No Fenders - Formula 1 and Indy Car Racing Blog

Take Off Eh!

2009-11-18T16:34:00.001-08:00

So your Humble Scribe is off to the Great white North, Eh? To go visit the Greg Moore Gallery at BC Place’s BC Sports Hall of Fame and perhaps even a quick jaunt over to Maple Ridge? But never fear… I’ll return early next week “Just-in-Time” for Turkey Lurkey Day! And if you can’t stand it, then perhaps you’ll wanna check out some of the sites of those very clever ‘N astute Vurd Botcherer’s from the list below, which you can find links to several of on the Right Hand sidebar of this page under Racing Links…

And then drop back into my site next week – Please! Shameless Plug, eh?

Greg Moore – 10yrs after

The USF1 Mini-series continues

2009-11-18T16:20:00.000-08:00

Shamelessly pilfered from My Name is IRL...

More “As the USF1 Vurld Turns”

2009-11-18T16:15:00.000-08:00

The serious Hi-jinx ‘N Superb Sarcasm, Err Humour of Decklen’s excellent talking movies continues…

Day 5 at the USF1 HQ

Day 6 at the USF1 HQ

You can find Parts 1-3 by clicking here and then scrolling to bottom of post…

Button bolts to McLaren

2009-11-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

Newly anointed F1 World Champion Jenson Button has decided to take his No. 1 plate and run off to Mercedes Grand Prix rival McLaren, in what seemingly has become a massive game of tit for tat… After BRAWN GP, Err Mercedes apparently refused to budge upon its very low contract offer for the Brit’s services next year, as I was looking forward to purchasing a No. 1 Silver Arrows “JENSE Diecast…

Apparently the plucky Brit decided to take McLaren’s HIGHER retainer reported to be $6m for 3yrs vs. $4m for 2yrs with the allowance of Button to add additional personal services sponsors to boost his pay packet…

And the deal seemed all but a formality after the Iceman’s manager announced to Finnish press that the Kimster (Raikkonen) has elected to sit out next season’s Formula 1 contest after negotiations broke down with McLaren, as the Finn will take his reputed $17m severance pay from Scuderia Ferrari to go play in the snowbanks instead in the WRC! Although NOT having ruled out a return to Formula One in 2011, but you’ve gotta wonder if this is another Mika Hakkinen style retirement, eh?

Thus will we see an all German line-up now at Mercedes next year with “Quick Nick” Heidfeld partnering Nico Rosberg?

Night of the Living Bloggers

2009-11-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

Otay, I confess I stole the title from “Jeffie” of My Name is IRL, which after I read it makes me smirk and think of that long lost MTV video classic Thriller and all of the marching Zombies…

After having recently learned about the Indy Car “bloggaratzi” taking over the Indianapolis Airwaves last Thursday evening on AM1070’s The Fan’s Trackside with Kevin ‘n Cavin, in which I tuned-in for my very first Trackside episode, carefully taking notes of everyone participating during the entire two hours.

Also, I especially liked Kevin’s quip about Curty Cavin’s Job Shadower: Are you going to be a Word Butcher on the keyboards or an Ink Stained wretch in Journalism… To which Cavin replied I’ve tried to talk him outta going into Journalism since there AIN’T gonna be any newspapers in the future…

But I really enjoyed Kevin doting on the “Vurd Botcherers” aspect, of which was a very clever takeoff regarding an ‘Ol article Jeff Olsen wrote abouts us nucel bashers ‘O keeboards many Moons ago, which I scribbled my thoughts in Beauty ‘N the Beast when gang tacklin’ the effervesant Mr. Olsen, noting how it was the perfect opportunity to cancel my subscription to Racer magazine!

Thus here’s my “lowdown” on the show’ participants in order, as Kevin Lee said ladies go first, so drumroll please…

the race gIRL
1) Monica
Talked about upcoming “Tweet-Up,” while Cavin noted that Monica sounded an AWFUL lot like the Princess; Dan-Dan-Daniker, or as “The DAWG” calls her; the Danistar… To which Curt also mentioned that Kevin was wearing his pressdog T-Shirt to which shameless pandering then took place. As for the Tweet-up, you’ll have to go elsewhere in the Blogosphere since I’m nNOT-a member of the TWIT-er Nation, which I like to refer to as the GRUNTER Nation…

Is it May Yet?
2) Will McCarty
Kevin asked for a brief description of his site to which Will explained started with the famous Son ‘O Stash mustachio photoshop pic and also provides Race Day weather forecasts which is what he does in his real job, along with having a very good sense ‘O Humour!

Also gave a “Shout-Out” to Jeff of My Name is IRL “Fame” who couldn’t make it since he was stuck in Rush hour AZ traffic… You know when Arizonan’s actually have to go the legal speed limit instead of 37.5+ mph over!

Open Paddock
3) Doug Patterson
This Blog is new to me, with my notes saying that Doug resides in Indy and he “Yakked” about the current state of the I500 as Matt “CAM-WOW!” Chamois of The Other Side likes to call the Indy 500…

Planet IRL
4) Kohl Kirkland
Kevin noted that Kohl was the first of three members from Planet IRL, which seems a little overboard to me (Hee-Hee-Hee…) As this even took Kohl by surprise, who gave another Shout-Out to Jeffie, Gee Whiz, what’s the Dealio, eh?

