The NHRA's Suffrage

Recently, there have been a few milestone reached for women in modern day motorsports. Danica Patrick won her first Indy Racing League race and Ashley Force in the NHRA assured her continued point lead, after winning her first national event.

But while the milestones may seem somewhat similar, there are many differences that should be noted. Most importantly, while Danica's success is ground breaking to an extent, it must be observed that the real issue of women in motorsport is a choice of two possibilities. On the one hand, females may be predisposed (for whatever reason) to not wanting to race. On the other hand, females may be steered away from anything that racing in general, or certain types of racing, because of our own established gender roles.

If females are predisposed to racing, or not racing, then we will have to deal with it because there is currently little we can do about genetics. But what about our own ideas of gender roles? What about the ways in which one raises their children?

For me, here is the real question: Why does the NHRA have considerably more women drivers, and other forms of motor racing do not? I posed this question to an outside NHRA expert, and was treated to the usual, "ratings and advertising" answer. And while that response might suffice normally, it does not answer the real issue regarding why the NHRA has so many more women participating than other forms of motorsport.

This is where it gets a bit saucy. But we’ll get to the unpleasant consequences of my theory’s holes later.

I want the average person out there, you, your mother, your neighbor, anyone to go out to a drag racing track one weekend, and a karting event the next. I want you to look at the gender make up of who is racing those junior classes. What you will find will be…well, it won’t be startling, honestly, but it will prove my point, and show where my logic comes from.

In my two seasons of observation I have found that the junior dragsters have a considerable amount more female racers than the karting participants. Why? How could, at such a young age, girls develop a preference for dragsters over karts?

Posit for a moment that maybe this has something to do with the parents getting their kids into dragsters over karts. Why? Possibly, for the reason that it seems safer to go drag racing than karting. At a young age, junior dragsters are speed limited, whereas the karting limitations don’t make much of a difference because most accidents occur at corners with kart on kart, wheel to wheel incidents. In junior drag racing, there are only two cars on track at a time, and they each have one huge lane to travel, and little to no steering is involved relatively compared to karting.

In fact, I’ll be honest with you. If I had a child and someone told me to put them in the safer motor sport, I’m going straight to junior drag racing. (Ironically enough, in the professional ranks, when these dragsters are set free of limitations they often exceed them and can easily get out of control.)

In the end, this theory has some repercussions. First of which, is that parents may be encouraging their little girls to go drag racing rather than karting because it may be safer, or at least seems that way. So, if that is true, there’s a bit of sexism from those parenting decisions, which means that the females that make it through to the NHRA are actually a part of sexism, not some repudiation of it. Crazy, I know, right? Although considering the recent deaths in professional drag racing, the women who are there surely know of the risks, and sexism in that sense is non existent.

Here is another crux of the issue. If my theory is wrong, and it most assuredly is, then that doesn’t help the NHRA either. The reason is because women’s entry into the NHRA has other possible connotations, which few are good.

One of those reasons is the publicity that my friend described. Ratings? Good looks? So, what kind of “talent” are we talking about then? If you then tell me that it’s a family affair (“my father was a drag racing king”) then all that does is alienate everyone else who climbed through the ranks as many of the other drivers have.

In the end, this is about an honest discussion regarding talented drivers, and proper teams. Why anyone even has to wonder how Sarah Fisher struggled through the Indy Racing League while Danica Patrick has not is simply, sad. Patrick has the team to win now, while Fisher never did. In fact, this year Fisher - committed to the Indy Racing League - has started her own team (aptly named Sarah Fisher Racing) to compete at the Indianapolis 500.

Englishwoman, Katherine Legge, has all but given up racing in America, and has started competing in the German Touring Car Series (DTM). And she is just as accomplished, if not more so, as Danica Patrick.

If women get attention in racing solely from assets that have nothing to do with their driving, then most women will continue to find it hard to break through. But, if my theory is right, then maybe we have the ability to change how women’s capabilities are perceived generally, and their possibilities in varying forms of motor racing.

While the NHRA Tweaks...

For those not aware, in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association), it's not as easy as it seems to set the record for fastest speed, or time to travel a 1/4 mile. By the way, the record is currently held at 4.428 seconds by Top Fuel driver, Tony Schumacher, whose feat was accomplished in 2006.

