F1 2010 Testing Footage – Day 1 at Jerez

Spanish cameraman “yossidlr” always seems to deliver when it comes to raw video footage of the latest goings-on in pre-season F1 testing, and today is no exception. The first day of the 4-day test at Jerez got underway today, with Red Bull launching their new RB6 and Force India and Virgin debuting their new cars for the first time against their competitors on track. Here are 2 parts of untouched camerawork via YouTube. Enjoy!

As close as you like

Today's Free Practice sessions threw up something rather amazing. Not the fact that Force India's on the rise, or that Alonso once again decided FP2 was a good time to put his Renault near the top of the timesheets, but something else. As those of you who follow my blog will know, I have started conducting a Super Season Grid, tracking the progress of the 20 drivers in the F1 championship and seeing who is fastest on average throughout the season. I decided to save myself some time after the GP to enter the Free Practice times into the spreadsheet I use and see where everyone stood after the first day of on-track action.

Now, we all know that the form book from 2008 has been torn up for 2009 and completely rewritten and that everything has closed up that little bit more, but just take a look at the average order of the field after FP1 and 2:

1. Rosberg - 1′33.783
2. Hamilton - 1′33.821
3. Button - 1′34.064
4. Barrichello - 1′34.208
5. Webber - 1′34.252
6. Kubica - 1′34.272
7. Vettel - 1′34.300
8. Trulli - 1′34.326
9. Heidfeld - 1′34.349
10. Nakajima - 1′34.390
11. Sutil - 1′34.392
12. Alonso - 1′34.439
13. Fisichella - 1′34.534
14. Glock - 1′34.549
15. Massa - 1′34.577
16. Kovalainen - 1′34.633
17. Piquet - 1′34.693
18. Buemi - 1′34.748
19. Raikkonen - 1′34.749
20. Bourdais - 1′34.860

Wanna know the gap between Rosberg and Bourdais right there? You ready?

1.077 seconds.

That's how close it is on average. Believe it or not, this is what came out as the result when I entered the times into the spreadsheet this morning. Just think - back in 1992 the field gap was some 6 seconds. Now, according to this it's closed up by 5 seconds. Who said these new rules weren't going to work? After 3 weekends full of brilliant racing, it just goes to show that, no matter how they look, these new cars ARE making the difference they were intended to. I for one am thrilled at that and can only hope it gets better and better.

World Series, here I come (again)!

Image: automobilsport.com

For the past two years now, I have been an attendee of the British leg of the Renault World Series, which to motorsport fans and drivers is kind of like GP2 but not exactly as well known or popular. But it's still spawned Heikki Kovalainen, Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel as F1 stars, so it must be doing something right! But still, this is an event that is a great place for any motorsports fan in general to attend. Simple answer - it's free! Yup, that's not a typo. Renault genuinely do give away tickets to these events absolutely free. Who doesn't love a free day out anyways?

So what's it all about? What can you actually see there? Well for a start, there's the main event which are the 2 World Series races of course (1 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday). Then to go alongside that, there's a full program of support races from the Clio Cup, Formula Renault and my personal favourite, the Megane Trophy. Have you seen one of those things?! It's quite simply, as I put it, a standard Renault Megane that's overdosed on steroids. It's such an awesome looking car with huge flared wheel arches, a massive protruding rear wing and a chassis so low to the ground it's unbelieveable. Couple all that to the same howling V6 that the WSR racers use and it's literally heaven on wheels in my book. I absolutely adore the series and the new car, based on the new Megane Coupe, looks stunning. Cannot wait to see that this year!

Apart from the racing, you get some lovely demo runs on track as well from some historic Renault race cars from F1, Le Mans and rally. I should point out the rally car is an R5 Maxi Turbo which is usually driven by Jean Ragnotti, a rally driver and probably professional madman. The guy's skills in a rally car are simply jaw-dropping. He can literally drive a front wheel drive Clio on a rally stage like it's rear wheel drive. Search him YouTube and you'll know what I'm on about. But the big event of the day, apart from the WSR races, has to be the 2 F1 demos, usually showcasing a year old F1 machine in this season's colours. So judging by the pictures I've seen of Renault's roadshows, it's going to be an R28 in that white, yellow and orange paint scheme the current R29s are running around in.

