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Motorsports

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  • maverickjmaverickj Member Posts: 16
    Oh, that is sweet! So I take it you don't need to enter s sweepstakes to get free tickets and a chance to meet Danica...you can do that on you own? :-p
  • lukea3lukea3 Member Posts: 2
    Danica sucks. When is the next race?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "The No. 43 car once driven by "King" Richard in all but three of his 200 Sprint Cup victories will be added to the Gillett stable as a fourth car, while the No. 45 car once driven by second- and third-generation drivers Kyle and Adam Petty will cease to exist."

    Petty Enterprises to merge with Gillett (CNN)
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Honda Motor Co. withdrew from Formula One racing as part of its cost-cutting efforts.

    Honda is looking to cut costs by $216 million. Honda also has eliminated workers and reduced production to cut costs."

    Formula One Presence Is Victim of Honda Cost-Cutting
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Honda and Audi Make Surprise Announcements Leaving Racing Series

    image

    image

    More on the Audi's pullout and its effect on diesel engine development:

    Audi To Bow Out Of U.S. Race Series That Helped Develop TDI Diesel Technology
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Chevrolet chose the 2008 Bologna Auto Show as the venue to take the wraps off its Cruze WTCC, a racing version of the sedan that will compete in the 2009 World Touring Car Championship."

    Chevrolet Cruze WTCC (Inside Line)

    image
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Now we know why Formula One team bosses were surprised by how much progress they made at cost-cutting talks in Monte Carlo this week. The reductions announced by the teams and the governing body, the FIA, today are startling. "

    F1 teams agree on drastic cost cuts (Telegraph)
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Porsche, Honda (motorcycles), Suzuki (cars) and Subaru cut racing teams (Straightline)

    image
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    As for yesterday, Honda has cut F1 but not Motorcycle Racing team. Pedrosa and Dovizioso have been confirmed as the official pilots for next season MotoGP.

    MotoGP 2009 provisional entry list released

    On the other side PSA Group may be entering F1 circus next season.

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    It's the 2009 AMA Roadracing Series that Honda is drooping out of. Lots of politics involved it seems and the economy makes a nice excuse to bail.

    Details here:

    American Honda withdraws from AMA roadracing for '09 (Sport Rider)
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix has been canceled by its organizers for the 2009 season."

    Detroit Grand Prix Called Off

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  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    Cars and Detroit no longer a good match? :P
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Foxsports.com is reporting that a deal has been struck to merge Petty Enterprises, one of the most famous and longest running teams in NASCAR, with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. And by merger we mean swallowed up completely."

    The Final Days of Petty Enterprises: Team Set to Merge with Gillett Evernham Motorsports

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  • daramdaram Member Posts: 1
    well it's starting in Ireland this year!

    here's bono driving in honor
    http://www.mywrcireland.com/viral/id/57c0531e732
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Grand Prix car race returns to Fur Rondy
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Here there is news from Dakar Rally after its first week.

    Dakar Rally 1st. Week

    Official Site

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Eco-Friendly Auto Racing? Penske Says Smaller, More Efficient Race Engines Due

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  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Most teams - with the notable exception of Ferrari - are testing in Portugal over the next four days as they pit their new-look cars against each other on the track for the first time.

    And it promises to be a fascinating few days as we see which technical departments have responded best to the challenges posed by this season's radical new rule changes - the biggest in the sport for 25 years."

    Renault and Williams unveil new cars for Formula One season (Telegraph)
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Ferrari has developed a nice little car for this season, though it seems that the exhausts do not fulfill FIA specs.

    Ferrari F60
    (Video recorded from Massa helmet in Mugello early this month. I am sorry the article is written in Spanish. Enjoy the pics!)

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "1938: German race car driver Bernd Rosemeyer drives his Auto Union streamliner to the unheard-of speed of 268.432 mph on a stretch of autobahn between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. Never before has anyone driven so fast, and never again has someone gone so fast on a public road."

