November 11, 2011
F1 Practice: Abu Dhabi 2011
A sunny early evening at Abu Dhabi greeted the F1 Circus as they took to the circuit for Friday's second practice, and it appears that something unexpected has occurred. The combination of Pirelli tires and a race run in both day and night may not be the most awesome thing ever. Everything was fine and dandy while the sun was up and the track was warm... but when night fell and the asphalt began to cool, the Pirellis just sort of surrendered any vestige of grip they may have had.
First, Mark Webber looped his Red Bull underneath the hotel. Then his teammate, the reigning Driver's Champion Seb Vettel, lost it heading into Turn 1, sliding all the way across the vast expanse of runoff area until he gorked his car into the SAFER-like barriers. He was unhurt, but the right side of the Red Bull was toast. About ten minutes after this, HWMNBN came racing down towards Turn 1 and not only did he lose it just like Vettel, he wound up planting his Ferrari into virtually the same place as the Red Bull. In the Spaniard's case, he wound up going into the barriers backwards, causing untold amounts of damage to the hazard flasher. Throw in Felipe Massa nearly reaching the barrier in P1 and Lewis Hamilton nearly having an exciting moment in P2, and you start to notice a trend here.
Other than that little bit of data, the other interesting thing that crawled out of the Abu Dhabian desert is that neither Red Bull was particularly fast around the track today. Jenson Button lead the way in P1, Hamilton in P2... with the two Red Bullies ending up 5th and 6th. I've always said you can't trust practice times, and I'll stand by that statement, but you don't usually see a Red Bull a full half-second behind the leader in any session for any reason. I'll keep an eye on this, but for some reason I'm still expecting to see Sebby on pole after Q3 comes to an end on Saturday.
Meanwhile, we learned that Sauber's Pastor Maldonado is going to take a 10-spot grid penalty for Sunday's race. He's had to use a ninth engine on the season when you only get eight. Vaya con dios, Sauber and kiss that seventh place in the Constructor's Championship goodbye as Toro Rosso is looking awfully decent so far.
I mentioned earlier that the difference between 5th and 8th place in the Constructor's Championship is measured in the tens of millions of dollars. Oddly enough, the Legendary Announce Team was talking about that very topic today. While the actual numbers are shrouded in mystery and skullduggery, whispers suggest that last year, Red Bull was awarded some $85 million for winning the Constructor's Championship... and Williams' sixth place earned them a $60 million check from Darth Bernie's bank account. Some $660 million was paid out to all the teams in 2010. Understand this: $60 million would be enough to fund some TEN high-ranking NASCAR teams for an entire year. Yeah, there's some money floating around F1.
Quals in the morning, see ya then!
First, Mark Webber looped his Red Bull underneath the hotel. Then his teammate, the reigning Driver's Champion Seb Vettel, lost it heading into Turn 1, sliding all the way across the vast expanse of runoff area until he gorked his car into the SAFER-like barriers. He was unhurt, but the right side of the Red Bull was toast. About ten minutes after this, HWMNBN came racing down towards Turn 1 and not only did he lose it just like Vettel, he wound up planting his Ferrari into virtually the same place as the Red Bull. In the Spaniard's case, he wound up going into the barriers backwards, causing untold amounts of damage to the hazard flasher. Throw in Felipe Massa nearly reaching the barrier in P1 and Lewis Hamilton nearly having an exciting moment in P2, and you start to notice a trend here.
Other than that little bit of data, the other interesting thing that crawled out of the Abu Dhabian desert is that neither Red Bull was particularly fast around the track today. Jenson Button lead the way in P1, Hamilton in P2... with the two Red Bullies ending up 5th and 6th. I've always said you can't trust practice times, and I'll stand by that statement, but you don't usually see a Red Bull a full half-second behind the leader in any session for any reason. I'll keep an eye on this, but for some reason I'm still expecting to see Sebby on pole after Q3 comes to an end on Saturday.
Meanwhile, we learned that Sauber's Pastor Maldonado is going to take a 10-spot grid penalty for Sunday's race. He's had to use a ninth engine on the season when you only get eight. Vaya con dios, Sauber and kiss that seventh place in the Constructor's Championship goodbye as Toro Rosso is looking awfully decent so far.
I mentioned earlier that the difference between 5th and 8th place in the Constructor's Championship is measured in the tens of millions of dollars. Oddly enough, the Legendary Announce Team was talking about that very topic today. While the actual numbers are shrouded in mystery and skullduggery, whispers suggest that last year, Red Bull was awarded some $85 million for winning the Constructor's Championship... and Williams' sixth place earned them a $60 million check from Darth Bernie's bank account. Some $660 million was paid out to all the teams in 2010. Understand this: $60 million would be enough to fund some TEN high-ranking NASCAR teams for an entire year. Yeah, there's some money floating around F1.
Quals in the morning, see ya then!
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Veterans Day 2011
At 11 o'clock in the morning of the 11th of November, 1918, silence fell across the Western Front. No shots rang out. No artillery rounds exploded. The cease-fire that would lead to the end of World War I had finally been declared. Around the world, people everywhere celebrated... and mourned.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson made November 11th Armistice Day, a national holiday. In his proclamation, he said:
"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."
After World War II, a movement began in Emporia, Kansas, to turn Armistice Day into a holiday honoring all vets. In 1954, Congress officially replaced "Armistice" with "Veterans", and the day has been known as Veterans Day ever since.
Today, we honor all those who have served our country, and remember those who gave their lives in her service.
Without you, we wouldn't be able to do the goofy things we do today. Thank you.
At 11 o'clock in the morning of the 11th of November, 1918, silence fell across the Western Front. No shots rang out. No artillery rounds exploded. The cease-fire that would lead to the end of World War I had finally been declared. Around the world, people everywhere celebrated... and mourned.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson made November 11th Armistice Day, a national holiday. In his proclamation, he said:
"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."
After World War II, a movement began in Emporia, Kansas, to turn Armistice Day into a holiday honoring all vets. In 1954, Congress officially replaced "Armistice" with "Veterans", and the day has been known as Veterans Day ever since.
Today, we honor all those who have served our country, and remember those who gave their lives in her service.
Without you, we wouldn't be able to do the goofy things we do today. Thank you.
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November 10, 2011
Just For The Record...
I gots nuthin'. Nuthin', I tell ya. And so I'm posting to tell youse that I've got nuthin', so youse don't come here thinkin' I got sumthin', cause I gots nuthin'. I'll have sumthin' tomorra, and I hope to have sumthin' really swell on Saturday, but right now? Nuthin'. But I'm not gonna leave youse with nuthin', nuh-uh. If I leave youse with nuthin', youse might t'ink that nuthin's all I'm ever gonna have, so here's sumthin' to keep youse from t'inkin' dat.
See, dat's sumtin' fer nuthin'. One t'ing it ain't is nuthin' from nuthin'. 'Cause nuthin' from nuthin' leaves nuthin', and you gotta have sumthin' or you gots a song that ain't gots no melody, I wanna sing it to my friends. Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
See? Nuthin'.
See, dat's sumtin' fer nuthin'. One t'ing it ain't is nuthin' from nuthin'. 'Cause nuthin' from nuthin' leaves nuthin', and you gotta have sumthin' or you gots a song that ain't gots no melody, I wanna sing it to my friends. Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?
See? Nuthin'.
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November 08, 2011
F1 on SPEED!: Abu Dhabi 2011
The Driver's Championship is sewn up. First, second and third in the Constructor's Championship are locked in, and fourth may as well be. Ladies and Gentlemen, that is the exciting backdrop for this year's Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi! Let's take a look at the track map:
We've had two previous Grands Prix here, and to be honest neither of them were all that great. Oh sure, watching HWMNBN get stuck behind The Red Menace for the entire race when he needed to get past to have a chance at winning the Driver's Championship was... satisfying... but not exciting. But that was the past; with today's KERS/DRS combination, there will undoubtedly be some passing. It's just hard to get excited about this race, all things considered.
