just to clarify, it needed a unanimous decision to allow marussia back, force india were the first to vote, once they voted no, no other team voted so we don't know if they're the only ones opposed to marussia's return
sounds like our local landlord, he was learning to play and went for a 9 hole round at the local council ground, came back with a broken wrist and 5 broken ribs after falling into a stream trying to play a shot
if you follow your logic i assume you've never had a relationship with another human being because when it ends all your times been wasted, important question though, is your inflatable love life puncture proof ?
actually i stand by one of my earlier points, just as the majority of homophobes have strong latent homosexual feelings, does the fact that you make such a pont of publicly being an iracingphobe mean you're really desperate to get into it but are scared of coming out ?
only reason i ask is that you seem to be obsessed with something you claim to not like
you can guarantee that if it handles like a 911 there will be loads of people complaining that it's not right 
tempted if i can find time
first online game i played, back in sept 99, was air attack, back then it was run by British Telecom but amazingly it's still going http://www.airattack-central.com/launch/index.php
first online game i played, back in sept 99, was air attack, back then it was run by British Telecom but amazingly it's still going http://www.airattack-central.com/launch/index.php
not sure why you think they need an excuse to run 4WD given they actually say the front is driven electrically like the 918 or the hybrid 911 that ran at the ring and they used 4wd at le mans in 1986 in the 961
you know how they say the most outspoken homophobics are the ones struggling the most to deny homophobic urges, i guess dustin really really wants iracing but he's forcing himself not to
after all why spend so much time discussing something he allegedly hates, i bet he's got lots of pictures and videos of iracing on a secret hard drive that he looks at "in the interests of research" behind locked doors when there's no one else in the house ?
he certainly seems to know a lot about something he's not interested in, maybe he's a secret iracer who's scared to come out of the closet
after all why spend so much time discussing something he allegedly hates, i bet he's got lots of pictures and videos of iracing on a secret hard drive that he looks at "in the interests of research" behind locked doors when there's no one else in the house ?
he certainly seems to know a lot about something he's not interested in, maybe he's a secret iracer who's scared to come out of the closet
because any automated system can't react to changes. crash / roll the car and chances are any auto system will need to re boot, a co driver just starts reading again, also if the weather / road condition changes from what's expected a good co driver can amend his notes and how he delivers them based on his knowlage of his driver's driving and preferences
+1
always P****s me off when frank williams goes on about customer cars not belonging in F1, guess he's forgotten how he got started with a brabham F1 car in 69
not a player of FIFA but i did notice ht ePC version is so flawed that it even got a mention on watchdog last week !!
haven't tried it my self but a work mate has on X-BOX
he's not into hard core sims or huge choices of cars but does enjoy racing against AI so he pretty much what seems to be their target audience.
he uninstalled the demo after 15 mins and said he'll never touch it again
he's not into hard core sims or huge choices of cars but does enjoy racing against AI so he pretty much what seems to be their target audience.
he uninstalled the demo after 15 mins and said he'll never touch it again
being rational, it's the way forward, both series were facing problems in the future some more public than others, if they get it right it could lead to big things with US endurance racing becoming more closely aligned with the ACO which could benefit all.
so what would i, who enjoyed watching both series on tv, like to see as the new series class structure ?
for all we know, they've already got a good heads up from the ACO regarding the 2014 WEC regs impact and if the rumoured regs are correct then i'd expect there to be a lot of homeless current P2 cars then so i'd hope the Grand American Le Mans Series or whatever it end up as will use them without modification as it's new top class, i'm sorry P1 but your time has gone at a private level, there'll be no new cars built for the one year remaining in WEC, the works cars will never appear in private hands so the best you can hope for is being balanced in the P2 class but it's simpler to just drop them. depending on 2014 WEC regs eventually P2 may be replaced but i'd suggest that a regional series is not the place for works backed P1 replacements, almost inevitably it rises and then falls as budgets are effected by results leading to just one manufacturer becoming dominant.
