Interestingly while the never ending Middle East power struggle continues, including the fight over who has the most oil… The Bahrain Government has just purchased a 30% stake in McLaren…
If and when the deal is approved, McLaren’s new ownership will see Daimler-Chrysler become the majority stakeholder and the Bahrain government with the second largest stake. This will see the team’s previous majority shareholders Ron Dennis and Mansour Ojjeh whom had already sold initially to Daimler-Chrysler, now further reduce their holding by selling a second block of the company to Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding… (A newly formed holding’s company of the Bahrain Government)
Interestingly there are two other teams on the Formula 1 grid with minority shareholdings being owned by Middle East concerns. Ferrari has a 5% foreign stakeholder while Spyker F1 is owned by a Dutch-Arab consortium…
Monday, January 15, 2007
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Humming thru Africa
After a slow start the Team Dakar USA entry has begun picking up its pace. As the announcer on The Speed Report retorted “C’mon, how can that Hummer get Stuck in the Mud?”
In case you were unaware, for the second year in a row (3rd Overall) Robby Gordon is contesting the Paris-Dakar rally in a Hummer.
This year Gordon’s black Hummer H3 got off to a rocky start when he got stuck in some mud on Stage 1 while avoiding some of the massive throngs of spectators in Portugal…
After falling down the order to a 71st starting position for Stage 5, Gordon mashed the “GO-Pedal,” humming his way into a 15th place finish while raising the ire and praise of fellow competitors…
Gordon was reprimanded for pushing opposing racer’s out of the way while utilizing his typical “RASSCAR” driving style… (“Rubbin is Racin”) Apparently with the Hummer painted black, Gordon must have felt a bit like ‘ol “Iron-Head…” (Dale Earnhart Sr.)
Gordon noted that in the Baja that’s how you get it done... (Passing slower vehicles) Yet The Dakar is a bit more civilized, even going so far as utilizing in-car warning devices…
On Stage 6, the constantly changing landscape saw the day’s route take the competitors onto the vast sand dunes. And Gordon’s black bandit hammered across the dunes in record time as Gordon claimed the Stage win…
Today Gordon made certain to give everybody wide berths while overtaking slower vehicles “legally.” Gordon commented that he’d even backed off towards the end as he became concerned over his dwindling petrol supply in the Hummer’s fast emptying tanks…
The stage victory was the very first for Hummer and Gordon’s third overall. Gordon claimed his first two stage victories when competing for Volkswagen in 2005… (Gordon’s Paris-Dakar debut)
Starting first on Stage 7 the inclement weather played major havoc with all competitors as the organizers shortened the route due to swirling wind conditions causing severe sand storms…
Gordon got lost temporarily before encountering soft sand. Gordon then reduced the Hummer’s tire pressures down to 10lbs as the black monster H3 continued bogging down in 2nd gear…
Gordon finished the stage in 13th place nearly 6 minutes off the winner’s pace and has slowly crept his way towards the top 10, now residing in 16th place overall after several days of fuel issues. After the team tore the complete system apart they discovered it was simply a case of bad fuel…
In case you were unaware, for the second year in a row (3rd Overall) Robby Gordon is contesting the Paris-Dakar rally in a Hummer.
This year Gordon’s black Hummer H3 got off to a rocky start when he got stuck in some mud on Stage 1 while avoiding some of the massive throngs of spectators in Portugal…
After falling down the order to a 71st starting position for Stage 5, Gordon mashed the “GO-Pedal,” humming his way into a 15th place finish while raising the ire and praise of fellow competitors…
Gordon was reprimanded for pushing opposing racer’s out of the way while utilizing his typical “RASSCAR” driving style… (“Rubbin is Racin”) Apparently with the Hummer painted black, Gordon must have felt a bit like ‘ol “Iron-Head…” (Dale Earnhart Sr.)
