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Author Topic: Formula 1 racing chatter!  (Read 48863 times)

mgk920

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Formula 1 racing chatter!
« on: October 25, 2011, 08:20:04 PM »

Very interesting! Starting in 2013, the USA will have two races on F1's annual calendar (Austin, TX starting next year), and on a temporary street course with an incredible view of the Manhattan skyline!

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/formula1/story/2011-10-24/formula-one-comes-to-new-jersey/50897052/1

 :clap:

Also, can someone in the northeast with a camera car take a lap on the published course and post it?  It should all be open and drivable in the clockwise race direction.

Mike
« Last Edit: July 26, 2012, 12:13:30 PM by mgk920 »
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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2011, 08:40:35 PM »

I'm really excited about both of these, probably moreso the NJ race than Austin due to the former being within driving distance for me. I think both of the circuits were well-thought-out, from looking at the layouts for them.
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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2011, 05:04:20 AM »

not another street race!

Is the area it goes through residential or commercial? And if residential, rich or poor? With Monaco, most people who live there go on holiday (and rent out their houses/apartments for the week) as there's all the noise and disruption - but they are rich, and renting their posh apartments to rich people more than pays for their holiday. With Valencia, it's just docklands. And with Singapore it's just the commercial area.

I'm guessing Austin will be yet another new track - they all tend to be designed by the same guy, so you end up with a lot of races that are almost the same.
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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2011, 08:39:44 AM »

(OOOH! An F1 thread!)

Bernie Ecclestone has wanted a New York Grand Prix very badly, to the point he held a spot for them during the 1983 Grand Prix season, which never made it very far. Don't forget that year also had GP races in Detroit and Long Beach, so he's always had a soft spot for the American market, seeing it has a vast untapped market for future F1 fans ...statistically, yes; realistically, no. It's arguably become the Number 2 form of motorsport in the nation, which is in better shape than IndyCar and ALMS — which have a very small niche following — but still a long way back from the 800-pound gorilla called Sprint Cup. New York makes a big statement, that almost goes without saying...but I get the idea that Bernie wants to pull off the event to show off to the rest of the world.

This is what he likes about the circuit location:



From what I've heard of the proposals, it's in a commercial district. Here's one of the plans by Tilke...(link to larger image)



Quote from: mgk920
Also, can someone in the northeast with a camera car take a lap on the published course and post it?  It should all be open and drivable in the clockwise race direction.
And a drive-around:


Personally, I'm more geeked about the Austin circuit, but the distance to travel + having two kids, means I'd like them to work out all the logistical bugs during the 2012 event, and I'll gladly visit it in 2013. Getting around by foot around the access paths of a street circuit is a totally different restriction which is much more of a pain in the head (for safety reasons) if not done properly. Then again, times may have changed since I saw the one Grand Prix I've been to in Spain, whereby you were free to walk about the circuit perimeter but could only sit where you held appropriate tickets.

not another street race!

Bridgehampton was a pretty awesome road course back in the day, having been a proper road course that shamed Watkins Glen for a while, but it's become a golf course since 1998.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2011, 08:58:21 AM by formulanone »
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mgk920

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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2011, 11:21:02 AM »

not another street race!

Is the area it goes through residential or commercial? And if residential, rich or poor? With Monaco, most people who live there go on holiday (and rent out their houses/apartments for the week) as there's all the noise and disruption - but they are rich, and renting their posh apartments to rich people more than pays for their holiday. With Valencia, it's just docklands. And with Singapore it's just the commercial area.

I'm guessing Austin will be yet another new track - they all tend to be designed by the same guy, so you end up with a lot of races that are almost the same.

Yep. A street course.  It is in a combination residential, commercial and parkland area with heavy redevelopment of a former industrial/port area.  West New York, NJ is one of the most densely populated municipalities in the entire USA, too, and on the course map in the above images, with one exception (the splotch by the hairpin, which is a sewage treatment plant), all of the red areas are very high unit-density residential buildings.  The pink area by the bridge on the south end of the track is also a seven-story residential building.  Resident access will be maintained to all during the race weeks and many will have fantastic views of the races from their apartments.

-------------------

Austin is currently building a purpose-built racetrack in rural southeast part of their metro area.  

See:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=30.137408,-97.640305&spn=0.044389,0.087891&t=h&z=14&vpsrc=6
This track, shown in the center of the image in its earliest stages of construction, is a short distance south of Bergstrom airport (AUS).