Now, while your first thoughts are to discuss the sheer physics in the accomplishment of traveling down the 1/4 mile drag strip in under 5 seconds, that is not what I'm referring to exactly. In fact, most nitro fuel teams at events today accomplish that task often enough.

The challenge however comes from a rule that says the record must be accomplished not just by running a record breaking time, but by also having within that same weekend, run another time that weekend within 1 percent of the record setting run. I will gladly ask the question as to why this record setting rule exists.

The only reason I can come up for in terms of having to provide a "back up" run is to protect from some sort of fluke. However, I simply don't see a reason as to why the NHRA and its participants are so scared of a fluke. Even when chances are that the fluke will be run by a big name competitor (i.e. John Force, Tony Schumacher) anyway.

And that's really the only reason.

Maybe the rule is simply there because it's been there for so long. I know of no other sport that has a rule such as this. Do Olympic athletes have to have a track run in the same weekend that is 1% of their record breaking run?

Now if the NHRA says that it wants it there because it's what makes their motorsport different, then fine. It is their sport, and they can make rules for no reason whatsoever if they wish. But, they need to give me a reason other than the "fluke."

What of the "fluke" run though? What makes it a fluke? Well, the NHRA has four qualifying rounds. Rounds 1&2 are usually done Friday night, when conditions are generally better than the rest of the event weekend. So, there's a great chance of record breaking runs in a Friday night. If the NHRA doesn't want those Friday night numbers to apply, then maybe they should not run Friday night qualifying. Or, maybe they should tell people that Friday night qualifying numbers don't count for records.

Ultimately though, the idea of doing away with this rule would be there really for the sake of the fans, whom don't have calculators with them at all times to calculate 1%. I would bet $10 that good percentage of NHRA fans don't even know about the 1% back up rule.

The NHRA has proven with that it is willing to change. There is no need to look further than the recent change in the points system. They are also continuously tweaking the bike class in order to keep them competitive. "Wow, it looks like your brand of bike is really starting to gain some serious speed. Here's some lead weight to keep you on the ground. What's that? It's not fair? It will slow you down? Not my problem."

It is obvious that they do this to keep the fans interested, so, one more way to keep the fans interested is to take out one more layer of unnecessary rule-bureaucracy, like the 1% back up rule.

F1 and WRC 2007 in Review

If you were missed both the 2007 WRC and Formula 1 season, then you probably missed the two most exciting season’s within the last decade. All be it, there have been exciting moments before.

What has happened in Formula 1 this year was a testament to what really is at the foundation of Formula 1. All questions that any one person could have in what is involved in an F1 season had those inquiries fulfilled this season. While many feel that they have more questions than answers, I can truly say that the sport uncovered itself finally into what truly lies underneath.

The fans had what they superficially always needed, which is a driver’s championship completed as closely as possible. Not only that, but the man who ended up becoming the least likely driver to win, did win. Of course, I’m speaking of Kimi Raikonnen. He, with his 110 points, defeated Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton who each had 109 points.

On top of the close competition this season, the fans also were treated to something that they always salivate for, which is a rookie sensation. Luckily for those in Formula 1, most accounts have Lewis Hamilton as a well mannered young man with exceptional talent and grace. Hamilton’s disposition off the track is a true pleasure to witness and be a part of.

In fact, to my mind the closest thing to a slanderous remark I can recall Hamilton making is during the press conference after qualifying, in which he was held up by teammate Fernando Alonso for refueling, therefore costing Hamilton the ability to complete one more timed lap. When Peter Windsor asked how much time Hamilton needed in order to start another timed lap, Hamilton replied, “Probably the amount of time I had to wait behind in the pit lane.” And no one could discount the rookie for his feelings in that situation.

However, this season, fans and pundits have become critical on much of the business of Formula 1. Despite your opinion, and which constructor you cheer for, this season and the legal cases behind it have shown much more about how the FIA governs Formula 1.

Firstly, the application of punishments continues and will most likely forever be Draconian. When I and the rest of the world found out about the punishment against McLaren (loss of manufacturer points and a fine of $100 million), and its grandiose nature, I was appalled, but not in the least bit surprised. For those of us who hoped that the publicity of the decision would bear much stronger scrutiny onto the FIA in terms its future decisions in such matters, we were disappointed in the case and ruling for Renault F1 who was embroiled in a scandal much like McLaren was.

