Since one of the last year of the course in Bristol donated almost a completely new road, the price has changed dramatically. From a crash festival that every few laps had to be interrupted, a real race track has become, where you can not go wrong. Instead of a slippery outside line, there is now a mobile track and you can even go in a threesome in the curve. Whether one but also to third comes back out, is another question. A look at the caution-balance for the last three races but already shows the differences. At the race before the conversion last March, there were 15 interruptions. In the autumn after the renovation, there were only nine, yesterday it was 10th What is more, the course has become faster. The race yesterday cracks with 181 minutes straight times as the 3-hour mark, and that's only because it came two laps before the finish in an accident. This is a short track race to nothing. I've seen it race that lasted over four hours.

At the end of the three RCR cars were front and won by Jeff Burton, was a mixture of luck and skill. RCR has a hand in the last race showed significantly more stable than at the beginning of the season. On the other hand, we can thank Kevin Harvick, who intentionally / unintentionally roughly in the penultimate round of the dominant Tony Stewart sent into the wall. Stewart had surprised me and probably many other NASCAR observers by saying that he had had with his Toyota 267 of 500 laps. I do not have the Toyota credit for. Even Danny Hamlin was with the front, and would finally back to score a victory when his tank would not have been too empty. Since the fuel is not pumped into the engine regelmßig could pass the three RCR drivers in the penultimate round at him. But surprisingly, the Gibbs team already. Not only do you have brought the Toyota engine on the 1.5 miles from Oval manners, he is now on short tracks very well. However, the Gibbs team with this power quite alone in the Toyota camp. The rest of TRD-fired car was overtaken yesterday and ended in the 20s. Always it is Gibbs, who is seen ahead, never Michael Waltrip and Red Bull Something must have found.

Would probably find something like the Hendrick team accustomed to success. Had one before the season even fear that would drive Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR with the rest of the combination of Gordon, Johnson, junior in the land, the balance looks after five races from more than modest. A victory in the championship for not counting Gatorade Duels at Daytona, a second place finish in Las Vegas, a third in Atlanta for Junior. These were then already the best results of the team. This is also reflected in the table. Junior is the only (!) Drivers from Hendrick Motorsports, which currently would be in the Chase. Gordon is in 13th, Johnson 14th That's damn little and if you look at the race, unless you were actually in Las Vegas never turn to a victory. Even yesterday, when it was decided to remain behind in the penultimate stop on the old tires, while behind junior all went into the pits. Whether he would have won with new tires? Hard to say - the possibility that he was on a pit stop, where can always go a little awry, courts would have lost, was large and in the end he finished fifth. More, he said, after Renne, would probably also with a perfect pit stop not been possible. Still, Hendrick has a problem and the problem is, Joe Gibbs Racing.

This applies also for all other teams. Yesterday I was a little surprised that Ford was such a bad mood. I was far ahead Edwards expects to see but he was not. The other Ford drivers were on a track that should be the Ford, show nothing. Even worse was the Dodge. Only Kurt Busch, a five-time winner at Bristol could avoid lapping. The rest sank in the middle.

And then there was an accident between Harvick and Stewart was two laps before the finish. Harvick was on new tires, old Stewart. Harvick stoch pretty motivated purely in Turn One, began to slip and sent Stewart into the wall. However, if you now have a classic "Stewart Freak Out" was expected to be disappointed. Depressed and cynical Stewart was only known that it might have been his fault that Harvick had slipped into it. The lack of explosion, however, also had their reasons. On the one had been Stewart had done the week because of his statements about Goodyear internally rapped on the knuckles and him on Friday at a meeting with the Goodyear people "invited." On the other hand it was quite clear that the victory would have been impossible to get anyway. Space was two or three perhaps, but Harvick with new tires too fast. Had the pilot RCR suffered a little, he would also pass on Stewart did happen.

It was yesterday, maybe not a race that will go down in history, but it was not so bad that you fell asleep from exhaustion. Still, I'm me, sometimes the "old" Bristol wanted back, where the paint exchange was absolutely necessary if one were to go around the course quickly. But for that we have in 14 days, too Martinsville.

