Formula One 2008 (Rd.16, JAPANESE GRAND PRIX)
04-28-2008, 05:21 AM
#151
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 1,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 535i w/ Sports & Permium Pkg. Silv/Blk
2008 VW R32 w/Nav.
1992 VW Corrado Silv/Blk-retired
2001 530i Sports/Premium-retired
Kovalainen safe and well after high-speed accident in SpainMcLaren's Heikki Kovalainen was taken by medical helicopter to a Barcelona hospital for precautionary checks after crashing heavily midway through Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
Kovalainen plunged off the circuit at speed at Turn Nine after a failure on the front-left of the car, which ended up buried deep in the tyre wall as a result. A lengthy safety-car period followed and culminated with the Finn being stretchered away to the medical centre, waving to the crowd as he went.
After an initial examination ruled out serious injury, he was then airlifted to the Hospital General de Catalunya in Sant Cugat del Valles where he will remain overnight for observation.
?He has no broken bones and CT scans performed at the hospital confirm that he has no head injuries and the team is optimistic that he will make a full recovery over the next few days,? reported McLaren team boss Ron Dennis. ?Subject to the results of an FIA medical examination we hope that he will be able to compete in the Turkish Grand Prix.?
The precise cause of the accident is not yet known. ?Our data shows evidence of a sudden tyre deflation shortly before the accident, but it is still too early to identify what triggered that deflation other than to say that it is likely to have been the result of a wheel rim failure,? explained Dennis.
05-09-2008, 06:52 PM
#152
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 1,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 535i w/ Sports & Permium Pkg. Silv/Blk
2008 VW R32 w/Nav.
1992 VW Corrado Silv/Blk-retired
2001 530i Sports/Premium-retired
Super Aguri's racing dream ends in financial disaster 
WALTER BUCHIGNANI, The Gazette
Published: 13 hours ago
Formula One team for sale. Slightly used. For details, see Max Mosley. (Please knock before entering.)
It's been a sad week for Formula One with the news that the garage doors have come down on Super Aguri, the little team that couldn't.
You can't help but feel sorry for Aguri Suzuki, the former F1 driver who two years ago realized his dream of returning to the track as a team owner.
Tuesday, Aguri called a news conference in Tokyo to announce that his outfit no longer had the funds to continue racing and was withdrawing immediately from the championship.
That means only 10 teams will line up on the starting grid for this weekend's Grand Prix of Turkey, where Ferrari is favoured to win after taking three of four races so far this season.
Suzuki's voice broke when he spoke of his drivers, Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson, who have been left without a ride along with about 90 staff members at the team's British base in Langley, Oxfordshire.
"The drivers have been fantastic," said Suzuki, 47. "When we started, the cars wouldn't even go in a straight line. But Takuma never once complained. The drivers have always been so positive."
On Wednesday, newly appointed administrators stated they were looking to sell Super Aguri's assets, preferably as a single lot to a party interested in fielding an F1 team.
"This provides a unique opportunity to get into high-level motorsport without having to build an operation from scratch," a news release said. "In terms of capability, a new team could easily be up and running for the 2009 season.
No price tag was included, but you can bet it's bigger than a bread box. Plus, as Suzuki himself made clear, F1 is a taxing business for reasons other than money.
"I'm exhausted," he said. "I definitely need a break. It's a piranha club and I kind of feel that I don't want to stick my fingers back in."
His dream began to unravel last year with the loss of a major Hong-Kong-based sponsor, the SS United Oil & Gas Company, and grew worse this season with the collapse of a proposed takeover by Britain's Magma Group, an automotive consultancy firm.
Another big blow has been the threat of rule changes that would prohibit so-called customer-car arrangements in F1.
From the beginning, Super Aguri in effect served as a B-team for Honda's F1 program, from which it received engines, chassis and financial support.
In return, Honda benefited from having four cars on the track from which to glean technical data to help the efforts of its own drivers, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
But a legal challenge by the Williams team, which buys its engines and builds its own chassis, has thrown the future of customer cars into doubt.
In the meantime, Honda has decided to stop propping up Super Aguri, sealing its fate.
"The Super Aguri F1 team's withdrawal is indeed very disappointing for us," Honda said in a news release. "But we understand that it was inevitable unless the team could find a way to stand alone by itself in the future."
Similarly, Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz - owner of Red Bull Racing - has cited expected changes in customer-car rules as the reason why he's selling his secondary team, Toro Rosso.
In recent days, it looked like Super Aguri might be saved thanks to a last-minute sponsorship deal with the Weigi Group, a German automotive company, but that fell through, as well.
