So I went to the ARLA race in Leipzig after being in France for a few days (wonderful place by the way), and this post is going to be right off the heels (kind of ironic that I say that, since I just got a hold of a new pair yesterday) of that. Also my, like, first ARLA-only post.
First of all, who the hell uses hay bails for walls?! Are they high?! A fuel leak equals a massive fire when it meets a hay bail almost instantly and I'm surprised it didn't happen. A huge oversight by the officials that could have been a complete disaster a la Le Mans 1955. I mean, hay bails and flammable objects. Great idea to use for a wall, right? Right. Fantastic idea. That's the only reason I can see for people boycotting it and not once did that come up
Screw those turns, that just required more common sense and control of the car, which Marcos Leonard showed everyone how to do. He was the most fun to watch and I think the crowd liked to watch him go. Shame he got wrecked by some moron.
It was going to be interesting because some people just admitted they couldn't handle the turns and pulled out before the weekend started. I almost considered dusting off my old CM chassis I still have, bringing that sonofagun here and putting it on the grid, but those engines are so gutless and slow that they're not fun to drive.
Come raceday it looked like Scott Hamilton was the guy to beat. He was awesome all over the track, and I thought he was going to run away with the race. Even when he got taken out he was still the hero of the day in my eye. He led the opening part of the race and if it wasn't for Liz Hebert wrecking him he would have won the race.
Keep in mind I was watching from the pitlane, so I had access to the TV monitors to watch the OEN guys call the race.
Everyone underestimated Scott until then and even after that they overlook him. The broadcasters were pretty much oggling over the 34 car, but that's like one of the best cars in the field anyway. I really like what Leonid has done for racing in general, but those two cars aren't that good, and Scott made them look awesome. Definitely the most underrated driver in ARLA, by far. He blew some of their supposed 'stars' out of the water but got taken out because of a moronic backmarker.
I hope for his sake that more than just FLASH Racing saw that performance. It seemed like such crap that they'd sort of write him off, but he should have won the race. If Liz Hebert tried that crap in the Master Cup series she'd get suspended at least one race, and that kind of driving deserves no less.
I think Kevin Colley had better kiss his ride goodbye as well -- the team owners seem to like Taylor Brillon much better than they like him. The sad part about that is if it was the reverse I think Brillon would get off with nothing. I know a few other situations like that in the Master Cup series as well, and it's a shame.
I'm not saying I agree with Kevin Colley's move, but Taylor Brillon is not that much better than Colley is, if she is actually better than him (I think that team is just buffing Brillon's ride, really), and if you ask me she is much favored by the team owners. Rumor is Colley's getting turfed out of that team next season and personally I think his career is toast unless National Racing... excuse me... Team Saar USA, picks him up as a reserve driver. We all know how reserve drivers careers go...
It was really nice to see James West win the race, though. I have to admit that -- it's not quite as big a losing streak as Lance Andrews (not even close) but it was nice to see one of the little teams win. The only problem I have was that, well, it came on the back of another small team's misfortune, in the #74 car.
Bye for now!
- A.R.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
I drove a Formula A car, Woooooooo!
DATE: MAY 15, 2009
Because the inspectors are actually paying attention. Seriously, the Brazilian tech inspection people were way more attentive then the Texas tech people.
Maybe that's just because of what happened last week at Texas, but Adrian Devereux told me they were the same way during offseason testing.
Speaking of Texas, there's probably a ton of people wanting to know why I pulled off with everyone else, and some people saying I'm not a real racer. Well, shove it, because when there are rules that are set, and everyone but a few people follow them, it is absolutely disgusting when you find out five rounds in that about a third of the players are secretly breaking a pretty big rule.
By the way, Saar and Lenard were in violation of the regulations, but the officials aren't going to penalize them for it. Which if you ask me is complete bullshit. I think I even said that to Brian Alsop (you know, the bald pit reporter with the beard who always wears that red polar fleece winter hat?), so I've been called to the media center later because, oh my god, I swore on TV.
Anyway, the track here in Brazil is nice, it's not banked too much so local open-wheelers can use it. I think they actually did earlier in the season and did so marvelously.
