With a 6 am start here in Ontario, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to get up that early to watch. The last few seasons have left me feeling pretty cold towards the F1 circus, with no passing and very few glimmers of real brightness. Alonso’s win of the World Championship last year was great, if only because someone had beaten Michael, but otherwise the season didn’t do much for me. I haven’t really paid any attention to the preseason this year, as I just wasn’t interested. Imagine my delight this morning, to be treated to real wheel to wheel racing all through the pack, not to mention lead changes. To me, the top two finishers are no real surprise, but there was some real excitement further back. Here are some observations:

Drive of the day:
Has to go to Kimi Raikonnen for starting last and finishing in 3rd place. I kow they had a rough day in qualifying due to a suspension failure, but Kimi…do you think you could smile a bit?

Scott Speed:
Had a good solid first race that he should be proud of. Kudos to the Speed TV boys and girls for not focusing on the American boy all through the race, but you could have at least spent a little more time on him. Remember, he may hold the newest key to getting some American viewers.

Rookie star of the race:
Has to go to Nico Rosberg. Talk about wunderkind, this guy has all of his old man’s talent and maybe more. The youngest driver to ever set a fastest race lap, not to mention on the short list of drivers to score World Championship points in their first race. I’ll make a prediction: Nico will be World Champion before he turns 25!

Hotseat Award:
Goes to Jacques Villenueve for hopping out of his burning BMW and watching while waiting for the fire crews to finally show up.

Best nickname:
Comes from Bob Varsha (I think) when talking about Renault boss Flavious Brontosaurus.

Quote of the race:
“He’s definately got some serious attachments” from David Hobbs, describing Nico Rosberg’s battle with David Coulthard in the late stages of the race.

Who cares award:
As always, goes to big brother Michael, who finished 2nd. So what!?

The biggest story….
Racing is back in Formula One. There was not only some real passing, but some serious wheel to wheel action, couple with some bright young stars who might bring added excitement to the season. I actually can’t wait for Malaysia next week.

PUCKER FACTOR: the direct effect caused when the severity of one’s actions exceed the limits of rational thought.

The incident had a pucker factor of 10. The moment the laws of physics threatened to punish me for testing the boundaries, my nether regions clamped up tight as a vise.

I have joined the Southern Ontario Xterra Club for their 2nd Annual Adventure Weekend. 3 days of trail riding, biking, swimming and loads of great food while camping on crown land directly beside lovely Cooper’s Falls. Located on the border between the Muskoka & Kawartha regions, the Cooper’s Falls area is the entry point to a network of trails that lead across the rugged Canadian Shield. It has been a hot, dry summer so the trails are dry & dusty with the occasional puddle of mud caused where small rivers once crossed the road. For the most part, the trails are pretty tame, with only the occasion bump from a rock touching the bottom of the truck. There are some sections however that require the assistance of spotters to guide the drivers over large chunks of rock that look poised to break any vehicle that dares try to pass. It was on one of these sections where I became verklempt.

I was driving a 2003 Nissan Frontier, the pick up truck brother of the Xterra. The truck is more that a foot longer than the Xterra, which actually helps it when climbing these steep steps of rock. But the problem with the extra length is that the back end sticks out farther and tends to get caught up when coming back down these same hazards. And so it was that when I approached a whale sized rock with a nearly vertical drop off, that I decided to take the easier path down. I chickened out & took the simple route. Of course the simple route involved sweeping wide to the right to avoid a large rock on the left, while traveling so slowly the speedometer does not even move. I had watched an Xterra take this route and it was a piece of cake. Where life became difficult was when the longer truck took up more space on the hill and suddenly the road fell away from below the left front wheel. The truck dropped so fast that I thought for sure it would roll over, until a quick thinking Xterra owner jumped on the back bumper. The drop stopped and the truck teetered on the edge while balanced on 2 wheels. When it became clear that we had some stability, I crept forward until a third wheel touched the ground, and then the fourth.

The rest of the ride was smooth sailing and was rewarded with a cold swim beneath Cooper’s falls, a cold beer, a great meal and good times with some new friends. Next time maybe a shorter vehicle will help prevent another dose of Pucker.

This article originally posted on an old site I owned which has been retired.

Thanks once again to the folks at Autoblog for turning me on (literally) to this. Apparently the Alfa 8C Competizione will be built, as a 500 unit halo vehicle at the expense of their advertising budget. It is thought that this beast will be powered by a version of the current Ferrari/Maserati 440 hp V8.One question though. Wouldn’t the name indicate a competition car of sorts? What series would it be eligible for?

I want to see this car!

Hemingway wrote “There are only three sports, bullfighting, motor racing and mountain climbing. The others are all childs games palyed by adults” or something like that.