It IS desperately important Sauber, Toro Rosso, Force India and Renault, however. These teams are all racing to finish fifth in the Constructor's Championship, and all four have a decent chance for the "best of the rest" prize. Renault has the lead with 72 points, followed by Force India's 51. Sauber and Toro Rosso are tied on points with 41, but Sauber leads the Red Bull junior team by dint of better finishes. The difference between finishing fifth and eighth is measured in the tens of millions of dollars when Darth Bernie writes the checks at the end of the year, and you'd best believe all four teams would kill for that cash. Indeed, it could literally be the difference between life and death for a team like Sauber, the last of the privateers. We'll keep an eye on that during the race, for sure!
As will the good folks at SPEED, who are bringing us their usual great coverage for the race weekend! Here's when it all goes down:
Friday: 3a - 430a P1 (streaming), 7a - 840a P2 (live)
Saturday: 4a - 5a P3 (streaming), 7a - 830a Quals (live)
Sunday: 630a - 9a Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi (live), 2p - 430p race replay
F1U! will be all over it, too! It's the penultimate race of the season; as dull as the backstories may be, it's still F1, and the season is nearly over... gotta enjoy it while it lasts!
See you then!
We've had two previous Grands Prix here, and to be honest neither of them were all that great. Oh sure, watching HWMNBN get stuck behind The Red Menace for the entire race when he needed to get past to have a chance at winning the Driver's Championship was... satisfying... but not exciting. But that was the past; with today's KERS/DRS combination, there will undoubtedly be some passing. It's just hard to get excited about this race, all things considered.
It IS desperately important Sauber, Toro Rosso, Force India and Renault, however. These teams are all racing to finish fifth in the Constructor's Championship, and all four have a decent chance for the "best of the rest" prize. Renault has the lead with 72 points, followed by Force India's 51. Sauber and Toro Rosso are tied on points with 41, but Sauber leads the Red Bull junior team by dint of better finishes. The difference between finishing fifth and eighth is measured in the tens of millions of dollars when Darth Bernie writes the checks at the end of the year, and you'd best believe all four teams would kill for that cash. Indeed, it could literally be the difference between life and death for a team like Sauber, the last of the privateers. We'll keep an eye on that during the race, for sure!
As will the good folks at SPEED, who are bringing us their usual great coverage for the race weekend! Here's when it all goes down:
Friday: 3a - 430a P1 (streaming), 7a - 840a P2 (live)
Saturday: 4a - 5a P3 (streaming), 7a - 830a Quals (live)
Sunday: 630a - 9a Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi (live), 2p - 430p race replay
F1U! will be all over it, too! It's the penultimate race of the season; as dull as the backstories may be, it's still F1, and the season is nearly over... gotta enjoy it while it lasts!
See you then!
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November 07, 2011
Attention To Orders
I would like to call your attention to the creation of a new category here at Wonderduck's Pond. It's been a long time coming, and it's an even longer time overdue, but I'm happy to finally announce the debut of the "Military History" category. It'll take some time to get everything sorted out and filed away, but now there's someplace to put my military stuff other than the "various" bucket.
I'm actually surprised at how much MilHist stuff I've written... should have done this a long time ago.
I would like to call your attention to the creation of a new category here at Wonderduck's Pond. It's been a long time coming, and it's an even longer time overdue, but I'm happy to finally announce the debut of the "Military History" category. It'll take some time to get everything sorted out and filed away, but now there's someplace to put my military stuff other than the "various" bucket.
I'm actually surprised at how much MilHist stuff I've written... should have done this a long time ago.
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November 06, 2011
Ducks In Anime: Yuno What It Is
-Hidamari Sketch x SP Ep01
It's been a long time since we last got to hang with the gang from the Hidamari Apartments. The arrival of the first of two Specials for the third series has fixed that, however, and with a vengeance!
Not that there's anything wrong with that... quite the contrary! It just felt a little... wrong for HidaSketch. As a visual exercise though, it was plenty good. The Special ends with the sleepover from Vol 5 of the manga, where Yuno falls asleep as soon as it starts. It's a little rushed, but still fun.
Then of course, there's Yuno's duckie. How I've missed seeing it every week! Well, there's still one more Special to go, and then the fourth season with air (date still TBA, last I checked). Plenty of duckie still to come, and I for one wouldn't have it any other way.
-Hidamari Sketch x SP Ep01
It's been a long time since we last got to hang with the gang from the Hidamari Apartments. The arrival of the first of two Specials for the third series has fixed that, however, and with a vengeance!
L to R: Nori, Nazuna, Yuno, Miyako, Hiro, Sae
The first half, where the six girls visit an art museum, is pretty much a perfect HidaSketch episode. There's humor, kindness, fun... just a group of six different personalities doing things together. If this doesn't sound like a great way to spend fifteen minutes, then the HidaSketch franchise is not for you. Those of you who are fans of the show are probably scrambling for the torrent sites right now. The second half, where the girls (minus Hiro and Sae, who are studying for college exams) visit an indoor swimming pool, isn't quite as heartwarming. Point in fact, there's a lot of fanservice. 
Not that there's anything wrong with that... quite the contrary! It just felt a little... wrong for HidaSketch. As a visual exercise though, it was plenty good. The Special ends with the sleepover from Vol 5 of the manga, where Yuno falls asleep as soon as it starts. It's a little rushed, but still fun.
Then of course, there's Yuno's duckie. How I've missed seeing it every week! Well, there's still one more Special to go, and then the fourth season with air (date still TBA, last I checked). Plenty of duckie still to come, and I for one wouldn't have it any other way.
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November 04, 2011
The Yan Yan Pirates Return!
Yarrrr, me hearties! The accursed scalliwags of the snack scene, the Yan Yan Pirates, have once agains been spotted sailing the (very) low seas! Hide your tasty delicacies, for none are safe while they're around... and to them knaves the Pocky Ninjas, hear this: they're comin' fer you, too!
(thanks to The Imperial Palace for the use of their ship, and for the yummy orange chicken, too!)
Yarrrr, me hearties! The accursed scalliwags of the snack scene, the Yan Yan Pirates, have once agains been spotted sailing the (very) low seas! Hide your tasty delicacies, for none are safe while they're around... and to them knaves the Pocky Ninjas, hear this: they're comin' fer you, too!
(thanks to The Imperial Palace for the use of their ship, and for the yummy orange chicken, too!)
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November 03, 2011
Name This Mystery Ship VIII
Go ahead, name this mystery ship! I dare you! If anybody gets it, they get a post of their own choosing (and I'll dine upon my chapeau).
Go ahead, name this mystery ship! I dare you! If anybody gets it, they get a post of their own choosing (and I'll dine upon my chapeau).
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November 01, 2011
Cloverfield
Back in 2007, the hype machine kicked into high gear for a film called Cloverfield. It was one of those movies that I really wanted to see... while I've never been a monster movie kind of duck, this one seemed to be pretty clever. When it was
released in early 2008, however, I never had a chance to get to the theater and it came and went before I could. It got good reviews, cleared a tidy $150million over its production costs, and was generally considered a success. Thanks to the wonders of satellite television and a DVR, I finally got to watch it this evening.
Essentially a Godzilla film for the 21st Century, the concept was that a giant monster is attacking New York City. The hook, however, is that the entire movie is actually "found footage," from the digital video camera of a guy amusingly named Hud (which is an acronym for "Head's Up Display"). From the initial attack in the Hudson River (just barely seen from a rooftop) to a last desperate attempt to kill it by the US military, everything we see is from the point-of-view of Hud's camera. We see what he sees, or pointedly doesn't see.
