What, passing in Monaco?

We saw something today what I never thought I would see in my lifetime, an honest to goodness exciting race in Monaco.

Of course it could have been a legendary race but, unfortunately, FIA regulations say tires can be changed and cars repaired on the grid under red flag conditions.

A shame, the reason the race was so exciting today was that you had three drivers, all world champions, on three different tire strategies who ended up within the same second with eight laps to go. To make circumstances even sweeter, the slowest guy, with the oldest tires was leading and the one with the best tires was third, it would have been an outstanding finish.

But, no go, fresh tires meant leveling the grip equation and that was that.

Fortune helped the daring, Red Bull and Vettel overcame a terrible pit stop by switching to a one stopper and nursing the tires some sixty or so laps, amazing. The RB7 is really amazing and Vettel the perfect driver for it. Too bad for Webber, once again getting the short end of the stick and losing a ton of time because of that stacked pit stop.

Mclaren had a rough day, they had the car to beat Vettel but I'm still trying to figure out the logic of a three stop strategy for Button on a track where passing is almost impossible and every pit stop means lost track position. As far as Hamilton, well...call Oliver Stone because it's a conspiracy against him apparently.

Alonso did what has become the norm for him, didn't complain much, put his head down and did the best he could, which is pretty good. He jumped Webber at the start and there was a pretty good chance he might actually win with eight laps to go.

Amazingly, Webber might have won: there was a moment, in the final chaos, when all three of the leaders could have gotten mixed up in that pileup by the swimming pool. it's a miracle none of the three got hit or punctured a tire.

That melee was triggered by "Machete" Sutil who had the brilliant idea to stay on the throttle after hitting the wall and getting a puncture. If Hamilton wants to complain about the stewards pulling in the wrong guy, maybe he should bring up his good buddy "Machete". Can't believe he actually scored points after causing that mess.

Still, all and all, this race did a huge favor to Monaco, simply by producing a good show, finally!

The Monaco Grand Prix

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           2h09:38.373
2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     1.138
3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     2.378
4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    23.100
5.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    26.900
6.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    27.200
7.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
8.  Heidfeld      Renault                    +     1 lap
9.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
10.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
11.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +     1 lap
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    2 laps
13.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
14.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
15.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
16.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
17.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
18.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.234

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Lewis Hamilton is black

The Mclaren driver made a bid for "racing's biggest twat" title today after the Monaco Grand Prix. If you follow this blog you know how we feel about Hamilton and we usually catch a lot of flack from fanboys. I think today, after what can only be described as reprehensible behavior on track, Lewis showed his true nature, see for yourself...



Lewis could learn so much from a rookie... check out Paul Di Resta after the jump...

2011 Monaco GP: all about the first corner.

Oh what a surprise, Red Bulls were sandbagging!

Regardless of what Alonso may have said after qualifying, I doubt very much Hamilton would have been able to best Vettel's amazing lap, 1:13.554, a new lap record.

Watch the video, it will blow your mind. Figure it's almost ten seconds faster than laps in Senna's time, the ones people go on and on about. There is this current of thought that says that driving a current F1 car is "too easy". Frankly , I question the sanity of anyone making such a claim.

Watch the clip and lots more of our very own photography after the jump

(slow? let it load...)

Tomorrow there are a couple of things that could happen to Vettel, and they are all in the first lap....make that the first straight to Saint Devote. Button, Webber or Alonso might pass him at the start or there could be a big pile up. Barring that, it will be decided by pit stops and maybe safety cars, like every other Monaco GP.






By now you have seen the accidents at the tunnel exit. Liuzzi, Petrov, Rosberg and worst of all Perez.
I can tell you the whole Casino Square went VERY quiet after letting out an initial gasp as replays were shown on the big screen. The time it took to extract the Sauber driver, with the sheets over him really was uncomfortable for all.
There were no news announced, I finally went up to a marshall and asked, he said they reported Perez had passed out but was essentially OK. Relief. I would imagine something will be done about that section of track by next year and now the decision not to let drivers use DRS in the tunnel seems very wise.

How Perez's accident happened is unknown yet, for sure he emerged from the tunnel in the wrong spot, way track left. One thing I thought curiou, you might be able to explain: is it possible there was enough force in the first hit to completely deflate the left, opposite side, tire or do you think it may have been going flat already, causing the crash?










