Bob Barnard Track Engineering

When I first arrived in Australia the Premier of Queensland was one Joh Bjelke Petersen. If that sounds like he should have been running South Africa then you get an idea of his politics. Joh loved to have press conferences, "feeding the chooks" as he called it, or feeding the media a line of misleading information more like it. Bernie seems to have gone to the same school of media management. He is famous for putting ideas out there to get a reaction or put pressure on someone.

This week we have seen him question the New Jersey F1 race, saying they are behind in some of the contract requirements, presumably a payment. Now we all know Bernie has been waiting for a race with a view of Manhattan for years, so I doubt he is serious, so what's his game? He played the boys in Texas well too to the extent of a reported increase in race fees of $10m, and he is dangling the Mexican GP as a stick to beat anyone not living up to his standards.

We also have Bernie blaming KERS for the Williams pit fire, without any reports to back that up. Now, that is a possible cause, but why say that now? Bernie does not like KERS or the other energy recovery systems, electric motors in pit lane etc, and is presumably putting pressure on the FIA to back off on these.

We also see reports today that the float is to be delayed due to market unrest. But I thought this was a golden goose that anyone would want to invest in? Didn't they just sell $1.6 bn of shares without floating? As Joe Saward says today, we have seen this before, a delay becomes a change of mind. I've asked before why Bernie would want to have the books open to public gaze. Was this just another ruse to get the big teams into line on the next Concorde Agreement? Or was Mercedes too big to fight? One thing is for sure, Bernie will come out smelling of roses.

In other matters the opposition to the Canadian GP looks more serious than Bahrain. Perhaps people are waking up to how much these ego boosts are costing the country. How many university places would a race fee pay for each year?

Over in Barcelona Casey Stoner has shown impending retirement has not dulled his competitive spirit. How about Bradl and Marquez on Hondas next year?

Finally, it is June 1, and I hope you are well rested. We have the Euros kicking off in a week's time, Le Mans test day this weekend and the race on June 16, Five F1 races and the Tour de France all before the end of July, not to mention MotoGP and WSBK. Phew!

Why is it that the 2012 Ferrari is seen as a dog, especially by the team? While we have had five different winners this year, including Ferrari, Alonso has been there abouts in each race. Now I am a fan of his and feel he can impact the performance of a car more than the average F1 driver, but even he cannot be doing this with a car as bad as everyone makes out. Quickest in first practice in Monaco, and right there in the second without using the super-soft tire that Jenson did. So how bad can this car really be?

On the other side McLaren were seen after the first race to be odds on to win both Chamionships, but look what's happened to them. OK, they have shot themselves in the foot a few times, but that does not tell the story of Button's bad races in China and Spain. So what's real here?

Like Ferrari the Lotus team seem to able to competitive everywhere this year, so perhaps a sixth race winner?

Nice to see the changes to the chicane on the harbor this year, much better.

While the racing goes on the fight to make money from the sport continues unabated. If $1.6bn can be raised by selling shares privately why do CVC, or is it Bernie, feel the need to float it public? A normally very private man when it come to money it is hard to understand why Bernie would want the public scrutiny that comes with a stock exchange listing. Bernie is right though, if Facebook is worth $100 bn then F1 with its returns to investors is a steal at $10 bn. I loved the comment about his replacement, comparing it to trying to find a replacement for Frank Sinatra.

F1 is only worth $10 bn though if the race promoters continue to cough up the exorbitant fees. Let's look at the current calendar. Australia is losing north of $50m on each race and the Government is under pressure. Malaysia has less attendance than Australia and by reports is not happy. China has never had a crowd, but will probably hang in there. Bahrain has plenty of money but no one wants to go. Barcelona cannot fill the seats even with Alonso and is hurting, but still wants the race. Their mates in Valencia keep reducing the number of seats and want to alternate with Barcelona. Monaco is Monaco and does not pay Bernie anyway. Then we have Canada where the students are threatening to stop the race, and Bernie wants a bunch of money spent on the track, i.e pit building, before next year. Silverstone is desperately trying to find someone to lease the facility to pay off their debts. Germany has Nurburgring and Hockenheim, neither of which can afford it. Hungary has always been an enigma, Bernie presumably promotes this race. Belgium is in trouble like Germany and was touted to share with France, except France is not playing ball with them or Bernie. In Italy the financial police have just raided Monza over dodgy accounts. Singapore will presumably continue at a lower price as their reward for floating F1. Japan is a year by year deal and could stop. Korea already wants to stop and apparently Bernie has done them a deal. India has not yet worked out what it is really going to cost them, as with Austin, which is still fighting within themselves. Abu Dhabi has spent so much money on Yas Marina they have to keep going, and then there is Brazil which is faced with building a new pit building. So, not all rosy in the F1 world.

What of the new races I hear you ask. Well we have New Jersey here in the US which no one knows who is paying for it. France is having second thoughts, and all is not smooth in Russia. Argentina is scheduled to join the Bernie supporters club, and there are always countries willing to pay Bernie what he wants it seems, but for how long?

Over at MotoGP things aren't much better with the current World Champion saying he is retiring at the end of the season as he does not like where that sport is heading, and neither do most of us.

On a final note the extensions to the track I built at Eastern Creek in Sydney back in 1989 have come in for some stick, particularly from motorcycle racers. Perhaps now I will receive some recognition for what I built originally on a difficult site. No, it was not Phillip Island, but there again, nothing else is.

