Source: https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/f1-and-the-car-manufacturers/
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
F1 and the car manufacturers
Formula 1 tends to pay little attention to the machinations of the automotive industry, particularly after 2009 when manufacturer involvement in the sport took a plunge with the departures of Toyota, Honda and BMW and a scaling back of Renault’s activities. The current state of affairs is a little precarious, particularly in the midfield. At [...]
The Lemon Popcycle kit - I'm looking for info
My Brother built this kit over 40 yrs. ago. Kit is long gone. We are looking for box art or an instruction sheet, any info at all about the kit. Maybe someone has an Autoworld catalog with kit photo in. I believe the kit was made by MPC but not sure. I appreciate any and all help. thanks.
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1004524.aspx
Marussia Virgin Racing Launch Their 2011 Car
Marussia Virgin Racing have launched their car to take on the 2011 world championship in a lavish London ceremony. The Marussia name now preceeds Virgin following a major tie up with the Russian sportscar manufacturer and the team at the end of 2010. It has led to the new car being designated as the MVR-02. [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/marussia-virgin-racing-launch-their-2011-car/
Life in the pit lane
 The Mercedes pit crew prepare for Michael Schumacher in Singapore |
These are not select millionaires but up to 16 ordinary, yet gifted, guys; team mechanics who have worked their way up the system and often migrate from team to team, are paid real-world wages of between £30,000 and £50,000 a year, are drilled to perfection – and whose split-second synchronisation brings their teams huge rewards.
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/09/life_in_the_pit_lane.php
McLaren unveil new car for 2012
At McLaren Technology Centre, Woking
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button sat on the stage in front of the car they both hope will take them to the world title this year looking relaxed and happy.
Yet in their responses to apparently innocuous questions, both men revealed much about the different ways in which they approach the 2012 Formula 1 season.
They were asked how they had spent the winter. Button, fresh from arguably his best season yet in the sport, had spent some time in Hawaii. "Somewhere warm to chill out and train," he said, "but it's always the same - you spend a couple of weeks away and you are missing racing, so I was back on 5 January".
Hamilton's 2011, meanwhile, was self-admittedly his worst season yet in F1, with three superb wins interspersed with errors and controversy.
McLaren are set to compete for the title with their new car which was unveiled ahead of the beginning of the Formula One season due to start in March. Photo: Getty
His response to the same question was enlightening."The opposite of Jenson," he said. "I was over in the cold in the mountains in Colorado. I wasn't missing the car too much - it was nice to be away from it awhile, to refresh, start anew, and just getting back to training was great.
"I altered it a little bit this year, I think last year I was training too much. I had a good break and I was grateful to Martin (Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal) for giving me such a good break."
Later, Hamilton revealed a little more about his desire to make amends for 2011 with a sparkling 2012.
Which race are you most looking forward to, he was asked. "Monaco is the one for me - I want to get back there and have a better race [in which he collided with two drivers and caused a storm with his post-race comments] than last year."
It was a stark illustration of just how much is at stake in 2012 for the man who many still regard as the most naturally talented and out-and-out fastest racing driver in the world.
Whether Hamilton has found the mental equilibrium he desires to enable him to perform consistently at his brilliant best remains to be seen, starting with the first race in Melbourne, Australia, on 18 March.
But much of it may depend on the reason he and Button were up on that stage - the McLaren MP4-27.
His team's failure - for the third year running - to produce a car with which he could consistently challenge at the front was one of the main causes for Hamilton's frustrations last year.
He knows exactly how good he is, so it was galling for him to see yet again that he was not realistically going to challenge for the championship.
As is the way of things, the launch of the new McLaren shed no light whatsoever on whether that will change in 2012.
The car looks nice enough - and it mercifully lacks the "platypus" front seen on the Caterham, the only other new car to break cover so far this year, as a response to new rules lowering the height of the nose.
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There was a lot of talk about McLaren's focus on the aerodynamics at the rear of the car, which featured noticeably tighter packaging than last year, and particularly of the need to make the most of pre-season testing and start the season strongly.
That was where McLaren's campaign began to unravel last season - an over-complex exhaust system led to a terrible pre-season with a car Whitmarsh has described as "neither reliable nor quick".
This year's car contains no obvious stand-out innovations but the team were quick to deny suggestions that McLaren had reined themselves in an attempt to make sure the car runs in testing, which Whitmarsh described as "data-gathering".
Engineering director Tim Goss described the MP4-27 as "a complete re-work from nose to tail".
Technical director Paddy Lowe added: "The regulations are trimming us into narrower and narrower boxes so we don't see the big radical changes from one year to the next, so the car looks quite similar.
But there is a great deal of change underneath.
"There still are obvious innovations. We have done a lot of work around the back end, a lot more tidy packaging there. We have had to respond to the change in the exhaust regulations (banning the blowing of exhausts along the rear floor to boost downforce).
That's given the aerodynamicists a big challenge to come up with the (lost) downforce and the balance."
Lowe and Goss are old hands and they did a great job of straight-batting the questions on the stand-out features of the car and it was left to Whitmarsh to utter F1's dreaded c-word.
"I don't believe we've been inherently conservative," he said. "We've set ourselves some tough targets, targets that we think if we achieve them we will win the world championship. I think we will meet those targets, and if they are the right targets, we will win the championships."
To achieve that obvious aim, though, there is the small matter of having to beat the twin formidable forces of Ferrari and Fernando Alonso and, the combination expected to remain the one to beat, Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel.
Just as the car's tight rear takes more than a small bow towards the all-conquering Red Bulls of the last two seasons, it is clear that McLaren have had their eyes on other aspects of their rivals' dominance as well.
"It didn't go unnoticed that Sebastian Vettel put the car on pole a lot and then pulled the gap (from which he controlled the race)," said Goss. "We're aware of it; we've attempted to find ways to deal with it."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/02/at_mclaren_technology_centre_w.html
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
“Meet Sebastian Vettel” reviewed | Review
“Meet Sebastian Vettel” reviewed is an original article from F1 Fanatic If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Even die-hard Sebastian Vettel fans should avoid this new biography of the twice-champion.
