Favourite Race Cars Part 3 - Open Wheelers

With the motor racing off season upon us I found myself questioning... what does the author of a topical motorsport based blog write about when there is no racing??

The first answer I came up with is to talk about what I love about racing, starting with my favourite race cars, so here we go...  Part 3... Open Wheelers...


FORMULA ONE

Modern F1 cars are ugly!!

Here are my two favourite Formula 1 cars -

1967/8 Lotus 49 - Cosworth DFV V8, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, great pre-sponsor colour scheme, red steering wheel, gorgeous!

1991 Jordan 191 - OK, the downside is this was Michael Schumacher's first GP car but regardless of who drove it, the 191 goes down as probably the best looking GP of my lifetime! Simple 7up colour scheme, balanced looks; it was a "good looking" GP car!





INDYCAR / INDY 500

All Indy 500 cars should be front engined!! I love Indy Roadsters!! They just look so right!! Loads of power, narrow tires, get it wrong and it will hurt!! Big balls?? You bet!!

As much as I may lament the move to rear engine race cars, my favourite early example has to be the 1965 Lotus 38, driven by Jim Clark. Everything the 49 was for F1, this was for Indy!!






When I was growing up, F1 was boring... CART was not!! My favourite CART car was the 1993 Galles Racing T93 Lola as driven by Little Al! I loved the simple colour scheme and the clear "screen" round the driver... actually I still do!





My favourite IRL era "IndyCar" has to be the 2001 / 2001 IRL Dallara Chevy as driven by Sam Hornish round the outside of anybody who dared to stay low!! As with the Jordan 191, the Dallara was a nicely balanced, low nose modern race car that looked as good on the high Texas banking as it did at Indy. It also raced better than today's IRL cars!





SPRINTS AND MIDGETS

Kurtis Kraft Offy midget is a lovely looking classic American race car. Pretty... very pretty!!








World of Outlaw Sprint Car - big tires, big tracks, big slides, big engines, big noise, huge wings!!








Part 4... Anything Else...

Favourite Race Cars Part 2 - NASCAR

With the motor racing off season upon us I found myself questioning... what does the author of a topical motorsport based blog write about when there is no racing??

The first answer I came up with is to talk about what I love about racing, starting with my favourite race cars, so here we go...  Part 2...

NASCAR

1952 "Fabulous" Hudson Hornet

Ahead of its time... quick... good looking... voiced by Paul Newman... what's not to like...

 

1967 Plymouth Belvedere - Richard Petty

Good looking, fast, dominatingly fast!! Helped build the legend!!

 
 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 - Mario Andretti

Pretty road car, even prettier race car, one of my favourite drivers of all time!! 

1970 Plymouth Superbird

They may have been a only year only thing but they have a place in NASCAR history for all of their speed and drama. Detroit discovers aerodynamics...

 
Mid 90's Chevy Lumina - Dale Earnhardt

I grew up watching the Luminas, T-birds, Grand prix, even Oldsmobiles going head to head... the "3" Chevy of Earnhardt is my favourite NASCAR car! Dark, menacing, and fast!! RIP!!

1997 Craftsman Truck Series Chevy C1500 Silverado

The trucks were introduced to be the short track NASCAR series and the early trucks were square, flat fronted and looked like the road versions. The late trucks look good, but the early short track trucks are my favourite!

2010 Sprint Cup "Car of Tomorrow"

This may be controversial but, as regular readers will know, I like the latest Cup car! Developed to improve safety and racing, NASCAR has continually evolved the car to improve the looks and the racing... and the racing has been good!! 2011 sees the end of the splitter which I am sure will improve the cars again!!


2011 Nationwide Series "Muscle Cars - Mustang/Challenger"

Next season brings the Mustang and Challenger full time to the Nationwide Series. As with the latest Cup car this new design should improve safety and racing. The fact that the cars look great and have more of an identity for manufacturers is great too!

Cars like these and many more in the NASCAR Hall of Fame... come on America give it a chance!!

Oh one more...

Ker Chow!!

Part 3... Open Wheel...