    Jan. 28, 1938: The Passing of the Silver Comet (Wired)
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Ferrari is unique among car manufacturers. Automakers go racing so they can sell more cars. Ferrari sells cars so it can go racing. It's been that way since the first road-going Ferrari, the 166 Inter, was built in 1949. More than 36 percent of the sale price of every Ferrari that leaves a showroom goes directly to the F1 team. It used to be 100 percent before Ferrari partnered with Fiat in 1969."

    Feb. 18, 1898: Enzo Ferrari Gets the Green Flag (Wired)
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Ferrari considered engine building an art, and to race someone else's engine — as builders like Colin Chapman and Bruce McLaren did with great success — was the ultimate heresy. Ferrari had names for such people — Garagiste! Assembliatore! — and he used them like epithets.

    :D;)

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Honda Sells Formula 1 Team (Straightline)

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  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Here is some additional info

    Ross Brawn plus 2.4 litre Mercedes-Benz FO108W

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I assume that FIA approval is just a formality?
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    It should be. The team will continue with the same crew, both pilots and mechanics. The car fulfils the specs for this season, the new engines too. FIA should be interested in not loosing any valuable actor in this crisis time. FIA acts sometimes quite wrongly but always looking forward to keep the business moving.

    BTW, Race Teams have had some meetings altogether to suggest their own innovations, both about car mechanics and race rules; as always, they consider latest FIA changes to be sort of foolish. Race Teams wish exert more control on the incessant changes FIA (actually Bernie Ecclestone) introduces from season to season to "cut expenses" and "improve the show". Race teams consider the current race rules are not understandable by the public; they consider too so many yearly mechanical changes oblige to spend much more money in research and development before the season than which is intended to be spared during the season.

    All in all, Bernie Ecclestone does not want loose control on F1 and constructors want to gain it for themselves.

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Thanks for that insight, Jose. It seems like every sport has never-ending issues with the governing bodies (and it really gets fun when a split happens and you wind up with competing organizations).
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    this weekend. Brawn GP being ahead other teams after preparatory trials and accused of founding a loophole in the regulations which allows them to run a taller diffuser.

    link title

    Good season to the teams and to all of the followers/watchers!

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "In Tokyo, one of the largest cities in the world, there are endless places to race. There are drag spots, drift spots and highway circuits where you can race for hours around the city. And there are insanely fast cars everywhere. Supras, Skylines, Silvias and Chasers, even the occasional American muscle car."

    Tokyo: Underground Street Racing Paradise

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  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "TALLADEGA, Ala. – Seven fans sustained minor injuries after being struck by flying debris when Carl Edwards' car went airborne into the safety fence on the final lap of the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday."

    7 fans injured at Talladega Superspeedway (Yahoo)

    video link
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Miami cops have it figured out:

    "Officers said they have seen a drastic reduction in illegal street racing since Beat the Heat started in 2007.

    "We used to have races in the warehouse district almost every Friday, Saturday night. They've completely stopped," Bradley said.

    Racers told Local 10 that they actually prefer the track.

    "It's better and it's safer," one racer said.

    The next Beat the Heat race is May 23 at 7 p.m. at the County Line Drag Way on Okeechobee Road."

    Florida Officers Battle Drivers in Legal Street Races (Officer.com)
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Ferrari Says It Will Quit Formula 1 Next Year If New Rules Are Enacted

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  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Not only Ferrari but Red Bull and Toyota as well, and for the same reasons: the chaos FIA introduces changing F1 rules year after year.

    In particular, FIA announced that each team should reduced its budget down to 45,000,000 Euros for both, next season car development and next season itself. This means less money for materials but also firing many excellently skilled engineers and other team employees.

    Ferrari and others argued that this money and much more has been spent this season just to develop FIA fancies, e.g., KERS system (brake kinetic energy stored in a heavy battery) which has eventually revealed to be a nightmare for the teams. Only two teams used it last weekend in Barcelona.