“Meet Sebastian Vettel” reviewed is an original article from F1 Fanatic If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/NKrKUr9mzHg/
Mercedes battle to match past glories
Red Bull have raised the bar in Formula 1 over the last two or three years, heaping pressure of one kind or another on all their major rivals.
McLaren's inability to produce a car that can consistently challenge Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel had a clear effect on Lewis Hamilton's equanimity last season, introducing new pressures into that team as the Englishman struggled to cope with his on-track disappointment and difficulties in his private life.
At Ferrari, a technical director has lost his job and his replacement has felt under pressure to take significant risks this year as F1's most famous team seeks to produce a car that can do justice to Fernando Alonso's abundant talents.
But nowhere, arguably, is the need to improve felt more greatly than at Mercedes, the team trying to make F1's "big three" into a quartet.
Mercedes are hoping their new W03 car for 2012 will herald a return to the front of the grid. Picture: Getty
The German giants enter 2012 seeking a huge step forward from a season of conspicuous under-performance. Lodged in no-man's land, some distance behind the top three and some way ahead of the rest, there was not a single podium finish for either Michael Schumacher or Nico Rosberg in 2011.
Unsurprisingly, Mercedes' vice-president of competition, Norbert Haug, describes that as "not good enough". For one of the world's greatest car companies, that is something of an understatement.
Mercedes' latest venture into F1 has only been running for two years - since the company bought the Brawn team at the end of 2009 after spending 17 years as an engine supplier first to Sauber and then to McLaren.
But the current management has a lot to live up to - the company's two previous forays into grand prix racing were considerably more successful.
In the mid-1930s, Mercedes and fellow German giants Auto Union (the forerunners of Audi) dominated with their famous Silver Arrows. And in 1954 and '55 Mercedes produced a level of domination with the great Juan Manuel Fangio that makes Red Bull's performances in recent years pale into insignificance.
Mercedes' relationship with McLaren had produced drivers' titles for Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and '99 and for Lewis Hamilton in 2008, as well as near-misses with Hakkinen in 2000, Kimi Raikkonen in 2003 and 2005 and Hamilton and Alonso in 2007.
But the decision to set up their own team was based as much on the realities of the road-car marketplace as any comparative lack of success on the track.
The poor results McLaren produced in 2009, starting the season with their worst car for 15 years, were an influence. So, too, was the relative lack of recognition for the Mercedes brand in any McLaren success on the track - inevitably the case for an engine supplier, even if it did own 40% of the team.
But when McLaren decided to launch its own supercar into a market Mercedes was also planning to enter with its SLS, such close links were no longer tenable.
In the autumn of 2009, buying the team that had just won the world championship, run by a man who masterminded all of Schumacher's world titles, must have seemed about as good a guarantee of success as you could get. Bringing Schumacher out of retirement, to rejoin the company that set him on the path to stardom and bring his career full circle, was supposed to be the icing on the cake.
Except that's not how it has worked out. The cars have been uncompetitive and Schumacher - consistently out-paced by Rosberg in qualifying over the last two years, although with improving race form in 2011 - is clearly a shadow of his former greatness.
So why have Mercedes not been able to compete at the top? The simple answer is that Brawn's world title with Jenson Button in 2009 rather disguised the reality.
That car was designed with Honda money, before the Japanese giant abruptly pulled out in December 2008. Team boss Ross Brawn had kept the company alive, but had to force through a painful 40% staff cut in 2009 to keep it going in more straitened circumstances.
The car's speed owed much to its controversial "double diffuser" - and by mid-season a lack of development caused by budgetary restrictions had seen first Red Bull and then other teams overtake them.
There is some truth, then, in Haug's consistent claims over the last two years that Mercedes are a small team that, as he put it this week, "need to learn and develop" to compete with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren.
As Mercedes' great rival BMW proved in 2009, major car companies in F1 tend to get itchy feet if they are not winning - it poses too big a risk to their global image if they are consistently seen to be beaten. In BMW's case, a strong season in 2008 was followed by a weak one in 2009 and, with the global economic crisis gripping, the board pulled the plug.
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There is no sign of such a move from Mercedes but the pressure to perform has been plain to see. The team have been on a major recruitment drive over the last year, the biggest indication of which was the hiring of two star designers - Aldo Costa, the technical director sacked by Ferrari, and Geoff Willis, formerly of Williams, Honda and Red Bull.
There are now four men who have been technical directors at other teams all trying to work together to make Mercedes winners - Bob Bell, the man who currently holds that title at the team and who was recruited from Renault, Costa, Willis and Brawn himself.
Brawn is adamant they have defined roles and will work well together. Others remain to be convinced about the wisdom of having so many big beasts in one pride.
What this technical "super-team" does, though, is emphasise just how important winning is to Mercedes - and consequently just how critical it is that the new W03 enables the team to make a marked stepped forward over 2011.
There is no doubting the ambition.
Mercedes are the only top team to have waited until the second pre-season test to run their new car. The idea was to give them more time to find more performance in the car at the design stage, but the move carries risks. If problems occur, there is less time to iron them out before the start of the season.
Haug has been at pains to emphasise that Mercedes' current position is understandable, and that they have the time and ability to improve.
But while the form of the new Mercedes will be watched with interest at Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari, you can be sure there will be some nervous faces in the boardroom in Stuttgart, too.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/02/pressure_mounts_on_mercedes.html
Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi
AMA DSB: DiSalvo's Triumphant Return
Jason DiSalvo will return to the scene of his biggest career victory -- the Daytona 200 -- with the same team behind him but an entirely different package underneath him.