Off track, there's a pitstop challenge, various racing simulators, a driving experience in Clios and plenty of merchandise to have a browse at. Plus, because of the open paddock at Silverstone, across the bridge and behind the pits, you can look at the teams working on the cars and take pictures. There's also a pit walk which takes place before the WSR race, but I've missed it on both occasions and I am determined not to miss it this year! In 2007 the event was held at Donington and last year and this year, as I've just mentioned, it's run at Silverstone. Another good thing is that the tickets allow you to use all of the circuits facilities, which means you can watch the on-track action from the grandstands. Last year, we watched the WSR on the back row of one of the covered grandstands on the pit straight. Lovely and cool, and just about in view of the big TV screens showing the action.

There's a few people from Sidepodcast who don't have the cash to make Goodwood, where another meet-up is going to take place I should imagine, who will be attending the World Series event too, so if you're reading this I hope to see you at some point during the day. As for me, I'll be attending with my dad and some of his friends from when he worked at Toyota, who are a riot to be with. Peter and Gareth have gone with us on both occasions and the latter is such a hilarious guy to be with, especially in the car travelling to and from the circuit. Both times on the way back he has made me laugh so much it's made me cry. That's how much fun I have at these events.

If you think a free day's racing sounds too tempting, then direct your attention to www.worldseriesbyrenault.com, click the event you're interested in, click the icon in the corner for free tickets, fill in the form and they'll be with you within 6 weeks. If you've never been, I can thoroughly recommend it if you haven't got the money to go to somewhere like Goodwood on the same weekend. A great alternative, if you ask me.

So you wanna be a virtual racing driver?

Anyone who knows me will know that as much as I enjoy real racing, I am a sucker for a good racing game, be it console or PC. They're practically all I play on my 360 and if I see a simulator at a show or race event, I just have to have a go and prove my worth. Either way, if there's a racing game and it looks good, then I'll play it. Although I have to admit I am longing to become a regular PC sim racer in the future. I just don't have the equipment necessary or up to standard - yet.

It is a plan of mine to have a proper desk in my room with a decent spec desktop PC with a bigger processor and good graphics card to get started. In terms of controls, I have a Logitech Chillstream joypad which is pretty much an 360 controller with an internal cooling fan that keeps your hands cool and sweat free. Why can't all controllers carry that? It is such a small feature, yet so useful. It's not uncommon for some gamers' hands to get a little clammy in the heat of battle. I for one can testify to that, as unpleasant as it sounds. I did have a wheel, a Logitech Driving Force Pro which was originally made for the PS2 game Gran Turismo 4 but is still a decent starter wheel and dead cheap to pick up now, but...well...let's just say it broke.

The wheel I've been so desperate for for a long time now is the Logitech (see a pattern here?) G25, which has a clutch pedal and a seperate shifter with the option of switching from a sequential to a H-pattern setup. There are of course paddles on the wheel but I like the fact that it covers all the bases in terms of how you want to shift gears. Trivial, I know, but that shows just how popular the wheel is. I've only tried the wheel once, at the Autosport Show on a sim racing pod that had RACE 07 running. I can still remember the car and circuit - a Caterham on the Brands Hatch GP layout. I did 3 laps and had a very big moment on one corner which somehow I was able to save.

Racing with a wheel is obviously a lot more realistic than doing so with a controller, but in my mind the G25 is the best one out there at the moment. Apprently they're already working on the successor, the G27, news of which I read on VirtualR.net, so just what changes there are from the 25 will be interesting to see. In terms of games, rFactor stands out as the premier racing sim for me more than the others. There may be others that claim to have better physics and be more realistic, such as Live For Speed, but I like rFactor because of the sandbox nature of it. It's pretty much a base for modders to basically create what they want. That's what I love about it. You get F1 mods, touring cars, rally, sportscars, GT, road cars, single seaters, NASCAR - you name it and it's probably available as a mod for rFactor. Image Space Incorporated, the game's developers, are already well underway and screenshots are coming through every week it seems. Graphics-wise, it looks great and I'm following them on Twitter, so any updates will come through there and on VirtualR.

