Friday, August 22, 2008

Last of the Mohegan’s

You know how they say; Better late then NEVER, eh? Thus I found this a bit humourous as I was unaware that proverbial “Tail Gunner Charlie’s” Force India had been running the entire season without the much vaunted seamless shift transmission that all of its brethren were.

And thus, Force India will race its “New for ‘08” seamless shift crashbox at this weekend’s European Grand Prix at Valencia, as the team has so far to date only ran the newest piece of hardware in testing at Jerez and during Friday practice at the Hunga-boring race, with Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne claiming the new box is worth 0.2-0.3 second per lap...

I guess this is what happens when you’re the last true “Privateer” on the grid in F1, eh? As the team claims that it will now focus entirely upon its 2009 challenger development wise... As, uhm? There’s only six races remaining on the calendar and the ’09 regulations will see a dramatic shift in regards to aerodynamics. Not to mention the return to slick tyres and the possible advent of the controversial KERS system.

Well, so much for the massive leap up the time sheets, as Adrian Sutil was 17th in Friday’s second practice, albeit ahead of Nick Heidfeld, Sebastian Bourdais and Rubens Barrichello, while team leader Giancarlo “Fishy-fella: Fisichella wound up P10...