Renault’s case was at best, similar to Renault’s, and at its worst, a true espionage scandal. However, practically no penalty was assigned.

Also coming to light this season was the internal strife that many teams face with their drivers. Such problems are not new, but once again, I am surprised that the fans have been taken aback so much this season. As well, the espionage case against Coughlan and McLaren is not exactly something new either. Many engineers when they leave take knowledge with them. This is why when Mike Gascoyne left Toyota in 2006 he placed himself on gardening leave for the rest of the season. Therefore, when Gascoyne joined Spyker (now Force India) in 2007, Toyota could not excuse him of using information that was the property of Toyota.

Op-eds from GrandPrix.com have shown that there is now a consensus forming that when an engineer leaves a team, he may not take anything with him except for what he or she has in their mind.

In the World Rally Championship this year, it was a close driver’s championship. Albeit, both drivers streaked and showed the impact of what happens when a driver does not finish a rally. (It can be argued that Hamilton’s DNF this season cost him the driver’s title in F1.) The story was that as Grönholm’s luck changed near the latter part of the season, Loeb and Citroen struck back and one yet another World Rally Championship. In the constructor’s battle though, Ford easily clinched the title over Citroen.

Also in the news was the sensational driving of Grönholm’s teammate, Miko Hirovonen, and yet another Finnish driver piloting a Ford Focus, Jari Matti Latvala. Latvala performed so well, that he will be taking Grönholm’s seat in the 2008 season; as Grönholm is retiring.

For Subaru, it was yet another year of underperformance, bad luck, and intermingling reliability issues. They will have a completely different vehicle to work with in the 2008 season as the Impreza has been completely redesigned from Subaru.

US Grand Prix

The North American part of the 2007 Formula 1 season has ended with Lewis Hamilton winning the US Grand Prix.

I’d love to comment further, but there’s not too much to add that hasn’t already been written. Check out grandprix.com for the report and other news.

Also, my main reason for not commenting is that I’ll be taking a slight break from blogging for a few weeks, maybe a month. Hopefully I can give myself a vacation since I haven’t taken one in more than a year.

Thanks for checking in with me, and I look forward to returning to writing in a few weeks.

Canadian Grand Prix

If you saw last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, then let me congratulate you on not having your head explode on what has to be the most eventful – not momentous or epoch, just eventful – Grand Prix I have seen in my lifetime.

The only item in that race that made sense to me was watching Lewis Hamilton win his first Grand Prix. It was a tremendous performance to see a driver who is in the lead for his first Formula 1 victory, actually pull through and make it happen considering that the entire field around him seemed to be about as organized as a bee hive being sprayed with RAID.

Jarno Trulli said that he came out of the weekend feeling only relief that the altercation involving the horrific accident of BMWs Robert Kubica after he had gotten into the rear of Jarno Trulli. Trulli said:

…the over-riding feeling from the weekend is not about light-hearted matters, it is one of relief.

Changing over to the good news category was Nick Heidfeld’s second place finish, Alex Wurz’s third place for Williams-Toyota, and Heiki Kovalainen’s fourth for Renault.

I think Grand Prix.com summed up the race weekend well enough when they wrote, “When Sato overtook Alonso on the main straight we concluded that we had finally seen it all.”

For Toyota there’s a change now up top as Tsutomu Tomita is retiring from his post as team principal. Tomita is 63, and normally around 65, and as far as I understand, it becomes Japanese custom to retire or begin a calmer chapter in life. Tomita will become the new man behind the Fuji Speedway, which will see its return of F1, September 30.

(picture taken from Toyota F1)

Rally Acropolis

The Rally Acropolis two weeks ago saw Marcus Grönholm extend his lead in the World Rally Championship a few more points over Sebastien Loeb.

Subaru’s Petter Solberg finished third, and Chris Atkinson 6^th. I had previously written that the rest of the season would turn into a long test for the team. But with reports that Xavier Pons will start driving a third car for the team, it seems that team might be thinking the Pons will be driving to gather more data for the team, while hopefully the other two drivers continue to improve.