Go full screen, I spent a lot of time getting these shot today, enjoy them to the fullest!

Place du Casino

I'm on the inside of Casino Square today for F1 qualifying, I can't post pictures live but, I'll post updates on Twitter and Facebook end of post

Monaco: Porsche Supercup qualifying

We may be in one of the temples of Formula 1 but you got to love what having fenders lets you get away with.

As you may know, Fridays are free in Monaco so you can pick whatever spot you choose to watch both Supercup qualifying and the long GP2 race. I decided on a spot overlooking the second Swimming pool complex.
It was amazing to see the fast guys turn in early, aim for the end of the guard rail and brush it every time. You could clearly hear it, tshhk....tsshk... From there they would attack the opposite side curb, bounce about a foot in the air and then gathered it all up in time not to hit the far side barrier. Very cool.

René Rast did it best, qualifying his VELTINS Lechner Racing 997 GT3 cup in 1:35.734, a new Supercup track record .

Sight and sounds below, a full gallery and result from today after the jump




Qualifying result
1. René Rast (D), VELTINS Lechner Racing, 1:35.734 minutes
2. Nick Tandy (GB), Konrad Motorsport, + 0.313 seconds
3. Kuba Giermaziak (PL), VERVA Racing Team, + 0.635
4. Sean Edwards (GB), Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, + 0.641
5. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, + 0.710
6. Sebastiaan Bleekemolen (NL), Team Bleekemolen, +0.845

It's all HD so don't be afraid to go full screen for maximum enjoyment!

The thing about electric cars crashing....

...is that you can really hear the crash!


2011 Grand Prix Electrique, Pau France.

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Monaco Free Practice

Right to the point: was Red Bull sandbagging today? I'm pretty sure Mclaren was not, Hamilton seemed to be trying but Vettel?

Great to see Alonso on top but I keep thinking of FP1 when Vettel seemed to be able to turn the wick up at will and beat the Ferrari by 2/10 in the final sector alone. In any case, Alonso's pace was promising as was Massa running 16 laps on super soft Pirelli which are supposed to last only half that. Problem for the Scuderia is that Red Bull ran many more laps on the prime tire than they did in FP2. Reports say that most will choose a two stop strategy, Option, Prime, Prime.



Continued after the jump



Couple of things noticeable from trackside. The cars with the most obvious "Engine Downforce", as Lewis Hamilton refers to it, are Red Bull, Mclaren and Renault, this based on the engine note anyway. Mclaren especially, when they have the effect turned up, sound like a buzzsaw from hell. Kind of cool in a way because it means cars actually sound different, albeit horrible. You can actually smell the difference between cars that have the hot blown diffuser and those that don't, It does not smell like any pump gas I ever smelled in case you are wondering!



I'm sure teams brought with them many new bits, I happened to notice Ferrari was running slightly different rear wings elements on Alonso and Massa, Alonso's rear wing, covered in FloViz in FP1. For the second session Ferrari debuted a Red Bull style engine cowl, with a big heat exhaust out back. At the same time they closed some of the heat vents towards the front of the sidepods.




Mercedes looked good, not sure what caused Schumacher to crash, replays looked like something broke as he passes pit out.

It was fun to see who got closer to the guard rails, they turn in so early, it's amazing to watch. I would say the "prize" goes Buemi who stamped a Pirelli logo on the inside of Massenet...







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Postcard from Monaco 3: Porsche Supercup

When F1's go by you smell gasoline, when Supercups go by you smell brake pads....

Check out the gallery after the jump

Postcard from Monaco 2

(photo Axis of Oversteer)

Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi stamps PIRELLI onto the guard rail at Massenet towards the end of Free Practice 1..

Postcard from Monaco

Nothing special, just some sights and sounds from Wednesday afternoon in Monaco.

See if you can spot two F1 drivers (minor, granted) and the tattooed stripper chick!




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Safety Car

We have not seen the Safety Car so far in 2011 but in Monaco there is a good chance the awesome sounds of the big Merc mid engine coupe will bounce off the buildings of the principality. Always amazing to realize that while the F1 drivers complain about going at a snail's pace behind the safety car, Maylander is pushing that 575HP SLS hard!

