Now that would be a horrific idea. Some on here will start arguing about the sprinkler spray pattern and its duty cycle. Then of course Ferrari will claim that their sprinklers are better then others. Speed TV will be forced to come out with a sprinkler cam, Hobbs will tear it down mercilessly and Buxton will be overly excited about them for no reason.
Team Lotus buys Caterham Cars (gpupdate.net) This official announcement bugs me but I'm not sure what bugs me most. There's not enough solid info yet other than the fact of the purchase. That, in particular, probably bugs me most because I think when I heard the rumor of this connection I foolishly assumed it would be Caterham buying the F1 team, not the other way round. Of course I don't think either version of an F1 team buy-out makes much long-term fiscal sense for Caterham. I get the same uneasy feeling I got when Lotus was bought...now it's the sort of Lotus-7 spin-off company being bought... Watch the overly dramatic video also. There's no solid info there either but it's more than you get from the article alone. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGERIVg7ATE]YouTube - Team Lotus purchases Caterham Cars[/ame]
I've never seen a Caterham with the vents in the front cowl and on top of the hood like that - what's it got, a V-8 in it? I'm not sure what the attraction is for the F1 guys, but the article I read said that Caterham got a "badly needed infusion of cash" that would let it continue on with it's developement of it's new (non Lotus 7 looking) cars.
There are different models and most (all?) have the louvers but I think only 1 or 2 models have the opening on the cowl. Not sure which model that one is -- CSR? -- but it's one of the LE versions so should have a few non-standard tweaks.
A friend of mine had an original 7. Went like stink. Had to pick up parts after every drive. Something always broke or fell off. Most early Lotus's did that.
I disagree..... I had a 62 Seven that I ran all summer in autocross, never had a single problem with it....no Lucas problems, no broken chassis, no built too light failure cracks and so on....ran a 1275 Sprite motor. I think most people who had problems with their English cars brought the worst of their problems on themselves because they didn't understand how their car worked or how to repair it.
When I worked at Eurosport, we were in the process of unloading a new BRG 69 Elan from the truck. The entire muffler/tailpipe fell of the car. All the bolts had broken off just being transported. When we tried to start it, the electric system (Damn Price of Darkness) shorted out under the dash and started a fire. Melted half of the wiring. New car, 42 miles. Had lots of British cars but never owned a Lotus myself.
Ha! Everybody has a story to tell..... I used to have new Alfa's come in on the truck with substantial rust - holes in the body even! (Mid 70's) We used to have to put new spark plugs in BMW's to get them off the truck - especially Bavaria's (early 70's) 914's regularly came off the truck with no 1st gear - probably due to ham fisted guys who drove them off the boat and onto the trucks. We did major amounts of warranty work on Audi's in the first 1000 miles, and then even more around 25K, especially on the 5000.....(Mid 80's) Jags OTOH, were surprisingly problem free at delivery and for the first 1000 miles by comparison (early 90's) About the only cars we never had problems with straight off the truck were......................wait for it.................... opcorn: Lexus! Of course! Everybody says that about Lucas electrics, but I've never had an English car leave me by the road for an electrical problem. Had more than my share of American, German and Italians do it tho....altho I think the Italian was my fault, it lost a bolt that held the advance in place inside the dist - I didn't locktite it when I put it in - the first time!
This one is only F1-ish but with a 3-week gap between races there's a bit of a lull. Hill backs EV Cup as Mitsubishi eyes 'electric F1' (crash.net)
Shake up at Williams! Formula 1 Sam Michael and Jon Tomlinson are out......Mike Coughlan replaces Michaels! Remember who Coughlan is - bounced out of McLaren for "Spygate"? When did everything become a ".....gate"? http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns23167.html There was a shakeup in the engineering department of Williams F1 today, with technical director Sam Michael and chief aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson resigning from the team, as the Grove operation announced on Tuesday the appointment of Mike Coughlan as Chief Engineer. Both men are contracted through the end of the 2011 season, but it remains to be seen how long they will remain active in the day-to-day running of the team, and it is doubtful that they will have any involvement in the design of next year's chassis design. Coughlan's appointment is a controversial one as he left F1 in disgrace after being banned for two years by the FIA following his involvement in the spy scandal that cost McLaren a $100m dollar fine in September of 2007. Frank Williams said, "Both Sam and Jon are talented and driven people who have worked hard for Williams over 10 and five years respectively. Nonetheless, they have recognised that the team's performance is not at the level that it needs to be and have resigned in order to give the team the opportunity to regroup and undertake the changes necessary to get back to the front of the grid. Both will continue to work in their present positions through until the end of the year to ensure that the team maintains focus and momentum during the 2011 season. We are very grateful to Sam and to Jon for their professional approach." On Coughlan's appointment, Williams said, "Mike Coughlan is a fine engineer with extensive experience across Formula One and both civil and defence engineering. He left Formula One in 2007 because of conduct which he acknowledges was wrong and which he profoundly regrets. His two year ban from the sport expired some time ago and Mike is now determined to prove himself again. Williams is delighted to be able to give him the opportunity to do this and we are very pleased to have one of the most talented and competitive engineers in the sport helping us to return to the front of the grid. This is the first step in re-building and strengthening our technical group. We will announce the next steps as they develop." Mike Coughlan said, "I am grateful to Williams for giving me this opportunity. My experience in 2007 was life-changing. Since then, I have endeavoured to put my skills to good use in the design of the Ocelot vehicle whose purpose is to transport soldiers in safety. I have also enjoyed my time with Michael Waltrip Racing: they are an excellent race team and I wish them well for the future. Now, I am looking forward to returning to a sport which I love and to joining a team that I have admired for many years. I will dedicate myself to the team and to ensuring that we return to competitiveness while respecting the ethical standards with which Williams has always been synonymous."
Gents, I know very little of F1 and may be off base but through my involvment with other motor sports and some ball sports i've come to a conclusion that works for me. I try to know as little about the owner/business end as i can. There seems to always be a ruler or Czar in baseball, basketball, nascar ( agree w/Redbeard,can't watch anymore) who will run-ruin it for his own interest. i just try to enjoy what is going on on the field, court, track, root for my faves and suffer their losses (like i'm helping them get over it). Have been watching Indy for a few years and really appreciate the open wheel aspect ( no bump drafting in corners with out suspension damage- ha ha) and now for a year have enjoyed F1 racing. Still trying to figure out the players without a number, my 2 cents. boxcars
Absolutely agree with that. I read the FIA are talking about mandating larger numbers on the side pods but I'm sure the lack of good billboard space for sponsor advertising is causing a bit of push-back from the teams...
Also a proposal in the works for "career" numbers for the drivers, similar to NASCAR... No more rotating numbers based on the previous season's finish... Haven't figured out if I like this idea or not, but it would definitely help in ID'ing drivers... Try to base on helmet colors, but they keep changing those around too... Then there's the camera pod color, but those can be pretty hard to see on an old CRT TV in standard def... _Dave_