Source: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-dsb-disalvos-triumphant-return/
Fernando Alonso: “We are not where we want to be…”
As testing progresses in Barcelona this week no one can be quite sure how the teams stack up, but it’s all too clear that Ferrari is still struggling to come to terms with its new F2012. Fernando Alonso made some … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/02/22/fernando-alonso-we-are-not-where-we-want-to-be/
Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy
1971 Hemi 'Cuda
Hi guys this is my first post here so i hope you like it comments and criticism are welcome no matter what its about. Color is Midland green left over spray paint that my dads work had left over, the rims are from a diecast that i broke a long time ago. hope you like it
thanks for looking,
Robert
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1004122.aspx
Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk
Ferrari Launch Their 2011 Car The F150
Ferrari have become the first team to launch their 2011 Formula One car – named the F150. Thw F150 name comes from the fact it is 150 years since Italian unification, the flag bearer for the nation decided it was important to increase exposure of the major event in the country’s long history. The cars [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/ferrari-launch-their-2011-car-the-f150/
Monday, February 27, 2012
HRT F112 passes FIA crash tests | F1 Fanatic round-up
This is an original article from F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog it is an infringement of copyright.
In the round-up: HRT move a step closer to getting their 2012 contender on-track after passing the remaining FIA crash tests.
This is an original article from F1 Fanatic If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/GYoxdaancco/
Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti
HRT F112 passes FIA crash tests | F1 Fanatic round-up
This is an original article from F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog it is an infringement of copyright.
In the round-up: HRT move a step closer to getting their 2012 contender on-track after passing the remaining FIA crash tests.
This is an original article from F1 Fanatic If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/GYoxdaancco/
Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok
2011 Nascar Charger from AMT Chevy snap kit
Finally got this one done. The decals took longer to make than the model did. 2010 AMT Earnhardt Jr. 1/25 scale snapkit. Tamiya ts-50 paint. Evergreen styrene strips, rods, and sheets to make the front splitter, rear spoiler and shark fins. Squadron white putty to fill in the gaps. All decals created by me except for the Sunoco, Goodyear, Nascar race car decal on the a-pillar, and the aero decals on the wheels. These came with the kit. I also had to modify the quarter glasses to look like Dodge quarter glasses.
If you want to see how the model went together check out this link.
http://randyayersmodeling.com/modelingforum/viewtopic.php?t=68651
I wanted this model to resemble the Pocono car because that's where Brad beat Kyle Busch to the finish line.
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1003927.aspx
1960 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster
Hello all,
It's been a while since I posted anything new. I present today the biggest pain in the butt build I've ever completed...not because of added detail, but because of unusual kit manufacturing. It's an Italeri kit. There were practically no locator tabs to help with parts alignment, and several parts didn't fit quite right. Separate body panels that had to be attached, puttied and smoothed before paint weren't much fun either...especially since they made the chassis fit so tight. It's pretty much box stock except that I added a few home made decals to fill in the decal sheet, switched the kit tires for a set of Michelin's from a Fujimi custom wheel/tire set, and flocked the interior. I did have to narrow the wheels just a bit to get them to properly fit the new tires. It's finished in Tamiya paints: Light Gunmetal and Clear exterior with an Italian Red interior.
I didn't have the time or patience to detail it out as I had originally planned. I was working feverishly to get it completed for the Derby City Shootout this past weekend. When I started on it I wanted to fully plumb and wire everything, but as the build progressed I realized I'd be thrilled if it went together at all and looked like anything decent when finished. I got 'er done and it ended up taking 3rd place in the Imports class; beat out by two fully detailed builds: an Acura Integra and a Honda Civic. Both can be seen in my "Derby City Shootout 2011" album at the link to my photobucket pics below.
I'll spare the build up photos, those can be found in my photobucket albums, here she is all finished up:
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/971366.aspx
Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso
Kubica comeback far from certain
Much will be made this season of the incredible strength in depth of the Formula 1 field in 2012, with six world champions all taking part, each one of them with a justifiable claim to being an all-time great.
But when the season kicks off in Melbourne on 18 March, there will be a man sitting at home in Europe who could make that line-up even stronger.
Robert Kubica might well have been starting this year's Australian Grand Prix grid in a Ferrari had he not suffered the horrendous rallying accident that prevented him racing for Renault in 2011.
As it is, he is in a no-man's land, not knowing whether he will ever be able to drive an F1 car in anger again.
This week, reports in Italy have emerged that he is planning to get back behind the wheel of an F1 car - almost certainly a Ferrari - in June. The problem is, that is more a hope than a plan, as no one knows whether the Pole will be fit to drive by then.
Kubica is doing four or five hours' worth of physical training a day, despite still recovering from a broken leg sustained earlier this month in an incident that re-opened one of the fractures he sustained in his rally crash.
But the leg is not a major problem - the 27-year-old is not in plaster, there is only a light support around the limb, and he can drive a road car despite it. Before the re-break, he had already started doing some jogging, and the expectation is that the injury will no longer trouble him within a week or so.
Kubica has been linked with a return to F1 with Ferrari. Photo: Getty
The issue remains the movement in his right hand, which was partially severed in the rally crash on 6 February last year.
His injuries that day were truly horrific - he suffered partial amputation of his right forearm and numerous fractures to his right elbow, shoulder and leg, as well as losing a lot of blood. Had doctors not worked so quickly, he could have died.
Once his condition was stabilised, it became clear that the biggest problem was going to be the hand.
Both main nerves to the hand were severed, and had to be repaired by surgeons, and movement remains restricted. Specifically, he is lacking strength in the hand, and his ability to rotate his wrist is limited - in other words, he does not yet have the two physical attributes he needs to steer an F1 car.
According to his doctors, it is a matter of when, not if, the nerves rebuild themselves and he recovers full use of the hand, but no one knows when that will be.
Kubica is out of contract and all his links with his former team have evaporated. So when/if he is fit to drive an F1 car, it is likely to be a Ferrari.
The Italian team had an option on him for the 2011 season, which they did not take up, but sources say they remain interested and have discussed the issue internally.