Favourite Race Cars Part 1 - UK

With the motor racing off season upon us I find myself questioning... what does the author of a topical motorsport based blog write about when there is no racing??

The first answer I have come up with is to talk about what I love about racing, starting with my favourite race cars, so here we go... Part 1, UK racing 

BTCC

I grew up watching the likes of Andy Rouse, Rob Gravett and Tim Harvey racing 600+ BHP Ford Sierra RS500's. The cars were rear wheel drive, had 5 speed H-pattern gearbox's and were a "mans" car. The drivers had to manhandle the cars around the track and compared to todays front wheel drive econo-boxes were "real race cars". Oversteer anyone??




The day the BTCC went front wheel drive was a dark day for me. However the first few years did contain some very good racing! I was a John Cleland fan. So my favourite car of the FWD era has to be his Vauxhall Cavalier GSi 2000. Before Alfa Romeo came along the cars were still very production based, devoid of wings and splitters, and big arches. These were the big selling family cars of the day racing door-to-door, hard but generally fair (Mr Soper aside) across the UK. This picture must have been taken in practice as the car has both mirrors lol... 


UK CLUB RACING

In the mid 90's British club racing was pretty dull. Until the Eurocar package came along. Eurocar started out at a couple of short tracks including Birmingham Wheels with about six cars, and rapidly grew to the be the big hit of the 1990's.

First came the V6; what looked like a Ford Mondeo was actually a space-frame, rear wheel drive, left hand drive, 290bhp 2.9 V6 powered brute! It was NASCAR for the UK, down to the steel wheels, big steering wheels and BIGGER numbers. The cars raced two or three wide everywhere (including round Clearways at the Formula Ford Festival) thanks to the organisers and drivers adoption of oval racing etiquette, grooves and respecting each other's room, on the big tracks. Brilliant racing...

Then came the V8! Looking like a two thirds scale Winston Cup Pontiac Grand Prix, the cars were good looking (Mike Jordans MacTools car was very pretty), they even had a Roush V8 providing loads of power! The V8's never achieved their full potential but they looked and sounded great!

Lastly the Pickup Trucks! Two litre 16 valve engines, this time right hand drive for the UK circuits! Big grids again ensured great racing on the circuits! When the Rockingham oval opened the trucks were converted to left hand drive, and restrictor plate racing hit the UK! They are still racing, and while numbers may not be what they once were, the quality of the show is still as good as ever! 

V8 SUPERCARS

OK, not UK based, but I had to include them - 

The earliest memory I have of touring car racing in Australia, on TV, is of an in-car camera pointed at John Bowes feet, watching them dance as he drove Mount Panarama, Bathurst in a yellow Ford EB Falcon. V8, rear wheel drive, 3 pedals, H-pattern 'box... see a pattern forming here? Great cars, great track!



In 2001 Ford raced the AU Falcon in V8 Supercars. The car raced by Craig Lowndes, with its evil green eyes, and two tone Ford paint job was especially mean looking, and goes down as my favourite V8 Supercar!





OTHERS

TVR Tuscan - Another light weight, V8 engined, rear wheel drive, space-frame chassis beast of a race car. No patttern here honest!! Best one make series ever!!





Part 2... NASCAR...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Timer!!

In summarising the 2010 F1 season I said, "On paper a good year, but it could have been so much better".

In summarising the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season... "On paper the 2010 NASCAR season could sound very predictable, Jimmie Johnson wins again, but it was so much better!!"

A lot has already been said concerning the lack of respect towards JJ as a four time Champ, and that this must change now he has won five in a row. Jimmie Johnson is not a love him or love to hate him champion as Earnhardt was. He is not a mouth like Darrell Waltrip, or the young upstart Jeff Gordon once was. He is relatively quiet, races cleanly, does not make much of a fuss; he simply gets on with it and does his talking on track!! Like him or not, it has to be said that Jimmie Johnson is the best driver of his generation, and Chad Knaus the best Crew Chief. Nothing can detract from the achievement of winning five (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Championships, let alone five in a row.