Greece is a historically car-damaging rally, and this event was not much different. Chris Atkinson actually led the rally during the first day, until he hit a rock in the morning of the second day. Petter Solberg also was in second, until he suffered from a broken damper that brought him down the leader board. By the third day, both Subaru drivers were merely looking to consolidate their positions.

Going into the long summer break that is a defining characteristic of the WRC, the season leader boards look as follows with Ford continuing to run away with the constructor’s championship. In the driver’s standings, Grönholm also edged a little further away in the points over Loeb, while Miko Hirvonen still has a strong hold on third. If Subaru continues to improve its perform as it did in Greece, there is a slight possibility that Solberg might end up fighting for third with Hirvonen instead of battling with his brother, Henning, and Dani Sordo for fourth.

Position.	Constructor	Points
1	FORD	114
2	CITROEN	86
3	SUBARU	43
4	STOBART	41
5	OMV KRONOS	27
6	MUNCHI S	1

Position.	Pilote	Points
1	M. Gronholm (FIN)	65
2	S. Loeb (F)	56
3	M. Hirvonen (FIN)	49
4	D. Sordo (SP)	28
5	P. Solberg (N)	26
6	H. Solberg (N)	24
7	C. Atkinson (AUS)	15
8	J. Latvala (FIN)	12

Monaco Grand Prix

In the last Grand Prix at Monaco (or Monte Carlo if you so prefer) we saw Toyota yet again flounder around in the back of the pack. I’ll be honest in that I never expect good things from Toyota at Monaco. Apart from last year’s close-call podium finish for Jarno Trulli (he retired with a mechanical failure), Toyota rarely shows well on that street circuit.

Trulli and Ralf Schumacher finished 14 and 15^th respectively, two laps down.

The FIA was investigating McLaren for violation of the sporting code. That is to say, they wondered if they purposefully held back Lewis Hamilton to let Fernando Alonso win. A few days later though, McLaren was cleared when they reviewed the radio transmissions and saw that the team was running a strategy that would ensure they would finish with the maximum points possible for the team.

Even my friend, Dave, got caught up in the McLaren hysteria here and here. In my opinion, the rule itself is such a tough call in terms of how we define what “team orders” are, and how they should affect the race. Not only that, but as an economist, I have to admit that the penalties are quite draconian in that I never have any idea how severe the penalties are for certain infractions.

With that said though, McLaren Mercedes has been the best team by far this season. Ferrari, while having a strong car, and many thought the best car, has struggled relative to their expectations. BMW is also the surprise team of the year being that they are the third best.

While everyone is surprised at the drivers’ standings, I am not. Alonso is the reigning champion, and Lewis Hamilton is obviously a talented driver on a talented team. For people with utter amazement at Hamilton, let me just tell them to calm down. As it turns out, fantastic drivers on fantastic teams usually end up doing well.

POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT POINTS

1. FERNANDO ALONSO Spain McLaren-Mercedes 38

LEWIS HAMILTON Britain McLaren-Mercedes 38

3. FELIPE MASSA Brazil Ferrari 33

4. KIMI RAIKKONEN Finland Ferrari 23

5. NICK HEIDFELD Germany BMW 18

6. GIANCARLO FISICHELLA Italy Renault 13

7. ROBERT KUBICA Poland BMW 12

8. NICO ROSBERG Germany Williams-Toyota 5

9. JARNO TRULLI Italy Toyota 4

DAVID COULTHARD Britain Red Bull-Renault 4

11. HEIKKI KOVALAINEN Finland Renault 3

12. ALEXANDER WURZ Austria Williams-Toyota 2

13. RALF SCHUMACHER Germany Toyota 1

TAKUMA SATO Japan Super Aguri-Honda 1

POS CONSTRUCTOR POINTS

1. MCLAREN-MERCEDES 76

2. FERRARI 56

3. BMW 30

4. RENAULT 16

5. WILLIAMS-TOYOTA 7

6. TOYOTA 5

7. RED BULL-RENAULT 4

8. SUPER AGURI-HONDA 1

Rally Italia

The WRC finished its 7^th round in Italy on the island of Sardinia this past weekend, where we saw Sebastien Loeb have a slight off that damaged his suspension where he would later retire on the stage. Marcus Grönholm picked up the lead from there and held on to win.