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Ring Ding

Axis entry in the inevitable youtube ring ding onslaught...




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Audi surprise TT8 RS

Full gallery after the jump....

Nastyness seen in Milano this afternoon. Not positive what the Italian equivalent of ricer might be though I'm sure it involves risotto...

Formula 1 Guitar

Handsome Dick Manitoba may have rocked Young Fast Scientific but this guy is...REALLY scientific. Any thought's this man's obsession is mere playing around stop when you see the light turn off as Kubica is see entering the tunnel in Monaco!

Or when you read his technical explanations:

"... Monaco is a one-of-a-kind circuit in so many ways. With the guitar I noted it was the hardest circuit to play in the championship so far, with very quick gear changing (a feeling reinforced by playing a different driver than the smooth Fernando Alonso) and very quick accelerations. Note also the use of first gear in the slowest corners of the championship, a not very usual fact this season with the unloaded fuel tanks during Q3.
I am sorry for my careless low start of 7th gear in the guitar playing, when this straight-less circuit demands a very short 7th gear."

He too is worried about the technical regulations coming in 2013

"...When I started thinking about how to make my guitar videos, I first calculated the theoretical pitch of current Formula 1 V8 engines. This way, we have the revolutions limit in 18000 rpm, which is 300 revolutions per second, that is 300 Hz. Given that a four-stroke engine cylinder has one explosion for every two revolutions, we have 150 explosions per second per cylinder. Therefore, the eight cylinders of a V8 engine make for a total of 1200 explosions per second, that is a sound of 1200 Hz, which is a musical note slightly above D6. However, the actual sound we hear on TV onboard laps has a predominant frequency of 600 Hz when the engine is on top revolutions, which is a subdivision of the 1200 Hz theoretical sound. That is the main frequency I play on my guitar videos, using appropriately tuned third and fourth strings past 22nd fret to have a 600 Hz sound (D5).

With the new engines, to be used from 2013 on, the revolutions limit is set to 12000 rpm, which means a reduction of the engine sound pitch by 12000/18000 = 2/3. Moreover, the engines will have 4 cylinders instead of 8, which will reduce by 1/2 the pitch of the engine sound. Altogether, we will have 2/3 x 1/2 = 1/3, so the 600 Hz sound on top revolutions will be divided by 3 to turn into a 200 Hz sound. That corresponds to a musical note slightly above G3, around the 3rd fret of a guitar for third or fourth strings, so I will have to buy a bass guitar if I want to play slow corners of a Formula 1 lap in the future, or even a contrabass for the Monaco famous turn 6."

Check out more at Formula1guitar.blogspot.com in English and Español!
(Thanks @Circuitoftheamericas)
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2011 Spanish GP: The Grand Illusion

(photo: Pirelli)
Fernando Alonso made Spain dream with his brilliant start when he burned Vettel, Webber and Hamilton with fantastic plunge into turn one. Looked like it would be something different and exciting in Catalunya but then, reality set it. The idea that Red Bull and Vettel are really that vulnerable is, I think just an illusion, just as Ferrari's speed was. I'm not even so convinced Red Bull was that worried about Hamilton passing Vettel at the end of this race, one that more than any other this year was dictated by tire strategy.

Even the entertainment value of the race was an illusion, on a track where DRS was needed most, it failed miserably. The "passing zone" (so sad one has to refer to such a thing in F1 but there it is..) was too short. If it were up to me I would have implemented DRS before the final turn, forcing drivers to choose between tire wear and speed. If you go back and check, other than in the first laps there were very few passes amongst equals, it was all either new vs old tires or DRS. BS, I say.



Speaking of BS, let's send Charlie Whiting on vacation, shall we? On a day where leaders lapped up to fifth spot you would think the FIA would try to promote competition yet it seems to go out of its way to apply technical regulations rules capriciously and arbitrarily.

Take for example the case of Ferrari's rear wing which was deemed to be within the letter of the rules but outside the spirit of the regulations and thus banned. Two seasons ago the same person declared Brawn's double diffuser to be within the letter of the regulation and outside the spirit of the regulations yet legal.

Even worse the question of the "hot gas" blown diffusers. Whiting said they are illegal yet they are allowed for at least one more race. This is a joke and make a mockery of the rules, it's sad small teams and even a veteran like Williams who do not use the system and are therefore legal, do not have the standing to protest. Rules need to be applied consistently and you cannot have this rest on essentially one person.

