hrd-hr30

the sudden-ness of that Senna jink was not a "I'm just returning to the racing line now, ok?" That was a "get stuffed, you're not going that way" sort of move. He didn't go through with it, but turned out Schumacher bought the "dummy"

I don't know about the Schumacher penalty... Watching it at the time, I thought it was all Michael's fault, but this slo-mo shows Senna drifting right initially (there's a clear refence with the pit exit line). That led Schumacher to commit to the outside, then Senna jinks back to the left to cover that move. That's a second move to defend position in my books. But even if you don't agree on that, tell me the subsequent move to the right by Schumacher wasn't caused by Senna's sudden jink. Its all pretty clumsy, but I think a 5 spot penalty for Schumacher causing that crash is a bit harsh, when it was just a reaction to Senna moving back to the left on him and probably worried he was going to run him off the road. If Senna had kept going left, they probably still would have crashed because it was all too late...I just don't think you can put all the blame on Michael there - he wouldn't have made that move back to the right if it wasn't for Senna's sudden jink back towards him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfls8VLYZr0&feature=related

don't rule Alonso out, their poor rear end grip could just be an advantage here, keeping the car better balanced as the front tyres degrade. Look for him to be a touch faster than his rivals in the second half of each ~13lap mini enduro - sorry, stint... I just couldn't help having a little dig at the tyres!

have you seen the F1 sites lately? if we're not allowed to talk about tyres, its going to be pretty quiet in here, or just full of posts like "did you see those titties?"... I mean just how much can you talk about Lewis's penalty? Everyone knows Massa's a hack these days, but that's still being talked about. But I count 8 posts in 5 days about tyres from me. That's hardly spamming the place to death, is it? The initial article plus 4 in direct response to others also talking about the same subject, 2 articles quoting drivers, and one short whinge about having to watch Formula 1 cars, which are supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport on the planet, understeering worse than I'd stand for in my own cheap shitbox track hack. Sorry! (I'm not counting these responses to you, which aren't really me whinging about tyres) So, how about that weather...

If you don't like hearing about crap tyres, better watch the telecast without sound mate, and not read any of the post race stuff either. It will all be about managing tyres.

watching how many teams/drivers struggled with understeer of fail inthe long right handers, I can't see how anybody can say these tyres are good for F1. If my shitbox handled like that at a track day I'd pack up and go home until I got some tyres that actually work If that's good for F1, WTAC should make Everyone run on Wanli's for the good of the sport. It would make it closer and "more exciting" and "just better".

tyre deg will definitely be an issue. this was a 4 stop race last year with terrible degredation. This year the Pirellis are softer yet slower, with more deg. It has the potential for a full-on farce in the final 10 laps. Pastor won the Pirelli lottery, jagging the "sweet spot" setup for qualy. That's all. This season is not about your car's aero, chassis, or engine because the limits of the tyres are so far under the cars' potential. Any car can win or qualify well if they happen to jag a setup that gets the Pirelli in its sweet spot on the day. It is 100% about the tyres. Look forward to an "exciting" race of people too scared to drive fast for fear of having to 5 stop. Welcome to the Pirelli tyre mileage cup. May the slowest, most caustious driver win.

Matin Brundle (http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/22058/7698801/Reflections-On-Bahrain): "On the journey home (from Bahrain) I was talking with two F1 drivers, a world champion and a multiple race winner, and they had very similar concerns to Michael in that they can't push the cars anywhere near their limits. 'Physically my granny could drive the race' quipped one to underline how far away from the limits they are."

the year before they brought in all this contrived shit like DRS and crap tyres, there was double the amount of overtaking that we'd had for the previous 13 years. We don't need the fake stuff to make F1 'exciting'. The quality of racing is not determined by the total number of passes.

yeah modern era F1 has been about tyre management before, but the difference was you could push when you had an opportunity without risking loosing 10 places in the last couple of laps when contrived tyres degrade to the point you loose 5seconds a lap... Now you can't, and its a mere procession in the last stint unless someone's rubber doesn't make it to the end. That's why the much faster McLaren couldn't catch the Sauber and Ferrari slugs at the end of the China race. That's why Kimi had nothing for Seb at the end of Bahrain. That's why we're not seeing anyone charge through the field if they get caught out in qualy or have a problem at the start of the race. Its pretty dull "racing" IMO unless you like watching people try and eek mileage out of tyres contrived to turn to shit prematurely by cruising around. I didn't really pick up on the downsides either untill it was pointed out in articles like the one I linked, but now it really bothers me. Watch it this weekend. If you're in a faster car you really only get a few corners to try and pass the guy in front, then your tyres loose their edge and its choo-choo time... That's why the mid-field pack looks like its really close this year - it isn't, its just that the tyres are uber crap and don't allow any of the cars to go faster than the others for more than a lap or two.