There's an online racing series I've been following for a while called Formula Sim Racing. Right now, it's run using rFactor and the CTDP F1 2006 mod this season (I think - the cars look like they're from that mod). They run a rather nifty 7-tier system which allows drivers to progress from Amateur, with races at 50% of the length of the real race, all the way up to the World Championship with full length races and some of the best sim racers on the planet. Looking at some race replays and broadcasts on PSRTV, it looks really competitive and my kind of racing. I would love to race in that series and take part in the hard slog to progress up the ranks to the WC. It will take a lot of work but I'd really appreciate the shot at running at least one race. Hopefully I can do that sometime in the future. If you fancy having a look or finding out more, then visit www.formula-simracing.com

For now the 360 is my hub for racing games, with GRID and Race Pro dominating my racing gameplay. The latter received an update from Atari and Simbin which went online yesterday and fixes some online and offline gameplay issues, bugs and glitches. It's been long awaited but at last it's out and players can run online without any problems. Well, I probably wouldn't say every bug has been fixed, but the most noticeable ones I assume have been sorted out. Nevertheless it's the most realistic racing sim I've played on a console physics-wise. Sure the graphics aren't as good as GRID's for example but I've not played a racer on the console that feels better or more true to real life. Plus when you get a decent field of 12 players online, the racing can be simply brilliant. You do get some idiotic French and Germans, I've found, but I'm a member of RaceDepartment, a sim racing community that prides itself on clean, fun and professional sim racing.

So my advice? Well if you're a PC racer, get something like rFactor, GTR2, GTR Evolution, GT Legends or Live For Speed. All are great sims and all have thriving online communities. It only takes a bit of effort to find them. As for consoles, the new F1 game is coming, but not to the 360 or PS3 until next year, but the PSP and Wii will get one based on this season later on this year. Apart from that, GRID and Race Pro are great as is Forza Motorsport 2, which I haven't played for a whie but is still a golden oldie for the 360. Project Gotham Racing 4 is also fun if you don't want a racing game that's too simulated but too arcade. It's a nice balance and has half-decent graphics to boot. But to get started, get yourself a PC or laptop that has a good processor and graphics card. You can get gaming laptops and desktop systems which are pricey but give you what you want and more. But don't go mad and spend a fortune!

So who knows - get into it properly and I may be sat on the virtual grid next to you one day ;)

Their name is Lola, they are a race team...

Allan McNish drives Lola's 1995 prototype F1 car at Silverstone (Image: forix.net)

No doubt those of you who avidly follow Autosport Magazine's ever-popular website will know that yesterday the world renowned and world-famous race car manufacturer Lola made it known their considerations for a re-entry into Formula 1. It certainly came as a completely out of the blue announcement and pretty much shocked myself and my closest friends who associate with F1 in the same way I do. Certainly the last time we heard Lola and F1 associated together, it wasn't for anything good.

For those who are unaware of the Lola Group and what they do, they are pretty much one of motorsport's most productive race car constructors and have been for some 40 years. But when it comes to F1, their record isn't as glistening as it may be in other formulas such as IndyCar/Champ Car or sportscar racing for example. Despite the Lola Mk4, run by Reg Parnell's team, taking pole position in the hands of John Surtees on its first F1 appearance, the company have never seemed to get F1 and success to go hand in hand together. In fact their only victories came in partnership with Honda from Richie Ginther and Surtees respectively. That relationship soon ended and we didn't see the name Lola in F1 again until the 70s.

At that time, double world champion Graham Hill, father of 1996 world champion Damon, commisioned them to build a car for his new Embassy Racing team. While it looked more like a Formula 5000 car than F1, it was never really successful and the partnership only scored 1 point in its entirety. It quickly ended after 2 seasons and Lola disappeared off the scene once again until 1985, when a new partnership with Carl Haas, one half of the successful Newman/Haas/Lanigan IndyCar team (as it's now known), came to be for his Beatrice Foods-backed F1 team. Patrick Tambay and 1980 champion Alan Jones drove for them for two seasons with the best results being 4th and 5th respectively in Austria in '86.

