Kubica could return in Brazil, says manager

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Robert Kubica’s manager hints at a racing turn at Interlagos.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Brazil return possible for Kubica (ESPN)

Daniel Morelli: “The Italian GP is held in September, so it’s in just three months’ time, but we can think about the final race of the season.”

Red Bull seeks clarification on diffusers (Autosport)

Christian Horner: “”There are certain questions that we want to ask about the technical directive that we need clarification on.”

2012: Exhaust Blown Diffusers are banned (ScarbsF1)

“With the initial ban on how overrun engine mappings, Renault and Red Bull stand to lose out the most. With the full EBD ban in 2012, it is again these teams with the most to lose as each of these teams blow beneath the floor.”

‘Justice will be served’ for Bahrain doctors (The Today Programme)

“Today spoke to a British doctor on Monday who raised concerns about a group of doctors and nurses who are on trial in Bahrain charged with treating protesters. He alleged that the detainees had been psychologically and physically tortured. The Bahrain government’s Maysoon Sabkar responds to the claims.”

FOTA Fans Forum 2011 – Montreal – Part 2 (YouTube)

Tell the Austin City Council to Vote YES on Formula 1 (Change.org)

“This week the Austin City Council will begin the process of deciding if Austin will be the host community for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix race.”

Understanding Parc Ferme (Force India)

Force India Sporting Director, Andy Stevenson: “In the old days on a Saturday we used to completely rebuild the cars with new engines, new radiators, new gearboxes, new uprights. We used to change everything. You would tend to build a car specifically for qualifying, with a qualifying engine, lightweight gearboxes, and radiators half normal size, so you were carrying less oil and less water. Costs were just spiralling.”

Team Lotus Confirms Williams F1 Wind Tunnel Deal (Lotus)

“Team Lotus has confirmed today that it is expanding its wind tunnel operations having confirmed a deal with Williams F1 to use one of the Grove based team’s two wind tunnels from September 2011.”

Silverstone owner slides to a loss after British Grand Prix doubts hurt ticket sales (Daily Telegraph)

“The British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) moved from a 1.3m net profit in 2009 to a 1.9m loss in 2010 as sales for the Formula 1 race were affected by Silverstone securing the race only seven months before its scheduled date.”

McLaren team principal tells Lewis Hamilton to stay on the attack (The Guardian)

“I suspect I’m not the most impartial, I want Lewis to attack, and obviously I don’t want him to have contact with cars. But at the same time if he holds back for fear of having contact then he won’t be the great racer he is and do the job he has to do.”

Antiques Roadshow fans hit out at BBC after Formula One race rains on their parade (Daily Mail)

“More than 700 furious Antiques Roadshow fans complaining to the BBC after the hit-show was axed” (Thanks to Ben N for the tip).

Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.

Comment of the day

Almost four years on from ‘Spygate’, do we think of it as an outrageous piece of cheating, or a cynical piece of politics? Bigbadderboom argues for the latter:

Coughlan and Stepney were both scapegoats in a previously the previously “accepted” practice of acquiring opposition designs.

It was only timing and a bitter dispute between Mosley and Dennis which provided the mix and timing for the incident to be blown out of all proportion (in my opinion).

I say let it go now, Mike is a gifted engineer with a proven track record and may be just what Williams needs now. He carried the can for F1 with some dignity (he could have made things very messy) I for one am glad he’s back.
Bigbadderboom

From the forum

Following on from the Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours, what other events should we cover on F1 Fanatic Live?

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to David A, Mateuss and Vikas!

On this day in F1

Nigel Mansell won the Canadian Grand Prix from pole position on this day 25 years ago.

He moved to within two points of championship leader Alain Prost, who finished second.

Image © Julien Leroy / firstlap.be

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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96 comments on “Kubica could return in Brazil, says manager”

  1. Fast recovery to Robert!
    There were pictures of him published yesterday, he looks well for someone who almost lost his arm. There are visible scars, but all in all his arm is in good shape. I hope he fully regains his form.

    1. Yup, his right hand isn’t very well yet – it’s swallen and Robert cannot move it:
      http://www.fakt.pl/m/Repozytorium.Obiekt.aspx/-650/-550/faktonline/634434818184699635.jpg

      He doesn’t look like being able to return to professional racing this year.

      1. I think it will be a wonder if he returns at all, given the accident and the surgical intervention he’s been through. Anyway, better later than never.
        But I think he’s racing career it’s over. Another great talent lost.

        1. I’m going to wait until a medical professional who knows the situation personally gives their considered opinion before deciding whether he is going to race this year or whether his career is over, rather than his manager…

          1. I’m glad to hear that Robert’s recovering well.

            I don’t understand the reason why they are wanting him to drive in the last few races, considering how well(?) Petrov and Heidfeld are doing. I think this would unsettle the team and Robert will become a liability in the track as he has not raced the car this year.

            Don’t get me wrong, I think Kubica is one the best drivers of the current generation however, I feel Renault should keep their focus on Heidfeld and Petrov for the rest of the season, making sure they pick up the points for both the drivers’ and constructors chmps.

          2. I don’t understand the reason why they are wanting him to drive in the last few races, considering how well (?) Petrov and Heidfeld are doing.

            Well, I think they would want to answer the question whether Petrov’s and Heidfeld’s identical performances in qualifyings and races have been due to Petrov’s huge improvement from last year or Heidfeld not being as fast as he was expected before the season.

            Heidfeld was known to be as fast as Kubica, so it’s very surprising he hasn’t dominated Petrov as Robert did last year.

            Renault had huge expectations for the season before Robert’s accident, and so they will want to know how fast their car really is.

          3. I highly doubt the gap between Kubica and Petrov would have remained the same. Petrov has improved, I doubt Kubica would be doing that much better than either Heidfeld or Petrov. Heidfeld and Petrov have both been pretty unlucky on a few occassions this year.

  2. I’ve been terrible for the birthdays lately, so Happy Birthday!

    1986 was such a great year ;-)

    It would be great news if Kubica could be fit for Brazil, but I really wouldn’t want him to push it.

    1. I have been letting the birthday wishes drop a bit lately as well. Here goes: Happy birthday David A, Mateuss and Vikas.

      1. me too, sorry to everybody!

        Happy birthday David A, Mateuss and Vikas.

        Since Mateuss shares his name with a game character here’s his birthday present from me!
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCvIw7DMHXc

        Consider that song my retribution for not wishing other F1Fanatics birthday wishes!

        On another note, what do you guys call yourselves out in real life?, F1fanatics? FIFS? Collantiners? Church of Keith?
        :D

        “and so it was decried that Keith would have a blog, the land was fertile with graphs and analysis”

        1. Looks like last nights Argentinian beer isn’t quite out of my system yet.

          1. LOL, it could have been a lot more embarrassing though. This was fun.

    2. Happy birthday to David A, Mateuss and Vikas!

      Regarding Kubica, I still think he won’t be back this year. Massa drove an F2007 before coming back but eventually postponed his return to 2010.

    3. Thanks guys for the birthday messages!

      1. Happy birthday David A, Mateuss and Vikas. Three people I recognise! :D

  3. I think it’s great news that Rob is on the mend and well enough to race this year, gotta get right back on that horse! The interesting question is where will he be in 2012, I think if he is well enough to race then he’ll be doing it at Ferrari.

    1. Maybe not though. He’s a bit of an unknown quantity until he gets back in a seat and races. Ferrari is not likely to take a risk on that. If he makes it to a Ferrari it won’t be before putting in another year at Renault to prove he’s still got it. And even then, I can’t imagine Ferrari signing a contract that would allow him to race rally, and I can’t imagine Kubica signing a contract that wouldn’t.

      1. It’s great he’s back on the mend. But note: all of this is from his agent, nothing from doctors or kubica himself.
        Agents are generally money seeking low-life’s. He’s just trying to get some interest in kubica and attempt at getting a deal signed.
        I personally think this season is an impossibilty. Once Robert is fully healed up (no-one knows when that will be). He’d have to undergo intensive fitness training to be able to train up for a GP again. His neck muscles will have weakened and also need to be worked on. Then there’s his reactions…
        All this would take a couple months. And this is assuming once he’s ‘fully healed’ he won’t have any pain or anything wrong with him when he resumes training…
        Oh and then we have to see if he’s as good a race car driver as he used to be.
        Very long road ahead with too many ifs and buts. Someone should tell his manager to hush

      2. for a Ferrari seat?? of course he would sign

        1. he would NOT. like he did when massa was injuried, he did not sign. he is interested only in “fulltime” f1 racing.

