Formula 1 and Other Motorsport 2006

[grant_ploughbot]

well see, im going to Brunel Uni next year studying to design the things for the next 5 years!

[jamesb]

good luck, the maths is a tad tricky, but im sure youll be fine

[armadrillo]

The V10 thing i doubt very much would happen.
All this years cars (Toro Rosso excluded) are designed around the V8 engine. To fit a V10 the whole back end of the car would need to be redesigned.

Anyone got any predictions for race 1 in Bahrain?
My prediction is a Honda on the podium with Williams close by. Not sure on the winner yet.

[grant_ploughbot]

i reckon honda gets second. BUT, i have a feeling that they wont get on the podium at all.

I was told today that im well within the top 1% of under19s in education for engineering design/engineering mathmatics so i should be ok. i also will get the 20grand tuition fees payed for by the uni if i keep up my 100% grades for the rest of the year.

[armadrillo]

Anthony davidson has shattered the lap record at Valencia today drive the new spec honda. He lapped 0.9 seconds faster than Kimi did on his fastest lap yesterday.

Lets hope its no fluke and the Honda really does have raw race pace so Jenson and Rubens can challenge for wins. The Honda reliability has been good all winter so things are looking up!

[jamesb]

The V10 thing i doubt very much would happen.
All this years cars (Toro Rosso excluded) are designed around the V8 engine. To fit a V10 the whole back end of the car would need to be redesigned.

not true actually. both ferrari and mclaren have had V10 engined versions of the 2006 car bashing around the track since the end of last season, so no designing involved at all, they already have them.

My predictions for race 1.
Webber wins
Barry Chello second
Button third

what bit of hot gossip is this based on.....
It was in the dream i had last night.... but the murry walker was driving for ferrari aswell...

[kevin]

I hope Super Aguri gets within 7 seconds off pole.

[jamesb]

if they start the race with 2 laps of fuel maybe

[tom_b]

Well, theres only 1 week to the F1 season-opener in Bahrain & it should be a corker. Elsewhere Sebastien Loeb tasted his 1st WRC win of the year in Mexico & HALLELUYAH, Petter Solberg is back!! Although a lot of the drivers werent happy because of animals straying into the roads.

Rally Mexico Top 8
1: Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Kronos Citroen) 3h47m8.8s (1st win and consistency move Seb to the top of the drivers table)
2: Petter Solberg/Phil Mills (Subaru) +48.9s (1st points of the year for Petter)
3: Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor (OMV Peugeot) +4m39.1s (Came to grief with some cows on day 2 but won the superspecial twice to clinch final podium place)
4: Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Kronos Citroen) +5m27.7s (Sainzs protege shows good speed and consistency to take 4th)
5: Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud (OMV Peugeot) +12m35.4s (Henning shows a good run despite brake problems)
6: Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle (Ford) +16m2.3s (Son of British Rally championship competitor Austin MacHale on his 2nd ever WRC outing)
7: Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall (Subaru) +20m39.5s (Recovers from Day 1 roll to finish 7th)
8: Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautainen (Ford) +21m44.2s (Like Atkinson, recovers from Day 1 roll)

Best Brit
17: Matt Wilson/Michael Orr (VK Stobart Ford) +39m48.7s (Showed well on Day 1 ending 6th but an off on Day 2 costs Matthew his 1st WRC drivers points)

Retirements
1: Fumio Nutahara/Daniel Barritt (Mitsubishi) (Excluded after service park infringement)
2: Sebastien Beltran/Edgardo Galindo (Mitsubishi) (Withdrawn because of engine problems)
3: Xavier Pons/Carlos del Barrio (Kronos Citroen) (Rare engine problems end rally for Pons)
4: Gabriel Pozzo/Daniel Stillo (Mitsubishi) (Engine failure ends rally)

WRC Drivers Championship (Round 3/16)
1: Loeb (26)
2: Gronholm (21)
3: Stohl (11)
4: P.Solberg (
5=: Gardemeister, Carlsson, Sordo & Atkinson (6)
9=: Galli & H.Solberg (5)
11=: Radstrom & Sarrazin (4)
13=: Katajamaki & MacHale (3)
15=: Hirvonen & Pons (2)

WRC Manufacturers Championship (Round 3/16)
1: Kronos Citroen (34)
2: Ford (30)
3: OMV Peugeot (21)
4: Subaru (20)
5: VK Stobart Ford (9)
6: Red Bull Skoda (3)

Production Cup (Round 2/7)
1: Nasser Al Attiyah (14)
2=: Fumio Nutahara & Toshi Arai (10)
4: David Higgins (
5: Mirco Baldacci (6)
6=: Leszek Kuzaj & Stefano Marrini (5)
8=: Jari Matti Latvala & Sergey Uspenskiy (4)
10: Marcos Ligato (3)
11: Stepan Vojtech (2)
12: Francisco Name (1)

This weekend sees the F1 curtain-raiser in Bahrain.

Qualifying: Saturday 10:30am
Race LIVE: Sunday 10:30am

Theres questions to be asked. Can Alonso retain his crown? Is 2006 the last we see of Michael Scumacher in F1 and in a grand prix car? Can Jenson Button win his 1st grand prix? How good will rookies Nico Rosberg, Scott Speed & Yuji Ide be? All that this weekend on ITV1.

[mrdaves]

My money is on Michael getting an 8th world championship.