Race Six: Monaco

If you saw it, then it didn’t come as much of a surprise. Once again it was Jenson Button claiming victory in a Brawn Mercedes. His performance was Schumacher-esque in it’s dominance of the entire field. On the historic streets of Monte Carlo, he came out on top of Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Raikkonen.

            In actuality, the race in Monaco is probably one of the more boring affairs. If it doesn’t rain and there are no accidents, it just becomes a very expensive parade lap with boats and celebrities looking on. From the start, Button led away while Barrichello took second place from Raikkonen. The end. The rest of the field made their passes in the pits and some took a chance or two, but up front there wasn’t much action.

            This is the main reason that I advocate wet races. If this race track were wet it would be one of the most spectacular racing venues in the world. The reason for this is that the public streets that they race on would become filled with oil and rubber and all kinds of greasy substances that normal road cars lay down day after day after day and the track itself wouldn’t rubber in. There would be very little grip with a wet track, and that equals more action. The most recent example would be last year when Lewis Hamilton damaged his car in the rain and still went around to claim victory. Much more exciting racing action always happens in the rain because people are more willing to try maneuvers that would otherwise get them in a lot of trouble (even though it usually ends with more trouble than ever).

            So how did I do with my predictions? I came close. I had Barrichello, Button then Massa and it turned out to be a Brawn one-two, but in reverse. And my third place was a Ferrari, just the wrong one. Overall, I would say that I am pleased with my predictions as Felipe Massa came in fourth and missed the bottom step of the podium to his teammate.

            This week also heralds a big deadline for the teams. On Friday, the teams are supposed to have lodged their paperwork to be included in the championship for next year. So far, a couple of small teams have filed as well as Williams. It remains to be seen what will happen next, but you can rest assured that it will be very politically motivated. The next race is in Turkey in two weeks time at a track that Felipe Massa has absolutely dominated the last couple of years. Can he repeat again? Probably not, but if Ferrari are fast enough to fight for more podiums, the racing may turn out to be more exciting.

Preview: Monaco Grand Prix

Well, it’s that time of year already. The Principality of Monaco closes its streets and opens up to fans of Formula One. The tiny principality is home to one of the most historic races in history, but it is also one of the hardest to finish. The reason for this is what Nico Rosberg calls “risk management.” I find this to be a very good term for racing on the streets of Monte Carlo as you have to assess whether or not the risk is going to be worth the reward.

Although the race does not officially get the green flag until Sunday, the real race starts to take place on Saturday. These are some of the closest quarters for racing on the planet and whoever captures pole position will be the heads on favorite to take home the trophy and get to stand on the top step of the Prince’s box. The real maneuvers for the weekend will come in two or three different places. The first is at the Nouvelle Chicane after coming out of the tunnel. The second is potentially at Rascasse, while the third is after the pit straight at Sainte Devote. These three corners (especially Sainte Devote) will determine the race on Saturday and Sunday. Of the last three years of this race, these have been the corners that have caused the most heartache. Last year, it was Kimi Raikkonen coming out of the tunnel, losing the back of his car, and crashing into Adrian Sutil. It seems that every year someone will put the car into the wall at Sainte Devote, while the big controversy a couple of years ago was Michael Schumacher stalling his car at Rascasse during qualifying. Watch for these corners to again make for a dramatic race weekend.

But getting back to Rosberg’s term or risk management, this race, maybe more than any other on the calendar is going to be the most strategic of the year. It will be all about fuel loads and pace on Saturday, while Sunday will be about traffic management and pushing the car as hard as possible. Traffic is not far off either on this track because it is comprised of public streets. There really is nowhere to pass (with the exceptions being the corners I listed – but even then the driver has to have some big balls) and that means that the way you qualify is even more important. This means that the way you push is about risk vs. reward as well. If you, as a driver, are going to push your car to the max, then you had better have some incredible concentration. One slip and you are in the wall. However, this can work for the driver as well because if you are behind another competitor, you can stay as close to them as possible and try to make them skip a beat and lose control. Risk vs. reward says that it is safer to try and coax someone into making a mistake, rather than having you make a mistake while trying too hard. Essentially it all comes down to whether or not the driver will attempt the passing maneuver or not. Personally, I hope they do. If I had to make a prediction (which I already have) I would say that Rubens Barrichello is going to win. The team needs him to take the win because he is unhappy about the last race that he had to give up to Jenson Button and they certainly don’t want him to be angry about being a second driver on the team when there isn’t supposed to be a number one driver. I also look for Felipe to bounce back this race and potentially get on the podium (presuming his team can fill him with enough fuel of course). Rubens, Button, Massa is my podium. On to the race.

My New BMW Exhaust

If there is one part on my car that I am glad that I changed, it would be my BMW exhaust system. Let me share my story of how I ended up getting an aftermarket BMW exhaust system on my 3 series and why it is the best modification that I wish I had done sooner.

 

I really love my car. It is a 1999 BMW 328i and it is silver (I know, very original color right?) Anyway, I use my car as a daily driver and it has served me well for many years. I happened to be driving to my school one day and I came to a stop at a stop sign. Unfortunately for me, the person behind me did not stop so quickly and ended up rear ending my car. Fortunately, the damage to the rear bumper was not all that bad, but because my stock exhaust stuck out somewhat, it ended up getting pinched and bent. I figured that it would probably be a good time to get a whole new exhaust system for my BMW.

 

After searching the Internet, I found a site that had what I wanted. I ended up going with a stainless steel BMW exhaust system that was perfectly suited to my car. The system I chose is a cat back meaning that the first pipe starts at the back of the catalytic converter and connects to the new muffler and dual pipes. Not only are the pipes a larger diameter to help with the exhaust flow from the engine, they are also a polished stainless steel. The reason for choosing stainless steel over something like mild steel or titanium is that stainless steel won’t ever rust like mild steel will and it costs a lot less money than a titanium exhaust system. Plus, this system took a ton of weight off the car and helped to produce a better sound for the car.

 

And what a sound! The straight six under my hood sounds exactly like a racing engine. It has a low growl at tick over and when you really step on the throttle, it ends up snarling and howling all the way to the red line. Plus, because it also improved my horsepower and torque, the engine actually wants to rev up the limit. Before, it would feel gutless above about 5500 rpm. Now it freely revs and seems to like that upper echelon of the rev range much more than it did before. I can honestly say that I wish I had replaced the exhaust for BMW much sooner than I did. Of course, who knows? If I had changed it out before that point, would I have still been there at that exact moment? No one knows, but that accident turned out to be something that turned out for the best for me.