Also, it was nice to see Carlos Donzelo make the field. The crowd went berserk when he crossed the line to see that he made it in the field. I honestly didn't know he was this big in Brazil, but I saw a TON of people wearing 45 hats and some people wearing blue and black 0 hats (Carlos drives the #0 in the TM Lights right now, the blue and black Kamatek or whatever it is car).
Also, I'm off to France after the race to meet with the Lynxe people. What is Lynxe you ask? Well, for the uninformed, it's a clothing and shoe designer that takes pride in that they don't use sweatshop labor, which is really really cool if you ask me. I think they want to be on the car for either Karjala or for next season.
Don't get me wrong, I have a wonderful relationship with the camera folks at Canon.
But the big big big highlight for me in the week between was that I tested the Dansa Formula A car at the Montreal circuit, can't recall it's name right this second (I feel so dumb), but it was a lot of fun!!
The Dansa isn't the best car in that series, but I think I did really well, because the crew was cheering me on. I later found out that I was faster than Luigi Benedetti and he was whining about it later on. That made me feel really good. Hans Eichel was pretty supportive, and said he was trying to get something worked out so he could run Karjala.
Hans is pretty good, but he's never driven a Master Cup car.
I'm not sure if I'd make the jump to Formula A. I know I can drive those cars faster than most of the grid there, and I'd do it to represent the TM Master Cup series people. The problem I have is that the results I'm going to have will be somewhat predetermined by what car I'm in -- but anyone who knows their motorsport knows how to see a good driver in a shitty car.
Bye for now!
A.R.
Because the inspectors are actually paying attention. Seriously, the Brazilian tech inspection people were way more attentive then the Texas tech people.
Maybe that's just because of what happened last week at Texas, but Adrian Devereux told me they were the same way during offseason testing.
Speaking of Texas, there's probably a ton of people wanting to know why I pulled off with everyone else, and some people saying I'm not a real racer. Well, shove it, because when there are rules that are set, and everyone but a few people follow them, it is absolutely disgusting when you find out five rounds in that about a third of the players are secretly breaking a pretty big rule.
By the way, Saar and Lenard were in violation of the regulations, but the officials aren't going to penalize them for it. Which if you ask me is complete bullshit. I think I even said that to Brian Alsop (you know, the bald pit reporter with the beard who always wears that red polar fleece winter hat?), so I've been called to the media center later because, oh my god, I swore on TV.
Anyway, the track here in Brazil is nice, it's not banked too much so local open-wheelers can use it. I think they actually did earlier in the season and did so marvelously.
Also, it was nice to see Carlos Donzelo make the field. The crowd went berserk when he crossed the line to see that he made it in the field. I honestly didn't know he was this big in Brazil, but I saw a TON of people wearing 45 hats and some people wearing blue and black 0 hats (Carlos drives the #0 in the TM Lights right now, the blue and black Kamatek or whatever it is car).
Also, I'm off to France after the race to meet with the Lynxe people. What is Lynxe you ask? Well, for the uninformed, it's a clothing and shoe designer that takes pride in that they don't use sweatshop labor, which is really really cool if you ask me. I think they want to be on the car for either Karjala or for next season.
Don't get me wrong, I have a wonderful relationship with the camera folks at Canon.
But the big big big highlight for me in the week between was that I tested the Dansa Formula A car at the Montreal circuit, can't recall it's name right this second (I feel so dumb), but it was a lot of fun!!
The Dansa isn't the best car in that series, but I think I did really well, because the crew was cheering me on. I later found out that I was faster than Luigi Benedetti and he was whining about it later on. That made me feel really good. Hans Eichel was pretty supportive, and said he was trying to get something worked out so he could run Karjala.
Hans is pretty good, but he's never driven a Master Cup car.
I'm not sure if I'd make the jump to Formula A. I know I can drive those cars faster than most of the grid there, and I'd do it to represent the TM Master Cup series people. The problem I have is that the results I'm going to have will be somewhat predetermined by what car I'm in -- but anyone who knows their motorsport knows how to see a good driver in a shitty car.
Bye for now!
A.R.
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