This weekend we see a new race added to the Formula One schedule at the Buddh International Circuit. This race track has been built purely for Formula One and has had a rather rocky path to its completion with problems in construction (mainly down to corruption in the government) as well as protests by local farmers who claim they have either not been paid for their land or have been paid too little.
The pictures of the circuit make it look good, some interesting corners and a desire by the organisers to make a success of the event will surely help to create a real spectacle, although after the tragedy of the last two weekends perhaps a quiet one would be in order.
I really hope that McLaren can continue their fightback against Red Bull, I would love to see a McLaren 1-2 (don't care what order) and then, hopefully, with the rules changing very little for next year they will be in a good position to challenge Red Bull properly next year.
Can't wait :-)
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Marco Simoncelli 1987-2011
It is terribly sad that I find myself looking back on the career of yet another young talent cruely snatched from us.
Marco was born in Italy and through his rise to the top of his sport he won the European 125 title (2002), the 250cc World Championship (2008) and was knocking on the door of his first win in Motogp after his pole in Catalunya and 2nd place finish in Australia this year.
An immensely talented young man who many thought was going to be seen as the new Rossi. Wins and championships were surely not far away.
Now the man from Cattolica with the shock of hair who showed his class time and time again will no longer grace the MotoGP grids.
As with Dan I can only say, goodby Marco, rest in peace.
Marco was born in Italy and through his rise to the top of his sport he won the European 125 title (2002), the 250cc World Championship (2008) and was knocking on the door of his first win in Motogp after his pole in Catalunya and 2nd place finish in Australia this year.
An immensely talented young man who many thought was going to be seen as the new Rossi. Wins and championships were surely not far away.
Now the man from Cattolica with the shock of hair who showed his class time and time again will no longer grace the MotoGP grids.
As with Dan I can only say, goodby Marco, rest in peace.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Dan Wheldon 1978-2011
On Sunday a great talent was extinguished. A man who had risen from the ranks of the British Cadet Karts through Formula Vauxhall Junior and Formula Ford where he was to race against future champion Jenson Button. He won championships in all the series he raced in, several at the first try.
His career in Europe stalled and he moved to America where he found fame and fortune in Formula Ford 2000, Toyota Atlantic and Indy Lights where his smooth and fast driving style shone through.
In 2003 he made the step up to Indycar with Andretti Green and it wasn't long before he was into winning ways despite a crash at the Brickyard that saw his car flip. 2004 saw his first victory in the IRL at Motegi and then he joined the ranks of the greats by winning at the Brickyard in 2005, the first Brit to do so since Graham Hill in 1966 and then going on to win the championship
He did get an invite to be a reserve driver for BMW Sauber but it never came to pass with the post going to Robert Kubica and he stayed in Indy with Chip Ganassi Racing. Back to back titles just eluded him as he lost the 2006 title on point countback.
It is ironic that his smooth, fluid style suited the ovals best and he had little success on the road courses that were rapidly making up a majority of the races. He showed his style with several runner up finishes at Indy and, after loosing his full time drive in 2009, he returned as a one-off at the Brickyard to win the race.
His final race at Vegas was another single race where he was to try to win the race from the back to gain a $5,000,000 prize. At the time of the accident he was well on the way to do so having past 10 cars in as many laps. The crash that took his life was not his own, he was just unlucky to be caight in somebody elses mistake.
Perhaps the best way to end this little tribute is to use the words that Marty Reid used when signing off Sky's coverage of the race.
'People ask me why I always sign off by saying till we meet again, it's because goodbye is so final. Goodbye Dan Wheldon'
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Dan Wheldon
It is with great sadness that, with reference to my previous post, I have to report the death of Indycar driver Dan Wheldon.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone
I write this having just returned from Silverstone for the final BTCC meeting of the year. Sadly we didn't see Jason Plato take the championship, a puncture in the first race made sure of that. However we did see some really good racing with Alex Lynn winning in the Renault single seaters, which was good.
We also bumped into Chris van de Drift, a talented driver who's career was almost finished with a huge smash in 2010. We first met him at a charity go-cart race at Milton Keynes Raceway organised to raise money for his treatment. I am pleased to report he is almost fully fit, just a swollen finger left to heal, and he has been back behind the wheel of a race car with plans for next year in hand. Good luck to him.
We have returned home from the race to the news of a huge 15 car pile up in the Las Vegas Indy Car race, with several drivers in hospital after cars hit each other and the wall and included 3 cars flying through the air. All drivers are ok except for Dam Wheeldon of who we currently have no news. I do hope he is ok and that all the drivers involved get well soon.