Mike
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1995hoo

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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2011, 12:03:44 PM »

One benefit to people living there would be the demise of those speed humps you see in that drive-around video.

I'd like to go to both this race and the one in Austin, but certainly this one would be far easier to get to from the DC area. On the other hand, I saw a possible ticket price of $360 kicked around. True, that's for the whole weekend, but as of right now I wouldn't be able to pay that.
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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2011, 12:22:47 PM »

Yeah, I'm aiming to attend in 2015 at the earliest. Anything before that isn't practical for me.
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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2011, 02:16:26 PM »

Looks like the Austin race is dead, at least for now...then again, knowing Ecclestone, whi knows.

 http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-bernie-ecclestone-austin-race-set-to-be-called-off
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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 2011, 02:39:21 PM »

Looks like the Austin race is dead, at least for now...then again, knowing Ecclestone, whi knows.

 http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-bernie-ecclestone-austin-race-set-to-be-called-off

Planet-F1 report that construction on the circuit has been suspended, too. Doesn't sound good.

I wonder why the circuit's owners keep capitalizing the word "the" in the circuit's name.
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"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Takumi

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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 2011, 04:11:35 PM »

Doesn't sound good.

Yeah, I saw that on ESPN last night. Looks like Tavo wants the track to take things over.
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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 2011, 05:26:29 PM »

I wonder why the circuit's owners keep capitalizing the word "the" in the circuit's name.

I think the term "The Americas" (North + Central + South America - Greenland) is always capitalized like that. Words like "the, a, of, and"...et cetera - which aren't normally capitalized within titles - are capitalized if they are the lead word in a proper noun. So "The Americas" is correct, because Grand Prix of The Americas is a concatenation of two proper nouns with a preposition. At least, that's what I recall from grade-school grammar.

Of course, calling it the "United States Grand Prix" alleviates this issue, but no...we have to make Mexico feel good that F1 hasn't used the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in 20 years.

I think F1 jumped the gun a little early, and desperately wants to the be first racing series at any new track it deems worthy of its top-notch FIA-approved machinery, but only just after the ink is dry on the blueprints. It used to be you made the track, and then they come, but then again, nobody wants to lose out on a $100 million investment, just to lure karts and weekend gentlemen racers, and never recoup their costs.

Of course, after the dust settles, we'll know if this was a big ploy by Bernie to get the NYGP, or a massive cock-up between the Austin organizers and the circuit owners.
« Last Edit: November 16, 2011, 05:36:14 PM by formulanone »
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1995hoo

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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #11 on: November 16, 2011, 05:39:21 PM »

I've never seen "the" capitalized in "the Americas," but who knows. If I remember, I'll ask my mother when I see her next week. She taught English for many years until retiring the year before last.

I know the people on Wikipedia incorrectly capitalize "the" whenever a name like "the Beatles" appears in the middle of a sentence (that is, they'd say "Help! was the second movie starring The Beatles, released in 1965" when it should be "... starring the Beatles ..."), contrary to just about every style and grammar guide out there, so maybe the circuit's owners are seemingly misguided.
« Last Edit: November 16, 2011, 05:41:29 PM by 1995hoo »
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"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

formulanone

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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #12 on: November 16, 2011, 05:44:09 PM »

...contrary to just about every style and grammar guide out there, so maybe the circuit's owners are seemingly misguided.

With the exception of most of the motoring press, the automotive industry was suffocating the English language long before SMS and the Internet.
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1995hoo

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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #13 on: November 17, 2011, 02:51:31 PM »

Reports today are that Ecclestone says he is 100% certain the 2012 Austin race will be cancelled at next month's WMSC meeting. Meanwhile, there's also a report that construction on the Circuit of the Americas has been halted.
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"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

1995hoo

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"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

mgk920

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Re: Formula 1 to run a street course in New Jersey
« Reply #15 on: June 13, 2012, 08:25:56 PM »

F1 Driver Sabastian Vettel's drive on the Weehawken-West New York, NJ course - Monday, 2012-06-11:


Enjoy!

 :thumbsup:

Mike
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mgk920

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Re: Formula 1 racing thread!
« Reply #16 on: July 26, 2012, 12:10:13 PM »

Rockwell-Collins is now a major sponsor of an F1 team and they have one of their cars on display, along with a personal appearance of their up and coming USA-born driver Alexander Rossi http://www.alexanderrossi.com/ at this year's EAA Airventure week in Oshkosh, WI, through Sunday, 29-July.  I spend several days on the grounds every year as a volunteer.

Worth checking out if you are in the area.