As a result, the monster is for the most part seen only in brief glimpses, and we never see the entire creature in one shot. This is a great conceit, one that goes a great way towards ramping up the tension of the movie. We "ride along" with Hud as he follows three of his friends, first in an attempt to get out of Manhattan, then in a rescue run of one of their girlfriends. Along the way, we see the Brooklyn Bridge destroyed, a battle between the US Army and the monster, people exploding from monster toxin, one tower of the Time-Warner Building leaning against the other, airstrikes, bombing runs from B-2 bombers, an oil tanker capsizing, people being eaten, self-propelled artillery pieces being stepped on, and on and on. The special effects are excellent. You can believe that what you're seeing was actually happening and being filmed on a handheld camera... shaky picture and all. It's quite the wild ride to be honest. There's a lot of things to like in Cloverfield.
Unfortunately, the characters aren't one of them. The four main people are Rob, Lily, Marlena and Hud. Rob's a self-absorbed jerk who drags his friends on a quixotic mission to rescue his girlfriend... who is on the opposite side of the monster from where they are. Lily is a cipher. Marlena is a sarcastic, annoying twit who shows one brief flicker of humanity just before she dies, and Hud is a whiny twit who's constant complaining is just grating. Of course, he's the one who's dialogue we hear the most, mainly consisting of "Rob! Hey, Rob! Rob! Oh my god! Rob!" To be fair, they are under a lot of stress... it's not every day a 30-story monster eats your city... and they're supposed to be normal people thrust into a decidedly not normal situation, but I think Director Matt Reeves and Director JJ Abrams went a little too far emphasizing that fact.
I realized about halfway through the movie that, while I couldn't care less what happened to the characters (unless they died... I was okay with that), I was having fun. That's the mark of an entertaining movie... maybe not a good one, but an entertaining one. As is, I'd give Cloverfield three and a half stars out of five, with a warning that the "shakycam" style of filming will not suit everybody's taste. It was definitely worth the 90 minutes, though it's not likely to be a rewatch.
Essentially a Godzilla film for the 21st Century, the concept was that a giant monster is attacking New York City. The hook, however, is that the entire movie is actually "found footage," from the digital video camera of a guy amusingly named Hud (which is an acronym for "Head's Up Display"). From the initial attack in the Hudson River (just barely seen from a rooftop) to a last desperate attempt to kill it by the US military, everything we see is from the point-of-view of Hud's camera. We see what he sees, or pointedly doesn't see.
As a result, the monster is for the most part seen only in brief glimpses, and we never see the entire creature in one shot. This is a great conceit, one that goes a great way towards ramping up the tension of the movie. We "ride along" with Hud as he follows three of his friends, first in an attempt to get out of Manhattan, then in a rescue run of one of their girlfriends. Along the way, we see the Brooklyn Bridge destroyed, a battle between the US Army and the monster, people exploding from monster toxin, one tower of the Time-Warner Building leaning against the other, airstrikes, bombing runs from B-2 bombers, an oil tanker capsizing, people being eaten, self-propelled artillery pieces being stepped on, and on and on. The special effects are excellent. You can believe that what you're seeing was actually happening and being filmed on a handheld camera... shaky picture and all. It's quite the wild ride to be honest. There's a lot of things to like in Cloverfield.
Unfortunately, the characters aren't one of them. The four main people are Rob, Lily, Marlena and Hud. Rob's a self-absorbed jerk who drags his friends on a quixotic mission to rescue his girlfriend... who is on the opposite side of the monster from where they are. Lily is a cipher. Marlena is a sarcastic, annoying twit who shows one brief flicker of humanity just before she dies, and Hud is a whiny twit who's constant complaining is just grating. Of course, he's the one who's dialogue we hear the most, mainly consisting of "Rob! Hey, Rob! Rob! Oh my god! Rob!" To be fair, they are under a lot of stress... it's not every day a 30-story monster eats your city... and they're supposed to be normal people thrust into a decidedly not normal situation, but I think Director Matt Reeves and Director JJ Abrams went a little too far emphasizing that fact.
I realized about halfway through the movie that, while I couldn't care less what happened to the characters (unless they died... I was okay with that), I was having fun. That's the mark of an entertaining movie... maybe not a good one, but an entertaining one. As is, I'd give Cloverfield three and a half stars out of five, with a warning that the "shakycam" style of filming will not suit everybody's taste. It was definitely worth the 90 minutes, though it's not likely to be a rewatch.
The real star of the film
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October 31, 2011
Halloween 2011
The four stages of a Monster's life. They start as a youthful abomination, cute but destined for terrible things. Then as a teenage affront to God, they wear makeup to change their skin color, wear wacky clothing and an odd hairstyle. As an adult, they become the more traditional fiend. Finally, the aged duckonculus becomes the very apotheosis of the Modern Monster.
Hope all your lil' abominations have a Happy Halloween!
The four stages of a Monster's life. They start as a youthful abomination, cute but destined for terrible things. Then as a teenage affront to God, they wear makeup to change their skin color, wear wacky clothing and an odd hairstyle. As an adult, they become the more traditional fiend. Finally, the aged duckonculus becomes the very apotheosis of the Modern Monster.
Hope all your lil' abominations have a Happy Halloween!
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October 30, 2011
F1 Update!: India 2011
A hot, smoggy day greeted the F1 Circus as they formed up on the Buddh International Circuit's grid. Would polesitter Seb Vettel continue his domination of the year, or would he let his teammate by in an attempt to get him second place in the driver's championship? Or would the Ferraris and McLarens make the question moot? THIS is your F1U! for the inaugural Grand Prix of India!
*EVERYTHING NEW IS OLD AGAIN: Once the lights went out and the race began, it was exactly like most of the previous races this season. Seb Vettel got a good start, pulled away and never looked back. At the end of Lap 1, his lead was 1.3 seconds and nobody ever got any closer. By the end of Lap 8, it was over 8 seconds.
*BLUNDERING HERD: The first turn saw a shower of carbon fiber, front wings and bodywork like we haven't seen all season. Five cars had various degrees of damage as the back half of the field approached the braking zone, and a sixth, the Lotus of Jarno Trulli went for a spin in Turn 3, provoked by a nudge from behind. We here at F1U! aren't exactly sure just why such carnage occurred today as the first turn is plenty wide, but there it is. It was entertaining, if nothing else.
*THE TRACK: In another era, it's clear that the Buddh International Circuit would be another processional circuit. However, with two DRS zones and KERS, there was some fun racing back in the midpack. Hermann Tilke got lucky with this one. As long as the rules stay the way they are, India will be a race to look forward to. That long long looooooong straightaway looks like it has the ability to kill a powertrain, however. Two cars suffered failures as they ran down the 4000' length of tarmac: one dead gearbox and one blown engine. The curbs also reached up and broke Felipe Massa's suspension again, though this time the left front.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Seb Vettel led his 711th lap of the season today. Not only is that a record, it's also more laps than Jenson Button has led in his entire career... and yes, that includes his 2009 Championship season. More than that, Vettel today earned himself a rare F1 Grand Slam. He won from pole position, led every lap, and set fast lap of the race. In a season of great drives from the young German, this was probably his best.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: McLaren clinched second place in the Constructor's Championship with the combination of Jenson Button's second-place finish and Lewis Hamilton's 7th. In a year that was so dominated by one team, that's quite the accomplishment for the team from Woking.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: Not always do the best moves of a race happen up towards the front of the field, and today was a perfect example of that fact. On Lap 14, the surging Toro Rosso of DJ Squire was hunting down the hometown Force India of Adrian Sutil. When the two cars crossed the DRS detection marker before the long straight, DJ Squire was about a half-second back. Opening the flap on the rear wing let the Toro Rosso pull close, but it didn't really seem like he had the speed to make the pass as they approached the braking zone.
Despite what we thought, DJ Squire pulled his steed to the outside of the Force India and held off on the braking for as long as he could.