Kohl brought up the subject of the current Open Wheel Racing Feeder system, mentioning how USF2000 had just had a press announcement, while also noting how there were only two I500 Rookies in ’07 and how we need more “Young Guns” in the series. Cavin gave his two cents on the muddied waters of our Open wheel ladder system, while Kevin brought up how the Champ Car Atlantics used to give $1m bonus to the season’s Champion.

For more Feeder series insights, I suggest you check out Ryan’s Junior Open wheel Talent blog, which keeps tabs on this sorta stuff.

16th and Georgetown
5) James Black
James talked primarily about the leagues hottest property at the moment; Ryan “The IZOD DUDE! Hunter-Reay as Kevin ‘N Cavin bantered on ‘bout how they expect RHR to do in 2010, as Curty pondered if RHR could take TK (Tony Kanaan) straight-up? But he certainly expected Hunter-Reay to push Marco and the Princess, or did Kevin say that last part?

Also Cavin said tell us ‘bout your IMS Seating Chart project, which James has just launched on his site after the previous author was unable to continue it, to which Cavin lamented I don’t know why the Indy Star never did anything like that before Kevin interjected; you shoulda taken a camera with you when you were counting all of ‘dem seats! To which Curt replied; whale I was trying to not get caught by the (Yelllow Shirts) Security…

Oil Pressure
6) George Phillips
George mentioned how he was probably the oldest (Southern) IRL Blogger having gone to his very first I500 race in 1965 and lamented on the lack of diversity in today’s Indy Car Series, noting how he really missed the competition of rival chassis/engine combinations and the innovation in general this brought about when everybody wanted to see what showed up each May at the Speedway; citing how Chip Ganassi took a flyer on the relatively unknown Reynard chassis in ’94 and two years later it was dominant. (It was also the Cheepster who switched to the rival Toyota when the Honda was dominant in CART, before Toyota became the “Lump” to have…) But all three agreed that they’re will never be another tyre war and they don’t like them either…

Planet IRL
7) Paul Dalbie
Paul brought up a great subject over how it just seems a little too coincidental that the latest round of the Danistar to RASSCAR made the Airwaves just prior to the ICS’s IZOD title sponsor announcement and how this perpetual Danistar SHIT is conveniently fueled by ESPN as he never saw anything solid on this after it broke via ESPN’s assistance…

Indy Racing Revolution
8) Chris Estrada
Mr. “CHiPs” as I like to call Christopher talked a bit about how he got called up to the big leagues… And wanted to know the Hosts take on the current level of competition and what Tony Kottman needed to do, since he felt that if the league didn’t do something to spice it up from this year’s Red ‘N White Show; Can you say TCGR ‘N Penske? Then he felt that the league may be hard pressed to continue riding the IZOD wave…

Drive Hard-Turn Left
9) Bill Potter
Bill is also another “Indy Homeboy” (While Monica also mentioned she was in the process of moving there, since it’s the Heartland of Open Wheel Racing) who wanted to know how the proposed Comcast Takeover, Err merger of NBC/Universal would effect the IndyCar viewership? To which Cavin commented he just doesn’t know how important it is to Comcast?

pressdog
10) Bill Zarhin
After some guffawing ‘bout wearing The DAWG’s T-Shirt, Bill shocked us all by talking ‘bout Formula 1 instead… Hey, wait a minute… F1? What’s going on here, that’s my turf Bubbah!

Bill spent considerable time chronicling the absolute zaniness of the just completed season; how BRAWN GP came outta nowhere along with Red Bull Racing which was an Also Ran squad before the season and how they finished 1-2 in the Drivers & Constructor’s Championships. And that doesn’t even mention all of the vonybrtdird… Err Controversies, sorry ‘bout ‘dat, meese nucel’s gotz in duh way!

Indy Car Garage
11) Tyler Carmichael
Tyler wanted to know if they thought the ICS was doing enough to build-up a younger Generation of Drivers to grow the league. To which Cavin said that sounds like a question we had earlier… To which it musta been here when Kevin noted the $1m Prize Fund Mazda used to hand out for the Atlantics Champion, to which Cavin said is only a third of what it’ll cost to be driving for a bargain basement bottom rung ICS team… And $5m will only make you an average race team

Planet IRL
12) Joel Osborne
Joel, the Threes Company member of the Planet IRL Tag team wanted to know when was the last time a USAC Driver made it in Indy Cars instead of going to RASSCAR? To which Cavin explained how the parallels between USAC and RASSCAR were largely due to the similar driving style which is all about the weight bias being on the right rear tyre… To which Kevin eluded to how there’s NO current USAC road racing to give them the experience needed… To which Don Kay likes to lament how that’s exactly what Bruce Ashmore and his Gold Crown Series is setting out to rectify… While Cavin rattled off some names of drivers who had their shot in the Dark Dazes of the IRL (Pre-Unification) saying how Tony Stewart was a wildcard, but bringing up my favourite American IRL driver name Billy boat… And I seem to recall somebody named Greg Ray?