It did not take BMW long to take its' first win in the DTM. Just the second race, and starting from pole. Dr. Ulrich of Audi chose to go to the DTM race rather than the WEC at Spa, so it tells you where his priorities are, or is it he knew Spa was a shoe in? It should have been expected as BMW have not exactly been away from racing, just the DTM when it got to be a tin top version of F1. Racing its' road cars across the globe all these years just meant building one to DTM specs, hiring a couple of drivers with DTM resumes, and off we go. Great to see though, three great manufacturers fighting it out and drawing huge crowds. Probably more at the first race than at the German F1 GP's.

Good to see Robert Wickens, the young Canadian, getting a drive in DTM, not your normal route to F1, but a couple have done it.  American Alexander Rossi is also getting his break and will get a Friday drive at Barcelona in his role as test driver for Caterham. That will be interesting to see.

Elsewhere normal service resumed with Stoner winning in Portugal, but Rossi continues to struggle with the Duke, and whatever happened to Spies? A long chain of discussion on Facebook recently about Ben, but it is hard to understand how his team mate Lorenzo can be challenging for the win, and the Tech 3 pair can be beating him easily on non-works equipment. Ben was the only team mate to get the best of Mat Mladin when they raced in the US, but that was Mat's retirement year, so not a good yardstick? Something has obviously disappeared from Ben's arsenal, perhaps his confidence?

I was able to watch the Spa 6 Hour round of the WEC courtesy of Audi TV on the internet. Had the radio Le Mans boys commentating and picture was great, and no commercials. Despite the obvious outcome of an Audi win we saw an intriguing race, with the Diesels beating the Hybrids, who have some issues to resolve around the four wheel drive. Interesting that Toyota has not followed this path after having tried it. Of course Audi has long had a "Quatro" so marketing may drive the racing, so to speak. Nice to see that did not influence the outcome of the race though with the diesels being allowed to win on merit. Le Mans may be a stretch though. Good races in the LMP2 and GTE classes, with the GTE being won by less than a second after six hours! 

Oh yes, we had in-season testing once again with all the F1 teams except HRT going to Mugello. A very nice track, but much more a MotoGP track than F1 with all those sweeping corners. Grosjean in the Lotus was quick with Kimi declining the opportunity to run, as did the two McLaren boys. Not really much to tell as usual with testing and not all the top drivers. We will have to wait for Barcelona.

The "who is going to replace Massa" game continues with Mark Webber being the flavor this week, although it seems Red Bull are keen to keep him after the recent race form. In a similar vein the new Chairman of CVC has said he needs to be able to replace Bernie "within 24 hours." Presumably not the next 24 hours, but the ones after they carry him out of his office in a wooden box as he has always insisted they will have to do for him to relinquish control of F1.

Why would you schedule a second GP2 race in Bahrain the week after the F1 GP? No one cared as was obvious from the crowd. It is reported as 12 on day one and 30 on day two. FOM had 20 cameras, so the TV crew was larger than the spectators, and who watched on TV anyway? All very strange. No security forces at the track, but that did not matter as the demonstrators knew the world had switched off, but still plenty of action away from the track and the capital.

So Bernie is getting married again, that explains the need for the float of F1, he needs to keep his wives in the manner to which they are accustomed, and let's not forget the daughters.

In the real world Casey Stoner overcame the problems of the first MotoGP and practice to win in Jerez, where I am sure there were a lot more than 30 people watching.

Strangely Michael Schumacher and I agree on something once more, the Pirelli tires make F1 a lottery. F1 should be won by the best drivers in the best cars, not someone who lucked in to the perfect set up for that instant in time and weather. And when will McLaren stop shooting themselves in the foot?

On other matters I was pleased to have a reason to visit the Georgia property that has my best track design laid out on it. Property and track as beautiful as I remembered, and the gentleman who accompanied me was as excitied as I am about the potential, so let's keep our fingers crossed that there is a chance to at last make this a reality.

I am also traveling this week to Mooresville, NC, home of the NASCAR Teams and drivers, on Lake Norman. My good friend and colleague Jarno Zaffelli and I are at last going to collaborate on a new kart track under construction there.

The Mole, aka Peter Windsor I suspect, has a different take on Adams sudden departure. It still involves Bernie, but his take is that Bernie forced him out as Adam was one of very few who critized Bernie from inside F1. Bernie said recently that the reorganization of Williams should have started at the top, i.e. Adam. The scenario is Bernie needs Ferrari, McLaren and Williams to sign on, and knows Red Bull and Toro Rosso will go along for the money, and Sauber will do what Ferrari wants anyway. So offer Sir Frank a deal, Sir Frank says yes please, Adam says no, so no more Adam.

Another theory, but one of the comments suggested Adam would take "gardening leave" and turn up at CVC, along the lines I suggest. Bernie and Max Mosely had some famous disagreements, it did not stop them working together, and in my scenario Bernie is not there anyway.

Joe Saward has a piece about how our friends at CVC are going to be rewarded further for their investment in F1, with an extension of their loans maturity to 2017, the end of the next Concorde Agreement. In the meantime the return for investors is guaranteed at 5% over bank rate, and they can get ready for a float. Are we never to be rid of these parasites?

Now Thailand wants a GP, home of Red Bull why not? More the merrier. We'll be able to run the whole series in Asia soon.