Thursday, 20 August 2009

BTCC Snetterton - Nash v Collard in Pictures

They say a picture says a thousand words.... Here is the story of when Nash met Collard!



Collard leads race three through the Esses from Nash with Turkington close behind in third place.



Nash makes a botched overtaking attempt punting Collard off at high speed who collects the inncoent Stephen Jelley.



Both cars come to rest on the grass verge and marshalls are quickly on the scene.



Stephen Jelley is quickly out of his Team RAC BMW but there is a worryingly long wait for Collard to be extricated from his car.



Despite being a bit dazed I am pleased to report that Rob was fit enough to express his opinions, as only he can, of Nash's driving!



Collard trudges away ruing another lost victory as Nash leads the race in his absense.



Collard and Jelley compare notes. I bet Nash's ears are burning inside his helmet.



Stephen Jelley surveys the remains of his BMW.


The villain of the piece. Nash goes on to take his first BTCC race victory only for it later to be overturned by the stewards in favour of championship leader Colin Turkington.


Meanwhile, the busy marshalls clean up the remains of Jelley's BMW.

Tuesday, 11 August 2009

Schumacher rules out F1 return

Just when it looked as though we might have a bit of added spice for the rest of the F1 season, Michael Schumacher has decided against returning to Ferrari on medical grounds.

Schumacher sustained injuries in a motorbike accident earlier this year and suffered neck pain (some will say he has always been one of those!) when test driving a 2007 Ferrari on track. It is feared his injury would be further agravated if he were to temporarily replace Felipe Massa as reported previously in this blog.

Instead of the mouth watering prospect of the Red Baron returning to the track we have, err, Luca Badoer. Luca who? - Luca Badoer.

He has been beavering away behind the scenes at Ferrari for many years as one of their test drivers and last raced an F1 car around ten years ago so don't expect him to set the world alight.

I suppose given the very short notice this was probably the only option Ferrari had to replace Massa now that Schumacher has also stepped back.

It would appear that Ferrari have written off this season to concentrate of next year.

Remember, if you enjoy reading these posts, why not subscribe or leave a comment?

Saturday, 8 August 2009

F1 - Schumacher Returns - Piquet Out














Despite Michael Schumacher's manager stating last week that he was "200% sure" Schumacher would not replace the injured Felipe Massa at Ferrari, he has now been confirmed through to the end of the season!

Ferrari have thrown a hissy fit earlier this week (as they usually do when things don't go their way.....).

They had requested dispensation from the FIA and other F1 teams to allow Schumacher to test the 2009 Ferrari due to the in season test ban. This request was turned down flat by Williams, Toro Rosso and Red Bull in case it set a precedent. A tad harsh maybe but after all, rules is rules as they say.

I have a gut feeling that Schumacher could win a race later this year. If I was a gambling man my money would be on Abu Dhabi. Here's why -

1. It is the last race by which time he should be back in the swing and fully up to speed with the car

2. Ferrari will no doubt have made further developments to the car throughout the remaining races

3. It is a new circuit for all the drivers making it a level playing field

What do you think? Your comments are always welcome.

Meanwhile over at Renault, Nelson Piquet Junior has been shown the exit door - not unexpected.
Yet another in a long line of victims of the perma tanned Lothario.
He has already been replaced by rookie Romain Grosjean who was Renault's official third driver.

I cannot see that he will do any better than Piquet managed when all the team's resources are directed at Alonso.

I think it was a mistake for Piquet to join the Renault team in the first place although it is completely understandable that he would see it as an immediate move into one of the top teams at the time.
He may have been better advised to take the traditional route and join a team lower down the grid for a couple of seasons and then move up to better things (like Alonso for example).

Briatore is notoriously difficult to work with and it became quite quickly apparent that Piquet was not feeling the love!

Jenson Button had a similar miserable time at Renault but since leaving his career has flourished.

Piquet is not a shabby driver by a long chalk - at the inaugaral A1 GP meeting at Brands Hatch he wiped the floor with everybody (including some ex F1 drivers), winning both the sprint and feature races by some margin.

I really hope that he will get a chance to find another berth in F1, perhaps with one of the new teams and prove his true potential.

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Briatore made to look a twat once more!

Photos thanks to - Schumigirl1956 & Ann64