Singapore GP Review

How can it all go so wrong so fast? Just ask Felipe Massa, who once again found himself in a pickle during the humid Singapore night.

Of course, the first night race in the history of F1 went off without a hitch, which is a good thing, and the night had nothing to do with the flubs that happened around the track. This was undoubtedly a much better race than the Valencia race, but it didn’t look that way early on.

From the start, Felipe was off like a scalded cat. He took off from pole and had a big lead heading into his first pit stop window. But then Mr. Nelson “don’t call me junior” Piquet had to go and throw his car into the side of a wall. I didn’t think that one man could change the landscape of the race so massively, but he did, and I think that he should not be driving in F1 next season. Not only is he a bad driver (too slow and too inconsistent), but he is a bad spokesman. It seems like he is never happy (maybe he knows his job is on the line – as it should be) and that he doesn’t care on top of that. Peter Windsor interviewed him before the race, and he was colder than Kimi in a blizzard. Although he did change the outcome of the race and ended up changing the way the race was run, he shouldn’t have, because then Massa would have won.

How much fun would it have been if Massa had won? Right now, Lewis Hamilton and he would be tied in the standings with three races left. Wouldn’t that be more fun to watch than Lewis romp away with the title? Even I, devoted Ferrari fan as I am, would like to see that more than a runaway. Even when Michael was dominating it still would have been fun to see him duke it out, but it isn’t his fault that the competition couldn’t come close to touching him. Unfortunately, I think that this race is the first in a line of “wins” for Hamilton, eventually leading to a World Title.

As for Massa, his race took a turn for the very worst, when Nelson crashed. With Jr. in the wall, all of the other runners were right in line to take their first pit stop. But that can’t happen when the safety car is deployed, which is exactly what took place. Both Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica took 10 second penalties for having to refuel while under the safety car period. But back to my man Felipe. Boy did he or the team screw up royally. Right before he was about to be released, and before the fuel hose had been disconnected, the light on their pit lane lollipop turned green, and he left off the clutch. This resulted in him driving forward, ripping the fuel hose off the fuel tank and knocking a bunch of his crew over. He streamed into the pit lane, with the hose still attached, right in front of another car. But he stopped at the end of the pit lane to wait for his team to come and pull the hose out – which they eventually did, but by then it was too late. He went from first to last on the error of the team. Plus, they couldn’t come to rescue him in a hurry because they had to stack the pits after Jr’s crash. The nozzle had been bent so much that it took four or five men to even pry it off. But Massa kept his engine running and he was on his way.

The fact that the engine actually lasted the entire distance is a feat in itself, but it did Massa no good in the championship standings and he is now seven points behind Hamilton. And what about Hamilton? Well, I stated a couple of weeks ago that his nickname should be “Lucky” and then I retracted it. I now will retract my retraction and rename him Lucky. He is always in the right place at the right time and never gets into any trouble. How I wish he would, but there are three races left (the last two of which he screwed up in last year – China and Brazil).

But what about that other prancing horse I hear you asking. Well, Kimi started well, fell back and then got held up after Massa’s pit stop. Then he ended up in third before the final pit stop and afterward fell back to eighth or ninth. He did end up with the fast lap of the race, setting a record, but also ended up running into a wall to end his race. So all in all, a complete failure. The fast lap does nothing for the team and now they have now slipped back to second place in the Constructor’s Championship.

The surprise winner of this first night race was Fernando Alonso in the Renault. Second was Nico Rosberg and third was Lucky Lewis. With this win, Alonso will probably have to stay at Renault for next season, but that was most likely a moot point already.

All in all though, the atmosphere and the look of the cars under the lights was a success. It certainly beats Valencia – I hope that race goes away – and I this is one thing that I would like to see happen again, the night racing thing, but I still like old tracks. Will the Ferrari’s get back on track before the years end? I hope so. Will Hamilton keep a cool head and win the championship? Most likely. Either way, this year has been hard fought and will continue to be so until the season finally in Brazil.

 

Night Race in the Rain? Probably.

Just like the old dirt track in Grand Forks, ND, the streets of Singapore will be lit up this weekend to welcome the first night race in Formula One history. I am going to hold most of my reservations, but the thing that I thought I would be excited about, a new track and a street circuit, was made into a parade lap spectacle in Valencia earlier this year. Maybe the addition of bright lights and the constant threat of monsoon quality downpours will add some much needed drama to the race.

Of course, no drama needs to be added to the drivers or the constructors. This week, the FIA officially threw out McLaren-Mercedes appeal of Lewis Hamilton’s 25 second penalty following the Belgian Grand Prix. What this means is that Hamilton only leads Felipe Massa by one point with only four races left. Will it be a party in Brazil, or a party in England? Only time will tell.

