My Motorsport Blog

For the last couple of months I have found it very depressing looking at the Formula 1 coverage, not because the racing was bad or even boring but because I am tired of the politics surrounding this sport. I am sure I do not stand alone in this and have found that the less said the better. I have to say a big thank you to the BBC coverage of the practice rounds but especially to the commentators trying to keep FIA & FOTA politics away.

It is great to see some regular front runners at the leading edge of the grid although it must be said this happens to be the practise rounds but the McLaren and Toyota teams appear to have become more competitive with some good comments from Robert Kubica about the BMW’s handling yesterday. Let’s hope that they get through to the second round of qualifying tough.  

I am sure Sebastian Vettel and Webber will have something to say during qualifying and prove that they are the force to be reckoned with. Brawn GP certainly have their work cut out for them and we are certain to see some surprises today.

So! Like an undecided widower thinking about having an affair with the next door neighbour, with real concern that the family might think I did this before the demise of my spouse, I have been following the exhibition that Bernie and Max are selling us with anticipation but also with real concern about what is happening in F1.

Rumours of teams leaving does no good for the sport and with Brawn GP having a field day with the SERIOUS teams like Ferrari and McLaren I can see what concerns the “Bean Counters” a.k.a. Accountants have in justifying the cost of the sport to the board of directors.

Will Ferrari and their progress of late review their position? Will BMW develop and listen to their drivers or will we have an early “silly season” and change teams right now. The point I am trying to make is this; teams will reign for periods (even years) but there will always be a new kid on the block that will make you regret your complacency.

The fact remains that teams have circuits where they perform well while others are just pure hell on cars and drivers. I think the shortfall of the new regulations rest in the fact that new drivers have little opportunity to gain experience within a F1 team and this will make managers reluctant to give a “Rookie” a car to bend.

Oh! By the way, I miss the DTM and do not wish to buy another channel just for one formula. What else can I look forward to if I do buy it other than football?

I really hope that this race does not represent what we could see for the rest of the year. It must have been the most boring I have ever seen especially compared the British Super Bike coverage I saw from Brands Hatch. The only drama for the whole race was when De Angelis almost knocked Danny Pedrosa off his bike.

At this stage BSB and SBK has my full attention and will certainly be the formulas I will follow. I am not sure if you would find me scrambling to view coverage for the next race, but what I will do is to record them and fast forward through the boring parts. I just hope I do not have a viewer’s time of 9 minutes at the end of the day. Looking at the final lap times it is also an indication of the lack of close racing through the field.

If you disagree then let me know but this particular race did not excite the viewers and I am sure that it did not exite the spectators who managed to stay over and attend today’s procession.

Once again the motorsport fans are on the receiving end of bad decision making. Ok, I know this is nature but why do we have to have a night race? In Formula One we have seen what happens when not enough daylight is available when rain interferes with racing, and now, in another premier formula we have the main attraction cancelled by rain. The or powers that be knew that no racing could happen in the rain and at night, I have also heard the argument that it only rains for 6 days/nights in Qatar, but the fact remains that fans buy tickets to look at their favourite sport.  What is happening is that the Management of these formulas are gambling with the fans money.

I believe racing at these venues in the east starts at the wrong times and no contingencies made for weather or to ensure that time remains to cater for the needs of the fans in an amicable way. I think we will find that midday starts (or there about) cater for weather and accidents with enough daylight to effectively restart and complete a race. Had this Qatar race started in the daylight we would have seen a decent MotoGP race because it is not too warm during daylight hours at this stage. If the F1 Race in Malaysia started at the regular time we would have seen a complete race.

The ardent fan will rise in the early mornings to view their favourite sport or set a timer to record it at the very least. Management and event planners should not be dictated by the marketing and media “bandits” but consider the fans that support them and their formulas.

Who buys the tickets? Who looks at the TV coverage? Two questions someone in the management of these formulas should consider and quickly. Let’s face facts, who actively look at TV ads in the fist place? I walk away to make tea, coffee or get a beer depending on what time the race is on.

I hope the race will be as exiting as the Laguna Seca meeting of July 2008. The last thing I would like to see would be a season dominated by a single rider or manufacturer. Edwards appear to be at the top of his game and the Monster Yamaha could give the Fiat Yamaha team some competition. Rossi did manage to get the second best time for the day but qualifying will tell if he is sand bagging. Casey Stoner indicated that he would like to kick Rossi of the championship throne and set a very challenging time and if this is an indication of what we will see, it might just be Casey’s year to become motogp champion again.

With the Ducati fastest and three Yamaha’s snapping at the heels we should see some interesting racing, that is if practice reflects what we could see during qualifying. The one rider I would like to see in the first 6 would be Mika Kallio simply because of the new Pramac racing team with two very capable riders. James Toseland could be in the hunt if the injuries he received after his big off does not influence his performance, although it did not appear to give him problems during practise on Friday. We have some new rookies in the class and who knows, one of them might just cause a welcome upset in the ranks. I really do hope that MotoGP give the viewers and the fans the same excitement that the World Super Bike series does with some real close racing.