according to star works the DP's over a full grand am series are more expensive to buy and run than the current P2's in the WEC and with a surplus of P2 cars on the market it may be that P2 is a cheaper option than DP in a US series so rather than modify the DP regs to make them faster and more expensive, let them run as a second class for the near future, eventually i'd like to see them evolve into an ACO blessed prototype "feeder" formula, sort of a cross between the current DP, ALMS PC and Formula Le Mans
after that what they don't need is a glut of GT classes with cars that all look similar or even identical but are running in different competitions which just confuse the casual spectator / viewer
given that a Grand Am porsche, ferrari or audi is substantially more expensive than a normal GT3 car ( i was talking to some one from united auto sports last year about this and they said the audi price was "crazy") i'd hope they adopt pure GT3 rather than series specific regs. plus if you allow "standard GT3" it increases the choice of manufacturers for teams.
after GT3 is tricky, and depends on the series' relationship with the ACO,
GT am would make sense but the all porsche GTC class in ALMS has been a success so you could keep it as the bottom class, identical cars mean close racing and controlled costs, i'd be tempted to allow the 458 challenge cars in with it but then you've either got to run 2 separate championships or got to the expense of performance balancing, if running both i'd personally award a 911 GTC and 458 GTC championship as costs are the killer factor these days
the obvious alternative is GT2, this is dependent on the relationship with the ACO, if the new series is recognised by them, GT2 makes sense instead of the GTC
finally let's not loose sight this is an american championship so something that allows US manufacturers to go at it with each other, even if only by private projects
the RX8 factory blessing is likely to disappear with mazda's desire to run in P2 so that clears the boards for a new, non spaceframe class,
it needs to be viable for teams to take a car that's not raced and make it competitive so try and tap into the wonderful amount of spec race parts the US tuning industry has been turning out for years, eg specs like a 5 speed H pattern trans from any source. try and find a way to easily and cheaply balance performance of stock shell race caged cars running front engine RWD, maybe allow or even insist on some arch extensions and control the aero developments, NASCAR are really good at quantifying performance so they should be able to get the balance pretty good. depending on if GT2 is running, this "GT US" could either run slower than GT3 and above GTC or at GTC pace
so we either have
P2
DP
GT3
GT US
GTC
or
P2
DP
GT2
GT3
GT US
if the second scenario, then offer porsche a support race series for supercup cars, that would make a great event on race day. followed by a protoype lites round before the main event.
if you need to fill the program more, do it at first on a track by track basis using popular local series, it'll give the drivers/ teams some publicity, a taste of the big time and may encourage spectators attracted by the big names to come back to watch the locals again. importantly make sure the support races get TV coverage, Tv coverage is a tool to increase support, not a revenue stream in it's own right, the BTCC in the UK shows what can be done with a complete package increasing sponsor opportunities for drivers/teams which boosts participation. which makes it more attractive to spectators etc. eventually you may be able to attract other one make series, 458 challenge maybe or a US manufacturer could be interested, a vette only series would look and sound fantastic.
that's my ideal, and has taken almost an hour of re writes, cutting and pasting, no doubt everyone will have their own ideas but if there's three things i'd say were essentials, it's to control costs / increase choice by not using series specific versions of internationally available cars, to become internationally "relevant" and work with the ACO etc rather than against them and to produce a total "package" to offer live spectators, tv companies and viewers to enable teams to attract sponsors and make the series more viable
in a related area, the governing bodies need to get a grip on GT3, the idea of an open class is great but the amount of exemptions is getting stupid, i'm sorry ferrari but if your 458 is too wide it shouldn't be racing and getting an advantage from that exemption and then everyone else building wider cars to compete.
no exemption should provide a competitive edge, just equality so if you need to run a wide car be prepared to have your tyre width reduced, larger engine viper? ok but don't complain that air restriction hurts your top end, carbon tub? ok mclaren but don't be surprised if we insist that you fit ballast where we want not where it benefits you.