Keeping the Toro Rosso under control into the fast sweep, DJ Squire just barely managed to pull ahead of the Force India, forcing Adrian Sutil to back down.
While it was only for 9th place, it was still an impressive move, and without a doubt the best of the day. It just wasn't as... exciting as some have been. This isn't a negative.
*MOOOOOOOO-OOOOVE OF THE RACE: Because "exciting" is exactly what you don't want when you're making a pass at 150mph On Lap 24, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton had the Ferrari of Felipe Massa right where he wanted it. That the two of them had made contact five previous times this season probably should have given Hamilton some pause, but heading into Turn 5 he still had some KERS juice remaining while Massa did not. He used it and tried to get underneath the red car...
...and Massa tried to guillotine the McLaren, which had his front tires in front of the Ferrari's rears. Massa went for a slide and a spin, Hamilton went to the pits for a new nose. Massa was later given a drive-through penalty for his rather bovine attempt to keep Hamilton behind him, and his later suspension failure seemed like a case of just desserts. Congratulations, Felipe, this Mooooooo-ooove's all yours.
*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
*EVERYTHING NEW IS OLD AGAIN: Once the lights went out and the race began, it was exactly like most of the previous races this season. Seb Vettel got a good start, pulled away and never looked back. At the end of Lap 1, his lead was 1.3 seconds and nobody ever got any closer. By the end of Lap 8, it was over 8 seconds.
*BLUNDERING HERD: The first turn saw a shower of carbon fiber, front wings and bodywork like we haven't seen all season. Five cars had various degrees of damage as the back half of the field approached the braking zone, and a sixth, the Lotus of Jarno Trulli went for a spin in Turn 3, provoked by a nudge from behind. We here at F1U! aren't exactly sure just why such carnage occurred today as the first turn is plenty wide, but there it is. It was entertaining, if nothing else.
*THE TRACK: In another era, it's clear that the Buddh International Circuit would be another processional circuit. However, with two DRS zones and KERS, there was some fun racing back in the midpack. Hermann Tilke got lucky with this one. As long as the rules stay the way they are, India will be a race to look forward to. That long long looooooong straightaway looks like it has the ability to kill a powertrain, however. Two cars suffered failures as they ran down the 4000' length of tarmac: one dead gearbox and one blown engine. The curbs also reached up and broke Felipe Massa's suspension again, though this time the left front.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Seb Vettel led his 711th lap of the season today. Not only is that a record, it's also more laps than Jenson Button has led in his entire career... and yes, that includes his 2009 Championship season. More than that, Vettel today earned himself a rare F1 Grand Slam. He won from pole position, led every lap, and set fast lap of the race. In a season of great drives from the young German, this was probably his best.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: McLaren clinched second place in the Constructor's Championship with the combination of Jenson Button's second-place finish and Lewis Hamilton's 7th. In a year that was so dominated by one team, that's quite the accomplishment for the team from Woking.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: Not always do the best moves of a race happen up towards the front of the field, and today was a perfect example of that fact. On Lap 14, the surging Toro Rosso of DJ Squire was hunting down the hometown Force India of Adrian Sutil. When the two cars crossed the DRS detection marker before the long straight, DJ Squire was about a half-second back. Opening the flap on the rear wing let the Toro Rosso pull close, but it didn't really seem like he had the speed to make the pass as they approached the braking zone.
Despite what we thought, DJ Squire pulled his steed to the outside of the Force India and held off on the braking for as long as he could.
Keeping the Toro Rosso under control into the fast sweep, DJ Squire just barely managed to pull ahead of the Force India, forcing Adrian Sutil to back down.
While it was only for 9th place, it was still an impressive move, and without a doubt the best of the day. It just wasn't as... exciting as some have been. This isn't a negative.
*MOOOOOOOO-OOOOVE OF THE RACE: Because "exciting" is exactly what you don't want when you're making a pass at 150mph On Lap 24, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton had the Ferrari of Felipe Massa right where he wanted it. That the two of them had made contact five previous times this season probably should have given Hamilton some pause, but heading into Turn 5 he still had some KERS juice remaining while Massa did not. He used it and tried to get underneath the red car...
...and Massa tried to guillotine the McLaren, which had his front tires in front of the Ferrari's rears. Massa went for a slide and a spin, Hamilton went to the pits for a new nose. Massa was later given a drive-through penalty for his rather bovine attempt to keep Hamilton behind him, and his later suspension failure seemed like a case of just desserts. Congratulations, Felipe, this Mooooooo-ooove's all yours.
*SELECTED DRIVER QUOTES OF THE RACE:
more...
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October 29, 2011
The Flight To The Battle of Midway Roundtable
Back on October 6th, I posted a 3000-word article on The Flight To Nowhere, the disastrous mission of the USS Hornet's Air Group on the first day of the Battle of Midway. After I posted it, I realized that it was actually pretty decent. On a whim, I sent a link to the post to Ronald Russell, author of the book No Right To Win and the webmaster of the Battle of Midway Roundtable.
The BOMRT is an online gathering of historians, authors, interested amateurs, and (most importantly) veterans of the Battle of Midway. It's probably the foremost online resource on the events of Midway, which explains why pretty much anybody who's written a book on the Battle or related topics in recent years is a member; Jon Parshall and Anthony Tully, John Lundstrom, Robert Cressman, Alvin Kernan, Robert Mrazek, Norman Polmar, amongst others.
A few hours after I sent the link to Mr Russell, I got a response with a few notes and a willingness to use the post in the next "issue" of the BOMRT Newsletter. To say this is something of an honor is understating the matter a bit; short of the article actually being published somewhere, that's about as good as it gets for an "interested amateur" like myself.
The new issue of the Newsletter was posted today. You can find the relevant "Now Hear This" page right here.
I'm somewhat chuffed.
The BOMRT is an online gathering of historians, authors, interested amateurs, and (most importantly) veterans of the Battle of Midway. It's probably the foremost online resource on the events of Midway, which explains why pretty much anybody who's written a book on the Battle or related topics in recent years is a member; Jon Parshall and Anthony Tully, John Lundstrom, Robert Cressman, Alvin Kernan, Robert Mrazek, Norman Polmar, amongst others.
A few hours after I sent the link to Mr Russell, I got a response with a few notes and a willingness to use the post in the next "issue" of the BOMRT Newsletter. To say this is something of an honor is understating the matter a bit; short of the article actually being published somewhere, that's about as good as it gets for an "interested amateur" like myself.
The new issue of the Newsletter was posted today. You can find the relevant "Now Hear This" page right here.
I'm somewhat chuffed.
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F1 Quals: India 2011
It's always a point of pride to be the first ever to score a pole at a new track, but it's not like that's the only thing up for grabs here. Red Bull could set a single-season record with a pole, and Seb Vettel could continue his chase to tie a record. And, of course, everybody else would like to prevent that from happening. So how did it shake out? Let's take a look at the provisional grid for the 2011 Grand Prix of India:
Well, it was hardly unexpected. As he has all season, Seb Vettel blew away the field to earn his 13th pole position. In doing so, Red Bull won their 16th of the year, a new single-season record. Surprisingly, there was no drama to Q3 at all. Vettel went out, set a lap that was good enough for pole and let everybody else take their shots. When McLaren's Lewis Hamilton came close to bumping him on the first run, Vettel returned to the track. In the middle of his second run, Felipe Massa brought out the yellow flags when his suspension broke going over a curb.