I would say the biggest impact of the Spanish week end will be on Webber and Massa. Webber now has his fate sealed at Red Bull for the season and this might have repercussions on his future choices in F1. Massa is being destroyed by Alonso worse than he has ever been by any of his other team mates.

Next week in Monaco bet on red, ...Bull.



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Three things about Red Bull...

Three things I heard about Red Bull today, make of them what you will:

1. Vettel and Webber went out early in q3 and then sat in the garage, Confidence? Arrogance? No chance to get directed to scrutineering box?

2. There is a gentlemen's agreement between teams on spending, Red Bull is rumored to have already topped the cap after four races.

3. RB tester Neel Jani tweeted how his neck was sore after testing the RB7. Only straight line tests are allowed, his neck was sore, really? Tweet was quickly deleted.

And one more rumor, not about Red Bull this time but Sutil who might very well not be in the car next week in Monaco. Force India, who have been looking for an excuse to dump "Machete" Sutil for some time in favor of Hulkenberg, would use the China bar fight with Renault exec Eric Lux as a pretext.

(photo: Pirelli)

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Villa D'Este Concour d'Elegance

Cool video of some of the old trouts in all their glory and some very fancy new "Fuoriserie" lounging on the shores of Lake Como. (Via P4/5C)



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The Happiest Number 4

Ever seen someone be so happy to finish fourth in qualifying?

Fernando Alonso managed to stun Martin Brundle who had just declared on the BBC's broadcast that the best Ferrari could hope for was fifth, behind the Mclaren boys and of course the two Red Bulls. Alonso was so stoked that he ran up to pole sitter Mark Webber and hugged him enthusiastically producing one of the more amusing moments in recent GP memory, that look of "WTF???" on Webber's face was just priceless.



Races in Barcellona have been won by P1 for the last ten years, I guess we'll see how the tires DRS lotto will play out. I'm banking on a desperate move by Lewis "I got a chin strap beard now" Hamilton into turn 1 followed by a major crash... well one can always hope.

In any case, Hamilton will start with a flat-spotted front left and Vettel might or might not have KERS issues, there is some hope for a non boring Spanish GP!

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   
 1.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m20.981s
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m21.181s   + 0.200
 3.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m21.961s   + 0.980
 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m21.964s   + 0.983
 5.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m21.996s   + 1.015
 6.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m22.471s   + 1.490
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m22.599s   + 1.618
 8.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m22.888s   + 1.907
 9.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m22.952s   + 1.971
10.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes
Q3 cut-off time: 1m23.026s                                   Gap **
11.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m23.231s   + 1.691
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m23.367s   + 1.827
13.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m23.694s   + 2.154
14.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m23.702s   + 2.162
15.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m25.403s   + 3.863
16.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercede  1m26.126s   + 4.586
17.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercede  1m26.571s   + 5.031
Q3 cut-off time: 1m25.874s                                    Gap *
18.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m26.521s   + 3.561
19.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m26.910s   + 3.950
20.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m27.315s   + 4.355
21.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m27.809s   + 4.849
22.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m27.908s   + 4.948
23.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m28.556s   + 5.596
24.  Nick Heidfeld         Renault              No time

107% time: 1m28.767s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

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Axis 1 Lap: 158.9 MPH in a 155 mph limited car!

First off, I don't care what anyone says, it takes balls to keep the hammer down in a car you don't know at Daytona. Eric, my team mate, had driven Daytona once before, in the 2009 edition of the One Lap, it made the most sense for him to take on the time trial there. I got to drive a couple of parade laps on the banking and let me tell you, even a cruising speed it's intimidating.

So how did the stock engined, CX of a brick MCoupe end up with a genuine gps verified 158.9 mph? That's what, 175 indicated with my car's 10% over speedo error? I don't even think the dial goes that high!!

Perhaps a little help came from my taping job on all the (huge) panel gaps in the front and side of the hood, the car went 3mph faster than the non taped version in the previous session. Perhaps the two Contour cameras hanging off the rear quarter panels acted as vortex generators and cut down on the vacuum crated by the hatchback shape... or at least it's fun to think that.