so what would i, who enjoyed watching both series on tv, like to see as the new series class structure ?
for all we know, they've already got a good heads up from the ACO regarding the 2014 WEC regs impact and if the rumoured regs are correct then i'd expect there to be a lot of homeless current P2 cars then so i'd hope the Grand American Le Mans Series or whatever it end up as will use them without modification as it's new top class, i'm sorry P1 but your time has gone at a private level, there'll be no new cars built for the one year remaining in WEC, the works cars will never appear in private hands so the best you can hope for is being balanced in the P2 class but it's simpler to just drop them. depending on 2014 WEC regs eventually P2 may be replaced but i'd suggest that a regional series is not the place for works backed P1 replacements, almost inevitably it rises and then falls as budgets are effected by results leading to just one manufacturer becoming dominant.
according to star works the DP's over a full grand am series are more expensive to buy and run than the current P2's in the WEC and with a surplus of P2 cars on the market it may be that P2 is a cheaper option than DP in a US series so rather than modify the DP regs to make them faster and more expensive, let them run as a second class for the near future, eventually i'd like to see them evolve into an ACO blessed prototype "feeder" formula, sort of a cross between the current DP, ALMS PC and Formula Le Mans
after that what they don't need is a glut of GT classes with cars that all look similar or even identical but are running in different competitions which just confuse the casual spectator / viewer
given that a Grand Am porsche, ferrari or audi is substantially more expensive than a normal GT3 car ( i was talking to some one from united auto sports last year about this and they said the audi price was "crazy") i'd hope they adopt pure GT3 rather than series specific regs. plus if you allow "standard GT3" it increases the choice of manufacturers for teams.
after GT3 is tricky, and depends on the series' relationship with the ACO,
GT am would make sense but the all porsche GTC class in ALMS has been a success so you could keep it as the bottom class, identical cars mean close racing and controlled costs, i'd be tempted to allow the 458 challenge cars in with it but then you've either got to run 2 separate championships or got to the expense of performance balancing, if running both i'd personally award a 911 GTC and 458 GTC championship as costs are the killer factor these days
the obvious alternative is GT2, this is dependent on the relationship with the ACO, if the new series is recognised by them, GT2 makes sense instead of the GTC
finally let's not loose sight this is an american championship so something that allows US manufacturers to go at it with each other, even if only by private projects
the RX8 factory blessing is likely to disappear with mazda's desire to run in P2 so that clears the boards for a new, non spaceframe class,
it needs to be viable for teams to take a car that's not raced and make it competitive so try and tap into the wonderful amount of spec race parts the US tuning industry has been turning out for years, eg specs like a 5 speed H pattern trans from any source. try and find a way to easily and cheaply balance performance of stock shell race caged cars running front engine RWD, maybe allow or even insist on some arch extensions and control the aero developments, NASCAR are really good at quantifying performance so they should be able to get the balance pretty good. depending on if GT2 is running, this "GT US" could either run slower than GT3 and above GTC or at GTC pace
so we either have
P2
DP
GT3
GT US
GTC
or
P2
DP
GT2
GT3
GT US
if the second scenario, then offer porsche a support race series for supercup cars, that would make a great event on race day. followed by a protoype lites round before the main event.
if you need to fill the program more, do it at first on a track by track basis using popular local series, it'll give the drivers/ teams some publicity, a taste of the big time and may encourage spectators attracted by the big names to come back to watch the locals again. importantly make sure the support races get TV coverage, Tv coverage is a tool to increase support, not a revenue stream in it's own right, the BTCC in the UK shows what can be done with a complete package increasing sponsor opportunities for drivers/teams which boosts participation. which makes it more attractive to spectators etc. eventually you may be able to attract other one make series, 458 challenge maybe or a US manufacturer could be interested, a vette only series would look and sound fantastic.
