http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87544
Well that says something about his track designs, I guess. What's next? The Antarctic GP? An ice track? Watching penguins slipping on ice is a "show", but not really a race.
Will anyone surprised please go stand in the corner. Apparently you haven't been paying attention. The "Let's make lemonade" attitude is understandable but the track must be a real horror show, I fear, for him to be making pre-emptive comments. The rest may now rejoin the class.
I'm glad they pulled it off but delaying the race till the end of the season, and the track seasoned and proven, would have been fine as well. Probably logistics and commitments. Slippery is fine. If the track breaks up in the race is another story.
Unfortunately that is exactly what has happened in previous races in the past where the track was too fresh and the grip from the tires absolutely tore up the track... ...hmmmm, in fact our very own GP here in Dallas in 84 comes to mind... Maybe Bernie should remember what a fiasco that was and learn from it... GPs have been delayed before, no reason this one can't be delayed as well... Excellent point, David. Frank
What happened to having tracks putting on a pre-F1 race to provie the track, the orgainzers, etc. Long Beach had an F5000 race the year before the LBGP- why doesn't Bernie make all of the wannabee countries do similarly?
I still can't understand how a new circuit is allowed to hold a FIA GP in its first season, before any serious racing has taken place to test the track, the surface, the marshalling, the organisation, the rescue, the medical support, etc... That used to be a mandatory requirement before, and I see no good reason why that practice was abandonned.
Indeed. So, I dug a little deeper, and this is what I found - Lifted from Appendix "O" of the ISR - Published 07/07/10 - This date raised "suspicions", but according to the document changes are in red, and the following hasn't changed: The key word here is, of course, is should.... I always thought a track must have held a national (at least) race prior to F1 coming to town, but I can't find that anywhere.... The full appendix (PDF):http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/836F796BA4CA12B2C1257759005F6B46/$FILE/10.07.07_Annexe%20O%202010%20.pdf Enjoy! Cheers, Ian
+1 Having said that, while searching for the above I found a *long* list of requirements that he's (supposedly) got to obey in the design - Not only track length and width etc etc, but; However, as noted above, the mighty dollar is of course the ultimate arbiter.... Cheers, Ian
His hands are tied to a extent then. So a good overtaking track not high on the list of priorities... I suppose he has designed some good ones, but some bad ones, I feel the powers that be should let some new ideas in, aligned with the fact that these days the design of the track somewhat dictates how the racing will be.
At one time, tracks were required to host a non-championship F1 race before hosting a Grand Prix, usually a year ahead of time. For instance, the 1967 "Spanish Grand Prix" at Jarama was a test run for the first championship GP there, which was held in 1968. Unfortunately this requirement seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird.
Sounds good to me. Who needs sprinklers when the track is already slippery in dry conditions? Benoit wrote about the hotels and the lack thereof: The teams are staying 90 minutes away in what are basically brothels (with the girls sent on vacation). There is a huge hotel/infrastructure/beach resort being built nearby, but it is far from being usable at this point. So a couple years down the line, this will be a great place to visit but not now. Benoit literally called the "ass of the world".
I read somewhere these days that the girls weren't send on vacation and team members were already complaining about the, ehm, acoustic backdrop...
According to Benoit the Williams team didn't like the idea of staying in a brothel and went to a hotel even further away.
First time I visited England there was a show running in the West End named "No Sex Please We're British".
hmmm different reports on this track. McLaren are impressed. Keith Sutton is very impressed; http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/31546.html 'Reports that this place is in the middle of nowhere were wide of the mark. There are loads of hotels and restaurants and Mokpo is actually a small city with everything you could want. There's a full blown concert going on by the coast at the moment and then on Friday and Saturday there are going to be raves going on until 2am - I'm not saying I've got the time to attend them, but it gives you an idea of the atmosphere.' 'Overall I would say hats off to the organisers. It's been difficult for them in recent weeks and they've produced what looks like a great circuit in a great part of the world.'