It is a complicated matter, though. If Kubica tells them he feels ready to drive an F1 car, Ferrari have to consider how a test for him would look to Felipe Massa, whose contract runs out at the end of the year and who already knows he is under pressure to raise his game compared to team-mate Fernando Alonso in 2012 if he is stay on.
Equally, it is not as if they do not have other options.
Red Bull's Mark Webber, in whom they were interested for 2012 before deciding to stick with Massa, remains on Ferrari's radar.
And Lewis Hamilton is out of contract with McLaren at the end of this season, even if the prospects must be considered distant of the Englishman renewing what was a combustible combination with Alonso at McLaren in 2007.
As far as Kubica is concerned, all this remains moot until he can prove a) that he is physically recovered; and b) that he has not lost any driving ability.
He has told those close to him that unless he can recover 100% of his skill, he will quit motorsport. He will not know that until he drives an F1 simulator and then a car for the first time.
He hopes that will be in June - but a hope is all it is. It could just as easily be August, or any other month you pluck out of the sky. He is not in a hurry, although the longer it goes on, the less the likelihood will be of that Ferrari seat in 2013 remaining open.
Right now, then, there is no reason to say he will be back, but at the same time there is no reason to say he won't.
In many ways, it would feel like a miracle if Kubica did make it back to F1. But what a story it would be if he does.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/01/kubica_comeback_far_from_certa.html
Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg
"Phantom" 55 Pontivette.......Just Starting......2/26
I have a 55 Pontiac Star-Chief and a 55 Vette. I will combine the two to make one.....
More on it's way...................................
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1004004.aspx
Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg
Sunday, February 26, 2012
How good is Bruno Senna?
Bruno Senna describes sealing a drive at Williams in 2012 as "the start of my Formula 1 career for real". It is a date that could have come three years previously, had events turned out slightly differently.
In the winter of 2008-9, the nephew of the Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna was on the verge of being signed by the Honda team after impressing in a test alongside Jenson Button.
But then Honda pulled out of F1, team principal Ross Brawn was forced to spend the winter desperately trying to save the team, and when he did so at the 11th hour, he thought it better, given the circumstances, to stick with the experience of Rubens Barrichello rather than the promise he had seen in the younger Brazilian.
Now the wheel has turned full circle, and it is Senna who has deprived Barrichello of a seat in F1. But it has been a long time coming.
Bruno Senna drove for HRT in 2010 and spent most of 2011 as a reserve for Renault. Photo: Getty
While Button went on to win the world title for the reconstituted Brawn team in 2009, Senna was left to scrape around for a drive in sportscars, biding his time before another chance in F1 came up, before landing a drive with the nascent HRT outfit in 2010.
The dream turned into a nightmare as the team limped through their maiden season, and for Senna it was a relief to leave, even if it again meant he did not have a full-time grand prix drive.
He spent most of 2011 as a reserve driver for Renault, doing very little driving, before being drafted in to replace the sacked veteran Nick Heidfeld for the final eight races of the year.
The fractured nature of his brief F1 career so far reflects that of his rise up the junior formulae and means it is very difficult to assess the quality of a driver on whom, realistically, a post-restructure Williams will depend to revive their failing fortunes, given the erratic form shown by his team-mate Pastor Maldonado in his debut season last year.
Senna's path to the Williams seat was eased by a substantial sponsorship package from Brazil, a situation that will inevitably see him labelled in some quarters as a 'pay-driver'.
This is quite a stigma in F1 - it traditionally means the driver needed to bring money to make him attractive to team, the implication being that his talent on its own was not enough.
Both he and Williams were at pains to emphasise on Tuesday that they had put their new driver through a rigorous assessment programme before signing him up - and that any talk of money had followed only once they had established to their satisfaction that he was good enough.
"We had an extensive driver-evaluation programme with a handful of drivers," said chief engineer Mark Gillan, "and we made the final decision based on raw pace, consistency, tyre management, technical feedback and mental capacity - and most importantly the potential impact they would have on the team.
"In all those areas it was very clear that Bruno has not had a lot of experience in single-seater racing, but has consistently shown improvement and real talent."
Of course, Gillan would say that - Williams chief executive Adam Parr spent a long time last year trying to convince the world that Maldonado was not a 'pay-driver', despite the sponsorship deal with Venezeula's national oil company that accompanied him to the team.
Maldonado has talent - he out-qualified team-mate Barrichello at Monaco last year, for example - but it is fair to say that he would not be in an F1 car without that help.
Senna is a different case.
Ayrton Senna once said of Bruno: "If you think I'm good, wait until you see my nephew." That, though, was when Bruno was cutting his teeth in karts in Brazil as a child. The great man's death brought Bruno's fledgling career to a shuddering halt at the age of 10.
His family forbade him from racing, and it was not until 10 years later - very late for a man to start a career in single-seater racing cars - that Bruno was able to take it up again.
It has meant a career on fast-forward, and the necessity to soak up vast amounts of information and experience much quicker than his rivals.
Ayrton Senna once said of Bruno: "If you think I'm good, wait until you see my nephew." Photo: AP
Inevitably, that has led to mistakes, but there have also been flashes of real talent, even if it has remained difficult to form a conclusive judgement.
At HRT, the car was awful, the team struggling just to survive and his team-mate Karun Chandhok was then an unknown quantity.
At Renault last year, the qualifying scores between Senna and team-mate Vitaly Petrov - who had not only been in the car all year, but was also in his second season in F1 - were four apiece.
But of the four races where Senna was on top, two of them were the Belgian and Japanese Grands Prix, held at Spa-Francorchamps and Suzuka, two of the three toughest tests for a driver in the world, the other being Monaco. At Spa, on his debut for the team, Senna qualified a brilliant seventh, directly in front of double world champion Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, no less.
With a young driver, especially an inexperienced one, the key is always to look for the highs. The bad points, the crashes, the occasional clumsiness, can be ironed out. But without inherent pace, a driver is going nowhere.