that's my ideal, and has taken almost an hour of re writes, cutting and pasting, no doubt everyone will have their own ideas but if there's three things i'd say were essentials, it's to control costs / increase choice by not using series specific versions of internationally available cars, to become internationally "relevant" and work with the ACO etc rather than against them and to produce a total "package" to offer live spectators, tv companies and viewers to enable teams to attract sponsors and make the series more viable
in a related area, the governing bodies need to get a grip on GT3, the idea of an open class is great but the amount of exemptions is getting stupid, i'm sorry ferrari but if your 458 is too wide it shouldn't be racing and getting an advantage from that exemption and then everyone else building wider cars to compete.
no exemption should provide a competitive edge, just equality so if you need to run a wide car be prepared to have your tyre width reduced, larger engine viper? ok but don't complain that air restriction hurts your top end, carbon tub? ok mclaren but don't be surprised if we insist that you fit ballast where we want not where it benefits you.
i don't always agree with blueflame but he's right about kimi & lotus
mclaren eventually learned how important it is to have a banker lap in and if you've got the speed advantage over the regular Q3 drop outs that lotus have it's fairly safe to say any clean, traffic free lap will be fast enough to get you into Q2 so why wait for the track to be at it's fastest before sending your driver out when their time wont count once Q2 starts
mclaren eventually learned how important it is to have a banker lap in and if you've got the speed advantage over the regular Q3 drop outs that lotus have it's fairly safe to say any clean, traffic free lap will be fast enough to get you into Q2 so why wait for the track to be at it's fastest before sending your driver out when their time wont count once Q2 starts
greta idea but i can see the point about the retailers not liking the idea since their staff and premises will be at the point of conflict
it could also be a boom for the small petrol stations that can't afford fancy camera tech if that's the only place the uninsured can fill up
it could also be a boom for the small petrol stations that can't afford fancy camera tech if that's the only place the uninsured can fill up
i'd accept an exception for de la rosa but not for Karthikeyan as he looked totally at sea in a car that's using up all his capabilities just to keep it on the track, leaving no capacity for realising whats going on around him.
i see HRT's web site is saying they wont be racing tomorrow so it looks like they'll not be looking for help from the stewards
i see HRT's web site is saying they wont be racing tomorrow so it looks like they'll not be looking for help from the stewards
and also on channel 459 for anyone without HD, maybe a non sports subscriber could check in case sky have let it slip out for general viewing
1979 tyrrell F1 test
if anyone's interested pdf attached
to be honest given that everyone is feeling their way with the new regs i don't think we'll be absolutely sure of any teams relative performance till th end of the 1st race and possibly the 3rd or 4th race
before any times come in a quick summary of the arguments about noses
if you believe mclaren is wrong then
"they must be wrong because it's different to all the others, the step nose is best solution because red bull have chosen it"
if you believe mclaren is right then
"they must be right as they were almost a match for red bull last year using the same solution and if the step is so efficient, teams would have made their cars with a step last year, they didn't so their noses must have lost efficiency"
today we start to find out
if you believe mclaren is wrong then
"they must be wrong because it's different to all the others, the step nose is best solution because red bull have chosen it"
if you believe mclaren is right then
"they must be right as they were almost a match for red bull last year using the same solution and if the step is so efficient, teams would have made their cars with a step last year, they didn't so their noses must have lost efficiency"
today we start to find out
you're forgetting that in F1 the aim primary is downforce not low drag, for the latter i'd be prepared to go with your generalisation but once you're after downforce aero efficiency no longer follow the "smooth is best" rule, after all a brick has a lower drag coefficient than any modern F1 car, the reason that an F1 car produces so much negative lift from it's wings compared to an aircraft's lift from a same size area is that drag is not the primary concern
i'm beginning to settle down with the latest cars to get the ntm, i've got the DP balance back to how i liked the old one (i've always preferered a "non drift" setup with it on the OTM) and after some messing about the skippy now feels very nice, steady grip that lets me carry speed but controllable if it slides in slow and fast bends
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG