Bahrain - What a rubbish place to start a Championship!

[Shadaza]

http://sniffpetrol.com/2012/04/20/breivik-f1-is-go/

*runs*

[CoopsII]

http://sniffpetrol.com/2012/04/20/breivik-f1-is-go/
*runs*

No need to run as its neither offensive nor funny, just kinda lame.

[dr-baker]

Has anyone brought up the "UniF1ed" ad campaign yet? (I'm struggling to keep track of what's been discussed where this week, for reasons explained below).

The organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix did an ad campaign linking F1 with the unification of their country. Long story short (my blog has the long version): they broke Article 1 of the FIA Statutes in the process, as interpreted the way the FIA used to take Jerez's race from it in 1997 and fined Turkey in 2006. I persuaded a journalist to ask about the matter, and the unofficial response went along the lines of "sound concept, no time to sort it out (check comments)".

This is not some minor regulation. It's a requirement of French-registered organisations to have a clause like Article 1, and the FIA is registered in France. Therefore it would not be much of a stretch to imagine someone bringing the FIA to court if they thought they could gain something from it. Since the maximum penalty is dissolution...

I could say that continuing to force the race after the safety guarantee was compromised (as demonstrated in the Force India hire car incident) breaches Article 17 of the International Sporting Code, which effectively means this is no longer an internation race and, technically speaking, no points or benefits can be derived from it (or F1 cars used). However, I think you get my point that the FIA is so busy pushing the race on the unwilling that it's putting itself in considerable danger.

some one email this to the FIA. please.

This ought to be taken into account too. If someone were to get hurt (or worse) now, this statement should come back to bite him. And hard.

[Shadaza]

Does this mean we can't race in the USA because of the treatment of it's protesters?
*edit, image removed for brutality reasons* You only need to see images of police pepper spraying peaceful protesters because they were in the way of "business" to realise that no where in the world is ideal.

Sport shouldn't be political, if you look hard enough there are reasons to cancel every single round.

[Backmarker]

Does this mean we can't race in the USA because of the treatment of it's protesters?

Regardless of the USA's treatment of protesters, they're not using the grand prix to promote unity (i.e. repress their population) with a catchy slogan like "UniF1ed".

[Shadaza]

Does this mean we can't race in the USA because of the treatment of it's protesters?

Regardless of the USA's treatment of protesters, they're not using the grand prix to promote unity (i.e. repress their population) with a catchy slogan like "UniF1ed".

That I grant you, the race should not be used as a political weapon either pro or anti regime. But you can't help but feel the media are over dramatising events. The "Force India attacked by petrol bombs" headline is a prime example of over hyped journalism.

Regardless if hosting the race is right or wrong, I am worried F1 will have its reputation stained for good. Ultimately F1 is caught in the crossfire and not the cause or soloution to the problem in Bahrain but is just a sport that is now caught between a rock and a hardplace.

[tristan1117]

This may be the first time I've had to post something from the BBC on the forums but the protests are clearly intensifying. And the police seems unable to stop them.

[nome66]

the prospect of holding this race is clearly dangerous.
this is a bigger bad decision then when CART went to texas in 2001

[fjackdaw]

the prospect of holding this race is clearly dangerous.
this is a bigger bad decision then when CART went to texas in 2001

What happened when CART went to Texas in 2001?

[nome66]

the cars were too fast for the abrupt high banks in fort worth. upwards of 236mph. drivers got dizzy and one or too blacked out and crashed. they were fine, but the officials and race control canceled the event and gave away free tickets to the next round. they tried to capitalize on the open wheel fanbase that came around when the indy racing league started using that track.

[fjackdaw]

the cars were too fast for the abrupt high banks in fort worth. upwards of 236mph. drivers got dizzy and one or too blacked out and crashed. they were fine, but the officials and race control canceled the event and gave away free tickets to the next round. they tried to capitalize on the open wheel fanbase that came around when the indy racing league started using that track.

Gosh, I don't remember hearing about that at all.

[dr-baker]

the cars were too fast for the abrupt high banks in fort worth. upwards of 236mph. drivers got dizzy and one or too blacked out and crashed. they were fine, but the officials and race control canceled the event and gave away free tickets to the next round. they tried to capitalize on the open wheel fanbase that came around when the indy racing league started using that track.

Gosh, I don't remember hearing about that at all.

I do, albeit in Autosport magazine several days later.

[Wizzie]

the cars were too fast for the abrupt high banks in fort worth. upwards of 236mph. drivers got dizzy and one or too blacked out and crashed. they were fine, but the officials and race control canceled the event and gave away free tickets to the next round. they tried to capitalize on the open wheel fanbase that came around when the indy racing league started using that track.

Forgive me for missing something but what made Texas so bad compared to somewhere like Fontana or Michigan where the speeds are comparable if not even higher? Was it just the banking?

[eurobrun]

the cars were too fast for the abrupt high banks in fort worth. upwards of 236mph. drivers got dizzy and one or too blacked out and crashed. they were fine, but the officials and race control canceled the event and gave away free tickets to the next round. they tried to capitalize on the open wheel fanbase that came around when the indy racing league started using that track.