They know a decent driver when they see one at Renault, who have been renamed Lotus for 2012. Trackside operations director Alan Permane has worked with Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica and he says his impressions of Senna were largely positive.
"I don't think there's any doubt about his pace," Permane says. "What lets him down - and he knows it - is his consistency. But he didn't get a chance to show it. He had eight races with us but a lot of them were compromised by car problems."
Permane admits that it is difficult to be sure exactly how quick Senna is because Petrov is not exactly a proven top-level benchmark.
"Bruno was at least as quick as - if not quicker than - Vitaly," Permane says. "It's difficult to say whether he's going to be an Alonso/Kubica/Schumacher character, but some drivers take a long time to come along.
"Look at Jenson Button - when he drove for us, Giancarlo Fisichella destroyed him, and Fisi would be the first guy to admit he's not a mega. He was a very good number two. But now Jenson's fantastic. Can Senna do that? Only time will tell.
"He's very confident, very relaxed, almost performs better under pressure. The cars these days are trickier to drive (than they used to be) for someone who jumps in cold. And I think he did a brilliant job to do that.
"There's definitely something there. He definitely can be there on merit."
Backed by a budget or not, then, Senna more than deserves a chance to show what he can do.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/01/how_good_is_bruno_senna.html
Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh
Double BAFTA success for Senna movie
Senna has won the BAFTA awards for Best Documentary and Best Editing in tonight’s event at the Royal Opera House in London, giving F1 a boost in front of a star-studded audience that included the likes of Brad Pitt, George … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/02/12/double-bafta-success-for-senna-movie/
Team orders in spotlight again
 Will Christian Horner regret not utilising team orders in Brazil? |
“The extra seven points Alonso collected when Ferrari ordered Felipe Massa to move over for him in Germany earlier in the season are now looking even more crucial. “And the £65,000 fine they picked up for ruthlessly breaking the rules will seem loose change if Alonso clinches the title in his first year with the Maranello team. “Red Bull could have switched the result yesterday given their crushing dominance and still celebrated their first constructors' championship just five years after coming into the sport. “That would also have given Webber an extra seven points, leaving him just one behind Alonso.”The Guardian’s Paul Weaver says that if Fernando Alonso does take the drivers’ title in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari owes a debt of gratitude to Red Bull for their decision not to employ team orders in Brazil.
“If Alonso does take the title next week it would not be inappropriate were he and Ferrari to send a few gallons of champagne to Red Bull's headquarters in Milton Keynes. “While Red Bull should be heartily applauded for the championship they did win today their apparent acceptance that Ferrari might carry off the more glamorous prize continues to baffle Formula One and its globetrotting supporters. “Their refusal to make life easy for Webber, who has led for much of the season and is still seven points ahead of Vettel, means that whatever happens in the desert next week Alonso, the only driver who was capable of taking the championship in the race today, only has to secure second place to guarantee his third world title.”The Independent’s David Tremayne is also of the opinion that Red Bull may regret not using team orders in Brazil.
“Had Red Bull elected to adopt team orders and let Webber win – something that the governing body allows when championships are at stake – Webber would have left Brazil with 245 points – just one point off the lead. For some that was confirmation of his suggestion that Vettel is the team's favoured driver – which generated an angry call from team owner Dietrich Mateschitz in Austria and was much denied by team principal, Christian Horner. “And it sets up a situation where, if the result is repeated next weekend, as is likely, Vettel and Webber will tie on 256, five behind Alonso.”The Mirror’s Byron Young has put Lewis Hamilton’s fading title chances down to an inferior McLaren machine and he admits the 2008 World Champion now needs a miracle.
“Sebastian Vettel's victory sends the world title fight to a four-way showdown for the first time in the sport's history. “Hamilton goes there as part of that story with a 24-point deficit to Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, but with just 25 on offer in the final round in six days' time it would take more than a miracle. “Driving an outclassed McLaren he slugged it out against superior machinery and stiff odds to finish fourth.”
Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/team_orders_in_spotlight_again_1.php
Your favourite drivers and teams at the start of the 2012 F1 season | 2012 F1 season preview
This is an original article from F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog it is an infringement of copyright.
With the new season almost upon us it's time to take a fresh look at who F1 Fanatics are supporting in 2012.
This is an original article from F1 Fanatic If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/eHciEAIBRZE/
Maldonado leads the way
Pastor Maldonado led the way on the third day of Barcelona testing, which seemed a rather incongruous result given the lap times from Williams up to now. However, it did underline that one cannot really read anything into the lap times until we get to Melbourne. Maldonado completed 106 laps of the track and set [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/maldonado-leads-the-way/
Barrichello back in Williams frame
Formula 1 always goes a little quiet over Christmas, but one team that has been making waves - both publicly and behind the scenes - are Williams.
The team that dominated F1 for much of the 1980s and 1990s are one of only two outfits still with an obvious vacancy in their driver line-up - the other being back-of-the-grid HRT.
And it seems that Rubens Barrichello, the veteran who has driven for the team for the last two seasons, is back in with a chance of staying with them for 2012.
Rubens Barrichello had been tipped to vacate his Williams seat. Photo: Getty
Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado is staying on in one of the cars after an up-and-down rookie season in 2011 - his position in the team is secure thanks to a multi-million sponsorship deal with his country's national oil company.
But the second seat is still up for grabs, and while Williams are not the attractive proposition they were in their glory days, they are the only decent choice for a whole host of drivers wishing to continue their F1 careers.
These include Barrichello, German Adrian Sutil, Brazilian Bruno Senna, Toro Rosso rejects Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi and Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Sutil, who had an impressive second half of the season for Force India, has been the favourite for some time, but the situation appears to have shifted recently.
My sources tell me that Barrichello, who appeared to be out of the running as his 19th season in F1 drew to a close in November, has come back into the frame and now has a reasonable chance of a Williams drive in 2012.
Barrichello has been arguing for some time that, with the huge ructions going on at Williams through 2011 and over the winter, it would make sense to have a known reference in the drivers.