  4. The Scarbs article makes it sound like both teams and engine suppliers will have more work cut out for them to implement the longer exhausts for next year. Kind of defeats the cost cutting argument.

    1. i doubt it. none of that is homologated, so i’m sure it’s re-worked several times a year anyway.

      1. But it’s a domino effect. The added length and heat will create a bunch of work for the engine suppliers, and the inconvenience in terms of packaging will cause teams to work more on shortcuts elsewhere. Just seems to me that it defeats the whole purpose of the ban especially with regards to the engine mappings. If Cosworth has already been having so much trouble, I can’t imagine they’ll be able to cope with this change as well as the other engine suppliers.

        1. It’s more the unrealistic levels of fuel the HBD require that have led to this move than the cost of development. With the RRA now in place what you spend your money on is a matter of choosing proportions rather than spunking billions on a tenth or two.

        2. But they will go and spend money somewhere else if it wasn’t for this anyway. That’s the nature of F1.

    2. It does sound like a lot to do. On the other hand, they would have put in just about the same effort in improving for 1/1000th of a second anyway, I guess.

      1. Well, I guess in that case at least Renault have done the work to have long secondary pipes already, so even if the EFF becomes a problem, it wasn’t entirely a wasted effort in that respect!

        For the other teams that have the blowing at the back, near the rear wheels, they also are already having much longer exhausts than previous years (those top of sidepod exhausts were little more than a double bend, weren’t they?) so now it is less effort than it would have been two years ago I think.

  5. Antiques Roadshow, duck a moth! Boring old farts!

  6. “….. 700 furious Antiques Roadshow fans complaining to the BBC after the hit-show was axed.” That would be 100% of viewers then ?

    1. nice :)

    2. Tragic, isn’t it? Besides, the longer you leave an antique under wraps the more valueable it becomes ;)

      1. hahahah yes!

      2. Must have been quite a shock to see prototype racing cars instead of antiques – good thing they weren’t racing full on for most of the time I guess!

        As an aside, having regularly watched “cash in the attic” while studying (yeah, sorry), it’s not actually true antiques get better with (any extra) age: a lot of antique is fashion dependent and prices can vary from a few pounds to hundreds of pounds depending on how much of a fashion the object is at that moment. Guess that’s how people make money from it: buy at the right time, sell at the right time, and know what the going prices are.

    3. This is yet another in a long series of pointless articles the Daily Fail has been printing purely to attack the BBC. If the race coverage had been stopped to show Antiques Roadshow the story would be “BBC Wastes Millions”, because they didn’t show the race after having paid a lot of money for the rights.

      It is like the ranting old fool complaining about everything new and moaning how things used to be better when everyone did what they told them to do. A bit like ‘The Horse Whisperer’ come to think of it…

    4. I’m not just saying this because I am an F1 fan, but we get the UK Antiques Roadshow in Australia, and it has to be the most boring show that I have ever seen. Watching Formula 1 teams standing around in the rain is infinitely more interesting…

    5. Here’s a comment on the article about Antique Roadshow. I guess there’s also a group of ARfanatics:

      I remember my ex mother in law moaning bitterly when AR was postponed because the live release of Nelson Mandela was running behind schedule and AR was cancelled she was livid.

      1. I think with the Daily mail, the BBC are damned if they do and damned if they don’t

  7. “In any case, when Robert gets in the simulator, he’ll immediately understand whether he’s able to come back, how and when, without the need of a stop-watch.”

    Presumably, Kubica could get in a simulator now, even in his condition. Not sure I understand what being in the simulator is going to tell them about when he will be fit to come back.

    1. Yeah, if anything Perez in Montreal is proof that nothing can prepare a driver for actually getting in the car and subjecting the body to what they go through at those G forces.

    2. It will tell them if he still processes visual input as quickly as he used to though, surely one of the more important things. The physical strength he can work on.

