Vettel keeps cool to fulfil destiny

Sebastian Vettel was choking back tears as he tried to respond to his team's congratulations after he won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to clinch an unlikely first world drivers' title. They were tears of disbelief as much as joy.

The German and his Red Bull car have been the fastest combination on the Formula 1 grid all year but a mixture of driver errors, mechanical failures and pure bad luck had meant that Vettel - who replaces Lewis Hamilton as the youngest world champion in history - had never led the title chase heading into the final race of the season.

Starting from pole position but 15 points adrift of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who was directly behind him on the grid in third place, the title looked a long way away for the 23-year-old.

But Vettel did everything he needed to do by driving a race of cool maturity as things began to unravel for Alonso and Ferrari almost from the start.

A lost place to Jenson Button off the line was a minor inconvenience for the Spaniard, but the title was lost with a catastrophic strategic call to mirror the decision of another championship protagonist, Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber, to stop early for fresh tyres.

It put Alonso back in the pack of midfield runners, breaking the cardinal rule of all F1 strategy moves - keep track position and if you don't make sure you have clear air in which to run at your maximum pace. Stuck behind Renault's Vitaly Petrov, Alonso had neither, and the Ferrari driver was at the mercy of Vettel's result.

Vettel did what he has proved more than capable of all year - made no mistakes when running in the lead, reeling off the laps to the chequered flag.

It was an incredible final twist to end an astonishing season, one that will go down as one of the greatest in F1 history.

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It was the first time four drivers had ever gone into the final race all with a chance of the title - and a fifth, Button, was only knocked out of the reckoning seven days ago in Brazil.

What has made 2010 so compelling was to have so many superb drivers competing in cars that were relatively evenly matched.

For Alonso, Hamilton and Button, though, the season was always a rear-guard battle fighting a faster car in the Red Bull, and they were able to compete only because of the mistakes made by that team and both their drivers.

For all Vettel's stunning qualifying pace and coolness when leading, he is less convincing when not in first place.

He crashed into Webber while trying to pass him for the lead in Turkey, got a puncture at the start in Silverstone after making an ill-advised decision to sit it out around the outside of Webber at the first corner, and inexplicably rammed into Button after losing control behind him in Belgium.

His talent may still have some rough edges, but it is of the highest quality, and he has made a convincing case this season that he can now be considered in the same breath as F1's two benchmarks - Alonso and Hamilton.

Vettel shot to prominence in F1 with his performances for Red Bull feeder team Toro Rosso in 2008, culminating with a brilliant victory in the wet at the Italian Grand Prix.

Back then, his image was all positive. He was young, fast, approachable and had a sense of humour - he was that most unlikely thing, an Anglophile German who liked The Beatles and Fawlty Towers.

Since then, he has displayed a darker side to his character, and the steeliness and ruthlessness all great F1 champions need has been fully in evidence this season as he and Webber have gone toe-to-toe at Red Bull and sparks flew.

It was obvious Vettel was going to be the man to beat this season from the moment he took pole for the first race of the season in Bahrain and led until a spark plug failure handed victory to Alonso.

Vettel lost another victory two weeks later in Australia thanks to a wheel-nut failure and had he won those two races perhaps the pressure would have been off and he would have led comfortably throughout the season.

Thankfully, for the sake of the championship battle, that is not what happened.

Two superb wet-weather wins for Button in the space of three races put him in the lead; Webber took over after dominating in Spain and Monaco; Hamilton took his place at the top after back-to-back wins in Turkey and Canada; Webber took it back; and then it was Alonso's turn after a quite superb late-season run of form.

As Vettel put it on Sunday: "All of us could write a book about races we should have finished in higher positions. We have all had so many ups and downs. It has been a tough season mentally to ignore what people were saying and always get your own thing done."

It has been an intensely competitive year and the pressure on everyone was huge throughout, but Vettel and Red Bull always had the consoling thought that they were the fastest thing on the grid.

Still, though, it had looked as if the drivers' title was going to slip through their fingers. And what appeared as if it was going to be the decisive turning point of the season occurred at the Korean Grand Prix two races ago, when Vettel - under intense pressure from Alonso - suffered an engine failure.