After this came a link-up with Larrousse which resulted in Aguri Suzuki scored an amazing 3rd place at Suzuka which sent the Japanese fans wild. But it still wasn't enough. The partnership ended before the 1991 season, and they weren't seen again until 1993 where they tried another project with Scuderia Italia which, despite the Ferrari engine, failed miserably. Then came the infamous saga in 1997 when, after building the 1995 prototype as pictured above, they made a beeline for the 12th spot on the F1 roster. They successfully secured it, but the investors were impatient in wanting the car finished quickly. As a result, it was literally a case of going from the drawing board straight into building it, with no CFD and a miniscule amount of wind tunnel testing. The car was rushed to Melbourne without even turning a wheel and when it came to qualifying, the fastest time between the two drivers (Vincenzo Sospiri and Ricardo Rosset) was some 14 seconds off pole man Jacques Villeneuve. Thus, they failed to qualify and seeing this, their title sponsor Mastercard upped sticks and left along with all the other sponsors they had, leaving them broke and unable to continue. The cars turned up at Interlagos 2 weeks later, but the covers on them were never taken off and that was that.

But just because they haven't been a success in F1 doesn't mean they're a failure in general. Lola's cars have been some of the best around in the lower single seater formulas and other series such as IndyCar/ Champ Car and sportscars. Not only that, but they have been the designer of cars for Formula Nippon, Formula 3000 and A1GP which have all been great looking cars that still provide great racing. Their sportscar record isn't the most successful but Lola have made some recognisable favourites including the T70, the Lola-MG EX prototypes and more recently their own LMP1 closed prototype and Aston Martin's new LMP1, which managed a sensational debut victory just a couple of weekends ago at the LMS season opener at Barcelona.

So can they actually last more than about 3 or 4 years in the sport without having to pull out? I say on this occasion: yes. Reason? Look at what they've done since the shameful 1997 pull-out. They've got brilliant facilities which have enabled them to produce some wonderful cars which, despite not being the best or the fastest, haven't exactly been flops. Plus by being the main supplier for 4 seperate one-make single seater series, they've still been keeping their hand in with Formula cars. All this under the guidance of Martin Birrane who, after taking over from Eric Broadley, has transformed the company dramatically.

At the moment they're only considering it, but with Bernie confirming there will be 3 new teams on the grid for next season, and with USF1 pretty much owning one of them already, Birrane has said himself that the facilities they've built up since '97 can easily be adapted for the development of an F1 car. The only other info we know is that should they go ahead with it, it's extremely likely they'll go with the "FIA engine" from Cosworth. Because of the cheap, cost-effective engine and transmission package the governing body can provide teams, new or exsiting, an easy way to either get started or stay in the sport without it costing the earth. Yes, I know the Cosworth engine is 4 years old and useless, but to be fair it's the only way for those new teams coming in who, despite the propsed budget cap set to be enforced for next season onwards, can't afford a customer deal with an existing engine supplier.

Perhaps the FIA can do as Renault were allowed to and upgrade the Cosworth unit to bring it up to spec with the current crop of engines currently under the engine freeze (which is set to finish at the end of 2011). That way these teams which decide to go with this package won't suck! As for Lola, well I do hope it all comes good. Personally, I think they build good and fairly quick machines. Whether their efforts will be good enough for the pinnacle of motorsport once again - well, it's early days yet, but I'd certainly like to think so, wouldn't you?

Happy Birthday, Franck Montagny!

Today is French racing driver Franck Montagny's 31st birthday. Why am I singling this out in particular. Over my time at Sidepodcast, Christine has taken a liking to him after seeing him at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2007 when he was still with Toyota as a test driver and noting he was just wandering about not doing anything special in particular because, well, I guess no-one really knew who he was.