This rather abrupt loss of grip sent him nose-first into a wall in a style reminiscent of his 2009 Hungary wreck. Fortunately there were no springs flying around this time, and the Brazilian got out of the car unscathed. Behind him, however, were all the drivers who had any possibility of beating Vettel's time: Jenson Button, HWMNBN and Mark Webber. While Button was having difficulties some difficulties with his tires, he had a decent looking lap going. All three were badly hurt by the yellow flags, which required them to slow down in the vicinity of Massa's wreck. Lewis Hamilton, who was ahead of Massa on the track, aborted his second run for pole when it became clear that he wasn't even going to match his first flying lap. So instead of a tense shootout, it became a fait accompli. Nico Rosberg's Mercedes never really had a chance, and the two Toro Rossos never even left the garage. The Force India of Adrian Sutil turned an installation lap to the delight of the Indian fans, but returned to the garage to preserve his tires for the race.
At the back of the grid, we have an official changing of the guard. For the first time ever, both HRTs qualified ahead of both Virgins. It's been coming for a while now, but it's now obvious that the Virgin F1 team is now the slowest on the grid. Tim O'Glockenspiel barely turned a timed lap before his gearbox decided to grenade itself. He will be allowed to start dead last.
Finally, there are FIVE separate drivers dealing with grid spot penalties. Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez both lose three spots for their ignoring yellow flags at the end of P1, sending Hamilton to fifth and Perez to 20th on the grid. The Red Menace got a five-spot penalty for causing an accident (with Slappy Schumacher) in Korea, dropping him to 16th. Finally, both HRT drivers received penalties as well: Kittylitter for impeding another driver, which drops him to 23rd; and Daniel Ricciardo gets a five-spotter for having to change a gearbox before Quals. He'll start 22nd.
So, that's the news from the first Indian quals! The race is in the morning, and F1U! will duly follow. See you then!
Well, it was hardly unexpected. As he has all season, Seb Vettel blew away the field to earn his 13th pole position. In doing so, Red Bull won their 16th of the year, a new single-season record. Surprisingly, there was no drama to Q3 at all. Vettel went out, set a lap that was good enough for pole and let everybody else take their shots. When McLaren's Lewis Hamilton came close to bumping him on the first run, Vettel returned to the track. In the middle of his second run, Felipe Massa brought out the yellow flags when his suspension broke going over a curb.
This rather abrupt loss of grip sent him nose-first into a wall in a style reminiscent of his 2009 Hungary wreck. Fortunately there were no springs flying around this time, and the Brazilian got out of the car unscathed. Behind him, however, were all the drivers who had any possibility of beating Vettel's time: Jenson Button, HWMNBN and Mark Webber. While Button was having difficulties some difficulties with his tires, he had a decent looking lap going. All three were badly hurt by the yellow flags, which required them to slow down in the vicinity of Massa's wreck. Lewis Hamilton, who was ahead of Massa on the track, aborted his second run for pole when it became clear that he wasn't even going to match his first flying lap. So instead of a tense shootout, it became a fait accompli. Nico Rosberg's Mercedes never really had a chance, and the two Toro Rossos never even left the garage. The Force India of Adrian Sutil turned an installation lap to the delight of the Indian fans, but returned to the garage to preserve his tires for the race.
At the back of the grid, we have an official changing of the guard. For the first time ever, both HRTs qualified ahead of both Virgins. It's been coming for a while now, but it's now obvious that the Virgin F1 team is now the slowest on the grid. Tim O'Glockenspiel barely turned a timed lap before his gearbox decided to grenade itself. He will be allowed to start dead last.
Finally, there are FIVE separate drivers dealing with grid spot penalties. Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez both lose three spots for their ignoring yellow flags at the end of P1, sending Hamilton to fifth and Perez to 20th on the grid. The Red Menace got a five-spot penalty for causing an accident (with Slappy Schumacher) in Korea, dropping him to 16th. Finally, both HRT drivers received penalties as well: Kittylitter for impeding another driver, which drops him to 23rd; and Daniel Ricciardo gets a five-spotter for having to change a gearbox before Quals. He'll start 22nd.
So, that's the news from the first Indian quals! The race is in the morning, and F1U! will duly follow. See you then!
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F1 Quals: India report delayed
Don't have time to post the report right now. I'll do it sometime this afternoon. Sorry about the delay!
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October 28, 2011
F1 Practice: India P2
Another 90 minutes of running on the new Buddh International Circuit is in the books, and the character of the track is starting to show up, at least to this observer. If I had to describe the place, it's Abu Dhabi with hills. This is not a good thing.
To be sure, the two layouts couldn't be more different. Yes, they both have a very long straightaway, but other than that, the two tracks have little in common. Yet they feel the same to me. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But that's how I'm seeing it right now.
The drivers, on the other hand, love the place. "Awesome," "fantastic," "good fun," "really nice," "challenging," and "interesting" are just some of the words drivers have used to describe the place. Well, good, I'm glad they like it. Hopefully it makes for awesome, fantastic, interesting and really nice racing come Sunday!
Of course, the drivers are still deciding on how best to drive the course. Turn 10 has gone from having to two racing lines to one, though it's a wide line. Nobody seems to have a handle on the correct way to handle the Turn 6/7 pair; the grass on the inside of 7 is getting seriously rough treatment, and a lot of it is ending up on the racing surface, having been dragged there by cars returning to the track. And both ends of the pit lane are a little squirrely, though nowhere near as bad as Korea.
On the plus side, I'm loving Turn 1/2/3. It's like Hermann Tilke finally figured out how to make a series of turns flow together naturally. Of course, they feed right into that 4000' long rollercoaster of a straightaway, which is now the longest in F1, if not the world.
In off-track news, both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez have been handed matching three grid-spot penalties for the race. At the end of P1, Pastor Maldonado turned his engine into so much scrap metal, bringing out a full-course yellow and a recovery vehicle to carry his car away. Of course, track workers doing their job "over the wall" calls for double-yellow flags to be waved in that section of track. Drivers are to slow way down in that situation for the protection of the workers, and the stewards believe neither Hamilton or Perez did that sufficiently. For Hamilton, this is actually good because he could have been given a reprimand, his third for the season. Three reprimands in a season carries a FIVE grid-spot penalty. If both Perez and Hamilton were given reprimands, Perez would have escaped clean and Hamilton penalized. I think at that point Lewis would have climbed the nearest clock tower and start gunning down anybody wearing the FIA logo.
F1 Update!'s decision to use the designation "soft" and "hard" tires during our race writeups may go against the more traditional "prime" and "option" terms, but at least for this race it's going to prove to be less confusing! Generally, the designated option tire is the softer of the two compounds, but at the Indian Grand Prix, the option tire has been declared to be the harder tire. The prime tire is the soft. So, hurray for us, I suppose.
Finally, everybody please join F1U! in wishing Darth Bernie Ecclestone a happy 81st birthday, born October 28th 1930.
Quals Saturday morning, see you then!
To be sure, the two layouts couldn't be more different. Yes, they both have a very long straightaway, but other than that, the two tracks have little in common. Yet they feel the same to me. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But that's how I'm seeing it right now.
The drivers, on the other hand, love the place. "Awesome," "fantastic," "good fun," "really nice," "challenging," and "interesting" are just some of the words drivers have used to describe the place. Well, good, I'm glad they like it. Hopefully it makes for awesome, fantastic, interesting and really nice racing come Sunday!
Of course, the drivers are still deciding on how best to drive the course. Turn 10 has gone from having to two racing lines to one, though it's a wide line. Nobody seems to have a handle on the correct way to handle the Turn 6/7 pair; the grass on the inside of 7 is getting seriously rough treatment, and a lot of it is ending up on the racing surface, having been dragged there by cars returning to the track. And both ends of the pit lane are a little squirrely, though nowhere near as bad as Korea.
On the plus side, I'm loving Turn 1/2/3. It's like Hermann Tilke finally figured out how to make a series of turns flow together naturally. Of course, they feed right into that 4000' long rollercoaster of a straightaway, which is now the longest in F1, if not the world.
