V8 Supercars

[ajp]

I was happy overall with the weekend's results. Great job by Will to take the round win, it's good to see something positive come for DJR. Let's hope the meeting with the creditors this week goes well for him. I was once again impressed with the speed and skill of both Frosty and Whincupp. These are the new guns for sure, the rightful heirs to Ambrose's throne!

There is a vicious rumour going around that I was seen recently in the scrap-booking forum. I dispute any knowledge of this...

I believe you.

[KeithS]

it's good to see something positive come for DJR

Yep - Dick had a lot of problems financially last year with that whole Westpoint saga (he even had to sell his Tru-Blu Falcon...)

It was good to see the team nail one at last.

[ajp]

And the way Will's been going, it won't be his last either. Intrigued to see how this whole Ford v Holden this weekend pans out.

[ajp]

Well wasn't that a dud (no not down under disneyana either, the other dud), that whole Ford v Holden thing. Hope they get rid of that. I'm not sure the V8s need to be at the GP. They've outgrown it I think.

And the GP itself, I left the race with about 15 to go and 11 cars left. For a race to finish with 7 cars is pretty ordinary. Hope they all get on top of the lack of electronic aides during the season and learn how to drive again, so at least we'll see some better races and finishes. But Lewis is now the demigod of F1. He is a freak. If he keeps this up, he'll be better than Schuey and close to Senna.

[ajp]

Oh how I've missed this thread.

We have a Ford on top of the championship again! And Ford have taken out all but 1 round so far, and it looks like they're getting even quicker. Great result by Jamie at Sandown recently. In the wet he was so composed (except for his little error which we won't talk about). But what about Van Gisbergen? Has he got webbed feet or what? He made the wet conditions look so easy, very Jim Richardsesque. It's good to see him finally show how good he is going to be. I think those Holden boys have a lot to sort out. What do you reckon Garth is currently thinking about his move to the "flagship" team?

I'm waiting nervously for Marcos' big shot in the Cup this weekend. His last race was quite impressive to come 6th, although I still think he lacks something on the ovals. This cup race is a street circuit, so barring any stupid mistakes or mishaps (ie Boris Said being a ...., well you know) he should put up a good showing. Pulling double duty for him is going to be tough, but they've got all the helicopters, private jets and airlines lined up (his words not mine), so he won't do it too tough.

[sandie]

Oh give me a break - wouldn't you think the virus could have destroyed this thread!!!!!!!

Sandie

[KeithS]

Ripper thread this one!

I can't wait for the Nascar race this weekend! Ambrose still has to qualify as the Woods Brothers team isn't in the top 35 owners points. I'm fairly confident he will though - he has been pretty good on street circuits, he should have won in Canada last year, only Robbie Gordon put him into the wall when he was in the lead with a lap or two to go. And his second in Mexico this year was great too. I like Infineon raceway, has some nice technical bits and sweeping fast corners - the road specialists (including Robbie G and Boris Said) tend to do well there. Be interesting to see how some of the ex-Indy guys like Franchitti and Hornish jr go. Hornish Jr has also been impressing me - he's been going a lot better then Franchitti and Almendinger.

And how about F1 this year - it has been sensational - a very close leader board and who would have predicted Kubica leading the championship this far into the season? It's the French Grand Prix this weekend

And Anthony, I bought a Sony Bravia 46" XBR last week - when I watched the Nascar race from Michigan, it felt like I was THERE - Yeah baby

[mushu mama]

My first thought was the same as Sandies.... with a little of this ...

But then I thought about it and realised I wouldn't be able to do this.....

Ripper thread this one!

hehehe... I hadn't used that word for eons but the week before DL I was with friends from Arkansas and their attempts at our accent kept me in stitches for the entire week. This word in particular they decided they loved and every time I took a photo ( or Pitcha - said in a weird mix of Arkansas/Aussie accent) and they'd ask me if it was a Ruppa? And that was the closest they got.... a kiwi accent for GS! funniest thing on the planet.
And funnily enough, even with my attempts at teaching them Strine (their favourite being a Rip Snorta - they collapsed laughing every time I let that one slip) it seemed to work in reverse as well... I am still even thinking in a southern accent- when the alarm goes off to this day I am still thinking
' Well, huuush nowh...'

