Bob Barnard Track Engineering

For lovers of motorsport this last weekend offered us something of everything. F1, NASCAR, Indycar and MotoGP, and the VLN at Nurburgring. Of course we do not get to see the VLN in the US except when there is a bad accident. The Nissan going over a state of the art guard rail and debris fence is not something you see every day thank goodness, but it serves to remind us just how this sport can bite us if we drop our guard. In this instance the spectators climbed the fence designed to keep them back from the debris fence and sat immediately behind it. Had they not then they would not have been injured, sadly fataly for one of them. Rules are there for a reason, and bad things happen when they are not followed. I cringe when I see spectators at NASCAR events right behind the fence. Placing security there to try and keep them back only endangers the security. 

NASCAR was at Martinsville, which looks a lot like a demolition derby. A good show but it is pot luck who escapes with the least amount of damage to win. I talked about Harvick a week or so ago and his domination, but the guy who is really on it this year is Joey Logano. Won Daytona and has been in front every race, and usually in the top five at the end. Won the truck race Saturday, and looks very happy and relaxed out of the cars. So relaxed you wonder how he does it, but put him in the car and he is steely eyed and gives as good as he gets. He and Brad make a serious pair to be reckoned with for the Championship this year. 

Indycar kicked off it's season in St Pete's street track with totally predictable results. As soon as I saw the new for this year aero packages from Honda and Chevy I knew that there was going to pieces of cars laying all over the track. F1 front wings are vulnerable, but these are ridiculous both ends of the car. I know the designer think it is great to add all these little flips and winglets, but surely someone with some common sense in the teams should say that they are not going to last much beyond the first corner. New front wings going on galore and at what cost? Then there is the stream of full course yellows to pick this stuff up, and punctures when they don't. If I was paying to attend this I'd want my money back. Montoya has regained his zest for racing and showed Sunday he will be a driver to reckon with again, great to see. One of the true racers. We were actually seeing some good racing towards the end, but then Power had a brain fade and stuck his winglet laden nose up the inside of Montoya with the inevitable result. Whatever happened to "keep it simple stupid?" Call me old fashioned but look at cars like the Williams FW07. Simple to build, and simpler to fix, and won the Championship. The great McLarens look very plain against today's F1 cars, but it was great racing still, no winglets to puncture tires.

Speaking of that, Raikkonen has had no luck at all in the two races this year. As Barry Sheene used to say, "If he had a duck it would drown." Hit on the first lap in Melbourne and then a wheel problem, and this weekend he qualifies badly due to the team sending him out late in Q2, and then a puncture from a nose hitting his sidewall. He probably had the best drive after that from last to fourth. The Ferrari suits him this year and we are missing out on seeing him having a chance to really show his old form. The early safety car spoiled the race for me, but I'm sure there are plenty who will say it made the race. Would we have seen the safety car if Bianchi had not been so badly injured last year? I doubt it, but it is an understandable reaction. I was surprised to see the snatch tractor come out. Ericsson was only just in the gravel and there were enough marshals running toward it to push it out I thought. Would have let Ericsson continue, but there you are. I was equally surprised to see the Mercedes come in for tires. At that point I knew Vettel had this won. I don't know what the strategists at Mercedes were looking at. Telling Rosberg that he would finish second, but would have to pass Vettel at the end. He could not even see him let alone pass him. Some strange calls, and maybe there was a tire wear issue, but Rosberg went on to mediums for the last stint, which lasted, and Hamilton was put on hards, which baffled him too. No new mediums was the reason apparently. Pundits say Vettel would have won anyway, but he only beat Hamilton by 9 seconds with one less pit stop, which would have cost him 23 seconds. So if Mercedes had waited and also done 2 stops then Lewis would have won by 14 seconds, but is that too simplistic? I guess we will see in China if Ferrari has made that big a gain, and hopefully see Kimi in the mix this time.

Finally we had the best racing in the MotoGP in Qatar. MotoGP provides the best value for money as the show provides three equally exciting and competitive races on the same bill. No Porsche Cups or historic displays here, just full on racing. The MotoGP saw Marquez slip up at the first corner and then fight back to fifth, while four guys swapped places all race for the win, with the decision made on the last run up to the finish. Great stuff, just a pity no one in Qatar wants to go and see it. Marquez made the race for us, but the Ducati's showed they have finally sorted themselves out and can compete at the front. Should be a good year with Rossi still having the fitness and commitment and Lorenzo back in form. Moto2 was a little unusual with a lack of competition at the front, but what it lacked was more than made up by the Moto3 crowd. Yes a crowd, with riders going from first to tenth and back again in the length of a straight. Amazing stuff with riders from 15 years of age to old hands mixing it all race. Can't take your eyes off stuff. I for one did not like to see the 125 and 250cc classes go as it seemed that the replacements were now seen to be subordinate to the top class, instead of being an equal World Championship, but you cannot complain about the racing we now get to see.