In off-track news, both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez have been handed matching three grid-spot penalties for the race. At the end of P1, Pastor Maldonado turned his engine into so much scrap metal, bringing out a full-course yellow and a recovery vehicle to carry his car away. Of course, track workers doing their job "over the wall" calls for double-yellow flags to be waved in that section of track. Drivers are to slow way down in that situation for the protection of the workers, and the stewards believe neither Hamilton or Perez did that sufficiently. For Hamilton, this is actually good because he could have been given a reprimand, his third for the season. Three reprimands in a season carries a FIVE grid-spot penalty. If both Perez and Hamilton were given reprimands, Perez would have escaped clean and Hamilton penalized. I think at that point Lewis would have climbed the nearest clock tower and start gunning down anybody wearing the FIA logo.
F1 Update!'s decision to use the designation "soft" and "hard" tires during our race writeups may go against the more traditional "prime" and "option" terms, but at least for this race it's going to prove to be less confusing! Generally, the designated option tire is the softer of the two compounds, but at the Indian Grand Prix, the option tire has been declared to be the harder tire. The prime tire is the soft. So, hurray for us, I suppose.
Finally, everybody please join F1U! in wishing Darth Bernie Ecclestone a happy 81st birthday, born October 28th 1930.
Quals Saturday morning, see you then!
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October 27, 2011
F1 Practice: India P1 Liveblog
(PRE-SESSION) Hello, namaste and welcome to the second ever F1-related liveblog here at The Pond. Tonight is our first real glimpse of the new Buddh International Circuit in India. As with last year's liveblog of the debut of Korea's track, I'll be using time remaining in the session as a reference... if you see 1:15:07, that means there's one hour, fifteen minutes and seven seconds left in P1, not that it's 1:15am.
My broadband connection seems to be running quick tonight, but if last year's liveblog of Korea is any judge, I have the speed to stream video or update the blog... but not both at any given time. I'll probably be doing two or three entries at a time, just to keep myself from going insane. Any pictures will be screencaps from the SPEED streaming feed, which you can find right here.
Reports are that the track is very dusty. Well, yeah, that figures... it's still a construction site. Some people on-site are saying that not every bathroom has running water, electricity is being provided by generators when it's provided at all, and on and on. That's as may be, but the asphalt is down, the curbing is installed, and we're going to see a new track! I fully expect to see the two Indian drivers, Cowboy Karun Chandhok, who's only driving for Lotus in P1, and Narain Kittylitter, who's taking Vitantonio Liuzzi's seat at HRT for this race, out first... both to play streetsweeper and to say "hey, the first official cars on track were piloted by Indians!" We'll find out soon enough.
1:30:00 - And... the stream isn't working? What the heck?
?:??:?? - Well, crap. I'm going to reboot my computer. I gather the session has been red-flagged anyway, due to stray dogs being on the track. Force India was the first to get on track, surprise surprise, and Chandhok got the first official timed lap.
?:??:?? - I'm not the only one; over at F1 Fanatic's Live coverage, there's a bunch of people having the same problem.
?:??:?? - Peter "Smarmy" Windsor (there's a name we haven't heard in a while!) is apparently working for SPEED again in some capacity. He just tweeted that the live feed isn't working quite yet. Yay us.
?:??:?? - Still nothing, after a half-hour. I'm shutting this down for the night. I'll have full coverage of P2 on Friday. See you then!
40:24 - It's up, and this is the first thing to appear:
Cool shot, that.
37:27 - The track is either very dusty, or there's a metric farkton of smog in the air. It's hideous!
35:45 - HWMNBN comes to a halt at the side of the road, dead engine.
33:30 - Yo dawg, I hear you like F1, so I put some F1 in your F1 so you can watch F1 while you F1!
29:15 - Track is very dusty and slippery. Lots of people going off all over the place.
26:54 - My heavens, that big Turn 10 just goes on and on and on, doesn't it? That's gonna kill more front-left tires than anything, right there.
24:50 - Facilities look complete. Place seems a lot more done than Korea did last year... or even this year, come to think of it.
23:18 - Just to give you an idea of the amount of smog/dust/fog/whatever in the air, take a look at this:
One winces at the thought of that getting pulled into an 18000rpm engine... and it was worse earlier.
17:00 - I like the circuit, but it doesn't seem to have much of an identity yet. Maybe because I'm grumpy about the live stream not starting until half the session was already done? Perhaps. Or maybe it's because this is the first time we've ever seen cars on it. Still, other than that big big turn, the place seems flavorless.
12:00 - A Lotus just spun out... in the pit lane. Practicing a getaway, just looped it. Whoopsie!
10:40 - I'll say this: lots of elevation change. I'm surprised we haven't seen a driver ralphing into his cockpit yet. Up and down, up and down, here's a turn, up and down, rinse, repeat.
8:50 - DJ Squire stuffs his Toro Rosso into a wall.
Dust? What dust?
6:00 - And Pastor Maldonado blows his lump. NTTAWWT.
3:00 - Definitely two racing lines through Turn 10. When was the last time we saw that at a F1 track? Indy? Maybe not even there.
0:00 - Session over. Lewis Hamilton has the fastest time (1:26.836), followed by Vettel, Webber and Button. I'm withholding judgment on the circuit until I actually see people race on it, and maybe after the F1 TV Director stops popping the greenies. Good lord, he was changing camera angles every other second, like he was paid by the cut or something. I'm inclined to like the track, though. Seems promising, but so did Valencia and we know how that one has panned out. Very wide racecourse, I noticed. Some places, you could probably go four abreast and still have plenty of room.
Full coverage of P2 will be later Friday! Thanks for sticking around for this abbreviated liveblog!
My broadband connection seems to be running quick tonight, but if last year's liveblog of Korea is any judge, I have the speed to stream video or update the blog... but not both at any given time. I'll probably be doing two or three entries at a time, just to keep myself from going insane. Any pictures will be screencaps from the SPEED streaming feed, which you can find right here.
Reports are that the track is very dusty. Well, yeah, that figures... it's still a construction site. Some people on-site are saying that not every bathroom has running water, electricity is being provided by generators when it's provided at all, and on and on. That's as may be, but the asphalt is down, the curbing is installed, and we're going to see a new track! I fully expect to see the two Indian drivers, Cowboy Karun Chandhok, who's only driving for Lotus in P1, and Narain Kittylitter, who's taking Vitantonio Liuzzi's seat at HRT for this race, out first... both to play streetsweeper and to say "hey, the first official cars on track were piloted by Indians!" We'll find out soon enough.
1:30:00 - And... the stream isn't working? What the heck?
?:??:?? - Well, crap. I'm going to reboot my computer. I gather the session has been red-flagged anyway, due to stray dogs being on the track. Force India was the first to get on track, surprise surprise, and Chandhok got the first official timed lap.
?:??:?? - I'm not the only one; over at F1 Fanatic's Live coverage, there's a bunch of people having the same problem.
?:??:?? - Peter "Smarmy" Windsor (there's a name we haven't heard in a while!) is apparently working for SPEED again in some capacity. He just tweeted that the live feed isn't working quite yet. Yay us.
?:??:?? - Still nothing, after a half-hour. I'm shutting this down for the night. I'll have full coverage of P2 on Friday. See you then!
40:24 - It's up, and this is the first thing to appear:
Cool shot, that.
37:27 - The track is either very dusty, or there's a metric farkton of smog in the air. It's hideous!
35:45 - HWMNBN comes to a halt at the side of the road, dead engine.
33:30 - Yo dawg, I hear you like F1, so I put some F1 in your F1 so you can watch F1 while you F1!
29:15 - Track is very dusty and slippery. Lots of people going off all over the place.
26:54 - My heavens, that big Turn 10 just goes on and on and on, doesn't it? That's gonna kill more front-left tires than anything, right there.
24:50 - Facilities look complete. Place seems a lot more done than Korea did last year... or even this year, come to think of it.