That put Alonso 11 points clear of Webber, and the manic cackle he gave over the radio at the end of the race - a mixture of joy, surprise and disbelief - summed up everything about the Spaniard's unlikely fightback from being 47 points off the championship lead after the British Grand Prix.

In Abu Dhabi, though, Ferrari again found themselves at the mercy of a faster car. Caught between deciding whether to cover Webber's early stop and Vettel disappearing up the road, Alonso's engineers chose what in hindsight was the wrong option. As Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey said after the race, had Alonso stayed out, he would probably have finished fourth. Which would have made him world champion.

Alonso had been adamant before the race that this would have been a great season for him no matter what happened in the championship, and although clearly gutted he stuck to that line after the race.

"If we didn't stop, Webber would probably overtake us; if we stop, we let (Nico) Rosberg and Petrov overtake us," he said. "Very difficult call.

"Next year we try again. But it was [a] very good [season] for me, especially after two years of some difficulties, coming back to winning races, fighting for the championship in the last races.

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"I won five races, I overtook in victories Niki Lauda, Juan Manuel Fangio, some great names, and I'm sure with this team it is very possible to fight for championships in the future, so I am happy."

Forget all the nonsense about team orders at the German Grand Prix, Alonso would have been a fully deserving world champion. In fact, no matter who won it there wasn't going to be a bad one in 2010 and in Vettel there can be no doubt that the sport has a good one.

This is a man who is going to be at the heart of F1 for years to come. There will be many more victories, probably many more titles. And at 23, who knows, even his friend Michael Schumacher's record of seven titles and 91 victories might be vulnerable.

To get there, though, he will have to beat the likes of Alonso and Hamilton, who are not going anywhere in a hurry, as well as Renault's Robert Kubica, a man who this year convinced even his doubters that he will be a major force once he gets his hands on a competitive car.

In 2011, the same top drivers will be with the same teams, and there is every reason to believe it could be just as good as 2010, perhaps even better. Bring it on.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/11/vettel_keeps_cool_to_fulfil_de.html

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Official F1 2010 game by Codemasters arrives in September

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July 7 '10

"F1 2010" is an upcoming official game of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship and will include all of the official 12 teams, 24 drivers and 19 circuits from the 2010 season. It will be released in September 2010 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows platforms. Before the opening race of the South Korean Grand Prix in October, players can drive the new Korean International Circuit!

Some of the features of the game have been revealed in the F1 2010 developer videos (below) by Codemasters Studios.

Tracks and Cars


The new video takes viewers behind the scenes at F1 2010 developers, Codemasters Birmingham, and shows how all of the cars and circuits from the exhilarating 2010 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP? have been painstakingly recreated in the game.

To deliver fans the most authentic FORMULA ONE? experience, CAD (Computer Aided Design) data and extensive reference photography has been used to accurately simulate the 19 circuits that will host the 2010 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Once tracks are created, former FORMULA ONE driver Anthony Davidson, who is working as Technical Consultant on F1 2010, gives his feedback from a driver?s perspective about the look and feel of each circuit in-game.

?Driving the real world circuits enables me to give that impression to the guys creating the game,? said Davidson. ?There?s all these details that only a driver would know about. For instance, turn eight in Spa; I know straight away any car I have ever driven there always understeers and it?s knowing that kind of detail as a driver that you can get over into the game. The circuits feel really spot on.?
- www.formula1-game.com


Weather


In the video, the wide ranging effects of weather and their impact in the game are revealed. FORMULA ONE test driver Anthony Davidson explains that although you have some information about the weather at your disposal, how you use that information is crucial: ?The teams know by the radar where the weather is coming from and how long it?s going to last. You?ll be aware of what the weather?s doing roughly, and then you can make your call, just like you would in real life.?