Intersting article from James Allen on Schumacher's earlier criticism of the Pirellis: http://www.jamesalle...ort-life-tyres/ I must admit that before all this I hadn't really thought of the Pirellis as being a problem. I was enjoying the unpredictability of who was going to be fast in the race. But after reading James Allen's article and thinking about the races so far this season, I'm finding it all too fake, contived and artificial. F1 is the pinnacle of motor racing. The fastest cars built by the best engineers with the sole aim of being the fastest machines around a racetrack. Should racing these cars be about drivers trundling around at 90% afraid of hurting their tyres or pushing as hard and fast as the car and the driver can possibly go? Do we want to celebrate the driver who is best at riding that fine line between grip and out-of-control, or the guy who stays safely within those limits and gets great tyre mileage? There's other factors too, like the one made in this comment on the JAonF1 article by James Alias; "I just hope that the peak-operative windows was somewhat extended by a little-bit. Perhaps from 1 or 2 laps what is currently, to 5 laps at least, so that at least the drivers can afford to sustain catch-up and wheel-to-wheel racing for more than 3 corners." These tyres are hurting genuine racing, not improving it. Sure there's passing when one guy is running out of tyres, desperately trying to eek out another few laps to space the pit stops out so he can make it to the end of the race without loosing 8 spots in the last couple of laps, but it robbed us of a showdown at the end of the last GP between Kimi and Seb because they had to conserve their tyres just to make it to the end - they couldn't afford to push hard to try and close the gap... that's lame. Also no chance for Lewis to try and make one of his comebacks through the field... Let's have less of the driver's hands being tied behind their backs, and more flat out, balls to the wall racing please! I miss "the era of flat out sprints" in F1. /rant

it was the start of 2010. Tyres were 3 years old when I bought them on special on FSport. I suspect all the tyres FSport has on special are getting a bit old. The MX5 2B 2F racers up here have blowouts with the Kumho V70As. A bloke with an e30 who bought a set of S700 on special last year had the same blowout issues as I did - inner edge of the fronts delaminate and blowout. There was a class in NSW that used Kumho V70A's as a control tyre a few years ago had blowouts as well. It doesn't happen to everyone, but it happen to more Kumhos than any other tyre I've ever seen.

great stuff! You guys must really have that S13 working on the dirt. Enjoyed watching the in-car too. Keep the vids coming!

they're not road legal, just like all the other 2 groove "cheater slicks" from Hoosier and Hankook. I bought my Kumho slicks when they were on special on FSport. They were a few years old. I suspect all their specials are older stock they want to move. My "cheap" set of slicks cost me a front gaurd, front bar and a wheel repair and only completed 2 sprint before the blowouts started. They turned out to be the most expensive set of tyres I'd ever owned. I had 2 blowouts and a delamination and have seen the exact same thing happen to others using Kumho semis and slicks. It doesn't happen to everyone who uses them, but I don't recommend Kumhos to anyone. Well, apart from the KU36 which copped a heap of abuse from my heavyweight Supra, but I wouldn't touch their semis or slicks ever again. Spend a bit more and get something that doesn't have the blowout question mark hanging over its head. Its not alot of fun when a tyre blows out as you turn in to a corner fully committed to it!

anyway, looking forward to this weekend. The hotter temps will be a good test of whether the Merc's race form was just down to the cooler temps in China or if they've actually sorted their rear tyre degradation issues.

you should. the only reason Schumacher hasn't been in the points more often is mechanical failures, which forced his retirement from 2nd and 3rd. There's no similarity between that and trundling around in the back half of the field while your team mate scores all the points. In fact, last weekend was the first time Nico had been ahead of Schumacher on merit in a race this year.

let me replay the first sentence for you... "except that before the last race, it was only Schumi who had scored points for Merc this year." where's the similarity?

except that before the last race, it was only Schumi who had scored points for Merc this year. And had consistently outqualified Nico in the first 2 races. Even with Nico's freak pole at his favourite track, Schuey is still leading him in the qualifying comparison, averaging 3rd whereas Nico averages 5th. And until this race it was Schuey who gave Merc both its best grid position and race result over the last 2 years. So exactly like Massa, except in every possible way... yeah, Schuey sucks by having a gearbox fail after a handful of laps in the first race of the season, being punted on lap 1 by Grosjean who had NFI what was going on, and having a wheel not tightened in a pit stop. Man Schuey sucks...

I loved the fact DRS didn't really work here this year. We had a good old fashioned fair dinkum race, and it was a corker. Pretty much proves we don't need the artificial DRS passing to make F1 good.

fixed that for ya. Anything over 1600kg limits your speed according to the manufacturer. The manufacturer specified speed is a towing limit as much as the manufacturer specified weight is. I'd suggest insurance companies would know Ford's towing limits (both weight and speed) as well... Who's going to be happy doing 80km/h in a 100 or 110 zone, other than nomads?

Was that last Thursday? I was out there too. Woulda said gday if I knew you were there...

The fastest car ever around Mt Cotton on R specs used RE55S WT (soft) compound. But he doesn't compete anymore. DZ03 softs seem to be almost mandatory amongst the current crop of really fast guys. Haven't seen anyone using the A050 or Hankook semis at hillclimbs yet, but they'd have to be right up there with the Dunlop.

nah, check with Ford first. They say to limit speed to: 100km/h for 1200kg towing, 90km/h for 1600kg and 80km/h for anything over 1600kg and up to its limit of 2300kg. independant review on carsales has this to say about BF III towing and economy varies a bit from the enthusiastic owners on here.

he's used to not being at the front