Still, since his F1 testing days, he has gone on to bigger and better things. He produced a fantastic drive at last year's Le Mans 24 Hours for Peugeot, driving long stints at a brilliantly fast pace. His car could have even won the event had it not been for the incompetence of Christian Klien putting it in the gravel during the night. Still, he managed 3rd which is something to be proud of. He also came 2nd in his first Champ Car race last year as well, which was ironically the final race for the formula ever before the IndyCar Series took over, been a race winner for Acura in the American Le Mans Series AND raced for Team France in A1GP! Boy, does he get around or what!

Next season, we all hope it will be success all the way for Franck, who I actually class to be one of the best French drivers in the world right now, second only to Sebastien Loeb who quite frankly can drive anything with 4 wheels and beat the pants off of anyone around. But for now, here's to Mr Montagny reaching 31 years on this earth. Many happy returns, Franck, and all the best for 2009!

I am a Racing Driver (Sort Of)

As mentioned in my introductory post, I am a member of the Real Life BATracer community. It involves playing the browser-based racing simualtion game BATracer. But if you're wondering what it's all about, then wonder no more. Everything will be come clear as I open the doors to the RLB world.


Finding Your Feet
When you decide you want to be part of the fun, you first of all need to write an introductory roleplay. Roleplays, I hear you ask? Yes, you heard correctly. A roleplay is where you write a fantasy news story or personal account of an event such as a qualifying session, a race, a team launch, etc. The RLB is more centered on your RP capabilities than how you perform in the game itself. On-track results do obviously matter to an extent, but your ability to translate those results and happenings into words matters more, especially when it comes to finding a drive for the following season.

An introductory roleplay gives the other members of the community a chance to assess your potential as a top flight driver. Therefore it is recommended you put a lot of thought and effort into it to make the best initial impression possible. You'll get some comments about it and some friendly welcomes out of it too. The RLB community is an altogether friendly and supportive one, so don't be afraid to ask questions if you have any.

Moving up the Ladder
So, you've announced your arrival. Your next objective is to find a place on a team in the starter series we call Formula Trinity. The way to do this is to sign up for tests and roleplay on the results as best you can. Obviously the more work you put into it, the better your chances are of securing a drive for the upcoming season. Currently, RLB has 3 championships which all ascend in such a way that it's like climbing up the ladder to the top flight. Here is a typical RLB journey:

Formula Trinity --> IndyCar --> F1

You'd typically run one season in FT to begin with and gain experience. You'll start off with an Amatuer licence but if the Licence Commitee feel your RP quality over the season is good enough, they will upgrade it to a ProLicence (allowing competition up to IndyCar) and finally a SuperLicence to allow entry to Formula 1. But to maintain these licences, you have to keep your roleplay quantity and quality up. Let it slip too much and you'll find it being downgraded.

My Racing CV
So what's my history in the RLB? Well, I'll be honest - it's a turbulent one. That's certainly the best way to describe it. I started with Davidson-Rees Motorsport in the first ever FT championship and came joint 8th on 74 points. That season also saw me fill in at Toyota for the last 2 races and score a surprise 6th in Brazil. I started the 2nd season of FT before grabbing an opening at Spyker where my best finish was 9th twice. I only lasted until Monza where I lost my licence altogether over a fairly minor issue (which I won't go into detail about). I came back for FT Season 4 with Petronas Concept Racing and won my first RLB race at Mid-Ohio from 13th on the grid. This performance was good enough for 2 seasons at Force India, which sadly was a complete letdown. From a total of 36 races for the team, I scored no more than 3 points altogether.

Right now I am racing for Andretti Green Racing in the IndyCar series and so far I place 9th in the standings with a best qualifying of 5th and a 2nd place at Nazareth to my name. The next race coming up is the legendary Indy 500 and qualifying will advance in a couple of days time. I'm hopeful this season I can get back to F1 as I've drastically improved and strengthened my commitment to the RLB. Over the course of the rest of the season, I will post my thoughts on it all as well as my RPs for each session. I want to let you into this community and let you see what I do and how I do it. I hope you enjoy.