In career mode, F1 2010?s weather system is fully dynamic, mirroring real life conditions which change at any time, whether between sessions or during a session itself. The weather authentically reflects the conditions at each of the 19 GRAND PRIX? locations, meaning rain is unlikely at Abu Dhabi but conditions can be unpredictable at Spa and Silverstone. Presenting a further challenge, players can set the weather conditions and experience the dramatic affect they have on racing in GRAND PRIX, Time Trial and Multiplayer modes.
- www.formula1-game.com


Handling


Anthony Davidson, who has been embedded into the team, explains the unique ?twitchy? way in which FORMULA ONE cars handle and how this is translated into authentic gameplay. His experience, combined with real world data and feedback from the teams, drivers and tyre manufacturers is enabling the F1 2010 team to bring alive the sensation of being an F1 racing driver like never before. As in real life, aerodynamics plays a pivotal role in racing, and players will feel how cars can corner at extremely high speed yet perform very differently at lower speeds.
- www.formula1-game.com

Thanks to www.formula1-game.com. Video credit: eurogamer

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Repaved Daytona Track Smooth and Bump-Free, Drivers Say

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The freshly repaved track at Daytona International Speedway is smooth, has plenty of grip and plenty of room for racing, said NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers who participated in Wednesday's Goodyear tire tests at the track.

"They smoothed out all the bumps," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 champion. "The track is real smooth. It's got a lot of grip. The track reminds me a lot like Talladega was like when they first finished it.

"The racing during the drafting was exciting and I think it is going to be a good show, a more exciting show for the fans because the cars are going to stay real tight on each other throughout entire runs."

The speedway said 18 drivers took part in the tire test Wednesday -- the first day of a two-day Goodyear test to determine the proper tire compound for the 2.5-mile speedway's new racing surface before the 53rd annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 20. Drivers turned laps on the speedway in both single car and drafting sessions.

It was the first time race cars have been on the track at speed since the repaving job was completed earlier this month. From July to December, the entire track was repaved for only the second time since it was built and opened in 1959.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/12/15/repaved-daytona-track-smooth-and-bump-free-drivers-say/

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British GP: Vettel takes pole as Red Bull dominate

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July 10 '10

Sebastian Vettel grabbed pole position for the second year in a row at Silverstone, as the Milton Keynes-based team secured its fifth front-row lockout of the season. Vettel beat his team mate Mark Webber by 0.143s. Fernando Alonso will start tomorrow's race on second row of the grid for Ferrari.

Jenson Button in his McLaren had a disastrous session. He will start his home grand prix from 14th place after missing the cut for the top-10 shootout.

In Q1

Heikki Kovalainen was the best of the new team drivers in 19th. His Lotus team mate Jarno Trulli will start from 21st position. Seems like the Virgins have made a step forward with the new updates as Timo Glock managed to split the two Lotuses.

Sakon Yamamoto who will take the place of Bruno Senna in HRT for the British Gran Prix, was last of all. He was half a second down on his team mate Karun Chandhok.

Driver from the established team unable to get into Q2 was Jaime Alguersuari who qualified 18th.

Drivers eliminated in Q1
18. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 32.430s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m 34.405s
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 34.775s
21. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m 34.864s
22. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m 35.212s
23. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m 36.546s
24. Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1m 36.968s


In Q2

Local hero, Jenson Button could only manage 14th fastest time in his McLaren. Button radioed in that he was struggling with low grip at the rear.

McLaren was on the back foot going into qualifying after having to shelve the exhaust-blown diffuser it tried in Friday practice, which it found upset the MP4-25?s balance. Thus the team abandoned the key element of its planned car upgrade and reverted to the old specification rear end on the MP4-25.

Somewhat bewildered by the sudden downturn in performance Button said, ?This morning the car felt really good. I personally think there?s something wrong, the car was undriveable. That?s it really. I don?t know if I?ve lost rear downforce since this morning, but it?s pretty undriveable. This weekend has been tricky, but that wasn?t normal.?

Also failing to make it beyond Q2 was Adrian Sutil who has for most part been a regular in the final Q3 shootout, but alas not at Silverstone on the doorstep of the Force India team?s headquarters. His team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi fared worse and will start from 15th on the grid.

Vettel was quicker in the first knockout session while Webber had the edge in Q2.