We also bumped into Chris van de Drift, a talented driver who's career was almost finished with a huge smash in 2010. We first met him at a charity go-cart race at Milton Keynes Raceway organised to raise money for his treatment. I am pleased to report he is almost fully fit, just a swollen finger left to heal, and he has been back behind the wheel of a race car with plans for next year in hand. Good luck to him.
We have returned home from the race to the news of a huge 15 car pile up in the Las Vegas Indy Car race, with several drivers in hospital after cars hit each other and the wall and included 3 cars flying through the air. All drivers are ok except for Dam Wheeldon of who we currently have no news. I do hope he is ok and that all the drivers involved get well soon.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Sci-Fi
This weekend I watched two items of Sci-Fi storytelling told via two groundbreaking television series from either side of the Atlantic, although one has morphed into a series of high profile films whilst the other has remained on its original medium.
The First was Doctor Who with an episode entitled 'The Wedding of River Song' which told a complicated and sometimes confusing story of how the Doctor managed to escape being killed on the shores of Lake Silencio in Utah. I will not go through the story here except to say it didn't include a re-boot of the universe as several other series enders have, which was nice.
The second was a re-boot (no pun intended) of the Star Trek franchise introducing us to the much younger crew of the start ship Enterprise and putting them in a completely new time-line so that they would not be tied into the events of the original TV series and the other films. Clever stuff and very Dr Whoish as well.
What struck me was that I was actually looking at equivalent story types, Start Trek was Americas Dr Who. There have been several different captains of the Enterprise as there have been Doctors in the Tardis, plus the Tardis changed as did the Enterprise. (I include Voyager as a form of Enterprise in this as well).
Both series have a strong hero figure with many useful and in several cases, expendable, assistanys and companions. Both series have a space (and time) travelling ship that is very much central to the strories and takes on a charcter of its own to the point that the story without it is not very satisfying (The Search for Spock).
So what dis I think of the stories that I saw?
Dr Who was good if not as good as the Doctors Wife, it did certainly have its moments. I especially liked the ending when we found out what the question hidden in plain sight was (won't spoil it here). Can't wait for the next series as it will be the 50th anniversary year. All in all it was a slightly disappointing end to a brilliant series, but that said it would have been a humdinger for most other lesser series that we are subjected to from America!
Star Trek has always been the exception to the rule that American Sci-Fi will be formulaic and predictable. It told some really good stories and several of the films were great pieces of sci-fi art. The latest film was not really ground breaking and much like several of the Harry Potter films it really felt like there was a great story fighting to get out but that it was sacrificed somewhat to set-up the next film. I really hope this will be a good one as the set-up was nicely done if a little bit slow at times.
The First was Doctor Who with an episode entitled 'The Wedding of River Song' which told a complicated and sometimes confusing story of how the Doctor managed to escape being killed on the shores of Lake Silencio in Utah. I will not go through the story here except to say it didn't include a re-boot of the universe as several other series enders have, which was nice.
The second was a re-boot (no pun intended) of the Star Trek franchise introducing us to the much younger crew of the start ship Enterprise and putting them in a completely new time-line so that they would not be tied into the events of the original TV series and the other films. Clever stuff and very Dr Whoish as well.
What struck me was that I was actually looking at equivalent story types, Start Trek was Americas Dr Who. There have been several different captains of the Enterprise as there have been Doctors in the Tardis, plus the Tardis changed as did the Enterprise. (I include Voyager as a form of Enterprise in this as well).
Both series have a strong hero figure with many useful and in several cases, expendable, assistanys and companions. Both series have a space (and time) travelling ship that is very much central to the strories and takes on a charcter of its own to the point that the story without it is not very satisfying (The Search for Spock).
So what dis I think of the stories that I saw?
Dr Who was good if not as good as the Doctors Wife, it did certainly have its moments. I especially liked the ending when we found out what the question hidden in plain sight was (won't spoil it here). Can't wait for the next series as it will be the 50th anniversary year. All in all it was a slightly disappointing end to a brilliant series, but that said it would have been a humdinger for most other lesser series that we are subjected to from America!
Star Trek has always been the exception to the rule that American Sci-Fi will be formulaic and predictable. It told some really good stories and several of the films were great pieces of sci-fi art. The latest film was not really ground breaking and much like several of the Harry Potter films it really felt like there was a great story fighting to get out but that it was sacrificed somewhat to set-up the next film. I really hope this will be a good one as the set-up was nicely done if a little bit slow at times.
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