Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Round 14: The Turkish Grand Prix








A description of the Track and and Facilities courtesy of Formula1.com

Turkey made its debut on the Formula One calendar in 2005 with an all-new purpose-built circuit in Istanbul. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track is designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai, and features 14 turns - eight lefts and six rights - with the cars reaching speeds of up to 330 km/h.

An unusual feature of the venue is that the lap runs anti-clockwise, making the Turkish Grand Prix only the third race on the calendar to do so (San Marino and Brazil are the other two). It possesses a wide variety of corners, and while perhaps not as technical as, say, Shanghai, it definitely provides the drivers with real challenge, especially given the reduced downforce available from 2005.

The character of the circuit is further enhanced by plenty of gradients - the track is built on four different ground levels. There may be fewer obvious overtaking opportunities than at some other Tilke circuits - it doesn't feature the long straights followed by tight hairpins that characterise the likes of Sepang and Shanghai - but the potential for a driver under pressure to make a mistake here means no shortage of passing.

As you'd expect from a new venue, spectator facilities are impressive - organisers knew they had to rival the very high standards set by Bahrain and China in 2004. Seating capacity is around 130,000, with 25,000 of those in the main grandstand, and parking is available for 12,000 cars. Dominating the circuit's skyline are two seven-floor VIP towers at either end of the paddock.




Source




Fisichella's Qualy lap from last year. Took 2nd place.





Saturday, August 05, 2006

Round 13: The Hungarian Grand Prix


This satellite image is a couple years old, so you'll notice turns 1 and 12 are the old configuration.




Let's hope the first corner goes better for Christian Klien this year. Here he is being punted into a barrel role.


And the under side...


While looking for pictures of iconic of Hungary, I realized there is nothing that reminds you of Hungary. However while looking at the Hungaroring's website I found out that they do love their grid girls.





And obviously have a long tradition of this too....


But what they love the most, is their grid girl ass shot. Here's their 2005 take on it.


And 2004


2003


2002


2001


1997


The 'classic' ass shot


And one more just for good measure


And now for the grid..




So there are the qualifying times. However that is nothing what the grid is going to look like. Alonso brake checked Robert Doornbos, and passed someone under yellow, recieving one second penalty for each incident. Micheal Schumacher has also been given a two second penalty for passing two car while under a red flag cause by Jenson Buttons engine exploding which will cost him 10 places. This means Micheal moves up one spot thanks to Jenson, while Alonso is still stuck down in 15th. Albers also recieved a grid penalty for changing his engine though it didn't make much of a difference. Here is ITV-F1's analysis of the grid position..

1. RAIKKONEN McLaren

2. MASSA Ferrari

3. BARRICHELLO Honda

4. DE LA ROSA McLaren

5. WEBBER Williams

6. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota

7. FISICHELLA Renault

8. TRULLI Toyota

9. KUBICA BMW
10. HEIDFELD BMW

11. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari*

12. COULTHARD Red Bull

13. KLIEN Red Bull

14. BUTTON Honda***
15. ALONSO Renault*

16. MONTEIRO Midland
17. LIUZZI Toro Rosso

18. ROSBERG Williams

19. SATO Super Aguri

20. SPEED Toro Rosso**
21. YAMAMOTO Super Aguri
22. ALBERS Midland***


* 2s time penalty imposed

** 3 best times deleted for impeding a rival

*** engine penalty imposed