    FOTA (F1 association of constructors) is discussing this situation in a meeting scheduled for next May 24, one week before Monaco GP. Deadline to register car/teams for next season is next May 29.

    Regards,
    Jose
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    …and Renault has jumped into the bandwagon.

    Regards,
    Jose
  • michaellnomichaellno Member Posts: 4,120
    As I understand the issue, the FIA is wanting to institute a "salary cap" for the teams, which, theoretically, levels the playing field for all competitors.

    Only one of the four professional sporting leagues in the US does not have a salary cap at all - baseball. There are teams that spend less than $50 million on salaries and other teams that spend over $300 million.

    I guess the question is -- do the teams share in the revenue equally? Again, baseball teams have their own local revenue streams (TV rights, mostly) .. the team in New York City can negotiate a much larger contract for TV rights than the team in Minneapolis.

    How true is this for F1?
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Problem is the "salary cap" won't be of equal height for all teams. Those adopting KERS and other FIA technical recommendations will be allowed to wear top hats, those not following them will get only berets. And FIA changes its recommendations year after year like only a capricious child can do. For instance, when teams asked FIA early last summer if diffusors would be allowed, FIA say they would not. Then Brawn Mercedes took advantage of an ambiguous regulatory clause and Brawn Mercedes cars came with diffusors that were declared legal even after the protest of the teams that had renounced to them.

    It's only the old fight between FIA and FOCA fight to control F1. In this case I favour FOCA, yet it is true a sort of counterweight is necessary to keep balance for the sake of F1 and the so called "little" teams. If only FIA decisions hadn't consistently got the fidgets… :sick:

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I can't say I've been too impressed with how the owners of the Tour de France run that race either.

    When I lived up north, the local softball leagues had a huge falling out, complete with lawsuits. This is probably more of the same, just with bigger dollar amounts.
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    …Italian team have initiated legal action to try to stop rule changes

    Londontimes

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    How dare someone sue the billionaire "F1 Supremo".
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Hardly can I understand what happens in that circus since recently. Is it as if all of them would together kill the chicken of the golden eggs.

    If only, one can tell everyone is speaking about F1 now: bad publicity still is big publicity, or whatever the saying goes. Though FIA and FOCA have managed in the past to stop fights before disaster, may be this time they cannot do it.

    Regards,
    Jose
    PS: Here is the post eventually, where it belongs. (I posted it other thread by mistake!!)
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Montecarlo Practice #1 is 36 hours ahead…

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    No Replica For You! Chevy won't make Indy 500 pace car clones (Straightline)

    image
  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    From the comments I heard about it, this is a good thing :P

    You can even Ask Dub Schwartz!
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    What's the deal with no green cars allowed at Indy? I just caught a sentence of a radio story that said that.
  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    Old superstion about green cars being bad luck in racing perhaps? Or did they mean no hybrids need apply :P
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Williams F1 Team Suspended (Straightline)

    The internecine war has turned out to be more entertaining than the actual racing. :P
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Yep, this is a culebrón. I hope most can understand this word; for those who cannot, a culebrón is an endless series of ridiculous quarrels were not for the money involved. Sort of that "Dallas" series which ended being filmed in the USSR or in Russia, I cannot remember anymore. :confuse:

    Waiting for Ferrari's decision. Could them make up a solid scape to continue in F1 with honnor? I read something on it last weekend. But, sincerely, I did not pay much attention to it. Looked like smoke made to distract all and everyone.

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    If nothing else, we're expanding our vocabulary. :shades:

    Culebrón? Can you make mine a double?
  • jlbljlbl Member Posts: 1,333
    Iced culebrón… by now.

    Ferrari returns to the fold — as all other teams, FOTA announced today — by signing the agreement to keep racing next year in F1.

    Regards,
    Jose
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Well, that's no fun. :P
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