      The comments on that antiques roadshow article are hilarious to read.

  8. “More than 700 furious Antiques Roadshow fans complaining to the BBC after the hit-show was axed”
    … ‘Antiques Roadshow’ has fans? More than one?

    1. Both complained 450 times.

      1. 350, but otherwise yeah :p

        1. 350 would create 700 complaints exactly, an there were more than 700. I will pedant this to the earth even in the face of my own massive maths clanger.

      2. I don’t know how it is in the UK, but here in Australia, ‘Antiques Roadshow’ is considered to be a bit of a joke.

        1. i didnt even know it was still shown until Jake mentioned it

        2. That’s why only the Mail actually cares…

    2. Well, I like the antiques road show, but I like F1 more so I didn’t care.

      1. It’s strange that even 700 are complaining, it was only due to be a ‘best bits’ programme, probably especially scheduled for this weekend so it could be cancelled if it needed to be

  9. Team Lotus will be using that wind tunnel for 2012 car development.

    1. Sounds like a good idea for Team Lotus to have regular access to a tunnel, and for Williams to have their tunnel being used by a racing relevant organisation.

  10. If that BBC would have stopped F1 there would have been millions to BBC then.

    1. So true my friend. I bet the majority of The Antiques Roadshow contingent don’t even know what an iPlayer is.

  11. Hang on, if I understand that Scarbs article correctly, won’t there no be a risk of (terminal) exhaust damage if a following car bumps into the back of the car ahead of it under braking or at speed?

    1. would have to be a terrible bump though and bad luck.

      If they do crash their nose into it, the nose will crush (made to do so absorbing engergy) and the front wing would also just break off.

      1. I suppose they’ll have to make sure the crash structure is strong and tall enough, and the noses not too low …

  12. Kimi will be in a Red Bull F1 car during a demonstration in Helsinki this July. Let the rumours begin.

    http://omakaupunki.hs.fi/paakaupunkiseutu/uutiset/kimi_raikkonen_ajaa_espalla_formula_1ta/

    1. I never lost hope of Kimi coming back ! I hope this means something.

      Can anyone translate this article?

      1. I can’t see it myself but him joining RBR would be fantastic!

      2. I put it through Google translate and it basically says he’s gonna drive the RedBull in a demo and then some more about the counsil agreeing with a temp circuit and blocking of traffic in some areas.

        No quote from Kimi, like:

        Before I sign with Red Bull, I want to have a feel for their car, so that’s why I’m doing this demo run

  13. these teams blow beneath the floor.

    Why, I never!

  14. The FIA have me baffled. I can live with off-throttle EBD being banned, but the entire current concept outlawed from 2012, why? Naturally the teams are going to want to exploit aero during an engine freeze so why stifle innovation? It’s always struck me as a fantastic idea.

    At least I get to hear the front-blowing R31 with my own ears before the year is out.

    1. They might have waited and put it in the 2013 rules, you would think!

      1. That would be easy though! Is it yourself who added me on Facebook?

        1. yes, thats me!

    2. why stifle innovation?

      I think that stifling innovation is part of the F1 bylaws now.

      Improves the spectacle, don’cha know.

  15. graham228221
    15th June 2011, 8:53

    http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/interviews/article-23960471-nigel-mansell-drivers-take-crazy-risks-now-because-they-lack-respect.do

    Anyone see this interview with Nigel Mansell in the Evening Standard yesterday? I don’t know about everyone else, but it struck me as a bit rich of him to be saying “Oh, I’d beat anyone on the current grid” and “Drivers have too much help in the cars now”.

    What car was it that won him his one title? Oh yeah, the one that was packed with driver aids.

    1. he was a great driver (and entertaining in the car) and probably would win against current drivers, dont forget he was racing Senna, Prost, Piquet all at their prime.

    2. “Oh, I’d beat anyone on the current grid”

      Sounds like a normal racecar driver!

    3. Sounds just arrogant to me. You really dont want to make such a statement unless you actually do it, something I have learned in sports before. When he joined Williams he pretty much demanded an environment not unlike Schumacher’s in Ferrari.

