"Latest GP NOT a Turkey" and "Hand Bags At Dawn"

Overtaking, wheel-to-wheel, cross-over, round the outside, three-a-breast, and pit lane battles are all terms we would usually associate with a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Darlington, but Formula 1 from Turkey?

Erm... YES!!

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

I have just watched the Turkish Grand Prix. I did not watch it live, I recorded the race so I could forward speedily through the dull bits. However, I watched this all of this race... full length... every lap... the whole lot... start to finish...

And it was good...

Regular readers will know that I am not the worlds greatest F1 fan.

Regular readers will know that when it comes to F1 I can come across a little on the cinical side.

It would be wrong of me, as someone who will readily critisie F1 for boring races and who will openly accuse the drivers of not being able to “race”, and as someone who has done just that, to not acknowledge that the Turkish Grand Prix was none of those things.

While I think the DRS thingy is a bit contrived and false, combined with the KERS, it made for a very good race.

With the exception of Mr M. Schumacher the drivers have remembered how to race and not just drive. They are giving each other room and driving round each other, not just into each other.

Button round the outside of the last corner, the McLarens all over each other, the drag race in the pit lane... the list goes on... all good stuff!

I might even be looking forward to the next race, but don’t tell anybody...


“Hand Bags at Dawn” or “Racing Rivalries”


At Richmond it was Montoya Vs. Newman. At Darlington it was Harvick Vs. Kyle Busch.

The winner in each case?

NASCAR!!

Sure JPM and Newman beat up two perfectly good race cars and wrecked their own chances of a good finish, let alone each others, but it WAS a short track race and this IS NASCAR!

Was Busch loose coming off turn 4? Was he ever in control of that car? Could he have done more to avoid taking Harvick out?

Yes... no... maybe... I don’t care!



The fact is that both sets of incidents made for great TV. Long may drivers get passionate about their chosen sport, and show that passion!!


After all we all know that drivers who lack passion or emotion, and are more interested in strategy than racing don’t race in NASCAR they race in Fomula 1...

Then again...