2012 Here We Come... or... Silly Season, You Bet!!

So what do we know about 2012 so far?

Well 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart has a new Crew Chief in Steve Addington and his team has poached Greg Zipadelli to oversee all things "Competition" including Danicas Cup efforts... Sounds good...

Kurt Busch has "left" Penske and has found a ride... where? Seriously...

Penske now have 'Dinger instead of Kurt... Cool...

Smokes former Crew Chief, Darian Grubb, is now with Denny Hamlin at Gibbs...

At Daytona... Smaller rads... Bigger 'plates... Smaller spoilers... Softer springs... Higher air intakes = less tandem drafing? My breathe is held...

In F1 Raikkonen is back... Hhhmmm... We will see...

and Patrick Head retires...

Caterham... in F1? Well I never...

In Indycar... New car is good on road courses but still needs work on the ovals... Keep trying guys as you need to get it right for the sake of the Indy 500. It doesn't matter if they are slower as long as the racings good...

Kentucky off... Watkins Glen on... Pity about loosing an oval but if you have to have another road course the 'Glen is a good'un...

In BTCC... New NGTC cars being developed... Goodo...

and it's not even 2012 yet...

Excited??

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Bye Bye 2011... thanks for the ride...

Thank you to everyone who visits. I do appreciate the interest.

Hello 2012... bring it on!

Have a great holiday season and see you in the new year.

How many days till the Daytona 500?

Too many!

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

This year I have been a very good boy. I have eaten all my greens, went to bed when I was told and have not been on the naughty step for at least a week!

For Christmas I would like...

BTCC - Lots of nice, shiny, new NGTC cars, all rear wheel drive so the cars oversteer like real race cars and not understeer like my dads boring car...

F1 - can your elfs show McLaren and Ferrari how to build a car like Red Bull as I am bored of Vettel winning all the time...

NASCAR - The two car drafting is a bit silly, and the old pack racing got a bit dull so something in the middle where the cars stay together but can still overtake would be nice...

Better racing at the mile and a half tracks as there are so many of them...

Less "fuel mileage" finishes as there were far to many of them...

Another close Chase as years was really good...

INDYCAR - A new car that drafts and races well at Indy as I really like the Indy 500...

Oh and a Buzz Lightyear...

And a Lightning McQueen...

Please

Thank you...

James
Age 3.2 going on 32.

2011 Review Gallery

V8 Supercars "Car of The Future"

V8Supercars have unveiled the future of their series.

Faced with a limited number of elegible cars, and high development and running costs, the organisers put legendary driver Mark Skaife in charge of the next generation of Australian touring car regulations, known as the Car of the Future or COTF. 

Under the skin the cars are very different, while still being the same cars from the outside.

I had not realised this until now but the current V8Supercars still have live rear axles. The new spec cars will finally have modern independent  rear suspension. The cars also move to a transaxle at the back to help weight distribution. To aid safety a new stronger roll cage with improved side impact protection is mounted to a new floopan. The fuel cell also moves from the boot to inside the new rollcage, again a move to improve safety limiting the chances of the cell being damaged if the car is hit from the rear. The cars also get bigger wheels, now 18" instead of the 17's of the current race cars. Along with bigger wheels also come bigger brake discs.

To me the best thing about the new spec car is what stays the same. The cars will still have the same big V8 engines driving the rear wheels. The cars also look the same as they still have the same production based bodies.

What the V8Supercars web site is not making a big deal of, if I am right, is that the cars will be mechanically identical with the exception of the engines and bodies. This is to keep costs down and to keep competition close. The other big point of the new spec cars is to make it easy for other manufacturers to join the series.

Currently the series is based around cars from Ford and Holden (GM). Historically these have been the Falcon from Ford and the Commodore from Holden, both rear-wheel-drive sedans. However we all know that the vast majority of modern road cars are front-wheel-drive, and with the continued threat of the Falcon and Commodore going front-wheel-drive,  it looked tough for the series to ensure a rear-wheel-drive future.

The COTF regulations should ensure that top level touring car racing in Australia continues to be rear-wheel-drive and V8 powered as the chassis and mechanical package is standardised, regardless of whose body (Toyota?) is on the car.

The V8Supercars organisers seem to have a very good handle on equalising the aero packages across the Fords and Holdens while still basing the cars on production bodyshells. I hope this continues with the new spec cars and is as successful with any new manufacturers joining in.

Basically the series faced the same issues as NASCAR, with the COT, and BTCC, with the NGTC, those of cutting costs, improving safety, ensuring close competition, and encouraging  brand buy in.

NASCAR went for a standardised body and chassis, and have been developing and enhancing the identities of the cars ever since. COT mark 1 was not very successfull at differenciating between a Ford, Chevy, Dodge and Toyota. COT mark 2 or the Nationwide car to you and me, is much better, still standard bodies in terms of aero but with very different "faces". It will be interesting to see what COT mark 3, the next Cup car, due to be updated for 2013, looks like.

BTCC, with the NGTC, went for standardised mechanicals to keep costs down but still keeps the manufacturers happy by using road based shells to contain those mechanicals. The issue for me with the NGTC is that there appears to be a strange mix of front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive, not always being based on the layout of the equivalent road car... rear-wheel-drive Audi anyone? 

