Singapore Grand Prix - What Gearhead Thinks

If ever there was an example of F1’s double standards, this is it. These guys talk about cost cutting and what not and then go and want to conduct a race at night time. Do they know how much money could have been saved on cabling and lighting equipment?

These people want to introduce KERS in a bid to extract more energy but they have no idea of how much energy would be wasted in lighting up the whole track. I’m guessing enough to power a small village in India for a week. And what is wrong with the Europeans anyway. Can’t they get up early to watch a day race? I know we stay up late to watch the Canadian and the Brazilian races.

A totally bogus idea I say. I just hope nobody gets hurt during the course of the race.

Jaguar Back At LeMans

It was the late 50s when Jaguar raced and won the LeMans 24 Hours with the D-Type, winning five times. The cat was also there at LeMans as recently as 1988 and 1990, again winning.



So how long will they stay away from racing? Not long if Ratan Tata has his way. In a recent Annual General Meeting, the Chairman had commented about the possibility of a return to LeMans.

Although no time table is in place, at least they are thinking about it.

Nissan GT-R Wins Debut Race

Well, they are at it again. I was personally wishing for the GT-R to win its maiden race, and man my wishes have been granted. The XANAVI NISMO GT-R number 23 won the inaugural Super GT series at the Suzuka circuit in Japan. The best part is that not only did they win, they finished 1-2. The number 22 car came in second. One can just imagine what must be going on in the minds of the competetion after this.
The number 23 was piloted by Benoit Treluyer and Satoshi Motoyama. They started at the second place on the grid behind the number 22 GT-R of Michael Krumm and Masataka Yanagida. They lost a position because of the decision to go in with harder compound tires after the pit stop. The 23 car went in with the softer set.

Let’s hope for a year of complete domination of the racing circuits by the GT-R. Let’s also pray that they don’t get banned this time around. He he.

To Win You Need The Finn

“To win you need the Finn”. A great man once said this. He was the one who put the fear of god into that supposedly ‘great’ German. The winner of two world champions titles Mika Hakkinen knew what he was talking about. McLaren knew this. That is why Kimi was chosen to step into his boots when the great man decided to take a ‘sabbatical’.

But last year it seems Ron Dennis forgot the words of wisdom left behind by the genius. Although Ferrari remembered the same, and guess what, they won the championship. This year is not going to be any different either. Now that Kimi has got one title under his belt, he’ll be more than happy to get another one. Pressure no doubt will be more this time around than last year. This year again though we have a Finn at McLaren. Only time will tell what will become of Heikki Kovalainen.

I hate Ferrari and McLaren used to be my favorite till middle of last years season. That’s when they decided to play Sneak-a-Peek with Ferrari. Now they have lost all credibility as far as this particular fan is concerned. On top of that both their drivers knew about the whole incident. The youngest world champion even threatened the team to go public about the whole thing. Guess one has to stoop to newer and lower lows to win. Obviously the step fatherly treatment that was meted out to him from the team was as important an ingredient in the whole one-year-stand.

But the Spaniard cannot be let off the hook so easy. Crying hoarse in front of the home media doesn’t garner you any points and, well, the young English men has to be blamed equally for the loss of last year. I wish McLaren never win a title again, not till either of their last years drivers are still racing in the championship.

Well this leaves one with a thought to ponder over. ‘Who to cheer for this year?’ Thanks to Vijay Mallya, this is not a big problem anymore. I’m cheering for Force India F1. As far as the drivers go, I’m pinning my hopes on the Finn. No matter how much I hate Ferrari or the fact that Ferrari powers Force India. Let’s hope for another cracker of a season. Amen.

Force India F1 Unveils VJM-01

Force India F1 team today unveiled their 2008 championship contender, the VJM-01 at the Gateway of India in Mumbai. The car has been named after the owner, Vijay Mallya. The new livery is made up of red, white and golden colors. Also the Kingfisher name can be seen all over the car.

The VJM-01 is basically a modified 2007 Spyker. The car displayed though does not feature the final aero package. It will be ready only by late this month when the VJM makes its debut on track on February 25.

Vijay Mallya has earlier stated that he is in it for a long run and not just to make up the numbers either. Although expecting Force India to challenge the likes of McLaren and Ferrari is totally out of the question. It would be great if they can match upto the likes of Honda and Toyota, both of which were struggling last season.

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Force India confirms driver lineup

Force India confirms driver lineup

Force India F1 Team today confirmed that Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella would be their drivers for the 2008 season. The reserve and test drivers’ role has been given to Liuzzi. The announcement was made today in Mumbai.

Fisichella impressed the team during the testing in November last year. He has been in Formula 1 for almost 12 years now and is one of the most experienced on the grid currently.

Sutil continues his second year with the team. He had scored the teams first point last year at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Armaan Ebrahim for DPR in GP2 Asia

One of the emerging young talents and last years Formula Renault V6 Asia race winner and runner up Armaan Ebrahim has been signed up by David Price Racing for the GP2 Asia series.