Anyways that’s the end ‘O my notes; so good job to all of the Word butchers taking part, to Kevin Lee for being the catalyst of the yearly Blogger Night and Curt Cavin and Kevin for making the show hum right along, as I’ll try to participate next time and may be we can talk Kevin “N Cavin into doing that twice a year? May be right before the season starts next year…

And if you’re interested in listening to the show, then check out the Trackside Bloggers Podcast, click here. (Thanxs to George Phillips who I borrowed the link from…)

You may also wish to read George Phillip’s Oil Pressure take on the event in his story An evening with Indy Car Bloggers

Glock signs at Manor

2009-11-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

And now one fourth of the new 2010 F1 Constructor’s racing seats have been Officially filled, as Timo Glock who was reportedly set to join Robert Kubica at Renault next year has decided to sign a deal with the Manor GP, nee Virgin F1 Team beginning next season for two years with an option for a third, while speculation suggests that Lucas Di Grassi
has either signed or will be shortly announced as the 27yr old German’s partner for next season.

And I say Virgin F1 since this has long since been rumoured and obviously now with the Mercedes takeover of BRAWN GP, the path is clear for Sir Richard Branson to make his way onto the grid in a higher profile…

Kobayashi targets Lotus drive

2009-11-17T08:30:00.000-08:00

Ex-Toyota F1 Rising Star Kamui Kobayashi has revealed in a recent interview that he’s now targeting one of the two available race drives at the newly reconstituted Lotus F1 Team for 2010, while claiming that all four of the new 2010 F1 Challengers are ultimately his best bet for finding a seat in Formula 1 next year…

Yet simply the name Lotus alone is enough for the Japanese driver, who obviously wishes to continue racing in Grand Prix versus returning to his waiter career; as Kobayashi has also revealed that Toyota is likely to help him along with displaced fellow Countryman Kazuki Nakajima financially in finding seats next year.

Meanwhile Lotus Boss Tony Fernandes has just leaked via Twitter that the Team has signed its first driver with an announcement to be made soon. And although the “Scrumptious ‘Juan” (Jarno Trulli) was spotted in Phoenix hanging out with Mika Salo in Mikey “Aw Shucks” Waltrip’s garages over the weekend, I’d expect Trulli to wind-up at Lotus eventually, while I’m guessing the Rally-Rally-Rally BIG! Announcement will include Fairuz Fauzy as the squad’s Test/Reserve Driver, since after all; his Poppa is part of the Ownership backing the project…

Malyia trying to Force Lotuses hand?

2009-11-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

Thought the intra-team squabbling was over now that the F1 season’s finished? Nope, as I believe that Formula 1 never sleeps, eh? As word comes now that Force India has gone on the offensive against the newly reconstituted Lotus F1 Team, claiming they appear to be using Wind Tunnel models extremely similar to the Force India designed chassis…

Hang on a moment here; let’s see. Force India sacked its Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne who designed the original VJM-01 chassis amongst other iterations of the team’s guises from Jordan to Midland F1 to Spyker and ultimately Force India…

Then Gascoyne filed a lawsuit against Vijay Malia claiming breach of contract for lost potential salary, having been fired before his contract expired in 2007.

Next Gascoyne set up his own Design Office (MGI) and went to work on what was to be the Lightspeed F1 project for 2010, which wasn’t selected by the FIA. And now Gascoyne has gone to work for the new Lotus concern which showed off an initial 2010 F1 Chassis for publicity, which in Formula One tradition, obviously wasn’t the final evolution as car design is a most highly guarded secret kept by all teams as long as possible; something akin to Mum’s ‘N first born children!

Yet the Lotus Team has taken up a collaboration with the AeroLab research facility which ironically was partnering Force India previously, which like prior speculation suggested over Malyia’s tendency to pay off his bills late to engine suppliers Ferrari and Mercedes Benz, has an outstanding balance owed to AeroLab which has now filed a lawsuit against Force India along with issuing a rare press statement over the Wind Tunnel model controversy, as it appears that perhaps Force India is using the issue to deflect attention?

In another Force India lawsuit, the Indian owned team won $4.6m in damages from Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties as compensation for bailing out early of their Sponsorship contracts with the Spyker F1 Team, upon its being sold to Vijay Malyia and rebadged Force India; opting to go with a rival Constructor known as the Scuderia, which obviously has a much higher potential for coveted television exposure since its usually farther up the grid then Malyia’s Boyz, albeit Force India has steadily improved this season, securing its very first Pole position and Grand Prix Constructor’s points.

But as I read somewhere, possibly from Mike Gascoyne(??) Why would the Lotus Team wanna copy the Force India which isn’t exactly known for its great handling prowess along with the fact that next year’s enlarged Petrol tanks will not only change the cars design but also change the all important weight distribution of said racecar.

Q & A with Mike Gascoyne

But hey, that’s Formula 1 for you, as they’re even more competitive in terms of litigation off the track as not only is every ounce of weight scrutinized, every available Euro is also fought over!

Mercedes buying out Brawn GP

2009-11-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

This morning Daimler AG announced (finally) what has long been rumoured, that they along with Aabar Investments PJSC have purchased a controlling 75.1% interest in BRAWN GP, while Ross brawn & Co. will continue to hold the remaining 24.9% outstanding shares while Daimler will have 45.1% and Aabar 30% respectively.

The deal is somewhat complicated, as relations have reputedly become strained with current team McLaren, in which Mercedes has a 40% stake of, which will now be sold back to McLaren by 2011, along with the McLaren Car concern being spun off from parent company McLaren Group. Yet McLaren surely must be somewhat relieved to have the vaunted “Star” power “Lumps” available thru 2015 and perhaps beyond?