Adrenaline. The chemical that fuels any competitor to reach new heights of performance. Well, at least most kinds…I can’t see steroids helping a racer. Adrenaline takes athletes to new levels, it is sometimes said that it elevates them to a new level of consciousness. In the zone.

BAM!!

Some moron crashes into you and ends your day! You flip him the bird, maybe you swear to yourself in the car. Maybe you are yelling at him from inside the car. A natural response, especially for someone who is high on adrenaline. Except….

The governing body wants to portray a squeeky clean image. Our driver’s can’t be flipping someone off in the heat of battle, that might offend someone. Television lives inside your helmet, so you can’t vent to yourself. Since when can “the man” govern what you say out loud to yourself inside a race car. They say it is a professionalism issue. I’m pretty sure that professionalism & presentability goes out the window at 200 mph when someone crashes into the back of you. At least you should be allowed an “Oh Shit”, that’s what the TV networks have the 5 second delay for. Or maybe, just maybe the powers that be can stop pandering to the bible belt freaks that are so prevalent in the states that they might realize that kids can learn when certain things are appropriate in adult life. Spinning down a racetrack out of control is certainly an appropriate time to utter a swear word or two.

In this age of reality TV, why can’t we show professional atheletes behaving the way they really do? Let’s face it, racing can be a bit of a dirty business, let the public see the real side.

I’m pretty sure that my 12 year old utters an Oh Shit or two while she’s racing, we just haven’t invaded her helmet with microphones. Yet.

You just wait to hear my opinion on cheating!

So there i was on Sunday evening, sitting down to dinner & switched on the day’s news on Speed TV and what do I see? Two sports car racers beating the bejesus out of each other. Not just a little shoving match, but all out fisticuffs, finishing up with one down on the ground under the other being pummelled! I had just returned from taking the boys to an OHL hockey game, where the highlight was the 3 times the gloves came off. These boys were big and moved fast. Fists met faces with lightning speed and the 3 boys with us couldn’t get enough. Let’s face it, fights are big news, never mind the fact that they are a majorly juvenile activity. My buddy & I were on our feet cheering as loudly as the kids were. It’s just not something you normally see at a road course.

Road racers have always been the “gentlemen” of the sport who leave the physical punishment to those short track roundy round types they show on local cable. From what they show on those low budget, poorly produced shows you would think that to go fast & turn left, you need a good right jab. Let’s face it though, history has shown us that even the big boys lose their temper sometimes. Has anyone forgotten AJ?

Do fights belong in car racing? Well, I don’t ever plan on beating up a competitor, but I’m not about to turn off the TV when they show a couple of guys losing control in the heat of the moment. Should these guys be penalized? Well…that’s a more difficult question. If the organizers are determined to have a squeeky clean image for the sport, then sure. But the reality is that road racing needs all the help it can get in the publicity end of things. Maybe they should offer a publicity bonus to these guys & then paint a target on the back of their car for the next round. I bet ratings would improve, not to mention that AJ might approve.

Koen Vergeer is a motorsports writer & poet who was born in the Netherlands in 1962. Just a few years older than me, his viewpoint on Formula 1 is relevant to my own. Formula 1 Fanatic is his explanation of what made him become an F1 fan & perhaps what has kept the fans coming back over the years.
The book begins with an attempt to describe the Dutch perspective of F1, but for me it really starts part way through the first chapter. At this point, Vergeer describes his first visit to Zandvoort. The sights, sounds and smells leading up to the start of the race. Witnessing his first crash and the death of a driver. It made me think of my early childhood. Sitting in a Shadow CanAm car, meeting Jacky Ickx, seeing my mom in giant bell bottoms & a floppy Coke hat. Seeing my father rush off to help the marshalls in a failed attempt to save a dying driver.

What follows is a wonderfully written history of Formula 1. Vergeer’s research has yeilded tale upon tale, with many candid quotes from driver’s and owners alike. Perhaps he lavishes too much attention to Michael for my liking, but then again, perhaps his analysis of the elder Schumachers’ impact on the sport is spot on.

Formula 1 Fanatic was a great read, one that I heartily recommend to any Formula 1 fan. For the old guys who want to relive some memories & the young guys who really should understand what it is they are getting all excited about.

The Canadian Grand Prix for the Pepsi-Cola Trophy for sports racing cars was held at Mosport on September 22, 1962. The race was won by Masten Gregory, driving a Lotus 19.

Thanks to Jalopnik for turning me on to this one. A pair of SMART cars, powered by GSXR engines doing smoke donuts that would make Tony Stewart proud. Be sure to turn the sound up!