Let's wait and see before we throw our hands up in the air and yell abuse at Todt.

I'd have preferred Vatanen, but Todt is well known as an incredibly effective manager. It's very possible that he could be good for FIA's motorsports. At least he'd probably be better than Mosley.

LOL

Leeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaan!

--------------------

Not really racing - racing against time, maybe - police commentary driving during a priority run exercise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVtQ4NN5_-Q

Last edited by samjh, Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:09.

Quote from xaotik :

Rather boring promo vid, mostly Crashuki Shuntajima yacking for a good part of it and then Nico having a good hair day and saying some rehearsed-for-the-press lines.

I think his "forget all of that, all of that; this is a proper racing car" comment wasn't rehearsed though. It looked like he was saying it from the heart. Must've been quite an experience.

A lap of Circuit de la Sarthe in a Audio S4 2010 model, driven and commented by Justin Bell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK4sf36Bss4

I'm not "knocking" Surfers as a race track, but the event is a serious pain in the arse for the locals. It's a high-traffic area, and plonking a great big race track in the middle of it for about two months of the year is just ridiculous. Not to mention the noise, and the fact that the Indy has been a money hole for many years.

I like motorsport as much as anyone on these forums, but the logic of holding an event at a place like Surfers makes no sense to me.

Quote from Intrepid :

Should be King Ross!

I don't think Prince Philip will appreciate it.

Bernie is right from a commercial point of view. But he could have phrased it better.

Quote from Intrepid :

Let's not!

We could look at Keke Rosberg's 1981 WDC instead.

Quote from NSX_FReeDoM :

that sucks. cause the V8s are quite dull.

They generally tend to run under yellow flags at Surfers.

I just drove in the area tonight. Traffic was horrid. They really should get the event out of the metro area and move it to Ipswich (Queensland Raceway, the most boring racetrack in Australia) or some place away from the crowded inner-city.

Quote from NSX_FReeDoM :

anyone from Queensland knows if channel Ten is showing the race live or not? cause at the end of quali yesterday they said they are showing it live from 0245 monday morning. obviously thats Melb time with Day light saving. But when i check my local guide, it says they wont start showing it until 2:45 QLD time, which means its an hour delay. so are they actually showing it live?!

bloody day-light saving.

Channel Ten is showing it on 2:45am, live. The race is taking place at 3:00am our time (AEST, not AEDST).

Quote from jnr89 :

but talking about reactions or reflexes, the understanding of the concepts "APEX", "braking points", "racing line" is something that virtual skills can help you to improve in that aspect..

Reactions and reflexes... maybe. But sim cars and real cars tend to drive differently too. With sims, you're relying mainly on visual and aural feedback, whereas in a real drive you will also be relying on tactile feedback and equilibrioception (sense of balance). A Logitech G25 setup will not give you the same feel as driving a real car.

Another problem with sims and real life is visual perception. Perception of speed, closure rate with objects on the track, and angles are different on a computer screen. The screen is a 2D surface, but you'll be processing information in 3D in real life, which is a lot more demanding for your brain and eyes.

As for braking points and apex, a sim will only be of help if it is physically accurate. In real life, racing lines change dynamically as track conditions vary throughout a session. You've also got factors like dust, debris, rubber, etc. In a sim, you usually don't deal with such issues, so you can drive the same line lap after lap without fear of something unexpected.

The best help that a sim can give is to teach some basic theoretical concepts. But actual application of those concepts are quite different between sims and real life. Real life is much more complex and demanding than a sim.

Quote from jnr89 :

hi, i wanted to know if you have a lot of real skills can help you to be a hard to beat virtual racer as in lfs, or if you have a lot of virtual skills can help you or at least it helps to you to improve in real life?

"Real skills" and "virtual skills" don't have much to do with each other, in my experience.

Quote from Becky Rose :

If they're going to have any chance of racking up a few points they really do need to get the rubber on the tarmac before xmas, and this being the first pics from a new team and by all accounts looks like a sanded bolted wooden mockup, I think they have a very long way to go and not long to do it in.

They're looking at rolling the car out by mid-Februrary: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79431

By Xmas, the car will only exist as CAD drawings and mockups, I'm afraid.

Quote from ATC Quicksilver :

I'm just watching the playback of the first practice session on the BBC sport website and Andrian Sutil just did the most impressive drift I have ever seen in a modern F1 car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1Tiodhkv7g

It's probably the coolest thing I've seen this season, Sutil for the win.

Reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im70dqUQfUk

(woooo... 999th post)

Quote from 5haz :

Lovely, shame about Oran Park though, looks like a great track.

It's a fantastic track.

Too bad it's being closed.

Latest weather forecast for Sao Paulo:

Saturday Qualifying = Chance of thunderstorm (rain 20-40%)

Sunday Race = Chance of rain 20-30%

Source: http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/83780.html

It could possibly be a Vettel weekend (if his engine endures).

Quote from runeman :

Samjh, if I see a car skidding out of control infront of me, my natural reaction is to hit the throttle.... No thats not my natural reaction, my reaction is to brake or manuver around it. If theres no way to possibly avoid an accident i'll try and slow down to the slowest speed possible. In an accident that cannot be avoided using the throttle would only make matters worse im afraid.