Gordon noted that in the Baja that’s how you get it done... (Passing slower vehicles) Yet The Dakar is a bit more civilized, even going so far as utilizing in-car warning devices…
On Stage 6, the constantly changing landscape saw the day’s route take the competitors onto the vast sand dunes. And Gordon’s black bandit hammered across the dunes in record time as Gordon claimed the Stage win…
Today Gordon made certain to give everybody wide berths while overtaking slower vehicles “legally.” Gordon commented that he’d even backed off towards the end as he became concerned over his dwindling petrol supply in the Hummer’s fast emptying tanks…
The stage victory was the very first for Hummer and Gordon’s third overall. Gordon claimed his first two stage victories when competing for Volkswagen in 2005… (Gordon’s Paris-Dakar debut)
Starting first on Stage 7 the inclement weather played major havoc with all competitors as the organizers shortened the route due to swirling wind conditions causing severe sand storms…
Gordon got lost temporarily before encountering soft sand. Gordon then reduced the Hummer’s tire pressures down to 10lbs as the black monster H3 continued bogging down in 2nd gear…
Gordon finished the stage in 13th place nearly 6 minutes off the winner’s pace and has slowly crept his way towards the top 10, now residing in 16th place overall after several days of fuel issues. After the team tore the complete system apart they discovered it was simply a case of bad fuel…
Toyota TF107
Drum roll please…. “Let the Car Launches begin!” Toyota unveiled its 2007 challenger, the TF107 yesterday in Colone…
Thursday, January 11, 2007
“Billy Bob” favours Ferrari
Yes that’s right, Martin “Billy Bob” Brundle has picked Ferrari as his favourite towards taking top honours in 2007…
The ex-Formula 1 driver earned his nickname back in the late 1980’s after competing in what was still a truly International Race ‘O Champions…
Unfortunately the IROC series has long since become a “RASSCAR” celebrity race and is no longer worthy of this moniker. Hell just look at who’s the title sponsor, can you say Crown Royal? This is why I prefer the “REAL” international ROC… (Race of Champions) OOPS! Just heard that the IROC is on hiatus due to lack of sponsorship this year…
Brundle who is now an ITV Formula 1 commentator hasn’t gone too far out on a limb by “just” only choosing Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen as his early season favourites for F1’s crown jewels in 2007…
Brundle site’s Ferrari’s interlocking relationship with Formula 1’s sole tire supplier Bridgestone as a key factor while reigning champion Renault and McLaren will have to play catch-up after loosing their Michelin rubber…
Meanwhile the Prancing Horse’s newest man in red, Kimi Raikkonen made his first public appearance at the Scuderia’s annual holiday trek to the Alps for a little skiing. And you know what? Raikkonen looks good in red...
The ex-Formula 1 driver earned his nickname back in the late 1980’s after competing in what was still a truly International Race ‘O Champions…
Unfortunately the IROC series has long since become a “RASSCAR” celebrity race and is no longer worthy of this moniker. Hell just look at who’s the title sponsor, can you say Crown Royal? This is why I prefer the “REAL” international ROC… (Race of Champions) OOPS! Just heard that the IROC is on hiatus due to lack of sponsorship this year…
Brundle who is now an ITV Formula 1 commentator hasn’t gone too far out on a limb by “just” only choosing Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen as his early season favourites for F1’s crown jewels in 2007…
Brundle site’s Ferrari’s interlocking relationship with Formula 1’s sole tire supplier Bridgestone as a key factor while reigning champion Renault and McLaren will have to play catch-up after loosing their Michelin rubber…
Meanwhile the Prancing Horse’s newest man in red, Kimi Raikkonen made his first public appearance at the Scuderia’s annual holiday trek to the Alps for a little skiing. And you know what? Raikkonen looks good in red...
Smoke and Mirrors
Once again it’s almost time for Formula 1’s new car launches… And these gala events usually quickly turn into a repetitive series of “Dog & Pony” shows…
Nevertheless these daily touting's of the media’s paparazzi give hope to each team’s upcoming season…
I do enjoy these launches if only from a remote locale via the internet as it’s usually the only chance I get to see the new cars holding still…
Many F1 teams will be anxiously awaiting the launch of Red Bull and its sister’s team Scuderia Toro Rosso to see how closely the two chassis resemble each other in the still unresolved thorny issue of chassis cloning…
Here’s what I’ve gleamed so far regarding roll-out with Toyota winning the race to launch first...
Dates:
Jan. 12: Toyota; Jan. 14: Ferrari; Jan. 15: McLaren; Jan. 16: BMW-Sauber; Jan. 24: Renault; Jan. 25: Honda; Jan. 26: Red Bull; Feb. 2: Williams
Interestingly that just leaves the three supposed “minoe’s” to find launch dates. Spyker is most likely awaiting delivery of their new customer Ferrari engines while the drama builds over the launches of Scuderia Toro Roso and Super Aguri…
Nevertheless these daily touting's of the media’s paparazzi give hope to each team’s upcoming season…
I do enjoy these launches if only from a remote locale via the internet as it’s usually the only chance I get to see the new cars holding still…
Many F1 teams will be anxiously awaiting the launch of Red Bull and its sister’s team Scuderia Toro Rosso to see how closely the two chassis resemble each other in the still unresolved thorny issue of chassis cloning…
Here’s what I’ve gleamed so far regarding roll-out with Toyota winning the race to launch first...