      I really doubt if he were 20 years younger he would better, these are much different cars that need a different driving style. Something he probably wouldnt be accustomed to.

    4. “We didn’t have all the technical whizzes that are on the car now, so we actually controlled the car far more than the drivers today.”

      Has he forgotten everything about the car that he won the championship with?

      1. Maybe it also had sufficient memory to keep him going during the race, but he isn’t in that car anymore?

        It does sound quite arrogant, guess he’s not the only racing driver to say it, and yes, he was a very good driver up against a field of very good other drivers, but one can’t forget that he only got his WDC when they weren’t fighting him in a competitive car.

        Could be he is implying that if he was in the Red Bull, he’d beat everyone too, just like Vettel is doing?

        What he says about luck is true though, and he did have his share of bad luck to know it.

  16. More excellent news for Team Lotus! They seem to be going from strength to strength since the initial court case verdict.

    Hopefully this, on the back of their new sponsorship deal with General Electric, means they will be attacking the midfield in 2012.

  17. Paul Di Resta seems more than a little unhappy about his penalty:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13762382.stm

    1. Well, you can’t blame him for it. He already hampered only his own ambitions with that move. No need for further penalties.

      Look at how his team mate faired (from gpupdate):

      Later you had a drive-through penalty for passing Rosberg behind the Safety Car. How did that happen?
      The race started to go wrong for me when I touched Rosberg’s rear tyre under the Safety Car for Alonso’s crash. Vettel slowed down the pack so much and I almost had to stop. My wing was damaged but the car felt okay and my pace was still good.
      Then I got a drive-through penalty for overtaking Rosberg under the Safety Car. He slowed down on the straight because he thought he had a puncture, so that is something that I was surprised about. There was no other chance for me to react. I think was a little bit unlucky.

      1. hm, guess some people might be taking a different point of view on what DC said the drivers were doing until now, namely asking the stewards to be harsher with penalties …

        1. need to click on submit later: different view in the drivers meetings, I meant. Sorry.

  18. Yay,

    allowing us once more to the flames on the overrun and when revving on the grid before the start.

    ScarbsF1

    1. An unforseen big plus. Maybe this will be good after all then!

  19. The thing about hamilton that strikes me the most is that he is not the type of driver who gives you championship. This guy is a Choker(spelling?)..his championship winning year wasnt convincing. I mean after the first 11 races of his career he has been anything but consistent. Vettel and alonso doesnt choke under pressure(vettel,at least this year). Alonso had all the pressure in the world after Silverstone and went on to lead the championship. Vettel ,despite having the best car was behind alonso and had lots of pressure and how well he finished the season. Unlike hamilton who after leading the championship at Spa had some pathetic races. So i think Mclaren should make him learn how to win championships rather than encourage him. At present,acc. To me he is simply not a championship winning material.

    1. I disagree, just as we saw Vettel choke last race, We will and have seen Lewis do it.

      I’ll tell you what, put Vettel in a car where he can’t start from the top spot every race and he will have drama as well.

      All drivers have bad patches. That’s how it is.

    2. Immediately I find it hard to take your comment seriously because you describe a former champion as ‘not championship winning material’, then you say that Vettel and Alonso don’t choke a few days after Vettel couldn’t deal with the pressure of Button racing up to him, and after Alonso dealt so badly in 2007 with the pressure of Hamilton challenging him in his rookie year that he ended up helping to sabotage his own team!

      Alonso could have won the title last year but he couldn’t pass Petrov…

  20. I sympathize with the roadshow audience for sure, but get a grip.

    I put up with that for every second f1 qualifying. Stupid AFL………

    But hey, I know that the AFL is more popular in Aus and getting upset isn’t’ actually going to do anything at all to help. So I deal with it.

    Likewise, if 8 million people saw Button win that race, then I think it’s fair to say those 700 angry fans should be mature enough to understand, and deal with it.

  21. Coughlan and Stepney were both scapegoats in a previously the previously “accepted” practice of acquiring opposition designs.

    There’s a difference between cunningly contriving an excuse to sneak a look at the latest piece of must-have aerodynamic trickery and building your own interpretation of it and taking advantage of a disgruntled employee to acquire a five hundred page document detailing the precise techncial details of another team’s car and working it into your own design.