Elsewhere in the field, Chris Atkinson was running in the top eight until he hit a rock and had to retire his Subaru Impreza. And while mentioning Atkinson’s run in with a rock, another rock in the road took out the feel good story of the year, Jari Mati Latvala.

Petter Solberg finished fifth deciding to consolidate his position on the final day in his Subaru rather than push harder to try and overtake his brother, Henning, ahead of him.

The drivers standings thus far:
1. M. GRÖNHOLM (FIN) 55 Pts
2. S. LOEB (F) 48 Pts

3. M. HIRVONEN (FIN) 44 Pts
4. D. SORDO (E) 28 Pts
5. H. SOLBERG (N) 20 Pts
6. P. SOLBERG (N) 20 Pts
7. J. LATVALA (FIN) 12 Pts
8. C. ATKINSON (AUS) 12 Pts

The constructor’s championship thus far:

1 BP-Ford World Rally Team 99
2 Citroën Total World Rally Team 78
3 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team 37
4 Subaru World Rally Team 34
5 OMV Kronos Citroën World Rally Team 25

It is beyond close up top for the drivers, even Miko Hirvonen is in the thick of the battle for the driver’s championship. He can thank his unlikely win in Norway, and his podium finishes in all rallies this year to his good standing. Grönholm and Loeb continue to fight it out, and I think that battle will continue for the rest of the season. Sordo has also done an decent enough job backing up Loeb as a team mate. We need to remember that he had started out as a tarmac expert, and his performance this past weekend in Italy show that he’s matured.

Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson have turned their season into a long test to finish testing the car, taking notes to apply for the next model year’s Impreza.

The constructor’s championship shows the same story as the driver’s. Hirvonen’s better teammate performance (as opposed to Dani Sordo’s) is what has allowed the Ford Rally Team to stay ahead of Citroën. Unless Sordo picks it up, Ford will retain the constructor’s championship that it won last season.

Another View on F1 Teams

In relation to my previous post on what a team needs in order to win in Formula 1, Grand Prix.com has a perspective on what kind of team can win a championship.

The takeaway:

The crux of the matter is how the team is run and whether it is run directly from Japan or whether the European end of the operation is left to manage its own affairs and reporting back to Japan on a regular basis. Traditionally in F1, teams which are run direct by car manufacturers tend not to work very well as the attitudes needed to be successful in F1 are very different to those needed to run a car company.

Rally Argentina

In case anyone thought I forgot about the Rally Argentina a few weeks ago, I didn’t. It merely took me forever to find the time to watch the coverage.

The rally followed the gist of the season for the most part. Sebastien Loeb in his Citroen C4 finished first, Marcus Grönholm’s Ford second, and Miko Hirvonen third in his Ford as well. Petter Solberg ran well but was forced to retire with a mechanical failure.

Solberg’s Subaru teammate, Chris Atkinson, finished 7th after a tumultuous rally where an inspiring drive on one part of the day was be followed by a bad car setup. While I can’t be sure of what he said, I’m pretty sure Chris Atkinson commented at the end of one stage, “We’re just wasting our time if it’s going to be like this.”

The rest of the leader board had the usual smattering of Ford drivers such as Henning Solberg and Jari Matti-Latvala.

The Rally Sardigna just happened over this weekend, and I’ll try to report on that by Thursday night. In that post I’ll also try to give everyone a recap as to where we stand in terms of the drivers and constructor’s championships.

Spanish Grand Prix

While Kimi Raikonnen retired his Ferrari, the Spanish Grand Prix this past weekend was quite normal up front.

My favorite team, Toyota, saw both of its cars retire. Trulli had what he referred to as a “stupid” fuel pump problem that stalled him at the beginning of the race, forcing the field to scrap a lap of the race. Trulli started from the pit lane, but did eventually retire. Ralf Schumacher retired after some 40-odd laps due from body damage to his Toyota, which left him relatively uncompetitive.

Another disappointment was for American Scott Speed in his Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari, who did tremendously well in terms of pace all weekend long, including qualifying. Unfortunately, a tire blow-out left him to retire during Sunday’s race.


However, I must admit that there were two tremendously bright spots in the weekend. Super Aguri Honda got their first championship point with Takuma Sato’s 8th place finish. And the brightest note of all to me was Red Bull Renault’s David Coulthard finishing in a strong 5th place.