Dates:
Jan. 12: Toyota; Jan. 14: Ferrari; Jan. 15: McLaren; Jan. 16: BMW-Sauber; Jan. 24: Renault; Jan. 25: Honda; Jan. 26: Red Bull; Feb. 2: Williams
Interestingly that just leaves the three supposed “minoe’s” to find launch dates. Spyker is most likely awaiting delivery of their new customer Ferrari engines while the drama builds over the launches of Scuderia Toro Roso and Super Aguri…
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Super Albert
BMW-Sauber’s team principal Dr. Mario Theissen, who was responsible for enticing BMW into purchasing Peter Sauber’s Formula 1 team, continues looking for alternative strategies to lead his team to the forefront…
And I find Theissen’s methods refreshing, since he seems determined to reach the front of the grid. Although he uses all the right buzz words like “thinking outside the box.” Theissen is the ultimate taskmaster, keeping his staff’s noses to the grindstone…
The BMW-Sauber team has quietly gone about the business of marching to the front by leapfrogging Formula 1 giant Toyota in the Constructor’s championship during its debut season…
While the simple answer in Formula 1 is to add another wind tunnel, BMW has instead completed installation of Albert 2.
Not to be confused with Fat Albert… Albert 2 is one of the world’s most powerful super computers and BMW-Sauber will utilize it to run CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) for Aerodynical computations…
Although Theissen says that outright race victories aren’t BMW-Sauber’s target for 2007, the team would like to continue vying for podiums and be ready to pounce if any of the “Big Four” falter…
In regards to the team utilizing Albert 2, I surely hope Theissen. won’t be heard saying “Open the Pod Bay Doors Albert!”
And I find Theissen’s methods refreshing, since he seems determined to reach the front of the grid. Although he uses all the right buzz words like “thinking outside the box.” Theissen is the ultimate taskmaster, keeping his staff’s noses to the grindstone…
The BMW-Sauber team has quietly gone about the business of marching to the front by leapfrogging Formula 1 giant Toyota in the Constructor’s championship during its debut season…
While the simple answer in Formula 1 is to add another wind tunnel, BMW has instead completed installation of Albert 2.
Not to be confused with Fat Albert… Albert 2 is one of the world’s most powerful super computers and BMW-Sauber will utilize it to run CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) for Aerodynical computations…
Although Theissen says that outright race victories aren’t BMW-Sauber’s target for 2007, the team would like to continue vying for podiums and be ready to pounce if any of the “Big Four” falter…
In regards to the team utilizing Albert 2, I surely hope Theissen. won’t be heard saying “Open the Pod Bay Doors Albert!”
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Open Wheel moving further Apart?
A few weeks ago I was reminded to not paint a picture of “Doom ‘N Gloom” over the possibility of a Champ Car-IRL merger actually happening, after writing the story: Discussing the Future. Yet I continue to rite that the chances of this happening appear to be slim to none…
Yet with the dawn of a new race season just a few months away, brand new non-oval track friendly Panoz’s taking flight, different engine formulas, methanol vs. ethanol and the IRL’s slowly increasing number of competitors, its hard to see how any fruition of such a merger will occur…
As David Phillips recently noted, both Open Wheel series seem most determined to move on, as their schism continues. Yet both Open Wheel series futures aren’t all roses…
Champ Car seems to be having as much or more trouble towards filling its field as the IRL. First Carl Russo walked away from RuSPORT, causing Kevin Kalkhoven to scramble before convincing his partner Dan Petitt to buy the top notch racing team…
Now Gerry Forsythe is threatening to run only one car in 2007 unless he gets $5 million in sponsorship to campaign a second car along “Sand Dune” Tracy…
Rightly so, Forsythe is still smoldering over AJ Almendinger walking out on him in favor of Red Bull’s easy money. And even though Red Bull will partner with Forsythe to run his Atlantics team, Forsythe is still stinging over Almendinger’s DEFECTION! This comes on the heels of Forsythe’s not being able to find a sponsor the past 3 years…
And in what is becoming a bad yearly tradition… As of just two weeks prior to Champ Cars first test at Sebring, Robin Miller has just reported (The Speed Report) that champ Cars has ONLY 5 confirmed drivers. (Sebastian Bourdais, Paul Tracy, Will Power, Alex Figge and Ryan Dalziel) Yet I expect the 10 Champ Car teams to show up with two drivers each for the season opener in April. Perhaps a total of 21 cars?