Equally nothing can detract from the high level of competition, and the high standards of racing this season has produced. We had good short track races, good road course races, good mile-and-a-half races, and great restrictor plate races. This was the year that the Chase, the (now with spoiler) COT, the two wide restarts, the green-white-chequered finishes, the "have at it boys" attitude all came together to create a good'un. The last race of the year, at Homestead-Miami, proved this!

There were the stories of the three championship contenders; Hamlin - fast, spin, slow, car fixed, fast again but not fast enough to hold on to it; Harvick - fast on track, too fast on pit lane, third in the race and in the Championship; Johnson - fast on track, slow in the pits, second on track, first in the Championship!

How about the story of the fast Ford, Carl Edwards, who fought off the valiant attempts of the 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota, to win his second race in a row.

Then there was the 83 of Kasey Kahne battling his old car, the 9, now driven by Eric Almirola.

What about Tony Stewarts yo-yo race; he starts 31st, gets some help in the form of a free pass, works his way up to 8th, finishing one place behind his team mate.

Or how about Logano vs. Montoya... pity we didn't get to see it all...

It has been a breakthrough year for NASCAR!!

Congratulations to the 48 team; five time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champions... in a row!!

Roll on 2011... only 80 days to go...

Home Sweet Homestead

One race... 400 miles... Three drivers... One Champion!

The race for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup title is close, 46 points close. In a sport where the top non-Chase drivers have 4200 plus points, that's close!!

#11 Denny Hamlin - leading , #48 Jimmie Johnson - second 15 points back, #29 Kevin Harvick - third 46 points adrift...

Others have tried... Tony Stewart had a run of good performances but fell away, Clint Bowyer is good at the 'plate races, Jeff Gordon has been a regular under-achiever, Carl Edwards won last week to break his winless streak and put him next in the standings, but none have stayed with the top three throughout the Chase.

In the past the last race, at Homestead-Miami, has been a disappointment. The top drivers were more interested in calculating the points and staying out of trouble than they were going for the win. This year, with the points this close, the top three will have to race hard!!

The driver who leads on track, the driver who leads the most on track, the driver who wins on track will be Champion. No sitting back and watching the points, they will have to race, hard!

Homestead, the 1.5 mile progressively banked oval, could finally deliver the explosive season ending "race" that NASCAR needs and it's fans want.

Potential first time Champion driver and first time Champion manufacturer vs. Potential five timer vs. Potential first time Champ trying to put Richard Childress back on top.

So come on "have at it boys"!!

Formula One Roundup

So the 2010 FIA Formula One World Champion is... Sebastian Vettel.

He led the Championship early on in the year and never let go... actually he led once... when it mattered... after the last race!

On paper the story of the 2010 World Championship is a pretty dramatic one; the return of Michael Schumacher, Brawn GP re-born as a works Mercedes team with the aforementioned German as its lead driver, two British former World Champions now team mates at McLaren, new teams at the rear of the grid added to the car numbers and provided their own race within a race, and a new team upfront in Red Bull...

The year did not start well with a very boring first race raising doubts over the rules and the latest aero package. Thankfully the racing got better, much better in fact with some genuinely good "racing" in the middle of the year. However the "racing" did not last, unfortunately, as the races in the last part of the year were not great, showing how hard it is to overtake in F1 in the era of overly aero sensitive cars.

McLaren were not really good enough all year, despite winning races early on, and were always one step behind the rest of the pack and at times had to try too hard to compensate. Ferrari was always there ish, while Red Bull looked to be the team to beat if they could stop making silly mistakes.

While the other drivers did everything they could not to win races, Mark Webber found himself in the lead of the Championship which created wonderfully comedic outbursts from his team mate and a PR nightmare for the team. Ferrari got better in the middle of the year to put them in the game but nearly ordered their own downfall. McLaren fell behind and disappointed, while Red Bull had mechanical issues.

Unfortunately for Webber it was obvious that his team mate was the Red Bull to beat, when he kept the car on the track. In a game of "I don't want the title, you can have it" the top drivers made mistakes, broke down, spun, leaving Alonso on top of the standings with one race to go, but even he couldn't hold on to it. In the end Vettel was crowned World Champion, the youngest driver ever to win the F1 title.