Thus it’s the perfect end to the fairytale season of BRAWN GP I suppose, having risen from the ashes of Honda F1 to become Driver & Constructor Champions in their very first attempt and then having their future secured by selling out to Daimler… Along with the fact that the current Management will stay at the helm, as all we need now is for the newly renamed Mercedes Grand Prix to unveil its 2010 Silver Arrows with Jenson Button carrying the Number 1 plate with Nico Rosberg deputizing in No. 2…

Spiesing Up the Show

2009-11-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

Its pretty funny to Mwah just how much the exploits of reigning World Superbike Champion (WSBK) and future MOTO GP rider Ben Spies has captivated me this season, especially since he’s not even a four wheel racing driver! (Although never say never I suppose?)

Having already scribbled about Ben spies’s memorable weekend in Portugal where he captured his and Yamaha’s very first WSBK Championship, Spies celebrated his accomplishment with a Wildcard MOTO GP Entry at the season finale in Valencia, Spain where he rode a “One-Off” race aboard the Sterilgarda Yamaha, (courtesy of Yamaha) in an effort to afford Spies more seat time as he prepares for his first full MOTO GP season in 2010 with the Tech 3 Yamaha Team, which will most likely receive much “Ink” (Press fodder) in unofficially being revered to as” Team Texas” as Spies will partner ex-Double WSBK Champion Colin Edwards, who’s already quite pleased with his junior teammates exploits…

Spies qualified on the third row of the grid in a very respectable ninth place, before falling backwards as the race progressed, at one point having slipped back as far as 12th before deciding to put his head down.

Having become comfortable with his new mount, which I heard Colin Edwards tell Dave Despain on Wind Tunnel; there’s simply NO comparison between a MOTO GP and World Superbike “Scooter.” The MOTO GP, which is the two wheeled formula 1 equivalent of Motorcycles simply is the most technologically advanced along with its amazing weight transference, i.e.; how F1 chassis simply react like Slot cars thru the twisty bits; which David Hobbs endlessly marvels about!

Thus Spies began running comparable lap times to his soon to be 2010 teammate Edwards who was lying fourth and steadily picked off rider after rider in front of him, ultimately passing Andrea Dovizioso for seventh place, when the rival Repsol Honda rider ran wide. By finishing one place ahead of Dovizioso, Spies enabled Edwards to secure fifth place in the overall MOTO GP Championships, with Dovizioso winding up sixth, to which obviously Colin was most enthused about! So now we’ll have to wait until next year to see how this satellite Yamaha Team fares, eh?

And it was a good weekend for Team USA, as Edwards led the Three Amigos home in fourth place, followed in fifth by the “Kentucky Kid,” a.k.a. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) and Spies in P7.

Valencian GP: Ben Spies race report

Schuey’s legend is born

2009-11-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

Australian GP – Adelaide; Nov 13, 1994
Winner: Nigel Mansell, Williams-Renault
Second: Gerhard Berger, Ferrari
Third: Martin Brundle, McLaren-Peugeot

1994 F1 Driver’s Championship
1st. Michael Schumacher; Benetton-Ford, 92pts.
2nd. Damon Hill; Williams-Renault, 91pts.

And yet, as the years go by and I yearn to put another log upon the fire to warm my bones beside...

I can recall less “N less from that fateful year of 1994, (minus “Black Sunday,” a.k.a the Imola weekend & Karl Wendlinger’s ensuing accident at Monaco) except for the ecstatic reaction I received in Monterey, CA for wearing a Michael Schumacher Camel Benetton T-Shirt at the Monterey Visitor’s Center while trying to learn where all of the action was during my first foray to the Monterey Historics, as the German Fraulein gushed over my Benetton T-Shirt, even going so far as to ask me where I got it; do you wanna sell it?

Along with staying up into the wee hours (Midnight) in my little house on the Prairie, Err the countryside of then unincorporated King County... Screaming at the Telescreen, as “The Deuce” (ESPN2) was then the rights holder to the F1 Broadcasts, with Bob Varsha and David Hobbs actually calling the action “Live” from the venue, when the TV Broadcasters were required to actually call the races onsite, but I digress…

Sitting there dumbfounded and shrieking over Herr Schumacher’s collision with arch nemesis (enemy) Damion Hill… As clearly the “Terminator” put his soon to be patented “Schumi Swerve” upon the unsuspecting(?) Brit, which would lead to his very first Formula 1 Drivers World Championship being cemented in Adelaide, Australia 15yrs ago, (yesterday) as I screamed in jubilation as Schuey had done it! Besting Hill by a single point with the two rivals being 50 points clear of third place Gerhard Berger; SHEISA!

Although one could argue he wasn’t so successful in ’97 trying to give Jacques Villeneuve his patented ‘LUV-tap, eh? Aye Karumba!