Drivers eliminated in Q2
11. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m 31.399s
12. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 31.421s
13. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m 31.635s
14. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 31.699s
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m 31.708s
16. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault 1m 31.796s
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 32.012s


In Q3

It was the battle of the Bulls for the top position and Vettel got the better of it. This result put Red Bull on pole for the ninth time out of ten Grands Prix this season.

Webber was the first to set a Q3 time and logged a 1m29.758s, easily the fastest lap of the new Silverstone layout up to that point ? but moments later Vettel stopped the clocks in 1m29.695s.

Webber was unable to respond on his second run so Vettel?s pole was secure, but that didn?t stop the young German shaving another few hundredths off his own benchmark just to emphasise who had the upper hand.

His final time of 1m29.615s represented an average speed of 147mph for the revised 3.7-mile circuit, almost identical to the average he recorded on the previous layout in last year?s low-fuel Q2 session.
-iTV


Fernando Alonso finished third for Ferrari and will share second row of the grid with his nemesis Lewis Hamilton.

Pedro de la Rosa qualified an excellent ninth, his first top-10 grid placing of his F1 comeback season. He qualified ahead of Mercedes' Michael Schumacher.

Only a mishap (such as a broken nosecone which Sebastian Vettel suffered in practice) is likely to prevent a Red Bull victory

Top ten drivers in Q3
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 29.615s
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 29.758s
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 30.426s
4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 30.556s
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 30.625s
6. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault 1m 31.040s
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 31.172s
8. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m 31.175s
9. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 31.274s
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 31.430s


Full Qualifying Times

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Turkish GP: Webber claims third consecutive pole

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May 30 '10

Mark Webber claimed his third consecutive pole position and made it seven pole positions from seven attempts for Red Bull at Istanbul Park circuit at yesterday's qualifying session for the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton secured second position making it a McLaren front row start for the first time this season. Sebastian Vettel who topped the first two sessions of qualifying will start the race from second row of the grid in third position after suffering a suspected brake failure.

In Q1

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@Jamesallenonf1

As usual, the three new teams failed to make it out of Q1. Jarno Trulli in the Lotus was the quickest of the six cars, beating team mate Heikki Kovalainen by three tenths of a second.

When the three new teams fail to make the progress beyond Q1, there is always a room for one of the drivers from the established teams to join them and this time it was Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi who struggled for pace even though he was running Force India?s F-duct on his car. He failed to make it past Q1 for the second time this season.

At the end of Q1, Vettel was almost a half second faster than Webber who was followed by Button, Petrov, Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher, Kubica, Alonso Sutil and Massa 11th.

Drivers eliminated in Q1

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m 28.958s
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.237s
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.519s
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 30.744s
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m 31.266s
23. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m 31.989s
24. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m 32.060s


In Q2

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@Jamesallenonf1

Fernando Alonso had a disappointing elimination from Q2 on the eve of Ferrari's 800th grand prix start. According to iTV, "The Spaniard was already struggling for speed when he dropped his right-rear wheel onto a white line in the braking area for turn 12. The lap ruined, he had time for one more, but could not improve. He will start the race from 12th."

He said afterwards, ??I pushed very hard in that lap. Anyway I was slower than my fastest lap. I knew it was not enough. I don?t think that moment cost me a place in Q3. I did three laps in mainly in the same time and I think the pace was not there.?

Kamui Kobayashi forced his Sauber C29 out of Q2 for the third time this season. Adrian Sutil who missed out whole of the final practice session could only manage 11th fastest time.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

11. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 27.525s
12. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.612s
13. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 27.879s
14. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.273s
15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.392s
16. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.540s
17. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.841s


In Q3

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@Jamesallenonf1

Webber was the man to beat in Q3 as he set the fastest time on the drivers? first runs. He improved on his time on his final run and was unbeatable to pole. According to iTV, "Red Bull tested its F-duct during Friday practice but opted not to use it in qualifying, low-drag rear wing endplates instead being flown out to Istanbul and fitted to Webber?s car just prior to qualifying."

Michael Schumacher spun off at turn 8 on his final lap and ended the session in the gravel. Despite this, he ended up ahead of his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg. They line up fifth and sixth.