On paper a good year, but it could have been so much better. F1 still has a problem with overtaking, or more accurately the lack of it. The last race could have been a very dramatic finale when Ferrari got points leader Alonso's pit stop strategy wrong leaving him back in the pack behind both Renaults and a Mercedes. Que storming drive through the field... err no... the resulting lacklustre performance showed that even a fast car and driver could not overtake. F1 also has a problem with its own regulations as the 2010 season was tainted by the Ferrari team orders scandal which left a bad taste in the mouths of many, the author included.

F1 also has a problem with restarts. For the second race in a row Vettel jumped a restart and got away with it. With the safety car accelerating away, and about 3 or 4 corners still to go before the first safety car line, Vettel brake tested the pack causing the second place driver to leave the track in avoidance. Vettel then floored it leaving the others behind. When Vettel got to the first safety car line, the commentators informed us that the drivers can now overtake. The problem was Vettel had been at racing speed for 3 corners and was so far ahead that he was the only car on the screen. This has to change for 2011!!  

So what will 2011 bring??

Who will get the hang of the new aero rules package and new tyres first... who will exploit the inevitable gaping hole in the new aero rules package first... will Schumacher show the world he deserves to be a current F1 driver as opposed to a former driver... how long will it be before the other teams stop arguing over the gaping hole in the new aero regulations and revamp their own cars to match... will the FIA grow a pair and uphold their own regulations... how many times over the course of the off season will the lower teams claim that they will win races in 2011... will Bernie finally get his medal system??

For now, congratulations to Red Bull Racing the 2010 Constructors Champions, and to Sebastian Vettel, 2010 Formula One World Champion!!

The Unfulfilled Potential of Restarts

Wreck, crash, incident... debris, track blockage... under caution, safety car period, yellow flag... restart, green green green, racing again...

From a fans point of view this scenario usually gives a motor race a new lease of life, closing the cars up, getting rid of all the gaps. This should create excitement by putting the key protagonists together and then letting them loose... unless you are watching an F1 race...

Prior to the safety car period Sebastian Vettel had a lead of roughly 2.5 seconds over his team mate Mark Webber. They traded fast lap times, battled through back markers until...Vitantonio Liuzzi crashed bringing out the aforementioned Mercedes SLS.

Suddenly the two Red Bull drivers are together, the nearly three second lead is now only two car lengths due to the two backmarkers sat in between the team mates... The cars come round on the last lap prior to the restart... The safety car disappears off into the distance... Vettel holds the field back... then he goes... as he approaches the last corner?!

Coming out of the last corner, with Vettel racing off into the distance, Webber is stuck behind the two backmarkers, unable to legally overtake them until he has crossed a line set by the officials, which is round by the pit lane entrance.

When they crossed the line to "restart" the race Vettel was 2.2 seconds ahead of Webber!!

After one lap Vettel was 3 seconds ahead!!

Another lap on and Vettels lead was 4.5 seconds!

So much for closing the race up!

I understand the logic behind the "overtake" line; giving the drivers a solid point on the track from where they can overtake, but letting the leader have a free reign on when he accelerates and leaves the field behind is counterproductive to good racing. In fact I would go so far as to say that Vettel jumped the restart. How can the leader take off before the last corner and cross the line 2.2 seconds ahead of second and not jump the restart??

If you are in second for a restart, as Webber was at the weekend, you may have to sit behind slower lapped cars, unable to overtake, while the leader gets away. I don't think Webber had enough pace to really challenge Vettel, but it would have been good to see him try, or at least get close enough to have the chance. Unfortunately the restart rules stopped him from getting close.

In NASCAR there are two lines on the track, and on a restart the leader must maintain a steady pace to the first line. It is then up to the leader when to accelerate, as long as it is between the two lines. If the leader has not accelerated at the second line, the rest of the pack can leave him standing. NASCAR also put the lapped cars to the rear of the field, so the front runners are together and can race cleanly come the green flag.

Formula 1 is not NASCAR, however Formula 1 is trying to promote and encourage better racing. Putting lapped cars to the rear of the field may be too "NASCAR" for F1, but having more control over the restarts has to be a good idea; if you care about "racing".