(Eric praying he does not crash...)

In any case, I suspect the key to a fast lap at Daytona is not just the top speed on the banks but the time in the infield. Eric's best lap, the second was 2:15 which is not that bad considering the car was on stock sized wheels and stock sized street tires. By comparison CG had done 2:07 in his Cayman S race car with Hoosiers the first time he was there. The final lap might have been faster but Eric was balked badly into turn 1 by a clueless Evo driver from the Great White North.
Doesn't matter, the Z3MCoupe was faster than Eric had gone in the super fancy Carbon FIber Z4 MCoupe he drove in 2009....so there, another notch in the M-Shoe!

Well done Eric!

Check out the video with Traqmate overlay.



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2011 Spanish GP Wing Analysis

You can draw your own conclusions from this super slo-motion clip but it would be fascinating to hear the opinions of someone like Craig Scarborough or perhaps even Giorgio Piola...

2011 Santander Spanish GP Practice 2 results

Pos  Driver              Team                   Time                Laps
 1.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1m22.470s            35 
 2.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes       1m22.509s  + 0.039   27
 3.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault       1m22.826s  + 0.356   37
 4.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes       1m23.188s  + 0.718   32
 5.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                1m23.568s  + 1.098   34
 6.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes               1m23.586s  + 1.116   35
 7.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes               1m23.981s  + 1.511   30
 8.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari                1m24.278s  + 1.808   30
 9.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari         1m24.290s  + 1.820   33
10.  Nick Heidfeld       Renault                1m24.366s  + 1.896   31
11.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari         1m24.483s  + 2.013   38
12.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault                1m24.786s  + 2.316   43
13.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m25.296s  + 2.826   33
14.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth      1m25.303s  + 2.833   38
15.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m25.457s  + 2.987   34
16.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth      1m25.603s  + 3.133   43
17.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes   1m26.073s  + 3.603   32
18.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault          1m26.417s  + 3.947   37
19.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes   1m27.123s  + 4.653   20
20.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault          1m27.189s  + 4.719   34
21.  Jerome D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth        1m28.036s  + 5.566   36
22.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        1m28.062s  + 5.592   28
23.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth           1m29.469s  + 6.999   28
24.  Tonio Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth           1m29.476s  + 7.006   31

All Timing Unofficial

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Las 24 Horas de Le Mans

"Corrèr es vida... todo lo que occurre antes o despuès es solo una espera."

So much of the web's motorsport content is in English, one day there will be a Spanish language edition of Axis. In the meantime, please enjoy this totally illegal, will probably get taken down right away, Spanish version of the McQueen classic....

Gracias a todos por sintonizar Axis!
I'm off to Europe, I'll be at the Monaco Gp, maybe some of you will be there as well?
.

Fernando flogs a 458 at Fiorano

This clip is sort of ruined by the the passenger's incessant cackling but watching Alonso at work in a Ferrari 458 Italia is cool.

The first lap is for showboating and then he tries to shoot for a faster lap. Quite interesting that even Fernando would change the manettino setting. Also notice how the dual clutch paddle shifter lets him upshift mid corner, while fully sideloaded, to reduce torque and catch a slide. "it's a very comfortable car" says Alonso towards the end...

It would have been nice to have some lap times for comparison but they were running on a non standard configuration of Fiorano so the 1:31 laps are not comparable to the official 458 record time of 1:25. 1:25 is the same lap time as the stripped out, track oriented 430 Scuderia, pretty awesome for a fully GT car. If you want to play guessing games on the inevitable future hardcore version, the 458 Challege laps in the 1:16s, add a few seconds for tires and you get the idea! Lust.


.

Formula 1 Grand Prix of Spain Preview

Forgive me for not keeping up with F1 as fanatically this year but as much as everyone seems to be frantically cheering the rule changes this year, I've been pretty turned off. Turkey's DRS passing reminded me of a Drivers Education track day: "...If someone is right behind you, it means they are faster so let them by". All that was missing were the point bys.
This is the F1 Flavio Briatore had envisioned and while I'm happy Trulli trains may be a thing of the past, it just looks too contrived to me.