    The Stepney Affair might have been mishandled from the outset, but there is no question of the scale of what they did.

    1. The point is, it used to be pretty regular to spy, copy, steal etc. inclusive buying over personell (thats where the “gardening leave” periods stem from).
      Just think about Toyota getting away with it. Or Renault only a few months later.
      Certainly the fact this was about Ferrari, but more so it was about Mosley wanting to get one over on Dennis contributed to the fact so big a case was made of it.

      1. No, the reason it was so big a case was that the magnitude of the theft was unprecedented.

        Teams spy, copy, steal etc. But no team ever had a mole placed within a rival, so that they could acquire a flow of information on demand.

        Have you ever read the WMSC judgement from the Spygate case? The extent of the theft was far greater than media reports (now, or largely at the time) suggest. I have, and I find it bizarre that anyone think’s McLaren’s punishment was unduly harsh.

        1. I did read it very thoroughly.

          As you did so as well, you will know that McLaren did not have a “mole placed withing a rival”.
          Stephney grew to be unsatisfied at Ferrari and their very debatable interpretation of the floor so he told his mate at McLaren. From there on the two guys thought of taking the secrets on and help solve their problems.

          The clear prove Mosley related to was hardly as clear as he said and the penalty was rather given for Mosley feeling Dennis got out lightly on the first instance. If you take earlier and later cases in regard, even more so.
          Renault did not have little information, the investigation was far from as thorough as for McLaren.
          And McLaren was by then rather well advised to give up this battle and focus on the racing to regain/retain an image.
          The big penalty would have never been upheld in anything close to a regular courtroom.

          Surely it was very big, and McLaren deserved a penalty. But this was just out of proportion.

          1. I guess it’s a question of semantics.

            Anyway, McLaren were found out and it gave Mosley the perfect excuse to finish off Dennis for good, except it didn’t quite work out like that

            What always surprises me, given the amount of disgust for Nelson Piquet Jr. receiving an amnesty for testifying during Crshgate, is how much Alonso and de la Rosa have come out of this with their reputations unscathed. The FIA’s judgement clearly showed that the pair both asked for and used information supplied by Stepney to cheat. What they did was just as bad as Coughlan and Stepney yet they got away scot-free, not only in punishment but in reputation too.

          2. Re Nelson Piquet Jr’s amnesty, perhaps the disgust is because we don’t like seeing a sportsman just give up or give in, we want to see them competing for real.

            I wonder what would have happened if McLaren engineers or de la Rosa and then Alonso had immediately blown the whistle, i.e. notified the FIA upon learning that McLaren was using Ferrari information supplied by Stepney. Presumably that would have been the correct thing to do? An unlikely scenario?

  22. I saw the part 2 video of the Fan Forum, not sure the part 1 video was posted as well. Here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5yQQiVwOEE&NR=1

    For all of you opposed to the engine move watch out for the subaru on hangar straigh comment! I like Boulliers answer to that as well.

    1. that link brings me to the part 1 actually; maybe it was published after part 2 or something, as I am a day behind.

  23. Re: blown diffusers, I think Red Bull’s aero package is so good and refined, that it won’t be a walk over for the other teams.

    They pioneered the concept and refined it, but I can’t believe that’s worth more then half a second in qualifying.

    Mind you, in 2009 they almost beat the Brawns, despite not starting with the double diffuser. I think their basic aeroconcept is so good, that you cannot point to a single gadget, and say: “when that’s forbidden they will not dominate.”

    Yes, it will become closer, but for the predications, I will stick with Vettel on pole.

  24. This is a bit late but I wish a very happy birthday to David, Mateuss and Vikas

  25. Just to let you all know: last year Kubica had more points at this stage of the season than Vitaly and Nick together this year

  26. I doubt Kubica will return, and if he does, I doubt he will be as quick as he was.

  27. Ferrari seems to start feel the whole world is teaming up against them again. Hilarious hyperbole in this race review!
    http://www.ferrari.com/English/Formula1/News/Headlines/Pages/110613_F1_The_bitterness_did_not_fade_over_night_Domenicali_The_wheel_will_turn_sooner_or_later.aspx

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