mikuni

Who the fuck is this guy?

Sorry, I'm new here.

one day, i have most of a turbo motor and the six speed box, just acquiring the bits when they pop up cheaply

Is this a plan to make the best car you've ever owned into an unreliable project car?

VE's have quite a few electrical issues (body related not engine). I've talked to a couple of people who have owned them or worked on them and they seem to have quite a few niggles, like speedo's working intermittently etc. those types of faults are super annoying. Would be the only thing putting me off a VE, as they seem an alright hack.

Horrible. Not looking good for him at this stage, serious head injuries. Hope he pulls through.

On the Haas F1 team, I was going to say they won't be midfield, but at the moment I think a new team being midfield is possible.

There are currently three tiers of F1;

Mercedes, sometimes challenged in the race by Ferrari, with Williams and Red Bull giving them a scare every now and again.

Then you have the midfield, which is really second tier and a good couple of seconds off the pace. Lotus, Force India, Toro Rosso, Sauber and now even McLaren. It is feasible to suggest Haas could slot in here, which is still a couple of seconds off the pace. Mclaren have had a shit chassis the last couple of years (with a brilliant engine), so their lack of pace is not all Honda's fault.

Then the traditional "new" teams, which did consist of Hispania/Virgin, Caterham and Manor Marussia, of which only the later survives. It used to actually be quite fun seeing who won the battle at the back of the grid, now it is intra-team. If Haas is back here, 4-5 seconds off the pace, they will be very disappointed.

This is Gene Haas who went to jail on tax evasion, witness intimidation and conspiracy right?

F1 is a funny sport.

As much as I love F1; Haas should fit in nicely in the F1 paddock.

Nothing wrong with an older driver. These guys are only 35 years old. It isn't exactly over the hill, is it?

 

But, if we're talking age and performance, I'd like to see Massa be put to pasture. He's gone a long time without doing anything memorable and struggles to outshine his team mates. I was very happy to see him come back after his accident, but I think he has done his time.

 

I still think Alonso has something to give though, he even proved it last weekend, and Button is just a good guy and a reliable set of hands. I'd like to see him at least get a shot in a competitive car next season (whether it be a McLaren or if rumours are to be believed, a Williams).

Also, new start procedures in Spa.

 

There is a chance that Mercedes have been simulating this for the last two starts, which is why they have been so poor off the line, and they will be back to amazing form by then.

 

There is also a chance that they have just forgotten how to get a good start and this is going to be amplified with the new start procedures.

Will Kimi be at Ferrari next year?

 

Or will it be Bottas or will the Hulk finally get a chance in a good car....

 

Interesting only 3 Merc powered cars were in the top 10

Before the race I would have said Kimi should go, but it is hard to be so harsh after he effectively retired from 2nd position. He was doing really well in Hungary, so I wouldn't be surprised if Ferrari throw him a lifeline and give him a couple more races to prove himself.

 

I almost think the same for Bottas. He has been great on a couple of occasions both this and last year, but has he done enough to justify a Ferrari seat? I'm not sure.

 

At this stage I would like to see the Hulk in the seat, but are Ferrari ready to have two Germans in the red cars? Vettel has done a great job of becoming an Italian this year, but he is still oh so German.

Didn't see the race or hear the results until your post, but it sounds like it would have been a great one to watch.

 

Nice to hear that a Ferrari came in at number 1!

Oh sorry if it was a spoiler, but I guess you know not to click on this thread if you don't want to know about F1 stuff.

 

If you do get a chance, it is probably still worth watching. There was heaps more to the race than I mentioned, and seeing how it all panned out would be interesting if you're an F1 geek (can't remember how into it you are).

AND... A Ferrari win, which was so fitting (Jules Bianci was destined to drive for them, probably to replace Kimi in 2016)

 

Red Bull complete the podium, actually nice to see them coming back through. You can never be mad at Ricciardo, even if he has a clumsy race.

 

Verstappen forth, amazing. And in a Torro Rosso!

 

Alonso fifth, even more amazing in this years McLaren Honda! Lets hope it is the beginning of the improvement.

 

Wings falling off on Ferrari's and Force India's. Now that is scary. Glad Nico Hulkenberg walked away from that one.

 

Who says F1 needs to change (It doesn't, but I still wish the cars sounded better)

Nice tribute to Jules at the start of the race. His helmet in the centre of all of the current drivers and their helmets, along with the family. Was a little difficult to watch if I'm honest.

BUT... what a race, what a race, what a race, what a MIGHTY fine race! As with Silverstone, there is nothing quite like seeing a Mercedes front row get smoked by other cars. This time Ferrari. It was just magic. Not to mention seeing Hamilton fall off after fumbling with himself in the opening corners. Then he goes and knocks himself into a couple of other cars, what a shambles. But even Rosberg manages to cock it up when it is handed to him on a platter. I'm starting to lose faith in Nico being able to take it to Lewis at all, but I'm still going to back him because Hamilton is just so painful.

So gutted. He was going to be something special.

Interesting to read that the German teams thought that Nissan was actually Trolling them by turning and being so uncompetitive

 

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a25900/the-nissan-gt-r-lmp1-is-damn-good-for-racing/

That's ridiculous. Apparently the Germans would rather Nissan develop their car for 5 years behind closed doors and come out competitively, rather than develop as they go, and give things a crack as soon as possible, in the public eye. I don't know if the stereotypical German personality would understand the concept of how great success will feel, after a very public showing at Le Mans that was as embarrassing as this year was for Nissan.