Armaan will be competing with 25 other drivers for the honours which also includes another Indian driver Karun Chandok. Armaan will be racing in the 10 race series using the 2007 model, which will be no doubt be a step up from the V6 he was racing last year.

I wish to extend my congratulations to the youngster and wish him all the very best and hope he performs upto his potential.

MRF Formula 1600

One of the biggest tire manufacturers in the country, MRF, have unveiled a new single seat formula racing car called MRF Formula 1600. A 1600cc Ford Duratec engine, capable of producing more than 150 bhp, powers the cars. This makes it the most powerful single seat racers in the country overtaking the Formula Rolon cars, which make a little more than 100 bhp.

The series will be called the ‘Spec Formula’, while Ford India has also agreed to co-sponsor the series. The cars are manufactured by Elan Motorsports Technologies, UK. Ford will supply the engines here in India and they will be prepped in the country itself.

Good news for Indian Motor Sports, with new and more powerful cars coming. Now if we can only have more than just two tracks in the country.

Karun Chandok for I-Sport in GP2

Its official now. Karun Chandok will be partnering Bruno Senna, the nephew of late great Ayrton Senna in the next years GP2 series at the I-Sport Team. I-Sport was the champion team in the 2007 season.

Although Karun was not able to fully meet the 2.2 million euros required to confirm a slot with the team, he said that both parties “met half way”. It just goes to show the confidence the team has in Karun’s abilities. This year the season will start with the GP2 Asia series on January 26, using last year’s cars. The European series will have the new cars with new electronics just like in Formula One.

He intends to finish in the “top five” next year. He said it was always the plan to race in GP2 for two years and then make the jump to Formula One. He will also be a part of the Red Bull Junior Program, and will get a chance to drive the Formula One cars next year.

He was called for testing by Red Bull Racing in November, to test their car for 2008 and was able to provide the team with valuable feedback. The call came to him as the regular test driver was not available and also because he was the only Red Bull backed driver to win a race last year.

Lets hope that Karun will be able to achieve all he wants and that we have another driver in Formula One soon.

Ekstrom wins Race of Champions

Audi’s DTM driver Mattias Ekstrom has won the Race of Champions held at the Wembley Arena, London, England. He defeated the seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher. After both had won a round each, it all went down to the wire in the last and final heat. Mattias had won the last year’s event too.

Other current Formula One drivers who took part in the event were David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, and Heikki Kovalainen. WRC drivers Marcus Gronholm and Petter Solberg also took part.

Narain Karthikeyan wins A1 GP China - Review

After finishing a creditable seventh in the feature race, here was a chance for Narain to finish on the podium for the very first time, having qualified a brilliant third on the grid for the sprint race. At the start of the race Oliver Jarvis overtook Neel Jani before turn one while Narain maintained his third position. The first four cars were pretty evenly matched till the first pit stop window. That’s when Jarvis lost his position to Jani thanks to a poor pit stop. While a brilliant pit stop by team India saw Narain maintaining his third behind Adrian Zaugg from South Africa who was yet to pit.

After Zaugg did go in after a couple of laps, Narain started to increase the distance between him and NZ and slowly and steadily kept chipping away the gap between him and Jani. By the time the pit stop window opened again, Narain had increased his gap from NZ to about 3 seconds. Narain entered the pits, another precise pit stop by team India. On the other hand Jani’s dream turned into a nightmare. The right rear wheel wouldn’t go on and his race was ruined and could only finish sixth.

Then on Narain led throughout the race to the chequered flag, keeping a determined NZ at bay and winning by half a second and India became the fourteenth country to have won an A1 GP. The team now stands tenth in the championship.

Narain showed immense class through the race with brilliant car control, braking later and harder than anyone else. The important thing is that the win came in early in the season, and hopefully we will see the Tricolour waving on top of the podium more often.

Narain Karthikeyan wins A1 GP China

This has to rate as one of the most proud moments for Indian motorsports. Narain Karthikeyan won an international race, racing for the country. On saturday I read an article in the papers saying “Fast in practice Slow in race” or something like that. It said something like how team India was showing good pace in practice and not in the actual races. Then on Sunday it said P3 for Narain in qualifying. I turned a few pages to find out when the race will be on and it said 1900 hrs. “so long?” I thought to myself. Then while having lunch I see a news flash saying Narain Karthikeyan wins the A1 GP in China, and I just couldn’t wait any longer. Even though I knew the result, watching the race was still a lot of fun.

The proudest moment was hearing the national anthem with Narain on the top step. Now what are the chances of that happening in Mainland China? Take that Chairman Mao. There were other moments worth remembering too, like Yohan Setna crying in the interview right after the race and Narain running like a kid to climb the podium, spraying champagne, I almost had tears in my eyes.