Martin called him the ‘Star in a reasonable priced car’, a phrased coined from BBC’s Top Gear. Maybe Martin is letting us know more of his 2009 plans there.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Felipe Massa. The Brazilian had to deliver a performance here to get not only his championship back on track but to mend his flagging reputation. Dominant all weekend there never looked a driver that could match him. Honourable mention to the BMW pair who kept both Ferrari’s on their toes and now leads the constructor’s championship.

Pole Kubica

Robert Kubica earned his and BMW’s first pole as a constructor at the Sakhir circuit, just edging the Ferrari of Massa.

Now we just have to wait till tomorrow to see if the pole is on merit of because of low fuel. It’s so hard to judge the pace of the BMW now given how close they are to the top two teams now. A year or two ago it would be a definite thing that he was running low on fuel in comparison. As it stands we just have to wait.

Massa appeared to have it in the bag but lost time on his final lap. I’m sure the Brazilian will be hoping that will be his only mistake of the weekend. He has been electric so far in terms of pace, although had an incident with the yellow flags during session one. Well, it would be a minor incident if it wasn’t for the ITV Sport witch-hunt against him. You know it makes more sense why people think Ferrari are cheats with such anti-Ferrari bias that these guys puke out of their mouths. They hammered on about it for ages in an attempt to cover up for the McLaren’s otherwise poor showing up that point.

The car was out of the way and off the track and the marshal looked nothing more than over enthusiastic. Mike Gascoyne said it best when asked about it. There was nothing in it and little that Massa could do with just three seconds to the line. It’s a nothing case. I’ve seen plenty of people not put the brakes on already this year when going past yellow flag. But hey, a penalty would put the ITV Golden boy in good stead which is all they care about. Have to remind myself that this is the ‘ITV Lewis Hamilton Kiss-Ass Show’ featuring a Grand Prix.

Similar to Malaysia, Hamilton didn’t look particularly comfortable but still snagged himself third spot. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is running lighter than the Ferraris. They are reported to be burning up their rears allot quicker than those around them, meaning short as possible stints would be the flavour of the day. The opposite could be said about Raikkonen who is beside him in fourth. The champion has shown a tendency to run longer than Massa on fuel runs and by no means will be counted out.

Kovalainen lines up fifth alongside. Heidfeld's lacked the pace of his team-mate which would indicate a discrepancy in their strategies while Button will start ninth, too much fanfare by the ITV ass-kissers with Alonso rounding up the top 10.

Mosley Sex Scandal

Sex scandal? Never thought I’d be talking about this in Formula One.

Here is a link to the article if you wish to read it. It is explicit so if you don’t like that sort of material, avoid it.

I pondered about posting today on this. You have been warned! Part of me considered leaving it twenty four hours to see what responses come out about it. It was a complete shock to hear the News of the World running a story about Max Mosley, FIA president was involved in a Nazi role-played sexy orgy. Yeah, not what we all thought we would wake up for this morning.

I honestly don’t know what to make of it. First off I have to think of – is this true or not? It’s completely possible that this is staged. Along with the story there was a video on the News of the World site. However this has since disappeared off the site. It popped up on YouTube but again that has disappeared. I managed to view it before it got yanked down and it is impossible to say if it was Mosley or not. That’s my honest view from what I saw. This NotW video was edited and had its own text filled in to tell the story. Was it pulled down for been to explicit? Or was it pulled down for other reasons?

An interesting thought that came from Kieran, a friend and fellow sim-racer was could it be an April fool’s joke. Quite plausible except that it’s twenty four hours before hand. If it was, then it’s a pretty sick joke. It’s a far out suggestion and probably not true, but anything with this story is possible.

There appears to be no outright denial from Mosley. The FIA has remained mum on the subject and Bernie reckons it isn’t true. I reckon tomorrow we’ll get some sort of statement from Mosley. Right now it’s said that he’s discussing things with lawyers. If this story is false, then the tabloid could find itself in extremely hot water. Naturally there would be a case of defamation against character, but let’s not forget that Mosley has good knowledge of the law.

Then there is the case of someone’s privacy. Is it right for someone’s private life to be splashed out in such a fashion, regardless of the racial connotations of the alleged actions? I’m surprised people still come out with this defence. For years famous people have had their private life looked into by the media. It’s something I don’t agree with at all but that’s the way tabloids for the most part roll with. The easy response to give is that this is something the public has a right to know. Crude, but that’s one of the reasons that one can get away with this according to the Media Law course I took last year. Of course, said allegations have to be true for that to work.

