Formula One racing goes back into the melting pot this weekend as the championship battle moves on to the unknown territory of the Fuji International Speedway near Gotemba, in the shadow of Mount Fuji.
After 20 years at Suzuka, the race’s move to this updated venue - scene of the original Japanese Grands Prix in 1976 and ’77 puts everyone in the same position of having precious little empirical information for setting up their cars.
McLaren and Ferrari venture to the East still locked in battle. Recent events may have cemented the world championship for constructors in the latter’s favour, but the drivers’ title is still wide open with Lewis Hamilton leading on 97 points from Fernando Alonso (95), Kimi Raikkonen (84) and Felipe Massa (77). All of them still have a chance of winning.
The Ferrari drivers are both very confident after their one-two in Belgium. Raikkonen, the victor there, said: “Our car is going extremely well and we have high hopes for the final three races. As far as we are concerned, the championship battle is far from over and we will keep pushing to the very end.”
With medium downforce levels similar to Spa, the reds are feeling very optimistic, but the track’s characteristics will also suit McLaren, though not necessarily with the margin seen at low-downforce venues such as Monza and Indianapolis.
“I haven’t even seen Fuji Speedway yet, but I am sure it will be a great place to race,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully there will be some overtaking opportunities because of the really long start-finish straight. I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t be getting to race at Suzuka because everyone goes on about how great it is, but this season I have really enjoyed going to new tracks and learning them.
“It provides a slightly different challenge so I am looking forward to it. Everyone will be in the same boat and it should be quite exciting. Everything is so close in the championship now, so we have to go out there in Fuji and get as many points as possible. It would be great to win. Also, Japan is one of my favourite countries and the fans are very enthusiastic, so it would be even better to win in front of them!”
Alonso is equally enthusiastic. “In 2006 I did a couple of demonstration laps with passengers here and it seemed really good. It is going to be a challenge to find the optimum set-up for the cars. To be honest, we will have to wait until after Friday free practice to tell more, but I am looking forward to seeing what it is like.
“We are not in any position to make any predictions, but I am sure the championship will continue to swing between all four drivers. Ferrari were strong at Spa, we were strong at Monza, everyone in the team is pushing hard to be strong at Fuji, Shanghai and Interlagos. We can still win races, and will be doing everything to make this happen in Japan.”
The race will also be critical for the three Japanese teams: Toyota, Honda and Super Aguri, while Williams (with their Toyota engines) and Spyker (with Sakon Yamamoto) also feature local interest factors.
Toyota will have a revised TF107 with aerodynamic and suspension updates, for Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli to drive. “I remember the old Fuji circuit from my time racing in Formula Nippon in Japan and I always enjoyed racing there,” the former said. “One of the most impressive things about Fuji Speedway is the location, with Mount Fuji in the background. The track itself is also very impressive, especially now the facilities have been improved. It is now one of the most modern in Formula One but they have kept a lot of the character of the old track, with the very long main straight.”
Honda stopped off in Odaiba prior to the trip to Fuji, for the annual Tokyo Motorsports Festival where Jenson Button and James Rossiter demonstrated the thrills of Formula One machinery to thousands of fans by taking the RA107 car around the streets of the city.
“The Japanese Grand Prix is always a very special weekend for the whole Honda Racing F1 Team as it is one of our two home races of the year,” said Button. “I have had fantastic support as a Honda driver at the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit in the past few years and the Japanese fans always create such a special atmosphere over the race weekend.
“This year will be a new challenge for both myself and the team as the race returns to the Fuji International Speedway. It is an unknown quantity so I will be studying the circuit layout with our engineers in advance but we will only find out its true characteristics during our track walk on Thursday and the first few laps of practice on Friday.”
Much of the original track layout’s character has been retained in the revamp, which still features an epic 1.5 kilometre main straight. This is the longest in Formula One Racing and will undoubtedly encourage slipstreaming opportunities of the sort seen at Monza. Additional corners have been added to promote more exciting racing and overtaking.
The key changes have been made at the end of the lap, where some slower corners have been added to decrease entry speed for the start-finish straight. As in Indianapolis, teams will have to compromise on their set-ups to retain as much top speed as possible, while engineering in sufficient downforce for the low- to medium-speed corners round the rest of the lap.
Unpredictable weather is also another factor at Fuji; everybody remembers the heavy rain that was such a factor in the 1976 championship decider here. Thus Bridgestone will also have supplies of wet and extreme wet-weather tyres just in case, besides their prime choice of the medium compound dry tyre and the softer compound option.