At least for this week end's Spanish GP there seems to be something technical to look out for, the banning of the full time blown diffusers. Funny because recently on Twitter I wondered how F1 can pretend to be green, more or less force teams to install a KERS system and then allow them to essentially run around with the throttle wide open all the time, using engine power not for propulsion but for downforce.

Evidently someone had the same thought, or, if you are a "conspiracist", they wanted to take Red Bull's advantage away (but also Renault, MClaren and everyone else how has come up with their own version to various degrees of success). If they go through with the ban there might be some reason to see who relied on it the most and who will simply switch it off, put less gas in the car and trash the opposition anyway....



HOLD THE PRESSES.... FIA delayed stopping teams from blowing gas until Canada... there goes another reason to watch this week end :)


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Monsoon conditions for Grand Am at VIR

One of the best things about VIR is its park like setting with lots of grass.

One of that bad things about VIR is that when it rains it's in a park like setting with lots of grass...and red clay dirt.



Have a look at some highlights of the Grand-Am and Continental Challenge races there this past week end.

One of the more dramatic incidents involved someone well known here in the North East. Rick Deman is a well known for Porsche race preparation but he probably was not prepared for what happened when he put two wheels off exiting turn 10 and slammed an invisible pothole caused by the rain...





Lots more highlights after the jump

Solar Yellow

I'm starting to think Julien is incapable of taking a bad picture. I look at a lot of shots, especially from the 'ring, Julien always manages to find new angles to keep things interesting, thanks for that!

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No Comment

Adrian Sutil is reportedly being sued (somewhere) for $10 M by Genii Capital and Renault boss Eric Lux, who ended up requiting twenty four stitches do his neck after a confrontation with the German in a VIP area of a Shanghai club after the Chinese GP.

Lux left the bar bleeding, Lewis Hamilton also in the VIP, left with his bodyguards and Sutil, legend goes, slipped out the back door and out the country to avoid arrest.... Clearly Lux must have made a comment about Adrian's Panamera.
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A1 Ring reborn as the Red Bull Ring

One of the great european tracks which had fallen into hard times is back after a make over courtesy of Red Bull. The A1 ring in Spielberg, Austria used to be called the Österreichring and or Zeltweg and hosted Formula 1 Grand Prixs in different configurations from 1970 to 1987 and then from 1997 to 2003.

Yesterday was the official opening with the complete Red Bull motorsport linup along with Bernie Ecclestone, Austrian drivers Niki Lauda, Gerhard Berger and Helmut Marko. Of course Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were there along with all kinds of Red Bull sponsored vehicles, from Formula 1 to a P-38 Lightning.

B-roll from the RB is worth a look, especially the wet racing between the SLS and the Z4...


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Testing, testing.

CG testing the Axis of Oversteer Patron Challenge 997 Cup at Monticello Motor Club. Best lap 2:20. Getting there!
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BMW 1 M Coupe, the hooning review.

Because we know what you really want to know about the BMW 1 M Coupe and you can read specs and regurgitated press releases anywhere....

What you want to know is, does it kick ass? Well, perhaps we'll let pictures do the talking as the Freep and I had a bit of fun with the Baby M's today, check it out after the jump







Is it good? Yes, very.
Does it go? It's got loads of thrust as turbos do.
Does it grip? Quite a lot and you can really feel the M Diff doing its thing.
Does it slide? Well, yes but it takes some firm provocation.
Does it stop? Better than the M3.
Is it a good street car? A great one, agile, quick and frugal too.
Does it sound good? it's a turbo...
How's the gearbox? Slick, literally. BMW put many low friction parts in this 1M specific box and even clutchless downshifts are a breeze.



But as promised let me try and answer some of your specific questions from Facebook and twitter:


@nkavassalis: "General driving feel, modern BMW M-cars all feel too disconnected to be as enjoyable as your e36 M coupe ever was."

I felt very much at home in the 1M, it's like the stock Z3MC except way better dynamically. Both "part bin" cars, both legends.

@Robboso " is it throttle steerable? Is it a real M?"

Yes and Yes

@mistic192 "how well it swings out the back-end in corners of course"

See attached video...



@AndyTaylor_isme "Does it feel as heavy as the stats suggest that it is?"

It does have some heft but it masks it well, short wheelbase, wide track, big tires help. Anyway, it's lighter than the e46 M3 but with more power.