The economist has gotten the better of me. I had to sit myself down on Sunday night and realize that the comments from many internet forums may be right. The question is regarding how a team designs a car. For example, it has become popular opinion that Toyota and Honda subscribe to their own corporate ideology as to design a car using a group of engineers as a team. Now, other teams don’t disagree with this, but using Red Bull as an example, you can see that they also believe in having one person become an integral character in their car. That person for Red Bull Racing this year is Adrian Newey.

Toyota had tried a big superstar engineer two seasons ago with Mike Gascoyne. And in my opinion, it worked, but Gascoyne left at the beginning of the season last year. Why? Well, a lot of people said it was because Toyota could not keep going along with that genius-engineer-guy mentality. And if I understand the Japanese work paradigm properly, it makes sense for there to be a clash. Heck, a part of me wants to ask Ben Casnocha (whom I believe knows business methods about as well as anyone) if it is part of the Japanese work ethos to revolve around working only as a team.

In any case, does it mean that in Formula 1, to be a successful team you must subscribe to not having a good team of engineers, but rather, a superstar engineer or aerodynamicist? It seems as though the case for superstars is a hard one to compete against. Therefore, being in Formula 1, it would make sense that just being a good team and having a lot of funding would in the end not be good enough.

(picture of David Coulthard thanks to Grand Prix.com and The Cahier Archive)

F1 Post Bahrain Grand Prix

Now that the third round of the 2007 Formula 1 season is over, we can start to see where the teams are stacking up.

One of the meme’s that the commentators circulate on a weekly basis is that how the budgets of Toyota and Honda don’t really offer the results that you think such large sums of money would. On the other hand, I would still contend that the budgets of BMW, McLaren-Mercedes, and Ferrari aren’t exactly cheap.

2007 Constructors Championship
Pos Constructor Points

1 McLaren-Mercedes 44

2 Ferrari 39

3 BMW 18

4 Renault 9

5 Toyota 5

6 Williams-Toyota 2

7 Red Bull-Renault 0

7= Honda 0

7= Super Aguri-Honda 0

7= STR-Ferrari 0

7= Spyker-Ferrari 0

By the way, Jarno Trulli finished 7th in the race for Toyota. Ralf Schumacher struggled all weekend and finished 12th. I think Toyota – and Honda for that matter – is in a tough spot. Everyone has essentially written them off as Grand Prix winners. However, if (a strong if) and when they start contending for wins, everyone will simply say, “Well, look at their budgets, it’s about time.”

And hey, maybe it is about time. But in Formula 1, it’s a tough market.

(Photo from Toyota F1)

Toyota Finishes 7th

Well, Jarno Trulli finished 7th for Toyota in this weekend’s Grand Prix race in Malaysia. Ralf Schumacher finished 15th after suffering a slow-bleeding tire puncture during the race.

The weekend saw once again the Toyota team being somewhat written off entirely for the race and qualifying due to their mid-pack performance during practice. However, all things considered, Toyota seems to think of itself as becoming the best of the rest, while possibly later in the season being able to close the gap towards the top three teams (McLaren Mercedes, Ferrari, and BMW). I can’t wait to see what comes of those aspirations.

The real big surprise was from the weekend was the McLaren-Mercedes 1-2 finish put on by Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari had a de-tuned Engine in Kimi Raikonnen’s car and Felipe Massa made a mistake trying to overtake Lewis Hamilton earlier in the race, from which he did not recover. The improved pace of the McLaren proved enough to keep the Ferrari’s at bay during the race.

(Image taken from Toyota-f1.com)

Rally de Portugal

The Rally de Portugal finished up this past weekend, and after watching the coverage I must say that it was quite eventful.

We can take a look at the result from the rally’s official site:

1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen C4 3:53:33.1
2. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC +3:13.9
3. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti Citroen C4 +5:05.3
4. Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS +5:37.1
5. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS +7:08.1
6. Daniel Carlsson/Denis Giraudet Citroen Xsara WRC +8:13.2
7. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchni Citroen Xsara WRC +9:39.6
8. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila Ford Focus WRC +10:44.9
9. Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor Citroen Xsara WRC +12:46.0
10. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene Ford Focus RS04 +13:51.6

As has become somewhat usual, Sebastien Loeb has won yet another round. Gronholm and his teammate Hirvonen had originally finished 2nd and 3rd, but a technical infringement gave them each 5-minute penalties. Which was good news for Petter Solberg in his Subaru.