On a different topic I thought it was interesting to hear Martin Brundle squirm when the subject of "team orders" was raised mid race on Sunday. In simple terms his answer was based on the premise that the FIA have allowed team orders, at the end of the year, in the past so team orders should be allowed now. Jonathan Legards response, "but team orders are banned"...

As long as people in F1 keep using the past as an excuse then things will never change. Will the regulation still be in place in 2011?? Who knows... if you want good racing in F1 enforce the team order regulation, and sort the restarts... and... and...

$100,000 Cheque Anybody?

Two races to go...

  

Points race close...

Team orders anybody??

Top five - 1st Alonso (Ferrari) 231 / 2nd Webber (Red Bull) 220 / 3rd Hamilton (McLaren) 210 / 4th Vettel (Red Bull) 206 / 5th Button (McLaren) 189...

Autosport headlines - "Horner: Both drivers still in title race"... "Ferrari plans 'very careful' approach"...

Team orders anybody??

Here is the question... Can the World Championship be won without team orders??

Put it this way, one Ferrari against two Red Bulls and two McLarens??

Team orders anybody??

Ferrari have always had a number 1 driver, and a number 2 driver. You could say that Ferrari don't have team orders; they just have one driver with the backing, the equipment, the strategy, the team around them. This is how they ran the team with Schumacher, and they still totally back one horse; pun intended. If any Ferrari is going to get the points it will be Alonso.

McLaren had Senna and Prost. Now they have Hamilton, and Button, not that I am directly comparing the drivers, merely the way in which McLaren run their team. McLaren let the drivers "race" which a good thing for fans of "racing" however they could be in danger of letting the drivers take points off of each other.

Red Bull also have two drivers; but not out of design, I would have thought. They have Vettel, probably signed as their primary driver, and nice guy Webber as the crowd pleasing second driver. However the plan has gone wrong, in a good way, with Vettels problems earlier in the year putting Webber in the lead of the Championship with Vettel currently in fourth. Red Bull has to decide whether to let the drivers race, or to back one driver over the other...

If the Red Bull drivers and the McLaren drivers all go racing there is a chance that the sole Ferrari driver could walk off with the title.

If, for the last race, McLaren and Red Bull decide to back one driver, they will have to be carefull about how they plan their races, and what tactics the "second" driver uses.

As we all know team orders are not allowed according to the regulations, unless you have a $100,000 cheque at hand...

Anyway, if it rains my money's on the safety car...

Is Consistency Still Key?

Champions are in the battle for the long haul.

Gathering race wins when they can; staying near the front when they can't; minimising bad days; getting the most from the good days...this is how Winston Cups were always been won... now in the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" era consistency gets you in the Chase, but out and out performance in the last 10 races gets you the Championship.

Kevin Harvick led the points standings at the end of the regular season by being consistent, and is now moving his way closer to the front again, by doing the same.

I have previously stated... "If Harvick or Hamlin want to beat the 48 at the end of the year, they need to start beating the 48 now" and of the last two races Martinsville was won by Hamlin, and Harvick very nearly won at Talladega, were it not for a badly timed (for Harvick) caution flag ending the race early and putting him in second.

While the point's race is now nice and close with only three races remaining, is consistency enough? I still think the 48 needs to have a really bad finish for anyone to claim the top spot at the end of the year, and the two challengers need to keep winning!

Regardless of the Championship points battle, the last two races were good' uns. Martinsville was full of bumping, bashing, two wide racing, and a winner who overcame a bad car in the middle and fought his way to the front. Talladega also had lots of side by side racing (as you would expect), lots of bump drafting, slingshot overtaking, wrecks, and a close finish. Let's hope Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead produce racing that's equally as good.

One thing NASCAR has got right is the aero / restrictor plate relationship for Talladega, not only for the Cup Series but for the Trucks as well. If you want drafting, a drag race, slingshots, and a close finish watch the end of the truck race...

NASCAR Truck Finish 

I am looking forward to the 2011 Daytona 500 with the current aero/ plate setup but with the new surface!

Go Harvick!!