Ferrari had a disappointing day as Massa, three times a winner at this track, could only manage eighth fastest time while Alonso was eliminated in Q2.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali spoke to BBC, ?For sure the performance in qualifying was not up to our standard. We don?t know why and we need to understand. For sure we were expecting much more performance.?

Top ten drivers in Q3

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.295s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.433s
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.760s
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.781s
5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.857s
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.952s
7. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault 1m 27.039s
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.082s
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault 1m 27.430s
10. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 28.122s


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Repaved Daytona Track Smooth and Bump-Free, Drivers Say

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The freshly repaved track at Daytona International Speedway is smooth, has plenty of grip and plenty of room for racing, said NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers who participated in Wednesday's Goodyear tire tests at the track.

"They smoothed out all the bumps," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 champion. "The track is real smooth. It's got a lot of grip. The track reminds me a lot like Talladega was like when they first finished it.

"The racing during the drafting was exciting and I think it is going to be a good show, a more exciting show for the fans because the cars are going to stay real tight on each other throughout entire runs."

The speedway said 18 drivers took part in the tire test Wednesday -- the first day of a two-day Goodyear test to determine the proper tire compound for the 2.5-mile speedway's new racing surface before the 53rd annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 20. Drivers turned laps on the speedway in both single car and drafting sessions.

It was the first time race cars have been on the track at speed since the repaving job was completed earlier this month. From July to December, the entire track was repaved for only the second time since it was built and opened in 1959.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/12/15/repaved-daytona-track-smooth-and-bump-free-drivers-say/

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Auto Racing Legend Juan Montoya Leaves Formula One For NASCAR

Famous Formula One racer Juan Pablo Montoya has officially turned in his keys and has embarked on a new career in NASCAR. As of Tuesday July 11, Montoya announced that he will be driving on Chip Ganassi’s Nextel Cup team. Being that there are 4 Nextel Cup races left it is a sure thing that Montoya will make his debut some time this year before the season ends. Rumor has it that this was purely a financial move as the potential growth and current earnings of NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers have far outweighed that of their Formula One counterparts.

As announced in his latest press release, "Juan Pablo is an exciting driver and immensely likeable character who will undoubtedly make a successful transition to the NASCAR scene," said Ron Dennis, CEO and Chairman of the McLaren Group. "We have agreed that with so many things happening in Juan Pablo's life right now, he should take some time out of the car and prepare professionally and personally for the future." His decision to join NASCAR has been well taken to by both NASCAR and Formula One. "We believe that Juan Pablo's decision to move to NASCAR is very important for him professionally and we will give him every support to ensure that it is a successful transition," said Norbert Haug, Vice-President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport.

Formula One will miss a very talented and adored driver, and NASCAR will gain a great driver with a hugely diverse and international following. NASCAR officials have been looking to add diversity to their Nextel Cup races as announced earlier in the year and Juan Pablo will be a very welcome addition. This will be a boon to NASCAR as it tries to maintain the remarkable growth it has seen in the past decade. By adding diversity they are looking to add to their fan base and change the misconception that it is a southern or redneck sport. With racetracks being built in Chicago, Las Vegas and California and races being held in new countries like Canada this will only help to further diversify the sport.

Yes, NASCAR still has a huge southern following and should be very thankful for it as this is the most intensely loyal fan base of any sport. Montoya will definitely add character, charm, and ability to the NASCAR crowd. He will also, undoubtedly, keep the other NASCAR drivers on their toes with his immense experience and superior open road skills. Montoya’s debut will definitely be a much anticipated and welcome event for NASCAR fans everywhere.

David Maillie specializes in automotive safety products and information. He holds numerous patents and awards for his patented headlight cleaner and restorer. For more information, tips, safety and money saving products for your auto please visit http://www.mdwholesale.com

Article Source: Auto Racing Legend Juan Montoya Leaves Formula One For NASCAR

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NASCAR Drivers Training- The Physical and Mental Stresses

So maybe you are fascinated with NASCAR and would like to choose this as a career. How does one go about participating in race driver training so as to become a driver? There are drivers training schools but all are very expensive and there is no guarantee that you will become a real NASCAR driver. So what kind of training makes a professional driver?