Forgive me for missing something but what made Texas so bad compared to somewhere like Fontana or Michigan where the speeds are comparable if not even higher? Was it just the banking?

I think it was.

[The Passenger]

Due to the banking of the Texas Motor Speedway and the speed of the cars -- which was higher than that of the IRL cars (which could run at Texas) at the time -- the drivers experienced massive sustained G-loads (5.5, which is almost double the amount most people can endure and comparable to the Gs experienced by jet pilots, and more than a human body can tolerate for a sustained period of time) and almost all of them were suffering from disorientation or vertigo-like symptoms after qualifying. CART then tried to slow down the cars by removing downforce and horsepower, but they ran out of time to make the necessary changes for the race to take place safely, and thus it had to be called off.

CART really could have handled the situation better, perhaps by conducting tests at the track prior to the race (as had been requested by the track owners earlier) or at the very least starting to work on slowing down the cars after Friday practice when they still had time to make proper changes. While cancelling the race was the right thing to do after they couldn't slow down the speeds, CART suffered badly from the ensuing lawsuit from Texas Motor Speedway and lost millions of dollars, not to mention the huge damage their reputation and prestige took as a result of this whole debacle.

[mario]

Due to the banking of the Texas Motor Speedway and the speed of the cars -- which was higher than that of the IRL cars (which could run at Texas) at the time -- the drivers experienced massive sustained G-loads (5.5, which is almost double the amount most people can endure and comparable to the Gs experienced by jet pilots, and more than a human body can tolerate for a sustained period of time) and almost all of them were suffering from disorientation or vertigo-like symptoms after qualifying. CART then tried to slow down the cars by removing downforce and horsepower, but they ran out of time to make the necessary changes for the race to take place safely, and thus it had to be called off.

CART really could have handled the situation better, perhaps by conducting tests at the track prior to the race (as had been requested by the track owners earlier) or at the very least starting to work on slowing down the cars after Friday practice when they still had time to make proper changes. While cancelling the race was the right thing to do after they couldn't slow down the speeds, CART suffered badly from the ensuing lawsuit from Texas Motor Speedway and lost millions of dollars, not to mention the huge damage their reputation and prestige took as a result of this whole debacle.

I thought that part of the problem was that there had been private test sessions before the race itself took place - Kenny Bräck one of the first drivers to do so because he had already raced at that venue with the IRL - but there were no signs of the problems that would occur during the race. Bräck, IIRC, was only marginally faster than a contemporary IRL car, whilst in a handful of private tests that occurred before the race none of the drivers were reaching either the top speed or average lap speeds that they did in the practise sessions of the race.
Concerns were raised in advance, certainly, but it wasn't until the race weekend itself, when the drivers were suddenly going significantly faster, that the problems began to arise.

[The Passenger]

I thought that part of the problem was that there had been private test sessions before the race itself took place - Kenny Bräck one of the first drivers to do so because he had already raced at that venue with the IRL - but there were no signs of the problems that would occur during the race. Bräck, IIRC, was only marginally faster than a contemporary IRL car, whilst in a handful of private tests that occurred before the race none of the drivers were reaching either the top speed or average lap speeds that they did in the practise sessions of the race.
Concerns were raised in advance, certainly, but it wasn't until the race weekend itself, when the drivers were suddenly going significantly faster, that the problems began to arise.

You're right, I didn't remember they actually did do a bit of testing there in late 2000. It seems the drivers and teams complained about the roughness of the track surface then, and it was resurfaced afterwards to smooth out the bumps -- which likely contributed to the higher speeds and G-loads during the actual race weekend. According to the lawsuit, TMS had requested several times that CART do some more testing on the track (I assume this was after the resurfacing), but these requests were apparently ignored.

[CoopsII]

Im glad thats over with.

[East Londoner]

Im glad thats over with.

It's not over for Channel 4 though. This could get quite messy.

http://www.channel4.com/news/channel-4-news-team-arrested-in-bahrain

[CoopsII]

Im glad thats over with.

It's not over for Channel 4 though. This could get quite messy.
http://www.channel4.com/news/channel-4-news-team-arrested-in-bahrain

You can blame the BBC for this. Had they allowed C4 to pick up F1 these guys couldve enjoyed Bernie protection(!).

[dr-baker]

Im glad thats over with.

It's not over for Channel 4 though. This could get quite messy.
http://www.channel4.com/news/channel-4-news-team-arrested-in-bahrain

You can blame the BBC for this. Had they allowed C4 to pick up F1 these guys couldve enjoyed Bernie protection(!).

Well, they do admit to working without accreditation. BUT I do hope that they remain safe and are not exposed to anything physical. Or psychological for that matter.

[East Londoner]

The teams are not happy at the media coverage of the event.

Make your own conclusions...

[Sublime_FA11C]

So teams unhappy about media coverage take their story to the media. Somewhere a pot and a kettle are looking at each other thinking: "Haven't we been here before?".

[slowest_indian]

Pretty damning piece about Joe Saward etc.

http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2012/4/25/bahrain-special-how-regime-supporters-became-the-silent-majo.html

The EA guys know their stuff too, an interesting read if anyone is interested.

Cheers

[Pamphlet]

This has got to be the one and only time where I side with Joe Saward.