And I suppose I should give Damon Hill his due, like I’ve come to grant Mika the Finn. (Hakkinen) Although something about Hill (his bushy eyebrows, perhaps?) has always rubbed me the wrong way… Kinda like Jacques O’ Lantern (Villeneuve) and DC (David Coulthard) in his younger McLaren days… As this quartet seemed to be Michael’s fiercest competition whilst searching for his crown…

As the pantheon of Formula One’s greatest Piloto’s; Mansell, Piquet, Prost and Senna had all left the scene, albeit Mansell’s brief return to breech the massive void left by Senna’s untimely demise… And thus I suppose its most ironic that Michael Schumacher’s very first career pole position didn’t occur until after Ayrton’s death at Imola, as Hakkinen battled royale against the TERMINATOR for Pole position at Monte Carlo a Fortnight later.

Thus I guess it’s somewhat even more ironic, or is that karmic? Or just synergy that like 1994, a most turbulent F1 season, we’ve just supposedly come to the conclusion of another overly dramatic season of Formula 1, not to mention the irony of Schuey’s very Championship winning mount, the Benetton-Ford B194 replete with the mysterious Option 13 Launch/Traction Control software (embedded) coming up for offer on eBay, and thus, a legend was born all those years ago, as another slipped into the abyss upon scoring his very last Grand Prix victory before wankering away at McLaren the following year when his backside apparently didn’t fit the tight confines of the doggish McLaren-Peugeot…

Ecclestone Sisters making waves

2009-11-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

So apparently the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree… As Uncle Bernaughty’s daughters Tamara and Petra have apparently been making noise in the British tabloids… (Again)

As eldest daughter Tamara, age 25 has apparently spouted off about Jenson Button not deserving to be World Champion, claiming Lewis Hamilton is a better driver and nicer Bloke to boot. As apparently Tamara’s funk comes over ‘JENSE answering his mobile in the middle of an interview with Tamara, who possibly told the Brit; DON’T you know who’s my Daddy?

Tamara: Jenson doesn’t deserve to be World Champ

Meanwhile PETA, Err Petra, age 21 was busy losing a Libel case in Britain, as the Fashion Designer apparently took a swipe at some Celebrities, regarding her quip about using real leather in her designs… Hmm? Where’s the Beef?

USF1 submits entry fee

2009-11-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

Don’t know if Y’all caught newly elected FIA Vice President Nick Craw, leader of ACCUS in America on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain last Sunday night… But Craw was quick to point out that Team USF1 had sent in its entry fee for the 2010 F1 World Championship some 10 days ago, and the sum was nearly $440k, as back in the Old Dazes a team wasn’t counted as an entry until its NON-Refundable cheque had been deposited!

Craw who’s also made visits to Ken & Peter’s lair in Charlotte, NC is quite certain that everything’s in order and that he expects the team to be on the grid in 2010…

Schumacher Benetton-Ford up for grabs

2009-11-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to buy a Formula 1 racecar? Whale here’s your chance as its been widely reported that Michael Schumacher’s 1994 title winning Benetton-Ford B194 is now being offered on eBay.

“The car is in condition as in the 1994 Formula 1 season with paddle shift and traction control," the advertising reads. The car is in racing condition, with the painting and sponsoring scheme as in 1994."
The engine was overhauled by Langford Performance Engineering/Wellingborough (UK) and was since then just running a few minutes for test and check reasons.”
(Source: Grandprix.com)

Good Luck!

Bloggers taking over the Airwaves

2009-11-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

Yep! Y’all read that right, as I first learned of this amazing Radio Show Broadcast scheduled for tonight via “The Dawg,” a.k.a. pressdog…

Trackside plans Blogger Night Thursday

So I didn’t bother to enter myself in the melee ‘O Bloggaratzi, as may be it was something to do with pressdog’s reference to Clown Carz, eh? But you may wish to catch all of the frivolity on AM1070’s The Fan tonight between 4-6PM Pacific… But beware you’ll need to sign-up for an account ahead of time. So tune-in and see how many bloggers you can count…

Veterans Day - 2009

2009-11-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

Imagine a time when it all began
In the dying days of a war
A weapon that would settle the score
Whoever found it first would be sure to do their worst
They always had before...

(Song Lyrics” RUSH: Manhattan Project - Power Windows, 1985)

At the south end of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum’s Park is a giant flowing water fountain. This Fountain of Peace was created four decades ago in 1969 in order to give prayer to all of the people who perished in the second Atom Bomb dropping while vainly searching for water. At the base of the fountain is a black stone plaque with Lines from a poem carved into it. They were written by a girl named Sachiko Yamaguchi, who was nine at the time of the bombing,

It reads:
"I was thirsty beyond endurance. There was something oily on the surface of the water, but I wanted water so badly that I drank it just as it was."

Nagasaki Atom Bomb Park Photos

The New Regime
And thus we American’s celebrate our first Veteran’s Day under the guise of new leadership, as President Barack Obama follows in the nebulous footsteps of George W. Bush, as although we haven’t dropped any Atomic Bombs to date(?) Nevertheless Obama continues Bush’s legacy by continuing to fight two LOSING Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, while preparing to increase the numbers of troops being sent to fight these USELESS Occupations!

And while I prefer to post my traditional Veteran’s Day’s thoughts which first began in my story Time Stands Still, this year I’m changing tact slightly, as something has been sticking in my craw ever since listening to the STUPID debate on Speed Freaks….

Spindrift
As sun goes down

On the western shore

The wind blows hard from the east

It whips the sand into a flying spindrift

As the sun goes down

On the western shore

It makes me feel uneasy

In the hot dry rasp of the devil winds

Who cares what a fool believes

(And) What am I supposed to say?