Well, just as in other professional sports, the competition to be a driver is very tough. But more than that, the majority of people dont get there because of a lack of driver training. It usually is because of who they know, who their family is, and where they started. These drivers start when they are very young and run the go cart circuits. Their fathers were probably race car drivers. They probably ran into a promoter or sponsor somewhere along the way that gives them their big break.

NASCAR driver training includes the physical portion and also stresses mental conditioning. Although to the fans it looks easy, a drivers brain has to work very fast to be alert to other cars around him while trying to take the lead and maintain it.

The best training has been learned in the early years by most of these drivers when they were just children. Growing up around tracks and being able to drive the cars at young ages allowed the driver training to become somewhat instinctive. This is very important because later on during professional competition, the carbon monoxide levels can get very high inside of the drivers compartment. Carbon monoxide can cause confusion. The way to overcome confusion is to depend on instinct. Training accentuates the instinct.

The physical conditioning of the driver is the subject for an article all its own but you can think about it as somewhat like an astronaut preparing for his or her first launch. The G forces are very significant for a race car driver and driver training includes getting conditioned to them. Astronauts experience significantly more G forces but the NASCAR driver should include conditioning for them nonetheless.

The training also includes the drivers education from a young age. You might ask what non-driving education has to do with NASCAR driver training. Well, a driver is going to be promoting the products of some very large and prominent companies. That means that along the way he or she will have to give an endorsement of the products. If these guys get in front of the camera and cannot use proper grammar it would not look too good.

Another reason why education is important in NASCAR is because the driver wont be able to drive forever. Once a driver gets into middle age, it becomes tougher. So he will need to be able to branch out into other aspects of the racing business. He will probably still be running the team but will have to think more of the business aspect of things. This is where business and marketing education would be most beneficial.

Many of the retired drivers such as Richard Petty operate driving schools as well as serious driver improvement programs when they are offering NASCAR driving experiences for those wondering what its like to be as a NASCAR driver.

For the largest selection of Nascar Merchandise along with up to the minute News, NASCARsupershop offers this and more. We carry everything NASCAR including NASCAR Jerseys and NASCAR Jewelry all at the best prices everyday! I'm not only the owner of NASCARsupershop.com I'm also the senior editor, website developer and a HUGE fan of NASCAR!

Article Source: NASCAR Drivers Training- The Physical and Mental Stresses

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/101622/nascar-drivers-training-the-physical-and-mental-stresses

Cecil Green Keith Greene Masten Gregory Cliff Griffith

Team orders and F1's radical plan to improve racing

Formula 1 will be changed for ever by the new rules announced by Formula 1's governing body at its world council meeting on Friday.

The decision to switch to vastly different, far more efficient engines from 2013 and the introduction of movable rear wings for next season will change both the way the sport is viewed by the wider world and the action on the track.

The new engine regulations - the adoption of 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo engines with energy recovery and fuel restrictions - mirror the way the car industry is going and are aimed at boosting F1's public image, helping it to survive into the future by opening up new avenues for sponsorship and - most importantly - speeding up the adoption of more sustainable engines in road cars over the next few years, thus dramatically reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

More immediately, the controversial adoption of movable rear wings in 2011 will make overtaking easier. At least that's the hope.

The issue of overtaking is a perennial problem in F1. All stakeholders agree it has been too hard to do in recent years. Races can be processional, or turn on pit stops.

The problem for F1's bosses, who want racing rather than tactics to decide outcomes, is aerodynamics.

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Watch highlights of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Cars are created with quite incredible capabilities but significant limitations when it comes to racing. Cornering forces often reach 5G. To see an F1 car in the flesh as it negotiates a fast corner like Silverstone's Becketts complex is both to doubt your eyes and to marvel at the way it uses physics to test the limits of the possible.

But aerodynamics work most effectively when a car is running on its own. Give it some turbulent air - such as that created by another car directly in front of it - and its ability to produce downforce - and therefore grip - is dramatically reduced. So drivers find it difficult to get close enough to a car in front to try to pass it, even if they are in a faster car.

