The site offers something for every race fan or participant. If you have any comments or suggestions (other than, "Dump it! You're a bum!"), please tell me. The section titles below are where you can read the latest thing that light's my fire! A good example is: That's My Opinion and I'm Sticking To It!
Contributing Photographers: Deutsche Touringwagen Masters, George Dwinell, Albert Wong, Jim Phillipson, David Anderson, Chris Anderson, Paul Zimerman, Jakob Ebrey, A1GP.com, Ben Moment (redlinereview.com)
That's It! I Haven't Heard So Many Excuses Since I Left The Defense Industry! LOSERS! Click Anywhere on the Picture! 26 March-28 March 2010! The Greatest Informal Gathering of Auto Racing Stars From Yesterday and Today! Last year I attended what I consider one of the most interesting and entertaining events of the year, next to the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Historic Races. It was the inaugural "Legends of Riverside," Film show and celebration of the many stars who raced at the greatest racing facility in Southern California.
I couldn't count the racing greats near greats who came to the Riverside International Automotive Museum last March to honor Dan Gurney's investiture as a Legend of Riverside. I visited with Bob Bondurant, George Follmer, Jerry Grant, Howden Ganley, Linda Vaughn and Tony Adamowicz. I also had the opportunity to meet and become friends with artist (responsible for the poster above) Nicolas Hunziker and his wife.
Nick Hunziker is the Grand-Nephew of Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh of Siam
(known today as Thailand). Prince Bira was a successful racing driver before World War II and into the Fifties. He raced under the pseudonym, B. Bira. Why do I know so much about Prince Bira? I own all of the books ever written about him.
As a result of our meeting at the Riverside International Automotive Museum and our mutual interest in his Grand-Uncle, I took the opportunity to introduce Nick and his wife to Sir Stirling Moss during the Historic Automobile Races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Sir Stirling raced against Nick's Grand-Uncle during the late Forties and early Fifties. Nick presented the 79 year-old racing legend examples of his work including a drawing (right) of Moss racing the Formula Two Rob Walker entered Porsche. Nick did the drawing after I told him of the chance to meet a true legend in auto racing.
The meeting resulted in a business agreement between Stirling Moss and Nick Hunziker
See: AH-DEN-DUMB (Below)
The Chicago Auto Show saw the first real innovation in Indy Car racing since Andy Granatelli introduced the Gas Turbine engined Indy Car in 1967, with the February 2010, introduction of the Delta Wing Indy Car!
Of course as history shows, the ever flamboyant Granatelli so scared the pants off the established Indy 500 crowd (AKA The Yellow Blazer Crowd) that they legislated against the "Whoosh Mobiles," by restricting the annular (air) inlet to the motor to the point that the cars became uncompetitive. Why did this happen? Well, when you get right down to it, it was because all the other Indy 500 entrants, prominent business/sportsman that they were, saw their multi $$ investments going down the drain. Especially so close after the introduction of the rear engined racecars which turned their Indy Roadster into museum pieces. Oh yeah, most of these gentlemen did not compete in many other races on the calendar and feared that the gas turbine motor was a threat to the internal combustion engine.
Those Indy 500 millionaire sportsmen are no longer involved in the sport. It now falls to the professional corporate sponsored racing teams to provide the excitement and color to compete over a 17 race season on different types of race tracks ranging from Indianapolis Motor Speedway to California's Long Beach street race and the natural terrain road racing track at Infineon Raceway.
The Ben Bowlby ex Lola and Target Chip Ganassi Racing Engineer, designed Delta Wing racecar poses no such
threat! Rather, it will alter the conventional thinking about Indy Car design in that it does not employ front or rear wings. The Delta Wing is a radical use of integrated racecar under body aerodynamics based on Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) rather than wind tunnel models. The prototype features a 4-cylinder turbo charged engine and is expected to produce 300 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and weigh 160 lbs! Engine capacity, RPM and configuration freedom are anticipated. A specially developed fuel control unit is anticipated to improve engine life and efficiency. Delta Wing also believes that these innovations plus the anticipated cost reductions will attract more engine manufacturer involvement and while the other three (Lola, Swift and Dallara) competitors for the 2011 IZOD Indy Car racing car employ the engine as a stressed member, Delta Wing accepts any engine as a bolt in unit of the racecar!