Truth is, F1 might find it difficult to attract any new sponsors these days, with the kind of headlines generated by the sex scandal involving Max Mosley, president of the governing F?d?ration internationale de l'automobile.
German car giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz, as well as Germany's national automobile association, were among the first to demand Mosley's resignation after a British tabloid showed him taking part in what it described as a Nazi-themed orgy with five prostitutes.
Mosley has denied any Nazi overtones to his role-playing in a London sex dungeon. His fate is to be decided by a vote of confidence at a FIA meeting on June 3.
Sadly, that will be too late for Suzuki Aguri and his dream.
He said it: "If we want to stay ahead, the easiest thing is that we keep the others behind." - Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
On the Tube: Live coverage of the qualifying session for the Grand Prix of Turkey airs tomorrow at 6:52 a.m. on RDS and 7 a.m. on TSN. Pre-race coverage begins at 7:30 a.m. Sunday on both networks.
walterb@thegazette.canwest.com
WALTER BUCHIGNANI, The Gazette
Published: 13 hours ago
Formula One team for sale. Slightly used. For details, see Max Mosley. (Please knock before entering.)
It's been a sad week for Formula One with the news that the garage doors have come down on Super Aguri, the little team that couldn't.
You can't help but feel sorry for Aguri Suzuki, the former F1 driver who two years ago realized his dream of returning to the track as a team owner.
Tuesday, Aguri called a news conference in Tokyo to announce that his outfit no longer had the funds to continue racing and was withdrawing immediately from the championship.
That means only 10 teams will line up on the starting grid for this weekend's Grand Prix of Turkey, where Ferrari is favoured to win after taking three of four races so far this season.
Suzuki's voice broke when he spoke of his drivers, Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson, who have been left without a ride along with about 90 staff members at the team's British base in Langley, Oxfordshire.
"The drivers have been fantastic," said Suzuki, 47. "When we started, the cars wouldn't even go in a straight line. But Takuma never once complained. The drivers have always been so positive."
On Wednesday, newly appointed administrators stated they were looking to sell Super Aguri's assets, preferably as a single lot to a party interested in fielding an F1 team.
"This provides a unique opportunity to get into high-level motorsport without having to build an operation from scratch," a news release said. "In terms of capability, a new team could easily be up and running for the 2009 season.
No price tag was included, but you can bet it's bigger than a bread box. Plus, as Suzuki himself made clear, F1 is a taxing business for reasons other than money.
"I'm exhausted," he said. "I definitely need a break. It's a piranha club and I kind of feel that I don't want to stick my fingers back in."
His dream began to unravel last year with the loss of a major Hong-Kong-based sponsor, the SS United Oil & Gas Company, and grew worse this season with the collapse of a proposed takeover by Britain's Magma Group, an automotive consultancy firm.
Another big blow has been the threat of rule changes that would prohibit so-called customer-car arrangements in F1.
From the beginning, Super Aguri in effect served as a B-team for Honda's F1 program, from which it received engines, chassis and financial support.
In return, Honda benefited from having four cars on the track from which to glean technical data to help the efforts of its own drivers, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
But a legal challenge by the Williams team, which buys its engines and builds its own chassis, has thrown the future of customer cars into doubt.
In the meantime, Honda has decided to stop propping up Super Aguri, sealing its fate.
"The Super Aguri F1 team's withdrawal is indeed very disappointing for us," Honda said in a news release. "But we understand that it was inevitable unless the team could find a way to stand alone by itself in the future."
Similarly, Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz - owner of Red Bull Racing - has cited expected changes in customer-car rules as the reason why he's selling his secondary team, Toro Rosso.
In recent days, it looked like Super Aguri might be saved thanks to a last-minute sponsorship deal with the Weigi Group, a German automotive company, but that fell through, as well.
Truth is, F1 might find it difficult to attract any new sponsors these days, with the kind of headlines generated by the sex scandal involving Max Mosley, president of the governing F?d?ration internationale de l'automobile.
German car giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz, as well as Germany's national automobile association, were among the first to demand Mosley's resignation after a British tabloid showed him taking part in what it described as a Nazi-themed orgy with five prostitutes.
Mosley has denied any Nazi overtones to his role-playing in a London sex dungeon. His fate is to be decided by a vote of confidence at a FIA meeting on June 3.
Sadly, that will be too late for Suzuki Aguri and his dream.
