Quote from DeKo :

i wish a1gp was shown on some normal bloody channels, sky are getting beyond a joke for snapping everything half decent up i suppose i could proxy and watch it on the site, but its not the same

Yes. Ban subscription and PPV television I say .

Quote :

There was more woe this morning for A1 Grand Prix in China as qualifying had to be cancelled. With cars running on a modified circuit following Friday's problem, where the main hairpin was too tight for the cars to pass through, after 25 minutes of practice this morning the session was red flagged as a manhole cover on the street circuit had come loose.

Practice was abandoned and qualifying cancelled so that officials could find a way to secure the manhole covers in time for tomorrow's two races.

As a result officials have taken the fastest times in practice at that point to form the grid for Sunday's sprint race. Netherlands lines up on pole ahaed of Mexico, Italy, Canada and Germany. Last year's champions, France, did not have time to put in a fast lap before the session was red-flagged and will start 21st.

More trouble

And just to beat Jamesxing to it:

Twenty three bloody manhole covers and they have to run over them all? Geez, I can run an 18wheeler around that without running over half of them.

The sad truth is that circuit racing and truck driving are such polar opposites when it comes to driving skill. In truck driving it's more like 80% cigarettes, coffee and patience and 20% parking, and immense truck control by itself is necessary to be able to eat a full dinner without having to park on the side of the road. Not to mention the need to adapt to different loads. Circuit racing is the exact opposite, empty stomachs, no merchandise and all about going fast no matter how many manhole covers you go over.

A lack of controlled powersteering and they're already destroying the infrastructure thousands of Chinese people paid for? Ridiculous. If they really can't respect the work being put in making a proper manhole cover, some extra cement would have done it.

No, it's not the circuit that is the trouble - it's these hooligan drivers from all over the world speeding on it and destroying the property of the Republic!

:P

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I think he could've landed an Airbus A380 on that circuit without hitting any manhole covers.

Which ofcourse would of made tristancliffe show up and say that the Airbus is a sissy plane and the Vickers F.B.5 "Gunbus" would be the plane to fly even though it would take you 555 roundtrips to carry the same amount of people from one place to another.

Glad we got this sorted out before they showed up.

Quote :

Funny how the FIA can authorise quick changes to a track when it won't affect Ferrari.

Funny that A1GP is not sanctioned by the FIA.

Well Hoellson....

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Then why does each event have to meet FIA-approved safety standards?

because the rules make sense, no point trying to fix something not broken. but it isnt under the FIA.

Quote from Hoellsen :

Funny that A1GP is not sanctioned by the FIA.

Actually, it is sanctioned by the FIA - just not organised or defined by it. The track and security standards have to follow the ones laid down by the FIA. It's not just generic guidelines they go by - read about them on FIA's site.

Quick synopsis here.

The juicy bit is in the intro:

Quote from wikipedia in the A1GP article, there's more on the A1GP site as well :

The series is ratified and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)

If it was sanctioned by the FIA, wouldn't it show up on their page?

It might very well be that they follow FIA safety rules and it may even very well be that they hired Charlie Whiting, but that does not necessarily mean it's sanctioned by the FIA. The officially sanctioned championships are these: http://www.fia.com/sport/Championships/2006.html

Well all that aside, the feature race turned out to be very eventful. I was biting my fingers off at one point when 2 cars went side by side for a few turns, resulting in one doing a brilliant save as the car snapped sideways on the dirt.

There were a few crashes, and Germany was very unlucky to have a failure just as the leader spun off infront of them. That harpin was very dodgy, a few cars even trying to overtake there! All in all i enjoyed watching it, despite the crapness of the track.

Quote from Hoellsen :

If it was sanctioned by the FIA, wouldn't it show up on their page?

It might very well be that they follow FIA safety rules and it may even very well be that they hired Charlie Whiting, but that does not necessarily mean it's sanctioned by the FIA. The officially sanctioned championships are these: http://www.fia.com/sport/Championships/2006.html

sanction: the approval, by some authority, that makes something valid

In that sense they are sanctioned by the FIA - if a track (which is what thisnameistaken was referring to) is not given complete approval and a track license by the Security Delegate of the FIA, which happens to be Charlie Whiting, they will not race it. Same goes for all their safety equipment, helmets, clothes, etc

I've yet to see the feature race - good to hear it'll be interesting though.

Quote from Jamexing :

SIX BLOODY LANES and they STILL can't take it? Geez, I can turn a mid sized SUV around that with 2/3rds the width!

The sad truth is that circuit racing and rallying are such polar opposites when it comes to driving skill. In rallying it's more like 80% car control and 20% line, and immense car control by itself is necessary to run really good lines in itself. Not to mention the need to adapt to changing surfaces. Circuit racing is the exact opposite, more about memorizing lines, brake and turn in points.

A bit of controlled powerdrift and they're already complaining? Ridiculous. If they really don't have that kind of technique, some extra steering lock would have done it, though it's not as fast as a well controlled powerdrift as it rotates the car more quickly and gets it on the fast out line earlier.

No, it's not the circuit that's the joke. It's either the drivers or the cars.

Sorry to bring this up again, but this post is ROFLCopter funny.
It's a joke, right?

After watching it... nah it was abit of a joke.. stupid.. theres things made to be hard, and then theres point blank stupid.. if it was banked, then awesome.. but thats flat and tight, but stil.. it was pretty awesome to watch the cars overtake..

where can i find a video of the race?

This should give you an idea of how the hairpin is (was): http://youtube.com/watch?v=ifcSSwzbJos

Muppets

lol some of these posts are just... genius i'm deffinatly gonna watch this race now

I thought it was a very dull A1GP event. Lengthy safety car periods broken up by cars driving mostly in single file round a boring and featureless (if you don't count the ramps) circuit. Occasional fights, but the track was so dirty offline there was rarely anything other than a predictable outcome.

Can't be suprised, street courses are typicaly bad enough minus half assed engineering..

..shame there is no us coverage of a1gp i'd love to watch

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Are you buddies with the Team Oierland crew then? Any chance of you getting a spin in one of those?

Yes. No.

I know the team owner and both drivers very well. been to a few races, good fun!

My, if any of you can't make a U-turn with a mid-sized SUV with SIX FULL LANES, seriously, I'm absolutely mystified as to how you get your driving licenses.

Just goes to show how silly the steering locks really are. By the looks of it, those cars (which I never liked in the first place anyway) weren't designed for street circuit levels of steering lock at all, with the ridiculously short spacing between he front wheels and wing, allowing no real steering loc at all. In essence, cars were badly designed for the street course.

WRC(and rallying in general) - 1
Purely tarmac circuit only racing - 0

omg, it's sooo slow. I could walk through there faster. And you can even see the smoke coming off the green & black car's wheels in the first post

Just make 'em all do three-point turns. That'll sort out the real drivers.

Oh, and they should have to parrallel park into their pits.

Tried it at South City. Didn't manage to turn with the F08 set up normally.


Layout included.

Quote from Jamexing :

SIX BLOODY LANES and they STILL can't take it? Geez, I can turn a mid sized SUV around that with 2/3rds the width!

The sad truth is that circuit racing and rallying are such polar opposites...

What's it like being you, Jamexing? A little bit hectic?