The engines are not single source "rentals," as are the current Honda motors. In other words, there is no reason that Ford or Chevrolet or Toyota cannot develop and produce an engine for the IZOD Indy Car series. The racing teams will buy and own their racing engine. Additionally, there is no need for separate and distinct chassis for the numerous and varied circuits that the IZOD Indy Car Series competes! That's right! The Delta "Force," race car as my friend Dan Partel, CEO of Delta Wing LLC, calls it, is a "One Size Fits All," concept!
The Delta Wing concept has the backing of some prominent Indy Car heavy hitters like Chip Ganassi, Michael Andretti, Eric Bachelart, Roger Penske, John Barnes and Keith Wiggins among others.
I have never been a fan of "Formula Honda," one make racing at the highest form of motorracing in America! It wasn't all that long ago that CART/ChampCar had four or five engine manufacturers in at least four distinct racecars!
A note to whoever has been selected president of the IRL: If you want butts in the seats and eyes on the television sets, you need to, not only change the formula, more importantly, you MUST develop a marketing plan that focuses on racing fan! The IRL should be the "Innovative Racing League," instead of "Irrelevant Racing Losers!"
AH-DEN-DUMB! The introduction of the Delta Wing race car at the Chicago Auto Show has caused more Internet hoopla, folderal and mental masturbation than I have seen in quite some time. There are more calls for banning the car than there are to at least give it a try. One race car manufacturer (Swift) is asking for fan input for their design!
I have heard that the IRL has informed the people at Delta Wing that they cannot refer to series sponsor IZOD, nor Indy Car, or IRL in their press and promotional material!
Apparently somebody pulled the old Yellow Blazers out of the time warp closet! The restriction does not apply to Dallara, Lola or Swift. Not having any financial ties to Delta Wing, Dallara, Swift or Lola, I have no qualms about getting into the IRL's crap!
First, let me set all those Internet, "Screaming Meemies," straight!
Before today's Cookie Cutter cars, the Big Three, Ford, GMC and Chrysler employed design centers to come up with the next great car. The most famous of these was General Motors Fisher Body. TV and print ads always referred to, "Body by Fisher." Back in the late 20th Century these artisans made clay mock up's for the builders to use as visual references of a car's body.
What everyone saw at the Chicago Auto Show was a mock up of what Delta Wing expects their car to look like. It had no instruments, no motor, no truly functional suspension parts! A MOCK UP! So all this bellowing is really just a bunch of vitriolic and panicky hot air! At least Delta Wing gave you all a physical vehicle to look at instead of cartoon drawings!
BTW the Defense Industry builds MOCK UP's of their projected tanks, helicopters and airplanes and nobody jumps up and down demanding that they be banned!
IT'S TIME TO GROW UP!!
FORMULA ONE SURVEY! Here Was Your Chance To Tell The F1 Heavies What You Think! To everyone who have attempted to enter The LG F1Racing Global fan survey 2010, and found the survey closed, I apologize. There was no date listed on the original survey information that I used and therefore, I didn't know that there was a closing date. Sorry.
Gil Bouffard
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BUTTINS!!! BUTTINS???
I am an egalitarian. After all the female racer bashing, I think it is important to take a stand! I personally do not care if you are tall or short; Green, white, black or blue; Gay, not gay, happy or not happy, Man, woman or both! I believe that we all have the right to be ourselves!
The definition of an egalitarian from Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary is: egalitarian n asserting, promoting, or marked by egalitarianism.
egalitarianism n 1: a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic rights and privileges. 2: a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people.
I also do not believe in motorsports "Diversity Programs." Why? Because I am an egalitarian!
I will leave these definitions on my site forever! I may not do much else in my life, but maybe some day someone will get the message!
Gil Bouffard
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