 

Some people are taking the marketing too seriously. Just ignore that aspect and look at the results. The marketing side is just there to try and draw positives for Nissan from a very terrible return to the top level at Le Mans.

Top stuff to him and great result for Hartley - (If the Aussie hadn't overtaken under Yellows it might of been his win)

It was Hartley that passed under yellows, but the penalty was given (and served) while Webber was in the seat.

That was a cool race. I managed to watch most of it, but threw in the towel before the end and luckily not a great deal changed in most of the classes.

 

So happy for Bamber, Tandy and Hulkenburg. They seem like a good bunch of guys and not only is it good to see Porsche get a win, it is great to see it go to the third car who many didn't expect would perform. A lot had questioned Porsche for putting two relative unknowns and a sports car rookie into a P1. It seems they knew what they were doing.

 

This stuff is great for New Zealanders in global motorsport. Bamber, Hartley, Paddon, Evans, Stanaway, Cassidy and I'm sure there are other young guys, not to mention the likes of Dixon. It all adds up to give NZ a great name on the international scene and I think it will make the big teams and manufacturers more likely to look here for potential drivers of the future.

I paid for it on the WEC website. Was simple and seems a good reliable feed, with a fee channel options.

It seems the official ACO feed don't like the Nissan GT-Rs. 20 minutes in and they still haven't featured, from what I have seen

That's cool. It is kind of a shame the prototypes over shadow the GT's at Le Mans.

Here's a terrible video about Ford's new GT. It started off so well, but decended into a video game

http://m.speedcafe.com/2015/06/13/video-ford-heading-back-to-le-mans/

Far out I'm looking forward to the race.

 

If anyone wants to have a quick read about the LMP1 cars, and what the ideas are about them, here's the links from speedcafe.com

Pork http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/06/07/le-mans-2015-porsche-lmp1-preview/

Audi http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/06/06/le-mans-2015-audi-lmp1-preview/

Toyota http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/06/10/le-mans-2015-toyota-lmp1-preview/

Nissan http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/06/09/le-mans-2015-nissan-lmp1-preview/

Privateer http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/06/08/le-mans-2015-rebellion-bykolles-lmp1-preview/

 

It is extremely cool, with every manufacturer taking a different approach to it, whether it be diesel, small capacity turbo, efficient large capacity turbo or NA V8, all with variations on the hybrid design.

 

Nissan were extremely optimistic in their design, and honestly, I think they have proven the concept. The chassis seems to be working great, and the aero has certainly proven itself. Top speed of around 336km/h was on par with the other cars and the Nissan has no hybrid power at all.

 

Plus, again with no hybrid meaning they are anywhere from 200-1000bhp lower than the others at certain times during the lap, they are only 20 seconds behind them on mid 3 minute lap. That is actually surprisingly good for their first real event. Then there is the fact they are up there with the privateers, which doesn't sound that great, but Nissan get 30% less fuel than the privateers per lap, so have significantly less power and weigh more because they still have to cart the not working hybrid gubbins around!

 

I'm probably a bit biased, because I love the fact a FWD car is taking it some of the quickest cars in the world, but I wouldn't write them off from a solid showing this year, and next year once the car is working as designed, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Lewis pulled into the pits himself. He can harden up. He's always complaining about tyres and telling the team not to talk to him, so he can deal with the consequences.

It was a dull race until the crazy Verstappen crash. That was quite scary. Really spiced it up though.

Happy to see the championship is still open.

That dude wobbles around so much ! Is that normal in a car with no harnesses or is he just super ADHD

Monaco practice starts in a couple of hours

How long have they done quali the weekend before the race?

Sounds pretty contrived.

"In 2014, the qualifying procedure was refined, such that the pole position winner, and the starting grid would be determined over two days. On the weekend before the race (Saturday and Sunday), all cars are entered into a blind draw for the qualifying order.

Saturday: All entries can make up to three attempts to qualify. The top 33 cars at the end of the day are locked into the grid. The top nine cars will advance to a special "shootout" session to determine the pole position. Making a second (or third) attempt automatically forfeits the previous attempt.

Sunday: The drivers that qualified 10-33 on Saturday have their original times erased, and go out to make a new run. This run determines the grid lineup for positions 10-33. The drivers who qualified 1-9 on Saturday advance to the "Shootout." Those cars also have their original time erased. Each car makes a new attempt, and determine the lineup for positions 1-9, including the highly coveted pole positions.

For each attempt, cars are allowed two warm-up laps. At that time, a member of the team is stationed at the north end of the mainstretch. He/she must wave a green flag, signaling an attempt, or else the car will be waved off. The attempt can be waved off during any of the four laps by the team, driver, or INDYCAR. (The series will wave off the run if it is obvious the run will not be fast enough to qualify and it is getting late in the day.) If an attempt is waved off after the run starts, the attempt counts towards the three-attempt limit and the previous time is still forfeited, unless INDYCAR itself waved off the attempt because of weather."

Typical Catalunya, finishing positions near that of start positions, but it was a more exciting race than the results suggest. Quite a bit of passing up and down the field and strategy came into play.

 

I was wrong about the STR's, they were about where you would expect. Obviously just set up well for qualifying but terrible race pace.

 

Disappointing for McLaren. Looked like they were beginning to find some form but another terrible weekend for them.

 

Bring on Monaco!!

Go Nico!

The STR's were quick in the speed trap, so I can't help but think the Red Bull is actually strangling that engine. Maybe the aero means some air flow doesn't make it to the important cooling areas.

Excited for the race. Hopefully I can drag myself out of bed for it.

That looks great! I'm glad we peer pressured you into going through with it