I like the concept of the COTF, still V8 powered and to start with still Ford vs. Holden! I like that the series will be protected from the threat of front-wheel-drive road cars with the new standardised mechanical package. If the cars are safer and cheaper too, whats not to like?? 

Paying attention Mr Gow?

2011 Shiftin' Gears Quotes Part 2... Others

To start the off season I thought I would review my favourite quotes from this seasons blogs... so here we go...

Part 2...

INDYCAR -

I hope, if not for the sake of the series but for the sake of the Indy 500, that the new car brings life to open wheel oval racing in America.

Congratulations to the winner of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500... DAN WHELDON!!

RIP Dan Wheldon

BTCC –

First 2011 rear wheel drive entry is... an Audi A4?? Pardon?? When was the last time you saw a rear wheel drive A4?? The BTCC NGTC specs state - "Drive-train layout (i.e. front or rear wheel drive) as per base vehicle." So much for that idea...

Good things - The new turbo engines seem to be working. Anybody can now buy an engine, put it in a car and be competitive! Lots of different cars! Bad things - The driving standards are appalling!

Two weeks ago I watched the worst of the BTCC. Rubbish driving standards with far too much shoving and not enough clean overtaking.

It appears the new spec cars are prone to terminal damage when making contact with another car. This means they will have to give each other room and race cleanly if they want to finish races! That would make a change!

We can now look forward to next season, which I hope will see all the top runners in NGTC spec turbo cars.

F1 -

…the DRS "overtaking" system (Drivers can't Race on their own System),

KERS, (the Kinda E-relvant, but the racing so dull we need to, Recover it System)

Hold the Front page... “Latest Grand Prix, NOT A Turkey!”

How much overtaking is needed in F1?? Well "any or some" would be a start!

What happens when you combine the latest line of young “racing” drivers, the most overtaking friendly F1 cars in quiet some time and the tightest, yet most prestigious “racing” venue? The answer... you get racing!

At Silverstone the track and the grandstands have separate postcodes!

Among the topics in my last post, entitled "British Grand Prix - Quick Thoughts", you will not find any mention of the Red Bull team order issue. This is because I wanted to give the issue more than a quick thought. I wanted to take the time to deliberate, consider if you will. This is the end result of those deliberations... Its rubbish, but that’s F1 for you.

Other -

Ginetta is Betta... erm Better...

I am loving the new G55‘s. They look good, sound good and race great! At last a National series I look forward to watching!

In a word Cars 2 is fun. It is entertainment that never takes itself seriously and just revels in taking you along for the ride.

2011 Shiftin' Gears Quotes Part 1... NASCAR

To start the off season I thought I would review my favourite quotes from this seasons blogs... so here we go...

Part 1... NASCAR

In the world of NASCAR, Daytona International Speedway is the new Noahs Ark and the drivers are coming in two by two!!

If 2010 was "have at it, boys" then maybe 2011 is... "NO LONGER YOU'RE GRANDDADS NASCAR"!

Las Vegas wasn’t the greatest race ever, but it does show that anything can happen, and probably will!

Kyle Busch, who led most of the race, was trying to hold on while Jimmie Johnson did everything he could to take it. At the same time Kevin Harvick got physical saying "I don't think so" and beat them both... and all that in the last two laps! A great ending!! Pity they didn't have KERS or DRS movable rear wings though...

I have nothing against international drivers racing in NASCAR as long as they earn their place, and as long as the series for the “good old boys” stays true to that.

“Hand Bags at Dawn” or “Racing Rivalries”

I think it’s a shame that the ”All Star Race” is included in NASCAR probationary periods, imposed after a driver has done something untoward. The non-points scoring sprint race format is be the perfect arena for drivers to “have at it,” safe in the knowledge that their actions in the “All Star Race” would not affect the regular season.

Am I the only one who thinks it a bit odd that the track creating the best old fashioned bump-‘n-run racing is... not Martinsville or Bristol... but... a road course?

Performace parity... that's BTCC talk, in NASCAR it's called good hard racing!

I have never minded the two car bump drafting we are currently seeing at the ‘plate tracks, however when it gets to the point where drivers plan in advance who they are going to work with, and stay together until the end without any thought of changing, it has gone a bit too far.

Jeff Gordon is now third on the all time NASCAR win list!

One point has to be made though... while Tony Stewart might have won the race because of his fuel strategy; he got to the front by out racing the opposition!

I enjoyed watching Jeff Gordon lose last weekends NASCAR Sprint Cup race from New Hampshire. I also enjoyed watching Clint Bowyer lose the race.

For the first time since the current Cup car was introduced I am wondering if something about the COT is hurting the racing.

I would be like to thank Richard Childress Racing for putting the "R" back in "NASCAR", for letting their drivers "race" for the win and not just drive.

Was I supposed to be surprised by the actions of Kyle Busch in last weeks Truck race? Oh good, 'cos I wasn't.

A few weeks ago I may have commented on the particularly disjointed nature of the pre-Chase regular season. No one driver looking strong enough to dominate, but many in with a shot… I might have been wrong..

What will 2012 bring??