Solberg’s teammate, Chris Atkinson did not finish due to a marvelous wreck he had on what I believe was stage 12. A crest, in which many cars had problems with, managed to catch Atkinson and his co-driver Glenn Macneall by surprise. After the event it was revealed that Macneall will no longer be Atkinson’s co-driver due to Glenn Macneall having some personal obligations he felt he need to get back to Australia for.

The Subaru WRC 2007 still seems to be improving, and with a few tests sessions scheduled in the 1-month break until Rally Argentina, things may start to look better for the Subaru team in Argentina. Here are your standings so far…

1. S. LOEB (F) 38 Pts
2. M. GRÖNHOLM (FIN) 37 Pts
3. M. HIRVONEN (FIN) 30 Pts
4. D. SORDO (E) 19 Pts
5. P. SOLBERG (N) 16 Pts
6. H. SOLBERG (N) 11 Pts
7. C. ATKINSON (AUS) 10 Pts
8. D. CARLSSON (S) 9 Pts
9. J. LATVALA (FIN) 7 Pts
10. T. GARDEMEISTER (FIN) 5 Pts

By the way, there was never any elaboration on Tony Gardemesiter’s exclusion from the rally that I mentioned before. If and when I ever find out why Sebastien Loeb was allowed to continue in last year’s rally Acropolis, I will let you know.

(Photo taken from Eurosport.)

Gardemesiter Excluded

I just read off of Eurosport that Tony Gardemeister was excluded from the Rally Portugal because he drove his car on a road section – public roads to get to the next stage or a service stop - with only three wheels (he hit a bridge on a stage and broke off one of the four).

While I don’t want to rush to judgment on the entire situation, I am very frustrated with the judgment of the rally officials. At the Rally Acropolis (Greece) last year Sebastian Loeb drove on a road section getting to the service park with three wheels going on to actually LOSE THE ENTIRE REAR AXLE. Loeb was allowed to remain in the event and finished second in the rally. Why the different treatment? I wish Eurosport would ask someone because I certainly can’t get an answer out of the FIA.

Image of Sebastian Loeb last season before his entire axle tore off from the Citroen used from official 2006 Rally Acropolis website.

WRC Rally Mexico

I apologize for not reviewing Round 4 of the WRC championship earlier, but I have fallen ill since Wednesday night. (I had written my post on Christianity earlier in the week and just simply had to hit the publish button.)

Rally Mexico marked the return of the normalcy that was seen last season where Sebastian Loeb won, Marcos Gronholm finished second, Miko Hirvonen third, Daniel Sordo fourth, Chris Atkinson in fifth, and Petter Solberg retiring due to a freak breakdown.

The new Subaru WRC 2007 car was a fantastic improvement, but a freak oil cooler fan shroud piece broke off and cut a whole in Petter Solberg’s oil line somewhere preventing him from even finishing the first day. His teammate, Chris Atkinson, faired better finishing fifth, and may have finished better if it weren’t for a change in his car’s setup on the last day that he later regretted.

Here’s hoping for better luck with Subaru in the next rally in two weeks time in Portugal.

Loeb Wins in Mexico

Sebastian Loeb won the fourth round of the 2007 WRC season in Mexico this past weekend. I’ve recorded the coverage from satellite/Eurosport, and I’ll provide a review on Thursday. Before Petter Solberg retired, he was leading, and I’ll give my own impressions on the Subaru Impreza WRC2007 on Thursday as well.

Oh, and by the way, while I was watching this past weekend’s Speed Report this morning, Bob Varsha had a segment on the upcoming Formula 1 season. It was quite decent, but finally ended with what I will paraphrase as: as much as I’ve talked about testing, we’ll have to find out how fast each team is in Australia. Oh, and as is the usual now, Toyota received only about 10 seconds of coverage. In the off-season, they have had no real stories. As a fan of theirs, I’ll have to admit that I’m hoping for a “no news is good news” scenario, which in racing usually means you’ll finish middle of the pack.