This brings me on to the racism element of this whole issue. If, and again I stress the ‘if’ till more facts come out about this, are true then it Mosley should go. It makes him a hypocrite after jumping all over the Hamilton Barcelona issues in pre-season testing. One must preach what he teaches; otherwise the lesson is rendered useless. Those of Jewish faith have been quick to call on him to resign, including Sterling Moss. On one hand it’s premature. They are willing to stick their necks out on the word of a tabloid. These sort of papers thrive on sensationalism (yep that three year degree coming in handy again there!). If this is true, then they are completely right, but I would’ve expected them to hold out until they heard all sides. Of course, if they didn’t say anything they would probably be accused of letting it slide. Catch 22 – dealing with the public can be such a tightrope.

I’m sitting on the fence on this one as it stands. That means I’m not taking any sides, just in case some people don’t understand that. Not all the facts are visible in this and nobody can make a proper assessment on this until they are all out in the open.
If it’s true, then he should go. There is no question about it. Hang his head in shame and if he knows what’s good for him don’t appear in public again.
However, should the allegations be false, I have to wonder can he survive? I doubt it. His reputation, regardless of what happens is tarnished. People will still look at him and think of this whole thing and associate him with it. That’s just how people think.

Paperclip Racing

Martinsville – the paperclip. The track is completed at speed in twenty seconds. 500 laps of mayhem around the half mile circuit and NASCAR didn’t disappoint last night.

There were a grand total of eighteen yellow flags before Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin took victory. It’s the second of the season for manufacture Toyota. Hamlin took advantage of a different strategy to beat the Hendricks team to the line. At one stage it looked like the #11 FedEx car had made the wrong call when he got himself out of sequence with the lead bunch. Weather threatened to play a part in the race but it was limited to spits and spurts.

Hendricks saw an upturn in fortunes on a track that they have been long dominant on. However the team which was nigh unbeatable at times last year has yet to win a race this year. Not that they should be worried. All but Mears are now into the top 12 – which after 26 races will be locked into the Chase. Earnhardt Junior continued his impressive form since the move to Hendricks. He might not have won a race yet, but you get the feeling it’s only a matter of time for the man with the biggest fan following.

Championship leader Kyle Busch had an afternoon to forget. Spun around by his own brother earlier on he struggled to find the right balance in the car before car issues sent him to the back. It was amazing that for the majority of the race we had all 43 cars out on track. There was plenty of bumping and grinding, but that’s what Martinsville is all about. Of course if you plan to get someone back, you’ll get nicked for it. Just ask Matt Kenseth who got held for two laps after deciding to get his own back on David Gilliland.

Dario Franchitti enjoyed a better than he’s previously had. Although he went much of the race without been mentioned, the Scot finished 22^nd. Still not enough to earn him a spot in the Top-35, meaning he’ll once more have to qualify on speed at Texas, but it was an improvement for him in a season where he’s struggled to impress so far. Jamie McMurray, a man who was outside the Top-35 drove his way back in with a car that rarely left the top ten all day. Regan Smith is now the man on the bubble after Hornish fell out along with David Reutimann, who took over from Dale Jarrett in the #44.

Talk about a tight pit lane. If Formula One thought they had it bad with eleven cars maximum, not that we ever actually that, in the old Monaco pits on race day – just have a look at Martinsville. 43 cars into a tight pit lane with just enough room to breathe. It too saw its share of incidents with a couple of collisions as people tried to exit as others entered.

Mister Consistency Jeff Burton takes the lead of the championship going into this weekend’s race at Texas. I’ll find myself multi-watching dependant on start times with the IRL from St. Petersburg. Add the Bahrain race on Sunday morning and it’s another engine-revving packed weekend of sport coming up!

PC’s Driver of the Day: Jeff Gordon. Slightly late to start his feature for NASCAR. Despite not coming away with the grandfather clock (NASCAR have some of the coolest and unique trophy ideas), Gordon was a dominant force on the half-mile. The four time champion ran into problems after getting caught up in when Almirola spun Labonte, dropping him down to near the rear of the field. Gordon drove with the determination and skill long associated with the former champion to drag his #24 Chevy back to the front and keep Hamlin honest. Had the fates swung a different way for Gordon he might well have won it.