Meanwhile the IRL continues to announce new driver/car combinations with the announcement that IRL series founder/owner “Ronnie” (Tony) George’s IRL Vision Racing team will run AJ Foyt IV in a third car this season…
This is in addition to Adrian Fernandez’s planned single car effort along with roumours that long time IRL competitor Dryer & Rhinebold is trying to put together a deal to run Buddy Rice & Sarah Fisher which would give the IRL 20-22 cars prior to its season opener…
Speaking of George, the 47 year old Hoosier decided to purchase a Grand Am DP chassis from Eddie “Underachiever” Cheever in order to enter this years Rolex 24. (Daytona 24hrs) Funny how the leagues most despised driver (Cheever) is in cahoots with George, eh?
So George decided that he’d like to try racing again, possibly contesting this year’s Rolex 24 alongside his three hired guns. (Ed Carpenter, Thomas Scheckter, Foyt IV) Taking the #0 (interesting choice) car out for a spin during this past weekend’s testing, George promptly lost control and slammed into a wall…
Perhaps George should stick to sticking it to rival racing series instead of behind the wheel of a racing car? Or perhaps the two rival Open Wheel series should reconsider merging…
Nah, there’s too many cooks in the kitchen and too many egos in the way to accomplish the revival of Open Wheel racing as the premiere motor racing series it once was…
Especially if Champ Cars send Devoted Fans Fuming, eh?
Yet with the dawn of a new race season just a few months away, brand new non-oval track friendly Panoz’s taking flight, different engine formulas, methanol vs. ethanol and the IRL’s slowly increasing number of competitors, its hard to see how any fruition of such a merger will occur…
As David Phillips recently noted, both Open Wheel series seem most determined to move on, as their schism continues. Yet both Open Wheel series futures aren’t all roses…
Champ Car seems to be having as much or more trouble towards filling its field as the IRL. First Carl Russo walked away from RuSPORT, causing Kevin Kalkhoven to scramble before convincing his partner Dan Petitt to buy the top notch racing team…
Now Gerry Forsythe is threatening to run only one car in 2007 unless he gets $5 million in sponsorship to campaign a second car along “Sand Dune” Tracy…
Rightly so, Forsythe is still smoldering over AJ Almendinger walking out on him in favor of Red Bull’s easy money. And even though Red Bull will partner with Forsythe to run his Atlantics team, Forsythe is still stinging over Almendinger’s DEFECTION! This comes on the heels of Forsythe’s not being able to find a sponsor the past 3 years…
And in what is becoming a bad yearly tradition… As of just two weeks prior to Champ Cars first test at Sebring, Robin Miller has just reported (The Speed Report) that champ Cars has ONLY 5 confirmed drivers. (Sebastian Bourdais, Paul Tracy, Will Power, Alex Figge and Ryan Dalziel) Yet I expect the 10 Champ Car teams to show up with two drivers each for the season opener in April. Perhaps a total of 21 cars?
Meanwhile the IRL continues to announce new driver/car combinations with the announcement that IRL series founder/owner “Ronnie” (Tony) George’s IRL Vision Racing team will run AJ Foyt IV in a third car this season…
This is in addition to Adrian Fernandez’s planned single car effort along with roumours that long time IRL competitor Dryer & Rhinebold is trying to put together a deal to run Buddy Rice & Sarah Fisher which would give the IRL 20-22 cars prior to its season opener…
Speaking of George, the 47 year old Hoosier decided to purchase a Grand Am DP chassis from Eddie “Underachiever” Cheever in order to enter this years Rolex 24. (Daytona 24hrs) Funny how the leagues most despised driver (Cheever) is in cahoots with George, eh?
So George decided that he’d like to try racing again, possibly contesting this year’s Rolex 24 alongside his three hired guns. (Ed Carpenter, Thomas Scheckter, Foyt IV) Taking the #0 (interesting choice) car out for a spin during this past weekend’s testing, George promptly lost control and slammed into a wall…
Perhaps George should stick to sticking it to rival racing series instead of behind the wheel of a racing car? Or perhaps the two rival Open Wheel series should reconsider merging…
Nah, there’s too many cooks in the kitchen and too many egos in the way to accomplish the revival of Open Wheel racing as the premiere motor racing series it once was…
Especially if Champ Cars send Devoted Fans Fuming, eh?
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