23:18 - Just to give you an idea of the amount of smog/dust/fog/whatever in the air, take a look at this:
One winces at the thought of that getting pulled into an 18000rpm engine... and it was worse earlier.
17:00 - I like the circuit, but it doesn't seem to have much of an identity yet. Maybe because I'm grumpy about the live stream not starting until half the session was already done? Perhaps. Or maybe it's because this is the first time we've ever seen cars on it. Still, other than that big big turn, the place seems flavorless.
12:00 - A Lotus just spun out... in the pit lane. Practicing a getaway, just looped it. Whoopsie!
10:40 - I'll say this: lots of elevation change. I'm surprised we haven't seen a driver ralphing into his cockpit yet. Up and down, up and down, here's a turn, up and down, rinse, repeat.
8:50 - DJ Squire stuffs his Toro Rosso into a wall.
Dust? What dust?
6:00 - And Pastor Maldonado blows his lump. NTTAWWT.
3:00 - Definitely two racing lines through Turn 10. When was the last time we saw that at a F1 track? Indy? Maybe not even there.
0:00 - Session over. Lewis Hamilton has the fastest time (1:26.836), followed by Vettel, Webber and Button. I'm withholding judgment on the circuit until I actually see people race on it, and maybe after the F1 TV Director stops popping the greenies. Good lord, he was changing camera angles every other second, like he was paid by the cut or something. I'm inclined to like the track, though. Seems promising, but so did Valencia and we know how that one has panned out. Very wide racecourse, I noticed. Some places, you could probably go four abreast and still have plenty of room.
Full coverage of P2 will be later Friday! Thanks for sticking around for this abbreviated liveblog!
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October 25, 2011
Six Years Ago
I woke up at my usual time, took my usual shower, got dressed in my usual clothes, and drove to work in my normal way... and I remember none of it. I got the Duck U Bookstore ready to go for the day... and felt sluggish, like I hadn't gotten enough sleep. I sat at my desk, stared at the pile of paperwork in front of me, sighed and started in. I began sorting through the stack of invoices, credit memos, statements and junk mail, literally shuffling paper from one pile to another.
Then with no warning, my heart felt like it had fallen down a flight of stairs and began to race. Faster and faster it went until it was too fast for me to count. I got up from my desk, walked outside, walked back into the store, and asked a coworker to call 911.
more...
Then with no warning, my heart felt like it had fallen down a flight of stairs and began to race. Faster and faster it went until it was too fast for me to count. I got up from my desk, walked outside, walked back into the store, and asked a coworker to call 911.
more...
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From Zero To Two In Two Years!
It was a struggle. For five years, us F1 fans here in America had no races that we could call our own. Oh, we could wander up to Canada, but it wasn't a US Grand Prix. It was just a race that was nearby. Last year, that changed with the announcement of the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas, which begins next year.
It's to be a clockwise track, with a nearly 300' vertical elevation change to add to the excitement. Even better, it's a street circuit running along the New Jersey Palisades. The following elevation map is a screencap from today's announcement, so my apologies for the quality. The checkered flag is the probable start/finish line.
According to the track map, it's to be around 3.20 miles long. The cities and various powers-that-be that are involved have signed a ten-year agreement with Birdie Ecclestone. Let me say repeat that one more time: A TEN YEAR AGREEMENT! Holy crap, we've got at least one US Grand Prix for the next decade at the very least! This could only be better if it was in Chicago!
One thing... you might have noticed the yellow circle at the upper-right corner of the top-view track map. That circle marks the rough location of the West New York Sewerage Treatment Plant. I hereby declare that hairpin turn shall be, from this moment forward, solely known as "Pooh Corner."
So say we all.
Wonderduck's personal reaction: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
Austin, TX track plan
Well, today... today we suddenly have have a wealth of choices as American F1 fans, because this afternoon in Weehawken, NJ, it was announced that a second American GP would begin running in 2013! Called "The Grand Prix of America," it will run through Weehawken and West New York on four-lane highway... with the New York skyline in the background, just across the Hudson river from Manhattan. It's to be a clockwise track, with a nearly 300' vertical elevation change to add to the excitement. Even better, it's a street circuit running along the New Jersey Palisades. The following elevation map is a screencap from today's announcement, so my apologies for the quality. The checkered flag is the probable start/finish line.
According to the track map, it's to be around 3.20 miles long. The cities and various powers-that-be that are involved have signed a ten-year agreement with Birdie Ecclestone. Let me say repeat that one more time: A TEN YEAR AGREEMENT! Holy crap, we've got at least one US Grand Prix for the next decade at the very least! This could only be better if it was in Chicago!
One thing... you might have noticed the yellow circle at the upper-right corner of the top-view track map. That circle marks the rough location of the West New York Sewerage Treatment Plant. I hereby declare that hairpin turn shall be, from this moment forward, solely known as "Pooh Corner."
So say we all.
Wonderduck's personal reaction: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
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October 24, 2011
F1 on SPEED!: India 2011
Do you remember that feeling you got as a young child when Christmas was just a few days away? When the tree was beautifully trimmed, all aglow with lights and shiny ornaments and perhaps some tinsel? And underneath you can see a big box with your name on it. Remember what that felt like? The anticipation, the excitement, the almost intolerable feeling of anticipation? And then when Christmas came along sometimes you got exactly what you wanted (Red Ryder B-B gun!), sometimes you didn't (dress socks?), but either way the leadup was nearly as good as the day itself. Remember all that?
For fans of Formula 1, there is a similar time. It's when the great Circus heads to a brand new circuit, one that the teams have never turned a tire upon ever. It's a time of great hope and speculation: will this new track become legendary? Will it fade into the mists of time, unloved and unmourned? This is where we find ourselves today, as the Formula 1 teams, big and small alike, will be racing for the first time on the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India! Let's take a look at the track map for this first Grand Prix of India:
At first glance, it's clearly the work of the fevered claws of The Evil One himself, Hermann Tilke. Straightaway, tight turn, hairpin, straightaway, tight turn, twisty bits, back to the start to do it all over again. We've seen it a dozen times before from the Tilkemonster, and pretty much only one of his circuits (Turkey) has proven to be any good, with Korea's coin still flipping in the air.
But a closer look at Buddh International Circuit shows us that it has something that Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and the other generic Tilkeisms lack: elevation change. It goes uphill from Turn 1 to Turn 3, then it goes back downhill to the halfway point of the long straightaway. At that point, it goes back uphill to Turn 4... and then it's a fairly steep plummet down to Turn 5. Turns 3 and 4 are about 50 feet above the level of the main straight, more or less, which on a Tilke track is like the difference between the top and bottom of the Grand Canyon. But he's not done there, oh no. The Turn 10/11 complex, a greater-than-180°, ever-changing-radius loop, not only climbs but is also banked. No idea how substantial the banking is, though I think I'm safe in saying it's no more than 10 degrees, and probably quite a bit less. Still, any banking is unfamiliar territory for F1; not since the Circus raced at Indianapolis have they seen any turn that wasn't billiard-table flat. But even then, the roller coaster isn't finished. There's yet another climb from Turn 13 to Turn 15, then another steep dive to the final turn.
The track's promotional team is already saying that it'll be the "second-fastest circuit in the world," with an expected average speed of nearly 140mph. I can only assume they're referring to "road" circuits, since pretty much every oval in the US is faster than that. If it really is nearly as fast as Monza, that'll be quite a feat. Another feature that the powers-that-be are trumpeting is that the trackplan was run by the F1 teams for their input on what would make for better racing. As a result, it was made wider in some places (Turn 10, for example) to allow multiple racing lines and easier passing.