He said it: "If we want to stay ahead, the easiest thing is that we keep the others behind." - Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
On the Tube: Live coverage of the qualifying session for the Grand Prix of Turkey airs tomorrow at 6:52 a.m. on RDS and 7 a.m. on TSN. Pre-race coverage begins at 7:30 a.m. Sunday on both networks.
walterb@thegazette.canwest.com
05-11-2008, 04:07 AM
#153
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 1,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 535i w/ Sports & Permium Pkg. Silv/Blk
2008 VW R32 w/Nav.
1992 VW Corrado Silv/Blk-retired
2001 530i Sports/Premium-retired
Good morning race fans......can the red cars be stopped?
05-11-2008, 04:29 AM
#154
Senior Members
Originally Posted by MiamiPhill' post='578148' date='May 11 2008, 01:07 PM
Good morning race fans......can the red cars be stopped?
No, I don't think red cars can be stopped : from 1999 they won everything .
Only 2 years ago they paid them, I think, to loose . You have to wait 3-4 years to see again Mc Laren or Renault
05-11-2008, 04:42 AM
#155
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 1,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 535i w/ Sports & Permium Pkg. Silv/Blk
2008 VW R32 w/Nav.
1992 VW Corrado Silv/Blk-retired
2001 530i Sports/Premium-retired
Good pass LH......now what's the fuel load?
05-11-2008, 05:54 AM
#157
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 1,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 535i w/ Sports & Permium Pkg. Silv/Blk
2008 VW R32 w/Nav.
1992 VW Corrado Silv/Blk-retired
2001 530i Sports/Premium-retired
Not a bad race, well done BMW considering the circumstances........but what was Ron Dennis thinking with Kova's strategy, since they got caught out with early tire problems, why not go to softs (which seem to suck for the Mc Larens) as soon as the pits open up, run one lap under SC period then bring him back in for the hard tire. 
05-11-2008, 06:05 AM
#158
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Florida
Posts: 1,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 535i w/ Sports & Permium Pkg. Silv/Blk
2008 VW R32 w/Nav.
1992 VW Corrado Silv/Blk-retired
2001 530i Sports/Premium-retired
Result of Turkish Grand Prix after 58 laps of Istanbul Park circuit:
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one hourr 26 minutes 49.451 seconds
2. Lewis Hamilton (G
McLaren-Mercedes 3.779 secs3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari +4.271
4. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber +21.945
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber +38.741
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +53.724
7. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault +1:04.229
8. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota +1:11.406
9. David Coulthard (G
Red Bull-Renault +1:15.27010. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +1:16.344
11. Jenson Button (G
Honda one lap behind12. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes one lap
13. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota one lap
14. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda one lap
15. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault one lap
16. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari one lap
17. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari one lap
R Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 33 laps completed
R Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota one lap
R Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari no laps
05-11-2008, 08:53 AM
#159
Senior Members
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Posts: 6,458
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by AlexFW' post='578154' date='May 11 2008, 03:29 PM
No, I don't think red cars can be stopped : from 1999 they won everything .
Only 2 years ago they paid them, I think, to loose . You have to wait 3-4 years to see again Mc Laren or Renault
Only 2 years ago they paid them, I think, to loose . You have to wait 3-4 years to see again Mc Laren or Renault
As soon as MS skipped, problems appeared and Ferrari in fact had little hope of winning the last year's drivers title. We went over and over the circumstances and luck that made Ferrari win the drivers title.
About the ferraris being stopped, i heard a rumor at tv today saying that Ferrari started working on the engines, which we all know is forbidden as engine development is forbidden till 2012 or so. Now the thing is engines aren't really frozen and work can be done if it's meant to minimize costs or improve reliability all IF it doesn't improve performance, which i don't get it who is able to determine if such mods have been made.
BUT i will not argue with you, you are always right
You are so ridiculous making statements like that (paying them to loose). Do you even hear yourself? GO in front of the mirror and say that again seriously. And of course 545i can trounce any M5 
05-12-2008, 04:48 PM
#160
Members
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Santa Barbara
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2005 530i CPO
It seems that McLaren has stepped it up quite a bit. They had the second fastest top speeds and clearly were superior to the BMWs. I was hoping the BMWs would step it up, but I think they haven't stepped it up compared to the teams around them. We can hope Monaco will favor the BMWs were top speed is not a concern. On the positive side, it was nice to see good starts by both BMW drivers. Hopefully, they have that taken care of that going forward. I was surprised that the Renaults didn't look any better (well, really just Alonzo as Piquet doesn't seem to be up to it yet.) As for the Ferraris, they are in a class by themselves and I don't see how they will be challenged this year. They have the top speed and they have the handling.