 :nod:

Mike
« Last Edit: July 26, 2012, 12:14:00 PM by mgk920 »
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Takumi

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Re: Formula 1 racing chatter!
« Reply #17 on: July 26, 2012, 12:29:50 PM »

During race coverage last week, the American commentators were briefly discussing the Nürburgring and its financial struggles. Has there been talk of its F1 race going away?
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Re: Formula 1 racing chatter!
« Reply #18 on: July 26, 2012, 07:48:05 PM »

^ The old Nürburgring has been in financial trouble for years now, due to its status of world's-longest-permanent racing circuit. Interestingly, it's considered a toll road, because on open days, you just bring cash and a vehicle, and pay-per-lap. But despite all the testing days, open days, and a handful of events, that doesn't bring in enough revenue to keep up a 14-mile long circuit and amenities, when the average road FIA Grade 1 circuit is about 3 miles long.

The flip-flop between Hockenhiem and Nürburgring for hosting the event every other year is an old idea brought back to life; Spa-Francorchamps and Paul Ricard are also going to do the same, I've heard.

Rockwell-Collins is now a major sponsor of an F1 team and they have one of their cars on display, along with a personal appearance of their up and coming USA-born driver Alexander Rossi http://www.alexanderrossi.com/ at this year's EAA Airventure week in Oshkosh, WI, through Sunday, 29-July.  I spend several days on the grounds every year as a volunteer.

Team Caterham has quite a number of American sponsors, I've noticed. GE and CNN are also in their portfolio. Now if only they could crack into the points or make Q2 on a regular basis...
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formulanone

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Re: Formula 1 racing chatter!
« Reply #19 on: September 13, 2012, 05:00:58 PM »

The Circuit of the Americas is almost completed...really cutting it close for an mid-November race!

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Takumi

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Re: Formula 1 racing chatter!
« Reply #20 on: September 13, 2012, 05:09:46 PM »

The Korean GP circuit was the same way a couple years ago; in fact, it was still a bit unfinished by race weekend.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2012, 05:12:53 PM by Takumi »
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Re: Formula 1 racing chatter!
« Reply #21 on: September 28, 2012, 12:30:50 PM »

Lewis Hamilton is leaving McLaren at the end of the year, replacing Michael Schumacher at Mercedes. Sergio Perez is his McLaren replacement.
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Re: Formula 1 racing chatter!
« Reply #22 on: September 28, 2012, 12:46:47 PM »

I expected Perez to go to Ferrari, to be honest. Somehow, Massa just doesn't have the same speed and motivation in the past two seasons. I figured the Sauber engine deal and dispatching Alonso on a few occasions would have sealed that second seat. Schumacher looks like he doesn't care anymore. He looks happier to be out of the car with every retirement, than he does actually driving it. Rosberg has surpassed him on nearly every race and qualifying session in the past three years.

I think now we'll see how good Hamilton really is at a mid-level team; there's been folks muttering that he jumped right into F1 with the one of the best cars at his disposal, but a look at Kovalinen shows that you sometimes can't handle the pressure. Although, Heikki has matured quite a bit; he's quietly done well in the Lotus/Caterham for a few years, if not spectacular.

This really opens up a lot of talk for a couple of seats; there's been no excitement from GP2 to fill up any vacancies (Davide Valscechi was the champ, but I don't see him jumping right into a great seat...he's had 3-4 years in GP2 to hone his craft against some really great past graduates, but now against so-so competitors.) Sauber will have an opening, though...seems to be a great car this year.

Now the silly season gets a lot less silly, but starts to get serious. And occasionally...weird.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2012, 12:48:58 PM by formulanone »
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1995hoo

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Re: Formula 1 racing chatter!
« Reply #23 on: September 28, 2012, 05:02:31 PM »

The BBC reports the FIA gave the stamp of approval to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin at today's track inspection, so November's race is a go!

New Jersey sounds far less likely.
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"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

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Re: Formula 1 racing chatter!
« Reply #24 on: September 28, 2012, 05:54:45 PM »

I expected Perez to go to Ferrari, to be honest. Somehow, Massa just doesn't have the same speed and motivation in the past two seasons.
Yeah, Massa's never been the same since his accident. "Fernando is faster than you" seems to have made it exponentially worse. I am glad to see Perez move up; in the absence of an American driver, it's good to see at least a North American driver doing well.

Quote
I think now we'll see how good Hamilton really is at a mid-level team
Agreed, although I have read that Mercedes is focusing more on its 2014 program than next year's.
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