Source: Formula One official website
Friday, September 28, 2007
Using GPS Technology to Improve the Auto Racing Fan Experience
Combining high-speed data communications, global-positioning technology, and real-time camera control, the Racef/x system from Sportvision provides graphical enhancements for live television coverage of racing events. The system allows the announcer to activate on-screen pointers to identify selected cars in the race along with an optional virtual dashboard showing vital statistics, such as speed and position in real time. The system employs an onboard telemetry system to send sensor and GPS (global-positioning-system) data to a network of receivers in strategic positions around the track. Differential-GPS techniques determine each car's position, comparing satellite-position signals to known fixed positions. Several of the broadcast cameras include remotely controlled pan and tilt heads, enabling them to automatically follow the position data from the selected car. Updated several times per second, custom software synchronizes transmissions and collects statistics from as many as 55 cars racing around the track at more than 200 mph. Sportvision introduced its Racef/x system during the 2006 Indy Racing League season, and NASCAR is now also using the system in its 2007 Busch series season. This type of tracking system also allows sanctioning organizations to capture additional revenue with subscription-based data it delivers over the Internet so that users can follow their favorite competitors.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
McLaren Formula One - The Early Years
The start of the 2007 Formula One season has seen the spotlight fall firmly on the McLaren Formula One team with the arrival Lewis Hamilton on the scene. With his incredible success so far in his debut season and a few controversies along the way, McLaren has barely been out of the sports news pages.
However this success is not new for the team. During its history the team has won 8 constructors championships and 11 drivers championships with motor sport legends such as Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Ayrton Senna and more recently Mika Häkkinen. In fact they are the second most successful formula one team after Ferrari, with more Grand Prix wins under their belt than any constructor other than Ferrari.
The team was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren and was at that time know as Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited. They spent their first three years building a formula one car and were finally ready to make their debut at the Monaco Grand Prix of 1966 with the team founder at the wheel The first race ended in failure as a result of a serious oil leak however the team went on to score their first championship point later that year. 1968 saw the team score their first race win as Bruce piloted the McLaren Ford to victory in Belgium. They then went on to record further wins in Italy and Canada later that year.
The 1970s started in tragedy for McLaren as Bruce McLaren lost his life in a testing accident at Goodwood. Although the team continued his legacy they wouldn’t see another race win for two years. Finally at the South African grand prix in 1972 Denny Hulme, former world champion, recorded his first race win for McLaren since Bruce’s death..
1974 saw a turnaround in the teams fortunes. Emerson Fittipaldi joined the team and with his driving managed to win their first world constructors title as well as the world drivers title. They even managed to win the Indianapolis 500 in the same year. The team’s next championship win came in 1976 with James Hunt taking over from Fittipaldi and taking the drivers championship. . By the 1980’s McLaren were back on form. The McLaren team merged with Ron Dennis’ Formula 2 team to from the current McLaren F1 team and they began their dominance of Formula one. A succession of top drivers over the next few years, the likes of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna brought great results with McLaren taking the championship in 1984, 1985, 1988 and 1989.
Team mates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost achieved the highest number of double race wins of any pair in F1, notching up 14 wins between them in 1988 and 1989. This partnership holds the record for the most wins in a season, winning 15 out of the 16 races in 1988. 1988 was seen as the pinnacle of their success to date. The winning combination of Senna & Prost together with class leading new Honda engine meant that not only did they win all but one race, they also led all but 27 laps of the season, a record still unbeaten today.
To keep up with the latest Formula one fashions and show your support with the latest Lewis Hamilton and McLaren F1 merchandise visit http://www.lewis-hamilton-f1-driver.co.uk
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_D
However this success is not new for the team. During its history the team has won 8 constructors championships and 11 drivers championships with motor sport legends such as Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Ayrton Senna and more recently Mika Häkkinen. In fact they are the second most successful formula one team after Ferrari, with more Grand Prix wins under their belt than any constructor other than Ferrari.
The team was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren and was at that time know as Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited. They spent their first three years building a formula one car and were finally ready to make their debut at the Monaco Grand Prix of 1966 with the team founder at the wheel The first race ended in failure as a result of a serious oil leak however the team went on to score their first championship point later that year. 1968 saw the team score their first race win as Bruce piloted the McLaren Ford to victory in Belgium. They then went on to record further wins in Italy and Canada later that year.
The 1970s started in tragedy for McLaren as Bruce McLaren lost his life in a testing accident at Goodwood. Although the team continued his legacy they wouldn’t see another race win for two years. Finally at the South African grand prix in 1972 Denny Hulme, former world champion, recorded his first race win for McLaren since Bruce’s death..
1974 saw a turnaround in the teams fortunes. Emerson Fittipaldi joined the team and with his driving managed to win their first world constructors title as well as the world drivers title. They even managed to win the Indianapolis 500 in the same year. The team’s next championship win came in 1976 with James Hunt taking over from Fittipaldi and taking the drivers championship. . By the 1980’s McLaren were back on form. The McLaren team merged with Ron Dennis’ Formula 2 team to from the current McLaren F1 team and they began their dominance of Formula one. A succession of top drivers over the next few years, the likes of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna brought great results with McLaren taking the championship in 1984, 1985, 1988 and 1989.
Team mates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost achieved the highest number of double race wins of any pair in F1, notching up 14 wins between them in 1988 and 1989. This partnership holds the record for the most wins in a season, winning 15 out of the 16 races in 1988. 1988 was seen as the pinnacle of their success to date. The winning combination of Senna & Prost together with class leading new Honda engine meant that not only did they win all but one race, they also led all but 27 laps of the season, a record still unbeaten today.
To keep up with the latest Formula one fashions and show your support with the latest Lewis Hamilton and McLaren F1 merchandise visit http://www.lewis-hamilton-f1-driver.co.uk
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_D
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)