Pirelli says that they expect tire wear to be nothing out of the ordinary, but they're being quite conservative in compound choice for the race. They're bringing the Hard and Soft compounds, the first time we've seen the hard rubber since the British Grand Prix, and at that rainy race only one driver (Paul di Resta) ever actually put them on. There's expected to be a two-second delta between the two tire types, so don't expect there to be much running on the hards. Still, Pirelli made a good call here; while everybody expects the soft tires to last a reasonable amount of laps, they won't know that until they start running in earnest.
That earnest running will begin late Thursday night, all of which will be brought to us by the good folks at SPEED! Here's the scoop:
Thursday: Practice 1 goes from 1130pm to 1am, streaming live. Be aware that I'll be doing the second-ever liveblog of this session right here at The Pond, so stop in and be entertained!
Friday: 330am to 510am is Practice 2, live on SPEED. In contrast, this is too late/early, even for me.
Saturday: 1230am to 130am is Practice 3, streaming live. I'm undecided if I'm going to liveblog this; a lot will depend on how things go in the other two sessions. Quals is from 330am to 5am, live on SPEED. Again, waaaay too early for me.
Finally, Sunday brings us the first ever Grand Prix of India from 4am to 630am, live on SPEED. No real chance that I'll be able to get up that early I'm afraid. There's a replay from 2pm to 430pm as well.
Sharp-eyed readers might notice that there's something odd going on with the start times of each event: they're all beginning on the half-hour, as opposed to the top of the hour like normal. That's because of a peculiarity of India. India Standard Time is GMT +5:30, for a reason that I can only assume is because of the immense size of the country. Perhaps Ph.Duck would be kind enough to explain the actual reason to us!
So that's it! The Grand Prix of Christmas India schedule, liveblogging, I'm even taking Friday and Monday off so I can concentrate on this brand new track (and sleep, don't forget about sleep)! How's that for your F1 fanservice, huh? We'll see you then!
For fans of Formula 1, there is a similar time. It's when the great Circus heads to a brand new circuit, one that the teams have never turned a tire upon ever. It's a time of great hope and speculation: will this new track become legendary? Will it fade into the mists of time, unloved and unmourned? This is where we find ourselves today, as the Formula 1 teams, big and small alike, will be racing for the first time on the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India! Let's take a look at the track map for this first Grand Prix of India:
At first glance, it's clearly the work of the fevered claws of The Evil One himself, Hermann Tilke. Straightaway, tight turn, hairpin, straightaway, tight turn, twisty bits, back to the start to do it all over again. We've seen it a dozen times before from the Tilkemonster, and pretty much only one of his circuits (Turkey) has proven to be any good, with Korea's coin still flipping in the air.
But a closer look at Buddh International Circuit shows us that it has something that Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and the other generic Tilkeisms lack: elevation change. It goes uphill from Turn 1 to Turn 3, then it goes back downhill to the halfway point of the long straightaway. At that point, it goes back uphill to Turn 4... and then it's a fairly steep plummet down to Turn 5. Turns 3 and 4 are about 50 feet above the level of the main straight, more or less, which on a Tilke track is like the difference between the top and bottom of the Grand Canyon. But he's not done there, oh no. The Turn 10/11 complex, a greater-than-180°, ever-changing-radius loop, not only climbs but is also banked. No idea how substantial the banking is, though I think I'm safe in saying it's no more than 10 degrees, and probably quite a bit less. Still, any banking is unfamiliar territory for F1; not since the Circus raced at Indianapolis have they seen any turn that wasn't billiard-table flat. But even then, the roller coaster isn't finished. There's yet another climb from Turn 13 to Turn 15, then another steep dive to the final turn.
The track's promotional team is already saying that it'll be the "second-fastest circuit in the world," with an expected average speed of nearly 140mph. I can only assume they're referring to "road" circuits, since pretty much every oval in the US is faster than that. If it really is nearly as fast as Monza, that'll be quite a feat. Another feature that the powers-that-be are trumpeting is that the trackplan was run by the F1 teams for their input on what would make for better racing. As a result, it was made wider in some places (Turn 10, for example) to allow multiple racing lines and easier passing.
Pirelli says that they expect tire wear to be nothing out of the ordinary, but they're being quite conservative in compound choice for the race. They're bringing the Hard and Soft compounds, the first time we've seen the hard rubber since the British Grand Prix, and at that rainy race only one driver (Paul di Resta) ever actually put them on. There's expected to be a two-second delta between the two tire types, so don't expect there to be much running on the hards. Still, Pirelli made a good call here; while everybody expects the soft tires to last a reasonable amount of laps, they won't know that until they start running in earnest.
That earnest running will begin late Thursday night, all of which will be brought to us by the good folks at SPEED! Here's the scoop:
Thursday: Practice 1 goes from 1130pm to 1am, streaming live. Be aware that I'll be doing the second-ever liveblog of this session right here at The Pond, so stop in and be entertained!
Friday: 330am to 510am is Practice 2, live on SPEED. In contrast, this is too late/early, even for me.
Saturday: 1230am to 130am is Practice 3, streaming live. I'm undecided if I'm going to liveblog this; a lot will depend on how things go in the other two sessions. Quals is from 330am to 5am, live on SPEED. Again, waaaay too early for me.
Finally, Sunday brings us the first ever Grand Prix of India from 4am to 630am, live on SPEED. No real chance that I'll be able to get up that early I'm afraid. There's a replay from 2pm to 430pm as well.
Sharp-eyed readers might notice that there's something odd going on with the start times of each event: they're all beginning on the half-hour, as opposed to the top of the hour like normal. That's because of a peculiarity of India. India Standard Time is GMT +5:30, for a reason that I can only assume is because of the immense size of the country. Perhaps Ph.Duck would be kind enough to explain the actual reason to us!
So that's it! The Grand Prix of Christmas India schedule, liveblogging, I'm even taking Friday and Monday off so I can concentrate on this brand new track (and sleep, don't forget about sleep)! How's that for your F1 fanservice, huh? We'll see you then!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:38 PM
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October 22, 2011
Be Afraid
I, and by association you, are living a charmed life. The final BD of Rio Rainbow Gate! was released on October 19th, yet the bonus OVA that was contained therein has yet to hit the torrents. While this may be a source of relief for you, for me it's just sheer torture. I know it's out there. Watching. Waiting.
Any minute now, it will, when I least expect it, suddenly appear on one of the torrent sites. And then my life will, once again, become one of sheer torment and pain. I will once again be subjected to the horrors that are RRG!, and like a lemming rushing headlong towards the edge of a precipice, I will be unable to do anything about it. I will be forced to embrace the pain to entertain my readers one last time.
And yet, I find myself looking forward to the OVA. I believe I am being irresistibly drawn to my self-inflicted agony, like a moth to a flame. It seems so pretty and inviting and warm... then *poof!* Moth flambe.
It's been over six months since the last episode aired. Six months of knowing that hell will, indeed, be coming to breakfast. It is merely a question of when.
Be afraid.
Be afraid. Like me.
I, and by association you, are living a charmed life. The final BD of Rio Rainbow Gate! was released on October 19th, yet the bonus OVA that was contained therein has yet to hit the torrents. While this may be a source of relief for you, for me it's just sheer torture. I know it's out there. Watching. Waiting.
Any minute now, it will, when I least expect it, suddenly appear on one of the torrent sites. And then my life will, once again, become one of sheer torment and pain. I will once again be subjected to the horrors that are RRG!, and like a lemming rushing headlong towards the edge of a precipice, I will be unable to do anything about it. I will be forced to embrace the pain to entertain my readers one last time.
And yet, I find myself looking forward to the OVA. I believe I am being irresistibly drawn to my self-inflicted agony, like a moth to a flame. It seems so pretty and inviting and warm... then *poof!* Moth flambe.
It's been over six months since the last episode aired. Six months of knowing that hell will, indeed, be coming to breakfast. It is merely a question of when.
Be afraid.
Be afraid. Like me.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
07:08 PM
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| Add Comment
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