On tomorrow or Wednesday, I’ll provide my own comment on the hypocrisy of politicians and the sheer anger that seems to be coming from the right wing over Al Gore’s electric bill.

F1 and WRC Preview

Andrew Sullivan’s face of the day for March 1, 2007 was Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota paddock during testing at Bahrain.

Sullivan’s post reminded me that I hadn’t commented on racing events for quite some time now. Of course, there was the off season, but as well, while testing has begun in Formula 1, there’s not much to comment on because each team is testing differently. I will say this though; the teams no one is talking about are Spyker and Toyota. And as much as I love Toyota, I believe the F1 media aren’t mentioning them because Toyota isn’t doing much of anything to note. But I’ll still be rooting for them.

In WRC news, I’ve been way behind. Subaru has actually managed to score drivers and manufacturers points so far after three rounds this season. Chris Atkinson is the #2 driver for SWRT and is in his final year of contract for Subaru. While I do believe Atkinson’s come a long way and consistently shows potential, it’s obvious that Subaru will be looking at this season as an evaluation of his merit. Personally, I’ll be pulling for him along with the Subaru world Rally Team.

With that said, after three rounds Subaru lies third in the manufacturer’s standings. I look forward to Rally Mexico when Subaru finally has a chance to out its 2007 WRC car. I know they and their fans are hoping for significant improvements over the 2006 spec car. It will definitely take a win though for Petter Solberg to get back in the driver’s championship.

By the way, Daniel Carlsson tied in 7th place in points is racing in a two year old Mitsubishi Lancer WRC. Mitsubishi is not going with a full factory outfit this season, but merely providing what I would like to call moral support to a privateer team.

For any NHRA fans, check out Kevin Tressler’s blog. For those wanting information on NASCAR, just turn on the television or a newspaper, you can’t miss it.

The Car

Many people wonder where my love of cars comes from and how it manifests itself in my life today. Well, I think it’s time people realized the wonderful world of automotive marketing. So, let me introduce the 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX Sti.

Well, since I adored karting as a child, I ended up with a love of many kinds of open-wheel racing. Formula 1 has since then become my staple. But through the years, I still wanted more application; racing that showed me more relevance. I then discovered that the same automotive body that governs Formula 1 also governs the World Rally Championship.

Now, while the “WRC” cars are mocked up versions of the vehicles they represent, the P-WRC cars are essentially the cars we buy.

The P-WRC is a support championship to the WRC, open to drivers or teams using near-standard road cars which are mechanically identical to those sold in the dealer showroom, with modifications made only to improve driver safety.

So, naturally I was ecstatic when I made the purchase of my car. As a fan I get to actually drive the vehicle that the pros do. Now, with all that said, I found out that the amount of control that these drivers have is exceptional, which is why I believe cruise control comes standard on these cars. And as I found out, when on public roads (i.e. driving from stage to stage or back to the service park), the drivers also use cruise control which has even been installed in the premier WRC vehicles. Obeying the law is of course the priority.

And as far as I understand it, there is one more difference between my car and the P-WRC cars. They use the Japanese spec Subaru WRX Sti’s. The difference there is that they use a 2.0 liter engine with more boost from the turbo, whereas US-spec Sti’s use a 2.5 liter engine with less boost. (The WRC clearly states that when they homologated the cars, that 2.0 liter was the maximum displacement).

So, essentially, in the end, I’m a horrible victim of marketing. I see my own vehicle as a bona fide race car (even though it’s the Japanese spec car they use in the WRC) because Subaru decided to make the car available to the American market. The caveat here in the US is that I highly doubt the majority of Subaru owners would give two cents about rally cars and their heritage. So, buying an Sti for them wouldn't mean what it means to me exactly. To put it simply, the Japanese marketers didn't exactly get these cars to sell in the US thanks to rallying, but rather to the movie franchise known as The Fast and the Furious.

Formula 1 Technology and its Application

I brought up the topic so much in yesterday's post that it seems only fitting that the FIA and the GPMA (Grand Prix Manufacturers Association) talk about the future of technology in Formula 1, their real world applications, and how the rules might be crafted for that future.

It's a horrifically long read for anyone who was hoping for something short. However, Max Mosley and Burkhard Goschel make many interesting points, and they're in the beginning. Here's that link again.