I still haven't got the hang of their hog call that they use at all their sporting events.... goes something like kind of like ' something, something... something.... Soooooeeeee ...PIG'

OMG I love tangents.....


Lisa.

[ajp]

Yep it will be tough for Marcos to qualify the car, but I'm confident. He's raced against alot of these guys before, granted not in the COT but he has raced them, and to be honest the regular NASCAR drivers who are good road racers are not in the same league. But the ex roadys and open wheel guys will be competitive for sure. One thing in his favour is that he is very tuned to the tin tops. I can't wait until Monday!

The F1 has nearly been interesting again. The new technical specs with the driver aids being removed has sorted the drivers from the show ponies that's for sure. I do like the fact that we're so many rounds in, that only a hand full of points separate the tops guys and the championship is wide open. They still need to work on the frailty of the cars. Every time one goes over a bump things fall off, but that's up to the teams themselves to work on. One thing for sure is that Weber has finally been given the opportunity to prove that he can drive fast, and he's making the most of it. Now we just need to get him in a top line car!

We'll just have to wait to see what France throws up. Wonder how our F1 in DLP is going?

And Anthony, I bought a Sony Bravia 46" XBR last week - when I watched the Nascar race from Michigan, it felt like I was THERE - Yeah baby

How good must that be!!! Now that is one serious piece of must have lounge room hardware. Did you have the surround sound truned on so you could hear the cars coming from the left and passing you then the sound moving away to the right? And was it turned up really loud so the lounge rumbled and shook just as it would if you were there as well? if only they had smellavision so you could actually smell the fumes and tyre smoke. Gotta go now, I'm getting teary ...

[sandie]

I bought a Sony Bravia 46" XBR last week - when I watched the Nascar race from Michigan, it felt like I was THERE - Yeah baby

Really? I thought you big masculine car watching men would have bought a LG scarlett!!!!!!!!!

Sandie

[KeithS]

Marcos quickest in practice for the Infineon race - qualifying will be held later this morning! GO MARCOS GO!!

http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-a ... -practice/

Anthony, you can watch the live timing for the qualifying from 9:00am Saturday morning right here:
http://www.nascar.com/races/leaderboard/cup/qual/

Ambrose is scheduled to be the 41st car on the circuit in the qualifying draw.

[ajp]

Missed qualifying unfortunately, but what a result! 7th!!!! GO MARCOS GO! Once they start turning right he brains them. First hitout in a COT car and to qual 7th, row 4 is awesome. Now all he needs to do is make the first few corners cleanly, and they will not see him for dust. I need to get myself somewhere and watch this on a TV, and not on the internet like I normally watch the races.

[ajp]

Good article on the NASCAR website about Marcos. Although the yanks do not have a clue how good he is. Jimmie Johnson saying he's not sure how he'll go, because the COT cars are different to Nationwide. Oh, and this was after again setting fastest time in the Saturday practice. That's 2 fastest praccy times and a 7th qual being conservative. I think they'll find out on Sunday how well he will adapt (that's if they don't take him out that is).

[KeithS]

One thing I really REALLY hate about American racing (and their commentary teams - which are generally very good and knowledgeable) is their use of the term "Rookie" - I hate that, it sounds so patronising and it never takes into account the driver's history. You never hear mention of 'rookie' in a Formula 1 telecast, they know that if they are driving in F1, they are not rookies even if it is their first F1 race. In NASCAR and Indycar racing, they believe they are the pinnacle of world motor sport and everything else is just a feeder series!

I've got news for those NASCAR and Indycar boys - Hey Guys! Your sport is an entertainment version of car racing, where the cars are made virtually equal to ensure close racing to excite the fans - why else do you run on ovals? It is not to show driver skill, despite what you may think! It works well, I enjoy it, but it is not the pinnacle of world motor sport and you don't necessarily have the best drivers - hmmm...how many successful drivers have come out of your ranks in the last 30 years to make a mark in world motor sport? One - Jacques Villeneuve (and he had a good pedigree) - and maybe Montoya (although he was Europe-based to begin with, being a Williams F1 test driver) if he would had stuck with it. And the others? Failed. Hmmm, look at that, Villeneuve and Montoya weren't even Americans - so let us look at recent Americans in F1:

Michael Andretti - raced 13 races for McLaren in 1993 and team mate to Ayrton Senna. Michael complete just three laps (in total!) in the first three races of that year! He retired from 7 of 13 races due to hitting others. Was sacked after round 13. His team mate ended up second in the championship that year, and his replacement, Mika Hakkinen, went on to win two world championships in basically the same car. Yet we never called Michael a rookie.