(Song Lyrics” RUSH; Spindrift – Snakes & Arrows; 2008)

So the debate in question on Speed Freaks revolved around whether or not Middle East money should be allowed to flow into the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) and dare (I say it?) to potentially work its way into RASSCAR?

MidEast beyond Cleveland

As this “Hot Button” topic was centered around the fact that Larry Dixon currently drives for Alan Abi Racing in the NHRA’s Top fuel division, while another “Rail Jockey” Hillary Will ran Bahrain sponsorship on the side of her Top Fueler previously…

This comes on top of the current speculation that George Gillett is planning to sell a minority stake in Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) to Saudi Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah al-Saud as part of a package including Ownership in Gillett’s Liverpool Football Club; while reportedly the deal could include running a Richard Petty Driving Experience program at a NASCAR style venue yet to be built in the Desert.

And now speculation suggest that Bruton Smith of Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) is pursuing an alliance with the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani regarding a massive Motorsports complex similar to SMI’s “Los Wage$” (Las Vegas) 1300 acre site, as Bruton claims a design is already completed and is separate to any of Gillett’s proposed racing venues, in which he hopes to have up to 14 NASCAR-style facilities operating in the future.

Thus business is truly open in the Gulf; along with the black tar spickets being open, the region is now diversifying into Motorsports with the just completed running of the Inaugural Abu Dabi Grand Prix, along with the Bahrain GP (both Formula 1 events) plus the annual MOTO GP night race held in Qatar.

And yet while some RASSCARHEADS are blathering’ on ‘bout how we cannot have ‘dem Saudi’s in our be-LUV-ed Roundy round series, (DAMN! Weeze alreadys gots ‘dem darn Toy-Yoter’s, yuhs here?) As they shouldn’t be allowed to cherry pick the best NHRA Teams and simply buy their way into motor racing…

Yet perhaps current racing teams wouldn’t be force to look outside the box for new financial backers (money streams) if Obama hadn’t just signed a $680 BILLION Pentagon budget into law in order to keep the United States entangled in two utterly USELESS conflicts, eh? As this is just a one year budget for Military spending which doesn’t include the countless Billions approved to fund the Occupations, nor the extra $44b given to Homeland Security, and these are just the reported “Black” budgets; SHEISA!

Since it’s reported that the cost of having just One Soldier for One year in Afghanistan could pay for twenty schools to be built there; so what are we fighting for?

John Edwards to Indy Lights?

2009-11-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

Last night on the Speed Freaks, albeit some narly static interference for major portions of the show, for the first time ever, they had reigning Atlantics Champion John Edwards as a guest and quizzed him about whether or not there was any controversy regarding his securing of the title at Laguna Seca…

When the former Red Bull American F1 Driver Search recipient, two time Star Mazda and Atlantics Champion was pressed about his 2010 plans, Edwards eluded to the fact that a potential sponsor had fallen by the wayside and Indy Cars in 2010 was most likely not going to happen, although he’d been looking forward to sampling the Dallara/Honda package in a test and now most likely he’ll wind-up competing for Newman Wachs Racing in the Firestone Indy Lights next year, albeit nothing is confirmed and they’re still exploring their options…

John Edwards on Speed Freaks

Team USF1 Update

2009-11-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

While the cynics still seem to doubt the arrival of USF1 in 2010, nevertheless the silvered tongued House ‘O Windsor (Peter) made his very last Grid Walk for current employer SPEED TV during the inaugural Abu Dabi GP…

And the team has hired long time F1 veteran David Stubbs to be the Manager of its newly announced European Operations base at MotorLand Aragon, a most impressive facility located in Alcaniz, Spain, featuring multiple test tracks, including a Formula 1 spec circuit designed by FIA circuit Architect Herman Tilke.

Interestingly, Stubbs began his Grand Prix career at Williams having joined from the British Atomic Research facility alongside another recruit by the name of Ross Brawn, way back in 1978, starting work as a “gopher.” Stubbs then steadily moved up the ladder and was Williams Team Manager during the late 1980’s, notably during the Mansell-Piquet Honda era before moving onto Brabham, Paul Stewart Racing, Stewart Grand Prix and Jaguar…

Meanwhile it has become clearly obvious to me that Ken & Peter will NOT have an American Driver in 2010 as somewhere I heard/read that none of the current names being dropped by Peter qualify for the mandatory FIA Super license one needs to race in Formula 1; although Princess does meet the licensing requirements Y’all know she’s way too busy preparing to what many on the Blogosphere are denoting as CABS!

While Ryan Hunter-Reay would have been hard pressed to be granted said Super License, since he doesn’t meet the current requirements, I doubt he’s going anywhere besides Mikey Andretti Racing now that his personal sponsor IZOD has become the Indy Car Series title sponsor, eh?

Meanwhile a certain Aussi guest scribe at My Name is IRL has been giving us his jaundiced view towards Team USF1 in his Hillarious behind the scenes USF1 HQ videos…

A Day at the USF1 Office

Day 2 at USF1 HQ

Day 3 at USF1 HQ

Now I’d better shut down Ye ‘Ol Confuser since the Stefny Cleaning Agency is due any moment…

IRL Newsflash… We’ve got a Title Sponsor

2009-11-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Team IZOD!