I never mentioned hitting the throttle. If you have the car in gear, the engine will assist in your braking. You will slow down considerably faster if you have the engine in gear, than if your car is in neutral or you smash your clutch immediately. This is part of utilising your throttle to maximise control of your car.

Quote from runeman :

It would take me way less than a second to put my car into gear, thats both hands on the steering wheel and foot away from the clutch. (Which while I coast I have my foot on the clutch and stick the whole time.)

That "less than a second" can mean the difference between hitting something and stopping a few inches short.

Quote from runeman :

It's great to conserve gas down that hill, but if it's a long hill with a couple of twists, it's probably best to stay in gear. But it's just a long straight steep hill, i'll just get up to 85-90 sometimes 95mph and consider putting back into gear.

I would think twice about travelling down any public road at 95mph unless it is somewhere like an autobahn.

Quote from AndroidXP :

If the kid falls off into your path then you either evade if it's too close or you do an emergency brake. When doing an emergency brake, you push both the clutch and brake pedal fully, disconnecting the engine anyway, so in that case it doesn't matter whether you're in gear or not.

It matters. I say again, your engine helps you to brake. The difference may seem insignificant when posted on a forum like this, but practical experience says otherwise.

Last edited by samjh, Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:29.

Quote from runeman :

And why the need for accelerating? When you have to make an emergency manuver... aren't you supposed to use braking and steering? Atleast thats what I was taught.... and what you'd go read in any manual.

Emergency manoeuvres require the driver to have full control of their vehicle, which includes the ability to control steering, braking, and throttle. If you coast, you lose the ability to control the throttle, and as a result your ability to recover from a skid or utilise engine braking to reduce speed, is lost.

If your vehicle is in motion, you should be in gear.

Let's say you are coasting down a hill when you spot a kid on a skateboard cruising down the side of the road. Being an observant and defensive driver, you take appropriate measures to reduce speed to accommodate this hazard. If your vehicle is in neutral, then this means you are relying on brakes only; or if you have to put the car into gear, you lose both time and attention because of this extra task. On the other hand, a competent advanced driver whose car was in gear when going down this hill will be able to use engine braking to modulate speed as well as the brakes, without any loss of time or attention, while in full control of the vehicle at all times, ready to respond to any unexpected changes (such as the kid falling off his skateboard into your path).

Good defensive driving practices are not just for driving under normal conditions. Their rationale is built on being prepared for the worst case scenario.

Last edited by samjh, Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:12.

Quote from Intermediate07 :

The Red Bull is clearly the fastest car in the field

I wouldn't say "clearly" until Webber can consistently outperform the Brawns as well. In the past few races, it's only been Vettel; and before that, Brawns were usually faster.

Quote from Intrepid :

lol yh and they're so adhered to! Get real!

Yes they are, more often than not. For most competitors, it's just not financially viable to cheat in that way.

Your argument for choosing karting over other racing series as a yardstick for talent is based on how much money can be spent by competitors. It's a flawed argument, since karting series generally mandate no limits to testing or components (within tech regs).

Quote from Intrepid :

But I only deal with karting and with karting you can see behind the veil. In cars it's much harder for fans to judge who really is good or not. So to return to my point - stats mean jack (.. for the most part )

No, you can't see "behind the veil" in karting either. Karting is most open to abuse of testing. At least in many of the one-make racing car series, there are limitations to testing. Most karting championships are a free-for-all, so whoever has the money and time to test and receive coaching have a distinct advantage over the others, especially considering that many young karters are inexperienced and can obtain far greater benefit per dollar spent in testing/coaching than in higher-level racing series where drivers are more refined.

Yes, he tested the 2007 car with GP2 tyres. No come-back in 2009 though.

Quote from Intrepid :

One thing I've learnt is stats in motorsport don't matter didlysquat

My reply pertains to a comment about their performances in junior formulae. You can hardly wind back the clock. Statistics are all we have.

Remember that Surfers Paradise is a temporary street circuit. Unlike some temporary street circuits, it isn't resurfaced for races. And due to there being so little rain in this region, when some drops falls in, the roads become ridiculously slippery.

Quote from JJ72 :

Kobayashi has proven in junior series that he is better than at least Nakajima.

Are you sure? They look evenly matched to me.

Nakajima's best championship results:
Formula Toyota = 1st
Japanese F3 = 2nd
Super GT (GT300) = 8th
F3 Euroseries = 7th
GP2 Series = 6th

Kobayashi's best championship results:
Formula Toyota = 2nd
Italian F.Renault = 1st
F.Renault Eurocup = 1st
F3 Euroseries = 4th
GP2 Asia = 1st
GP2 Series = 16th (in two seasons!)

Side-by-side in same championships:
2003 Formula Toyota: NAK 1st, KOB 2nd
2006 F3 Euroseries: NAK 7th, KOB 8th


I think Nakajima has a slight lead on Kobayashi, judging by statistics alone.