While F1 testing continues in Jerez, Lotus are launching their first F1 car in 16 years today.
We’ll have more from today’s two big F1 events later. In the meantime, here’s today’s round-up:
Links
New management at Magny-Cours (Joe Saward)
France’s best chance of getting its Grand Prix back?
Ron Dennis honoured at UK motorsport’s first hall of fame (McLaren
“Ron shared the limelight with three fellow inductees – 1950s grand prix winner Tony Brooks, sports car legend Jacky Ickx and 1978 Formula 1 world champion Mario Andretti.”
Comment of the day
-A- likes the look of the re-vamped Silverstone and I have to say I agree:
Interesting to see a track modification that, for once, adds faster corners to a circuit. In the absence of being able to add run-off to restore Abbey to its pre-1994 condition, I rather prefer this change to the circuit’s 2009 configuration. I think the new turns 11 and 12 could provide a suitable challenge. It will be interesting to see if there can be some overtaking into turn 13, then, although the left-hander hairpin following so closely after that could make it possible for a driver on the outside line to counter-attack.
-A-
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Toranosuke Takagi turns 36 today. The Japanese driver spent two seasons in F1 with Tyrrell and Arrows. His time in the sport was short on achievement but it’s possible he helped write one piece of F1 history in the 1998 season finale.
Takagi was rammed by Esteban Tuero at the chicane, damaging both cars. Shortly afterwards Michael Schumacher’s title hopes ended with a puncture – one quite possibly caused by running over debris from the Tuero-Takagi crash.
sato113
12th February 2010, 8:36
no matter who’s in charge of Magny Cours, it’s still in the middle of nowhere.
fabio pellim
12th February 2010, 19:10
My only race in Europe, since I’m a Brazilian, was in Magny Cours, in one point of my trip I though that I was being schemed and in that farm town someone would steal my kidney…it’s too far, you have to face a 2:30hrs trip from paris plus 45 minutes by bus…it’s not practical, but was incredibly packed…
Lenny
12th February 2010, 9:25
Rally Sweden starts off the WRC season today so don’t forget to watch out for kimi!
Chris P
12th February 2010, 11:10
God please no return of yet another boredom-fest of a track like Magny-Cours! Track design HAS to be one of the major contributory factors or lack of overtaking. Especially with current car design. Once cars can run closer it should open up overtaking on more tracks. But even Magny-Cours will still suffer due to its design.
Leon
12th February 2010, 11:48
Never been the Magny-Cours. Is the track of a type easily ( ie relatively cheaply ) modified to make it a better, tougher, more interesting race venue ?
sato113
12th February 2010, 11:56
the track itself is fine. the drivers love it too. it’s the poor location and atmosphere that killed it.
Leon
12th February 2010, 12:12
middle of nowhere ?
K
12th February 2010, 13:13
Yeah also they butchered that last sector.
sato113
12th February 2010, 14:56
well obviously it’s not nowhere. I mean it’s just not near any major cities. it’s in remote, quiet rural france. this leads to half full grandstands.
joe
12th February 2010, 16:35
3 hour drive from paris,
4 hour drive from any other major city,
6 hours from where i live in france.
sato113
12th February 2010, 17:02
yeah, shouldn’t be that far! Bernie wanted a GP near Paris to draw in the spectator numbers.
Bleu
12th February 2010, 13:40
Worth of note that Takagi was also involved in another piece of history: he was last to drive for Tyrrell as his team-mate Rosset failed to qualify for that race.
wasiF1
12th February 2010, 14:45
I hope Magny-Cours get a place on the calender,it’s true that the location is not good,but we did had some good racing there in the last three season.
Ned Flanders
12th February 2010, 15:07
I’m not sure I agree about the last 3 French GP’s being good, I thought they were boring.
But there have been plenty of good races at Magny Cours, the 1999, 2000 and 2002 GP’s were all great. And 2004 had the novelty of Schumi’s win on a 4 stop strategy
three4three
12th February 2010, 15:33
I didn’t know where else to post this as there’s no forum.
Hilarious video, The Schumacher Clause:
http://www.crash.net/tailenders/video/156697/1/the_schumacher_clause.html
Scribe
12th February 2010, 15:37
good a place as any.
Ha ha ha,
extras? ;-)
TomD11
12th February 2010, 16:31
How about holding the French GP at Dijon-Prenois? From what I’ve seen, it seems like a better circuit than Magny-Cours.
Peter
12th February 2010, 16:47
Are they not allowed to run two cars in testing? Or are the second cars not finished yet? Who knows?
Bullfrog
12th February 2010, 16:53
Nearly Lotus o’clock.
Does anyone know if the launch is live online – or who’s there, with a camera, on Twitter?
Icthyes
12th February 2010, 16:57
Shame Flins-les-Mureaux was cancelled, that might have been good.
Xighor
12th February 2010, 17:23
New Lotus. Green colour looks quite like it should. http://twitpic.com/12suiv
bwells
12th February 2010, 20:18
So I just had a look at the 10 day weather forecast for Jerez and it looks like more rain for next week.. I wonder if they’ll move the test or get more wet weather data..
Chaz
28th February 2010, 14:56
And richly deserved by Ron, it should be Sir Ron…