Uh, in case you missed it somehow? In a story that’s been plastered all over le internets, the Indy Car Series has finally landed a new “tittle” sponsor for its vaunted Indy Racing League as I believe some sorta shirt company is going to be the Leagues backer beginning in 2010, in a deal reportedly for six years (optional two year extension) and rumoured to be for $10-15 million per season and potentially worth as much as a “Mega” $100m over the contracts lifetime… In what will become the Tuh-Duh!

IZOD IndyCar Series

But according to Will of Is it May Yet? Its NOT that IZOD Company Y’all think it is…
Fly Over for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 announced

And IZOD’s new proposed IndyCar T-Shirts look a HELL of a lot better then previous ICS incarnations, now hopefully they WON’T flashback to that catchy marketing jingle I AM INDY!

2009 ROC Recap

2009-11-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Whale this year’s ROC, the REAL Race Of Champions… NOT to be cornfuzed with that dually departed abomination of Pontiacs goin’ round ‘N round in some Adult Spirits series… (IROC) Has just been completed, having taken place in Beijing, China on November 3-4.

And with this year’s event having been moved forward one month and clashing with something called The Chase, Team USA dug deep into its bag of available Personalities, settling upon a pair of largely unknown Rally and Drifting Champions… As with NO disrespect to either Travis Pastrana or Tanner Foust, I think Double Formula D (“DUH!”) Champion Foust was OUT of his league…

As this year’s entrants consisted of no less then several top caliber names like: Jenson Button, Mattias Ekstrom, Marcus Gronholm, Mik0 Hirvonen, Tom Kristensen, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, to name a few.

2009 ROC Preview

And this year’s event in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium, site of the 2008 Summer Olympics, having moved from the previous two events at London’s Wembley Stadium in December also saw a change to the event’s format with Drivers and Nations now competing in Groups before progressing to the Semi-Finals.

The Nation’s Cup which began the two day event on Tuesday, saw a grouping of four and two groups of three compete against each other, with Team USA competing against France and Scandinavia. As Team USA made it into the round of four: China, Germany, Great Britain, and USA.

surprisingly Tanner Foust defeated the TERMINATOR (Schumacher) in round One before Michael’s teammate ‘ZEBB (Vettel) won the next round against Travis Pastrana in Rally Cars to see Vettel then defeat Foust in Heat 3 in ROC Buggies.

‘Zebb’s win enabled the Defending Nation’s Cup Champion (Team Germany) to advance to the Finals vs. Team Autosport GB, consisting of World Champion elect ‘JENSE (Button) and 3-time (WTCC) World Touring Car champion) Andy Priaulx, who’d defeated Team China. Team Germany then went onto defeat Team Autosport GB 2-1 and claimed its third Nation’s Cup title.

Team Germany wins Nation’s Cup

The following day (Wednesday) saw the similar first round groups format, where 2-time Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) Champion Mattias Ekstrom defeated all three first round competitors including Pastrana; while Foust lost to button in his first round grouping, as Ekstrom would cruise all the way thru to the Finals.

The other side of the ladder saw the TERMINATOR similarly working over his competition, starting off by defeating old F1 rival David Coulthard and also basically cruising thru his heats, as Schuey would face his protégé, the young Wunderkin Vettel in the Semi-Finals, but ‘ZEBB crashed and thus Schumacher would once again square off against Ekstrom in the Finals, of which the “Swede” (Mattias) easily won, by taking the first two of three heats.

Mattias Ekstrom:
"This is a very special day for me," the 31-year-old Swede smiled. "I was not particularly fortunate this year in the DTM. To end the season with a victory against Michael Schumacher is fantastic!"

Ekstrom is Champion of champions again

Toyota Quitting F1

2009-11-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

There have been rumblings of an impending pull-out from Formula 1 by Toyota for some time now, with the decision of Williams to drop its Toyota engine supply along with the lack of signing any Drivers for next year… And this speculation heightened with Bridgestone’s shock announcement of not renewing its exclusive tyre supply contract as Japan seems destined to shun Formula 1 for the first time in years…

The news of Toyota’s decision to Quit Formula One was first reported in the Mainichi newspaper yesterday as Toyota Executives began a four day meeting in Japan, which Toyota initially denied, but it has now been widely reported that Toyota indeed will cease its participation in F1 henceforth and its another very harsh day for Grand Prix racing, especially the hundreds of employees set to lose their jobs, although there’s NO word yet on what exactly will happen to the team as Toyota’s departure now makes way for the reconstituted Sauber F1 Team to become the sports 13th entry…

Abu Dabi GP: Desert Stars

2009-11-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

(F1 Drivers at Abu Dabi; Source: Grandprix.com)

Whale I pre-empted my recent Saturday “Qualie” teaser in honour of the tenth Anniversary of Canadian Open Wheel Star Greg Moore’s passing…

Along with the fact that I don’t recall it being an overly exciting Qualifying session, as Lewis Hamilton simply “Blitzed” the field, as it was reported that his margin of 0.667 seconds over second place Sebastian Vettel was the largest since 2005.

And “JAGUAR’s” (Hamilton) teammate “KOVY” (Kovalainen) continued his Rodney Dangerfield impersonation, as his Gearbox packed-up on the Fin in the middle of Q2, when it looked likely that Heikki would help insure a McLaren front row lockout… While ironically, as “Fredrico Suave” (Alonso) was making his final Qualifying run for Renault, the Spaniard failed to survive Q1 for the very first time in his career.