"With all the changes for next year on the engine side and engineers," he said at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, "it would be clever from the team to keep the drivers and keep on going. I'm not pushing them, I'm just trying to show them that is the way to do it."
You can see his point. The team are changing engine suppliers, replacing Cosworth with Renault, and have undergone a wholesale restructure of the design department, with a new technical director, head of aerodynamics and head of engineering.
New tech boss Mike Coughlan is admired as being very clever, but his last role as a technical director was with the now-defunct Arrows team, who collapsed in 2002. As chief designer of McLaren after that, he was involved in the spy-gate scandal that engulfed the team in 2007 and for which he was sacked.
The technical changes at Williams were made even more seismic when it emerged on New Year's Eve that not only was co-founder Patrick Head stepping down as director of engineering, he was also resigning his position on the F1 team's board, thereby cutting all his ties with the sport.
It had long been known that Head, one of the most respected engineers in the history of the sport, would no longer have an active role in the day-to-day F1 operation, but it was a surprise to hear he was not going to be on the board of directors.
Head has insisted that his decision to end his day-to-day F1 role was based on feeling his relevance in F1 was diminishing.
In Brazil, he said: "I certainly didn't have an ambition to stop my involvement in Formula One with a season like this last one we've had behind us.
"But when I have a look at what specifically I can do to assist Mike Coughlan and (chief operations officer) Mark Gillan and (head of aerodynamics) Jason Somerville, I came to the conclusion that it isn't really enough to justify me carrying on doing the same thing."
He will still be involved at Williams through their subsidiary company Williams Hybrid Power and remains close to team boss Sir Frank Williams, who will doubtless be turning to him for advice on a regular basis.
All the same, many will consider it unwise that a team in such flux, and with such a grave need to improve, will not have on their board the guidance and wisdom of a man who not only co-founded the company but who was directly responsible for seven drivers' championships and nine constructors' titles.
Why will he not be there? Williams and Head were both unavailable for comment on Monday. I'm told, though, that his difficult relationship with chief executive officer Adam Parr was a part of Head's decision to step down.
Ironically, Head's departure may ease Barrichello's path to a return.
Head is forthright character and I'm told he had grown tired of the Brazilian's complaints about the team's difficulties.
With the 65-year-old no longer involved, that on the face of it is one less barrier to Barrichello being in the car again.
It seems, though, that all the driver hopefuls will have to wait. Williams are in the process of sponsorship negotiations with the Gulf state of Qatar, and they take primacy over a final decision on drivers.
With more than a month until the start of pre-season testing on 7 February, there is plenty of time to sort out drivers. After all, it's not as if Williams are struggling for choice.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/01/barrichello_back_in_williams_f.html
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Mercedes battle to match past glories
Red Bull have raised the bar in Formula 1 over the last two or three years, heaping pressure of one kind or another on all their major rivals.
McLaren's inability to produce a car that can consistently challenge Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel had a clear effect on Lewis Hamilton's equanimity last season, introducing new pressures into that team as the Englishman struggled to cope with his on-track disappointment and difficulties in his private life.
At Ferrari, a technical director has lost his job and his replacement has felt under pressure to take significant risks this year as F1's most famous team seeks to produce a car that can do justice to Fernando Alonso's abundant talents.
But nowhere, arguably, is the need to improve felt more greatly than at Mercedes, the team trying to make F1's "big three" into a quartet.
Mercedes are hoping their new W03 car for 2012 will herald a return to the front of the grid. Picture: Getty
The German giants enter 2012 seeking a huge step forward from a season of conspicuous under-performance. Lodged in no-man's land, some distance behind the top three and some way ahead of the rest, there was not a single podium finish for either Michael Schumacher or Nico Rosberg in 2011.
Unsurprisingly, Mercedes' vice-president of competition, Norbert Haug, describes that as "not good enough". For one of the world's greatest car companies, that is something of an understatement.
Mercedes' latest venture into F1 has only been running for two years - since the company bought the Brawn team at the end of 2009 after spending 17 years as an engine supplier first to Sauber and then to McLaren.
But the current management has a lot to live up to - the company's two previous forays into grand prix racing were considerably more successful.
In the mid-1930s, Mercedes and fellow German giants Auto Union (the forerunners of Audi) dominated with their famous Silver Arrows. And in 1954 and '55 Mercedes produced a level of domination with the great Juan Manuel Fangio that makes Red Bull's performances in recent years pale into insignificance.
Mercedes' relationship with McLaren had produced drivers' titles for Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and '99 and for Lewis Hamilton in 2008, as well as near-misses with Hakkinen in 2000, Kimi Raikkonen in 2003 and 2005 and Hamilton and Alonso in 2007.
But the decision to set up their own team was based as much on the realities of the road-car marketplace as any comparative lack of success on the track.
The poor results McLaren produced in 2009, starting the season with their worst car for 15 years, were an influence. So, too, was the relative lack of recognition for the Mercedes brand in any McLaren success on the track - inevitably the case for an engine supplier, even if it did own 40% of the team.
But when McLaren decided to launch its own supercar into a market Mercedes was also planning to enter with its SLS, such close links were no longer tenable.
In the autumn of 2009, buying the team that had just won the world championship, run by a man who masterminded all of Schumacher's world titles, must have seemed about as good a guarantee of success as you could get. Bringing Schumacher out of retirement, to rejoin the company that set him on the path to stardom and bring his career full circle, was supposed to be the icing on the cake.
Except that's not how it has worked out. The cars have been uncompetitive and Schumacher - consistently out-paced by Rosberg in qualifying over the last two years, although with improving race form in 2011 - is clearly a shadow of his former greatness.
So why have Mercedes not been able to compete at the top? The simple answer is that Brawn's world title with Jenson Button in 2009 rather disguised the reality.
That car was designed with Honda money, before the Japanese giant abruptly pulled out in December 2008. Team boss Ross Brawn had kept the company alive, but had to force through a painful 40% staff cut in 2009 to keep it going in more straitened circumstances.