Scott Speed - first American in F1 since Andretti. Won the Red Bull driver in F1 competition. Was seen as the new future of American F1 driver and had great pedigree in racing the European feeder series like GP2 and Formula Renault. First drive was in 2006. 28 races, four top tens (each of these due to attrition) 12 DNFs. Sacked midway through his second season after finishing only 3 of his 10 races.

Now let us look in reverse - how many overseas drivers have been successful in US racing...most of them I guess - especially in Indycar/Champ Car (not so much NASCAR mainly because foreign drivers had effectively been locked out - it was very difficult to get a drive in NASCAR if you were a foreigner - heck, it was hard enough to get a drive if you were Californian - which to those Southern boys, is as good as being a foreigner!). In Champ Cars, from 1993 to their last season in 2007, only two drivers who won the championship (Al Unser Jr in 1994, and Jimmy Vasser in 1996) were from the US! The other 13 championships were won by foreigners. It was the dominance of South American and European drivers in this series that caused Tony George to split of and create the rival Indycar series that would only have American drivers and race on ovals - he knew that it was the only way to have American victories - they couldn't compete with drivers who could turn right! And while that worked for a while, in the last five years, more foreign drivers have gone to Indycar and they began racing street circuits themselves - with the result that there has only been 1 US winner in the last 5 seasons!

So there you go - that's my diatribe on the quality of the US racing series - it is great entertainment value, but the stats show they are not the best drivers in the world, not the best series in the world, and wins are ripe for the picking by foreign drivers wanting to make quick cash. Nascar operates in its own Red, White and Blue protectorate, so I don't see the US drivers being seriously challenged there in the short term, but foreigners are beginning to push into that space too, and are becoming successful.

I really hope that our "Rookie" Marcus, blows them off the road tomorrow

[sandie]

It really irks me when there is a thread I can not contribute to so I am going to make up meaningless chatter so I feel I belong............

Did I tell you taht Peter did the Richard Petty Driving Experience at WDW - oh course I did! The rookie experience cost me around $600 and lasted for 3 hours although in that he only really did 8 laps and that part went really fast. Well he and John also went to Daytona for a day and they also have the Richard Petty DE there but on a much bigger scale. Foolishly the other night when I was negotiating to upgrade my Cricut to a Cricut Expressions I offered the Daytona Richard Petty Experience as a trade off - and it worked. The Daytona one is one the real Nascar track and is more expensive but that is three years away and since my Expression arrives on Wednesday next week I really don't care. (See girls I knew we could take over this thread with scrapbooking stuff)

The comparision of the two driving experiences are:
WDW:

King Package - Peter saiod Rookie one two short.
1 mile track Get ready to advance to a higher level of confidence in your driving ability and take on increased speeds. This program consists of 2 power packed sessions, 8 laps of rip roaring power and 10 laps of increased speed and excitement. Prior to driving, students will go through 2 elements of safety and instruction training, in-car and on-track instruction. Between your driving sessions, drivers will receive one-on-one feedback from the Pit Road Instructor, as well as additional instruction from the on-track driving instructors. After your two driving sessions, students will receive a graduation packet that includes a time sheet with a breakdown of each lap driven.

$799




Daytona:
Think you can handle 24 laps of white-knuckled, heart pounding speed around Daytona? Taming this 2.5 mile historic speedway in 3 driving segments allows you to improve your driving line, increase your speed and encourage the idea that you may change careers with this, the ultimate Daytona Experience. Prior to driving, students will go through 2 elements of safety and instruction training, in-car and on-track instruction. Between your three driving sessions, drivers will receive one-on-one feedback from the Pit Road Instructor, as well as additional instruction from the on-track driving instructors. After your 3 driving sessions of 8 laps each, students will receive a graduation packet that includes a time sheet with a breakdown of each lap driven.

$2099

Sandie