And while the Red Bull & BRAWN GP Boyz duked it out for the sharp end of the grid, they were left scrapping over P2 and beyond as Hamilton’s KERS equipped MP4-24 was unassailable, with the top two teams in this year’s Constructor’s Championship inverted; as Vettel led Mark Webber, with Rubino (Barrichello) besting ‘JENSE (Button) once again, while the Kimster (Raikkonen) was unable to advance into the final Q3 Qualie session, finishing 11th and “Fishy-Fellah” (Fisichella) was down in the doldrums once again. (P20)

Thus with Hamilton taking his fourth Pole in the last seven races and Kovalainen 13th, while Raikkonen was P11 and Fisichella starting dead last… (Some 1.5 seconds adrift of Hamilton) The odds of McLaren holding onto their narrow one point lead for third in the Constructor’s title seemed in their favour, as reportedly the difference between third and fourth is a cool $5 million…

Race
Although the Announcers, Driver’s and Media had all spent the entire weekend totally enamored by the brand new circuit (for obvious reasons) largely due to the man made Island’s sheer opulence… I found the race like qualifying to be most Anti-Climatic… Also being not overly impressed by the race itself, as Hamilton seemingly would walk away from the field with his KERS boost upon the F1 Circuses longest straightaway, three quarters of a mile in length and doubling as a future drag strip.

Yet Vettel did his best to remain within sight of the somewhat vanishing McLaren, whose lead was cut in half when “Louise” made an unforced error and thus Sebastian was able to take over the lead after running an extra two laps before pitting… But it was all for naught, as shortly thereafter Hamilton would be forced to retire with an unknown rear braking problem; as I found it most interesting that Peter Windsor reported that Lewis was running two different manufacturer’s compounds on his car; Carbon Industries at the front and Brembo on the rear…

Thus with Vettel’s stiffest competition tucked away into the air conditioned Pit garage, it was a cakewalk for the young German, building up an 18 second lead over eventual runner-up Webber, albeit new World Champion elect Button spiced up the show in the waning laps with a fairly epic duel with the Aussie over second place as the pair ran wheel to wheel, front wing endplates nearly touching, before ‘JENSE settled for the podiums final step…

Race Drive of Abu Dabi
Although Nick Heidfeld gave departing BMW Sauber its final F1 points and “BOOMER” (Sebastian Buemi) came home eighth, once again my hat’s tipped to the man of the fleeting moment; “K-Squared,” as Kamui Kobayashi once again drove an excellent race, finishing sixth, one place ahead of his senior teammate and scoring his first (and most likely last) Grand Prix points, as sadly Kobayashi now looks set to go back to being a Sushi waiter in Japan…

Kobayashi: It’s Toyota or Sushi

Top 3 - Qualifying
Pole: Lewis Hamilton
Second: Sebastian Vettel
Third: Mark Webber

Race Results
Winner: S. Vettel; 2nd: M. Webber; 3rd: J. Button; 4th: R. Barrichello;
5th: N. Heidfeld; 6th: K. Kobayashi; 7th: J. Trulli; 8th: S. Buemi.

Red Bull duo pushes Jense’s button

2009-11-03T08:21:00.000-08:00

Apparently we’re not privy to the full length of the Post-race Driver’s interviews, as we’re just given the TV Unilateral before they switch to the following Press Conference… Where apparently the real fireworks were had as I just busted out laughing over the fact that “ZEBB (Sebastian Vettel) was giving new World Champion ‘JENSE (Button) some major stchick about getting married to his girlfriend over the winter break… To which Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber then joined in the grilling to which seemingly irked off “JENSE quite a bit… As Jenson even stopped his comment to tell them they might like to listen to his comment, to which Webber said we’re just trying to clear our schedules for your wedding Mate!

Hmm? Is that an IZOD shirt Button’s wearing in the photo?

Red Bull duo start Button wedding rumours

Wedding proposal F1 style

2009-11-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

And although the walls of the financial debacle seem to be closing in upon Formula 1, its nice to see that its not all Doom ‘N gloom in the F1 Paddock, as grizzled “Journo” Joe Saward has a very short but sweet post upon a fellow colleagues novel way of proposing marriage, click here.

BMW Sauber’s last dance

2009-11-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

In what seems a pathetic move, a la knee-jerk fashion by BMW AG, sadly the BMW Sauber F1 Team has now run its course with its 70th and final Grand Prix race at the inaugural Abu Dabi Grand Prix.

With “Quick Nick” Heidfeld’s fifth place finish, the Team was able to leapfrog Williams for sixth in the Constructor’s Championship, as the German has been a part of Peter Sauber’s various Formula 1 incarnations for seven years and in thanks for his loyal service, Heidfeld will be presented with a current spec Sauber racecar.

Meanwhile Heidfeld’s teammate Robert Kubica, nee the “Krakow Kid” who’ll be moving to Renault next year is set to take part in his very first Rallying event in France at the end of November, where Kubica will partake In the Côte d'Azur aboard a Clio R3 (Nov. 26-29) purely for fun, claims the Pole…

Heidfeld finds it a difficult farewell