F1 - look
- In Italy is once again the whole world under one runs and wailing in a circle. The total loss due to problems with the Ferrari engine is one thing that we all weekend with the drive had problems, but the Italian press has completely finished. The translations from Google probably give only a part of the lamentations of the journalists again, but then even thick enough off. One longs already behind on the old times with Schumacher, Todt and Brawn, this one asks the question, how could a man like Paolo Martinelli let go, who has previously built the engines and primarily responsible for quality assurance was. Martinelli is sitting after castling personnel allegedly on his own request at the parent company Fiat and now is working on a Formula Three motor. One observes Ferrari, that one is inferior in every respect: speed, reliability and tactics. Now, Ferrari has not, as a startled chicken pile, but the problems can not be ignored. Since it was counterproductive, that the new team boss Stefano Domenicali pointed out that 2006 had a worse start.

- FOR THE OPERATIONS. the bile-green team clothing from Honda, it was said that Honda is using the new color is probably the only team that could be seen from space.

- Mark Webber took his various problems over the weekend with humor, and pointed out that we should be glad about that Red Bull does not build airplanes.

- Kimi Raikkonen has narrowly escaped a punishment by the FIA. In the usual photo call at the beginning of a season he should be in full gear at 40 degrees to the photographer. He came, stayed for 10 seconds and walked away. Hours later and after a few threats, the FIA ​​pulled the Finns again brought before the own called photographers. This time he remained standing at least 15 seconds.

- At Williams you have a new goal in sight. After seeing that one Renault, Toyota and Red Bull loose in the handle is, you want to BMW ran. The lap times of Rosberg and Heidfeld in the race were pretty much identical, with a tiny advantage for the Germans in the Williams. It annoyed in retrospect about the slightly slower pit stop in which Rosberg Heidfeld to get past.

A1 GP - Battleground
That in the A1 GP series quite rough the going gets tough, is known. Many young drivers who want to win all at the same time are just a volatile combination. However, one should sometimes be a serious word with the men, because as the race in Durban were trying to win some of the race already on the starting line. In the sprint race it popped neatly at the start, in the main race was to be more civilized just the stupid chicane before the start and finish in front of Peralta for more hair-raising campaigns to use. More than a word you should also switch times with Michael Ammermüller. To him in a sprint race at the start in the truest sense of the word car went over, is not his fault. He, however, in the main event once again saw a gap that was not there another. Ammermüller, who with the English commentator Ben Edwards and John Watson, already the top name "Hammer" is certainly a faster man, but if you look at long-term (3 races) shaved off the front wing, it is just nothing to do with the points. Since you have to say honestly that Vietoris delivers a better job. Not because the would be faster, but because the car very LSST. Well, one need not give many more drivers this year. In the fall so does the new.

Oh, and has won the feature race, even one. Adam Carroll went on to score for the Irish team's first win. There's St. Patrick's Day today, one can imagine how big the head of the Lords today.

And what else?
When you look at the Audi licks wounds after the rather parlous state performance in Sebring, Peugeot at one looks forward. Not that the Peugeot has made less technical problems, but he was a good bit faster than the Audi. The problems we had later, were probably expensive, but overall marginal nature. Can be a lot of PR talk behind it, because in France do not really know what to make of the performance of the team. At 1000km in Barcelona in a few weeks we will all be wiser. MotorsTV transmits the race in the LMS entirely live.

Preview again next weekend: F1 and GP2 Sepang (hurray, only clock at 08.00 on Sunday), NASCAR NW in Nashville.

17/03/2008

Record.	Clock 19:15	NASCAR SC	Bristol	Premiere
Record.	Clock 20:45	Formula One	Australian GP	Premiere
Record.	Clock 00:15	A1 GP	Mexico	Premiere

03/18/2008

Record.

Clock 21:00

ALMS

12H Sebring

MotorsTV, SpeedTV

Since one of the last year of the course in Bristol donated almost a completely new road, the price has changed dramatically. From a crash festival, that all stopped some rounds ...