There is also some drama going on in the teams themselves as Kimi Raikkonen still believes that he can fight for the title and doesn’t want to give Massa the full support that Massa was giving him at this time last year. It was also reported that Felipe and Kimi are not the best of friends when it comes to their lives away from the sport. While Massa calls Michael Schumacher his bigger brother, it seems as though Kimi is just the other guy in the red car. How will this play out over the rest of the season or the rest of their time together? Will it turn into an Alonso/Hamilton war, or will it fizzle out? Again, only time will tell.

Time will also tell if it is going to rain or not during the race. Because this race takes place at night, and it rains almost every single night in Singapore, you can pretty much bet that it will be wet on at least one, if not two, of the three days. The forecast even calls for a 50% chance on Friday and Saturday, with Sunday’s chance of rain rising to 80%.

Also in the news is the fact that the drivers just had their first walk around the track on Wednesday, and some stuff stands out. One of the most talked about things at this stage is the curbing in turns 10 and 13. It seems as though the curbs are extremely high and sharp. Hitting one would probably mean the end of your race (unless you are very lucky – just watch as Lewis hits one and goes on to win the race).

Like I said earlier though, I am going to hold all reservations on this race until I see it. I can always hope that it will be exciting, but I don’t count on it because it is a street race (plus if you lower your expectations, the outcome will always seem better). Here’s hoping it’s a good race – and Massa wins!

Subaru Impreza WRX STi P1

Sure it’s a long name, and this post is somewhat of a rehash of my second post, but I figured that most people didn’t read that anyway, so here it is, all updated and made to look pretty. Enjoy.

There should be no doubt that the Subaru Impreza P1 is one of the most sought after cars for a certain type of people. But who are these people? Do they look like you and me? Most of the time. Do they eat with their toes instead of their hands? Possibly, although I’ve never see it. The fact of the matter is that they are people who want the best from their car; the best power, handling, stability, looks and reliability. With the Subaru Impreza P1 they get all that plus the added benefit of having a motorsport pedigree.

The Impreza in its rawest form is not just a car for those who want to get from point A to point B in the most rudimentary of ways. No. The Impreza P1 was designed for those who want to get from A to B by going the way of C, D and maybe K. They go out of their way to find the road that best suits them. Sure, any Impreza can crawl along a highway without much effort, but when it gets into the backroads and off the well-trodden path, it comes to life and becomes so much more than a simple (or very complicated depending on who you are) machine. It becomes something that you can mold around every bend and knead through every straight and switchback. It is, in essence, an extension of you through the metal, to the road.

The Impreza is made to go through all types of weather too. If you live in, say, Southern California where it is sunshiney 112% of the year, it will drive just like any other vehicle. But if you live in a state where it rains and snows and gets muddy, then you owe it to yourself to try out an Impreza when the conditions turn sour. Because of its venerable All Wheel Drive system, the car simply slogs off the worst that is thrown at it. I, personally, have driven through torrential downpours and unbelievable winter snowstorms with blowing sleet and snow drifts, without even the faintest hint that something could be wrong outside. Sure it looked like a whiter, colder version of hell out there, but inside, there were no worries mate. The car takes everything in stride, and then some.

The P1 is just like any other hot Impreza with the difference being that it is a UK only spec car and was designed and upgraded by the geniuses at Prodrive in Banbury, England. They took the best base STi, the Japanese only Type-RA, and imported a few hundred of them to their base in Banbury (the same place the rally cars are prepped). Here, they installed a new suspension, upgraded the interior and fiddled with the engine and exhaust a bit. They also hired a designer by the name of Peter Stevens to design some body add-ons including the front lip and the rear wing. Of course, Mr. Stevens is also responsible for something called a McLaren F1 (whatever that is) so you know that the P1 is in good company. All told, the Impreza P1 is probably just short of being the most sought after classic Impreza after the 22B. Not only will it embarrass some of the most highly powered supercars on the planet in the wet, but it will give them a run for their money in the dry too. This is evident by the high praise that has been placed on this car. just check out any EVO, CAR or Top Gear magazine from the late 90s or early in 2000. This is definitely one of the top 10 best cars in the world, and is most certainly worthy of having a spot in my garage.

There are many great places to go to check in on the Impreza and the community that surrounds it. My favorites are rs25.com, NASIOC.com, and Scoobynet.com. There are also some great vendors out there too. www.StreetBeatCustoms.com is one of the best and carries a wide range of products for the Impreza, no matter what year you have.