The car's speed owed much to its controversial "double diffuser" - and by mid-season a lack of development caused by budgetary restrictions had seen first Red Bull and then other teams overtake them.
There is some truth, then, in Haug's consistent claims over the last two years that Mercedes are a small team that, as he put it this week, "need to learn and develop" to compete with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren.
As Mercedes' great rival BMW proved in 2009, major car companies in F1 tend to get itchy feet if they are not winning - it poses too big a risk to their global image if they are consistently seen to be beaten. In BMW's case, a strong season in 2008 was followed by a weak one in 2009 and, with the global economic crisis gripping, the board pulled the plug.
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There is no sign of such a move from Mercedes but the pressure to perform has been plain to see. The team have been on a major recruitment drive over the last year, the biggest indication of which was the hiring of two star designers - Aldo Costa, the technical director sacked by Ferrari, and Geoff Willis, formerly of Williams, Honda and Red Bull.
There are now four men who have been technical directors at other teams all trying to work together to make Mercedes winners - Bob Bell, the man who currently holds that title at the team and who was recruited from Renault, Costa, Willis and Brawn himself.
Brawn is adamant they have defined roles and will work well together. Others remain to be convinced about the wisdom of having so many big beasts in one pride.
What this technical "super-team" does, though, is emphasise just how important winning is to Mercedes - and consequently just how critical it is that the new W03 enables the team to make a marked stepped forward over 2011.
There is no doubting the ambition.
Mercedes are the only top team to have waited until the second pre-season test to run their new car. The idea was to give them more time to find more performance in the car at the design stage, but the move carries risks. If problems occur, there is less time to iron them out before the start of the season.
Haug has been at pains to emphasise that Mercedes' current position is understandable, and that they have the time and ability to improve.
But while the form of the new Mercedes will be watched with interest at Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari, you can be sure there will be some nervous faces in the boardroom in Stuttgart, too.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/02/pressure_mounts_on_mercedes.html
Marussia Virgin Racing Launch Their 2011 Car
Marussia Virgin Racing have launched their car to take on the 2011 world championship in a lavish London ceremony. The Marussia name now preceeds Virgin following a major tie up with the Russian sportscar manufacturer and the team at the end of 2010. It has led to the new car being designated as the MVR-02. [...]
Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/marussia-virgin-racing-launch-their-2011-car/
Better racing - but is it fake?
In Monaco before Christmas, Formula 1's governing body held a meeting to discuss one of the key and most controversial aspects of 2011 - the Drag Reduction System or DRS.
Introduced amid much controversy and no small amount of trepidation in some quarters, questions about the validity of the overtaking aid, not to mention the wisdom of employing it, decreased during the season. So much so that, at the Monaco meeting, it was decided that only small refinements needed to be made to its use for the 2012 campaign.
But while the FIA and the teams all agree that DRS has played a valuable role in improving F1 as a spectacle, they are determined to ensure it performs in the way intended. In particular, no-one wants to cheapen one of the central aspects of a driver's skill by making overtaking too easy.
Sebastian Vettel enters the DRS zone at the Spanish Grand Prix. Photo: Getty
To recap briefly, DRS was introduced in an attempt to solve the perennial problem of there being too little overtaking. After years - decades even - of discussions, F1's technical brains hit on what they thought could be a solution: DRS.
DRS does what it says on the tin. When deployed, the top part of the rear wing moves upwards, reducing drag and giving a boost in straight-line speed. In races, drivers could use it only if they were within a second of the car in front at a "detection point" shortly before the "DRS zone". The DRS zone was where DRS could be deployed, which was usually the track's longest straight.
The idea was to make overtaking possible but not too easy.
There is no doubt that racing improved immeasurably as a spectacle in 2011 compared with previous seasons. But how big a role did DRS play? And did overtaking become too easy at some tracks and remain too hard at others?
It is a more complex issue than it at first appears because it is not always easy to tell from the outside whether an overtaking move was a result of DRS or not.
In Turkey and Belgium, for example, several drivers sailed past rivals in the DRS zone long before the end of it, leading many to think the device had made overtaking too easy.
But, armed with statistics, FIA race director Charlie Whiting says appearances were deceptive. What was making overtaking easy at those two races, he said, was the speed advantage of the car behind as the two cars battling for position came off the corner before the DRS zone.
Whiting showed me a spreadsheet detailing the speeds of the respective cars in all the overtaking manoeuvres that happened in the Belgian GP.
"This shows very clearly that when the speed delta [difference] between the two cars at the beginning of the zone is low, then overtaking is not easy," he said. "But if one car goes through Eau Rouge that bit quicker, sometimes you had a speed delta of 18km/h (11mph). Well, that's going to be an overtake whether you've got DRS or not."
According to Whiting, the statistics show that if the two cars come off the corner into the DRS zone at similar speeds, then the driver behind needs to be far closer than the one-second margin that activates the DRS if he is to overtake.
"One second is the activation but that won't do it for you," Whiting said. "You've got to be 0.4secs behind to get alongside into the braking zone."
Confusing the picture in 2011 - particularly early in the season - was the fast-wearing nature of the new Pirelli tyres, which led to huge grip differences between cars at various points of the races. A driver on fresher tyres would come off a corner much faster and brake that much later for the next one. That would have a far greater impact on the ease of an overtaking move than DRS ever would.
Critics of DRS might argue that while it may be useful at tracks where overtaking has traditionally been difficult, like Melbourne, Valencia and Barcelona, for example, it is debatable whether there is a need for it at circuits where historically there has been good racing, like Turkey, Belgium and Brazil.
According to Whiting, DRS does not diminish the value of an overtaking move at tracks where it is usually easy to pass. It just means that DRS opens up the possibility for more. In other words, it works just as it does at any other track.
McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe is an influential member of the Technical Working Group of leading engineers which came up with DRS. He said people had been arguing for years that engineers should alter the fundamental design of cars to facilitate overtaking.
However, tinkering with aerodynamic design was never going to be a solution, according to Lowe, because F1 cars will always need downforce to produce such high performance, and that means overtaking will always, by the cars' nature, be difficult.
"What's great [about DRS is] at least we can move on from this debate of trying to change the aerodynamic characteristics of cars to try to improve overtaking," added Lowe.
"We've found something much more authoritative, much cheaper, easier and more effective, and adjustable from race to race."
Whiting thinks DRS worked as expected everywhere except Melbourne and Valencia.
Valencia's DRS zone could be extended for 2012. Photo: Getty
So for next season's opening race in Australia, he is considering adding a second DRS zone after the first chicane, so drivers who have used DRS to draw close to rivals along the pit straight can have another crack at overtaking straight afterwards. As for Valencia, traditionally the least entertaining race of the year, the FIA will simply make the zone, which is located on the run to Turn 12, longer.
There is potentially one big negative about DRS, though.
There is a risk that its introduction could mean the end of races in which a driver uses his skills to hold off a rival in a faster car. Some of the greatest defensive victories of the modern age have been achieved in this way. One thinks of Gilles Villeneuve holding off a train of four cars in his powerful but poor-handling Ferrari to win in Jarama in 1981, or Fernando Alonso fending off Michael Schumacher's faster Ferrari at Imola in 2005.
The idea behind the introduction of DRS was for a much faster car to be able to overtake relatively easily but for passing still to be difficult between two cars of comparative performance. In theory, if that philosophy is adhered to rigidly, the sorts of races mentioned above will still be possible.
However, once an aid has been introduced that gives the driver behind a straight-line speed advantage that is an incredibly difficult line to walk, as Whiting himself admits. "You've got to take the rough with the smooth to a certain extent," he said.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/12/drs.html
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Tata-Formula One deal
The deal that has been announced today between the Formula One group and Tata could end up transforming the way in which Formula 1 fans around the world view the sport. The gist of the story is that Tata has impressive capability to shift data around the world, using fixed line systems, which are part [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/the-tata-formula-one-deal/
Ecclestone backs Bahrain GP
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has spoken of his belief that the 2012 Bahrain GP will go ahead as planned. Check out the gallery of Petra Ecclestone! Despite a return to violence in the area, Ecclestone believes that the race will take place on 22nd April 2012. He said: “I don’t think it’s anything serious at all. [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/3CXlTWXKM6c/ecclestone-backs-bahrain-gp
ERTL Rubber Duck Convoy Mack DM
Hi
I recently bought a Rubber Duck Mack DM 600 (or is it a 700 ??)to build into the truck from the movie Convoy. I knew it was an unrealsitic kit before I got it but wow it'll need some major work to match the truck in the movie. The decals and the front bumper bar look accurate but everything else... even the wheels are wrong!
Anyone built a decent Convoy replica from this or anything else? Anyone got any tips apart from 'don't bother starting with that kit'?
All advice gratefully received!
Mike
I recently bought a Rubber Duck Mack DM 600 (or is it a 700 ??)to build into the truck from the movie Convoy. I knew it was an unrealsitic kit before I got it but wow it'll need some major work to match the truck in the movie. The decals and the front bumper bar look accurate but everything else... even the wheels are wrong!
Anyone built a decent Convoy replica from this or anything else? Anyone got any tips apart from 'don't bother starting with that kit'?
All advice gratefully received!
Mike
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/131617.aspx
Christian Danner Jorge Daponte Anthony Davidson Jimmy Davies
'68-'70 Javelin Project: Looking for YOUR Ideas/Input
I've got several restorable '68 Javelin promos, but one has a body that's moderately badly damaged by solvent--no way it can be restored to stock (as is my usual habit). So the plan is to sand it smooth and repair it, and build my own idea of what a first-gen Javelin should have looked like (it'll need new bumpers and taillights, so I can order '68, '69, or '70 pieces from Modelhaus and build whichever year I decide on).
Now, as I'm looking at the Javelin body, I notice that the car doesn't seem to have the classic "ponycar" proportions seen in the first-gen Mustangs, Camaros, and Firebirds. Front overhang looks too long, and rear overhang looks too short. In other words, the wheels seem to be mounted too far back. (Cover up the top half of the body and the lower part looks more like a regular compact than a ponycar.)
So I'm thinking, just since I'm gonna build the thing "my way" anyway, a complete phantom/fantasy, why not see about moving those wheels forward maybe four to six scale inches? Not enough to look like an early funny car, just enough to get it more to the proportions of a Mustang or Camaro. I did I quick photoshop to see what it would look like. I think I like it--what do YOU think? Should I go for it or not?
Stock '68 Javelin:
My modified version:
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1002756.aspx
Petrov in, Trulli out at Caterham
VitalyPetrov has replaced Jarno Trulli at Caterham, and will drive the CT01 in the Barcelona test next week. The move has been rumoured for months, but was delayed while the Russian’s funding was confirmed. The news in effect brings Trulli’s … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/02/17/petrov-in-trulli-out-at-caterham/
Remember The Old days When a Kit Was $1.50?
Back in the day kits where $1.50 and some were $2.00.I do have some from back then.
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1001316.aspx
Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen
Your favourite drivers and teams at the start of the 2012 F1 season | 2012 F1 season preview
This is an original article from F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog it is an infringement of copyright.
With the new season almost upon us it's time to take a fresh look at who F1 Fanatics are supporting in 2012.
This is an original article from F1 Fanatic If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/eHciEAIBRZE/
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Kawasaki ZX-14 engine color??
Does anyone know what the true color is on the block of a Kawasaki ZX-14? after hours of Googling I'm at a loss. I saw a few photos that suggested gloss black, however there were others that looked like very dark metallic gray almost black with a flat sheen and a few that looked clost to MM Metalizer dark anodonic gray.
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/1003415.aspx
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