@Nivola "Compare & contrast its flickability to your Z3 M coupe. Also, like to hear your opinion on its diff."

Nothing is as flickable as my MCoupe now but the 1M is LOADS better than the stock Z3M ever hoped to be. The diff is the M Diff, it works great.



@CG "drive it really hard and see if it overheats? 5 consecutive laps at full throttle in reverse?"

Yeah, I tried asking about the reverse laps.... It does run hotter than the S54 but Friday was a cool day and they did not make it so you could run consecutive hot laps. None of the cars seemed to get heat soaked or brake faded. By contrast, the M3 Sedan's brake pedal seemed a bit long.

@blotto649 "Re. the 1M, curious about clutch pedal travel/feel - 335 feels too light/long. I'm hoping it's like my R53 Cooper S"

That's hard for me to say, had no issues with it seemed standard BMW M material.

Philip Stuhpid "is it really a proper successor of the e30 m3 and how´s the sound?"

The e30 M3 is a legend and has a racing pedigree likely never to be matched, that said the 1M would destroy a stock e30M3 at the track.



Michael Valdez "Is it worth the price? And why should one choose that car over the ///M3?"

What else RWD can you buy in that price range, a Mustang? a 370Z? Nobody will choose it over the M3, the M3 is a very different beast. Both fun but in different ways but the 1M will be much more rare than the M3.

Jean-Noel Moyne "I'm very jealous. The question for them is why are they making so few of them (and will I get one and if so when? ;))."

Many want to know, but from what I understand it boild down to production capacity and the position of the car in the 1 series life cycle. There is a possibility that the 1M will be a 1 model year car!
Joe Hudson "How good is the ///M dynamic mode of the stability control? Does the car rotate well on throttle lift?"

M is very proud of their MDM, I feel bad because I shut it off after two laps, It's actually not very intrusive and as an instructor I would endorse using it 100% as a built it teaching tool. I'm sure it's great in the rain.
The car responds to mid corner throttle lifts in a very balanced and neutral way.

And finally...Dale:

Dale Lomas "How does it handle jumps? How many jelly beans can you fit in the door pockets? How easy is to drive no-handed? What's the top-speed of reverse gear?"

It's well dampened but somewhat soft, it will be good at the ring... Jelly beans are frowned upon if you want to keep things lightweight and, fast enough for a bootlegger.

More question? use comments

Thanks to BMW for including Axis in their 1M press drive, Much appreciated and Axis approved!

Axis 1 Lap: "F*ck the chicken, the session's stating!"

On the way to picturesque Kershaw South Carolina, my co-driver Eric had been singing the praises of a fried chicken shack he had discovered two year earlier, when he ran the One Lap with the famous TC Kline Carbon Coupe. Needless to say the place was shut down when we got there Sunday night so I figured that was that.

Eric was more determined and next day he would be off on a fried chicken mission from god! Not just for us mind you, he was nice enough to go around half the pit lane and take orders, lots of orders and then took off with the car.

Thing is, this place cooks the chicken from scratch and they sure were very happy to have such a huge order on a Monday. Eric met the whole family, they reminisced about large fried chicken orders of yore, probably sang songs and took pictures...meanwhile back at the track the afternoon session was starting and about an hour and half had gone by. I was getting more and more steamed and had visions of Eric having wrapped the Coupe around a pole or in a fight over US health care policy in south east Asia... Frantic, I called "Hey, people are really nice, the whole family came down, we took pictures and I did and interview about the chicken..."

"F*ck the chicken" I yelled into the phone "get back here, NOW!" Well, I'm Italian, I yell too much, I leave what I said off the phone to your imagination....



Anyway, Eric got back eventually and I had time to put some gas in the car and get out on track in a car smelling of the chicken everyone on pit lane was enjoying but me... it really was delicious, even cold...really...I recommend it.

I liked Carolina Motorsport Park better though, a very cool track I had never seen in a car before my out lap. Would love to go back one day.

Video was shot with Contour cameras overlayed with Traqmate data via Traqstudio software.



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All Black

Fast or not, it is certainly the car that attracts the most attention, here is the latest VLN race video from the P4/5C group. Be sure to check out the chicane fail by the Lexus LFA at about 8:15.



end of post

Tour Auto 2011 by Asphaltheritage via Autogespot
More pictures after the jump