A number of attempts to change this have been made in recent years, most recently major new rules in 2009 with significant changes to the way cars produced their downforce and the reintroduction of slick tyres. None of them have worked.

So F1's brains have come up with the movable rear wing.

The idea is that drivers will, when on a straight and trying to pass another car, press a button in their cockpit which will move a part of the rear wing.

This will reduce its effectiveness, thereby cutting drag and increasing straightline speed, allowing the driver to get a run on his rival into the next corner. The driver in the car in front who is defending his position will not be able to use his wing at the same time.

The plan is controversial because it appears to be adding a degree of artifice into the situation - and critics are worried it will make a joke of overtaking by making it too easy, particularly when used in conjunction with the Kers energy recovery and power-boost systems that are returning to F1 in 2011 after a year on the sidelines.

The sport's bosses are aware of the concerns. One insider who has been instrumental in writing the rule says: "The idea is to make it work, but not work too well."

The way it will work is as follows:

The FIA will define a time gap between the two cars at which point the driver behind will be able to use the system. Initially, it is likely the driver in the trailing car will need to be within a second as he enters the corner before a straight where it is possible to overtake.

The driver will then get an indication - either via a light on his dashboard or audibly - that he can operate his wing. He will then press the button when he is on the straight, giving him more speed than his rival and thus the potential to pass him.

The problem is that no-one is sure whether the system will work or achieve its objectives until it is used in a race - and the first opportunity will be on 13 March, when Bahrain hosts the first grand prix of the 2011 season.

The bottom line is that F1's bosses want to make overtaking easier but not so easy that it requires little skill.

Had the movable rear wings been in place in 2010, I am told Ferrari's Fernando Alonso would have been able to overtake the Renault of Vitaly Petrov in the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and thus keep alive his chances of winning the title.

Instead, the Spaniard was unable to pass Petrov's slower car, which had a prodigious straight-line speed, and therefore unable to chase down his rivals as he went in search of a third drivers' crown.

That would have freed Alonso up to try to catch the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, who was in the fourth place the Ferrari driver needed to prevent Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel snatching the title from under his nose.

Rosberg was quicker than Petrov but probably marginally slower than Alonso. But because the performance differential between the Mercedes and the Ferrari was much less, getting past Rosberg would not have been a given - even under the new rules.

So rather than watching a race in which overtaking was practically impossible, the audience would have known it was possible, but not inevitable, that Alonso would get by - and would have been on tenterhooks as they watched him try.

Such a scenario would have made the title-deciding race much more exciting.

Put like that, as long as F1 finds a way to make it obvious to the audience when a driver is using his movable rear wing, the introduction of such a device has at the very least got to be worth a try.

UPDATE 1530 GMT:

The FIA's decision to remove the rule banning team orders will doubtless offend those who did not like Ferrari's application of them in this year's German Grand Prix and who objected to the Italian team "getting away" with "only" a $100,000 fine for doing so.

But the move - telegraphed when the FIA said it would look into the rule after deciding against giving Ferrari further punishment - is the only practical solution open to F1.

However offensive some find team orders, there is simply no way of effectively policing a rule banning them. There are any number of ways a team could employ them without anyone finding out.

Ferrari might have got caught out because of the unsubtle way in which Felipe Massa was asked to let team-mate Fernando Alonso through in Hockenheim but other leading teams also employed what could be termed team orders in 2010 and no one complained about them - or, in some cases, even noticed.

It is about reality not idealism, logic not emotion.

If you cannot police a rule, what's the point of having it? And surely it's better to have it out in the open than to force teams to go through the ridiculous charades some - not just Ferrari - did last season.

The lifting of the ban does not mean all teams will act in the same way as Ferrari, who now don't need to be quite so secretive about Alonso being their number one driver.
It simply means that when teams choose to use them they don't have to cover it up.

In every other way, nothing will change.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/12/f1s_radical_plan_to_improve_ra.html

Scott Alan Wimmer Jonathan Edward Wood Christopher Beltram Hernandez Yeley