Mika Hakkinen arrived in the Spanish city of Barcelona today, moving McLaren to finally admit that the double world champion will test for the team on Thursday.

The 38-year-old Finn last drove a grand prix car in 2001, when he retired, but his ambition to return to the cockpit was fuelled by his visit to Interlagos last month to witness Michael Schumacher's last grand prix.

His run at Circuit de Catalunya is a one-off, with McLaren saying it hoped to 'benefit from Mika's experience and obtain his feedback', but Hakkinen is tipped to become a regular 'sport advisor' to the team in 2007.

Team boss Ron Dennis commented: "At this stage there are no plans for Mika to conduct further tests for the team."

Mercedes' competition director Norbert Haug added: "Nobody should draw the conclusion that Mika will switch back to formula one after this test."

Good news... no more CBS and that goat-humping Derek Daly.

SPEED is teaming with big brother FOX Sports on a new multi-year deal with Formula One Management to provide complete coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship™ racing through 2009, with FOX broadcasting four events each season, including live coverage of the U.S. Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix. SPEED will air the remaining 13 events live, including the famed Grand Prix of Monaco.

Recently signed to multi-year contracts with SPEED, the on-air team for both networks will be lead by veteran broadcaster Bob Varsha, with analysis from former F1 driver David Hobbs and former F1 mechanic Steve Matchett. Formula One journalist Peter Windsor will provide reports from the pits and starting grid.

In 2007, FOX will provide live coverage of the U.S. Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix, plus taped coverage of the British Grand Prix and French Grand Prix. SPEED will provide live coverage of qualifying and practice for the entire season.

The 2007 Formula One™ television schedule (all races to be shown live except French GP and British GP):

March 18 – Australia (SPEED)
April 8 – Malaysia (SPEED)
April 15 – Bahrain (SPEED)
May 13 – Spain (SPEED)
May 27 – Monaco (SPEED)
June 10 – Canada (FOX)
June 17 – United States (FOX)
July 1 – France (FOX)
July 8 – United Kingdom (FOX)
July 22 – Germany (SPEED)
Aug. 5 – Hungary (SPEED)
Aug. 26 – Turkey (SPEED)
Sept. 9 – Italy (SPEED)
Sept. 16 – Belgium (SPEED)
Sept. 30 – Japan (SPEED)
Oct. 7 – China (SPEED)
Oct. 21 – Brazil (SPEED)

In addition to coverage of Formula One, the new agreement also includes

SPEED coverage of GP2 Series™ racing, as well as broadband rights to the USGP for SPEED On-Board Pass access to on-board cameras.

Brian France, the chairman and chief executive of NASCAR, has served notice that the successful US stock car series has global ambitions - something which an dismissive Formula 1 fraternity has thus far refused to take too seriously. NASCAR was once dismissed by the other big sports in America but has since emerged as the second most popular sport in America after the NFL. Sponsorship revenues in the Nextel Cup series are now up to an estimated $5.1bn and merchandising income is over $2bn a year. The 36 Cup races attract an average of 190,000 fans. France says that the series will continue to expand within the United States with plans for races in the Pacific Northwest and New York. More importantly, however, for the first time NASCAR is admitting that it has international ambitions with "a couple of people looking" at opportunities in Europe and China. France says that the plan is to look for local partners with whom to go into partnership.

"Taking our current partners with us to expansion abroad is good for them, and good for us," France told The Financial Times.

You knew it was coming... ugh. I can see billy-bob with his arm candy trying to order a "Royale with cheese" in france... Nice.

Brian France, the chairman and chief executive of NASCAR, has served notice that the successful US stock car series has global ambitions - something which an dismissive Formula 1 fraternity has thus far refused to take too seriously. NASCAR was once dismissed by the other big sports in America but has since emerged as the second most popular sport in America after the NFL. Sponsorship revenues in the Nextel Cup series are now up to an estimated $5.1bn and merchandising income is over $2bn a year. The 36 Cup races attract an average of 190,000 fans. France says that the series will continue to expand within the United States with plans for races in the Pacific Northwest and New York. More importantly, however, for the first time NASCAR is admitting that it has international ambitions with "a couple of people looking" at opportunities in Europe and China. France says that the plan is to look for local partners with whom to go into partnership.

"Taking our current partners with us to expansion abroad is good for them, and good for us," France told The Financial Times.

You knew it was coming... ugh. I can see billy-bob with his arm candy trying to order a "Royale with cheese" in france... Nice.

Hamilton will make his F1 debut in Australia next March Englishman Lewis Hamilton will drive for McLaren in Formula One next season. The 21-year-old, the reigning champion of the GP2 feeder series, will be the first black driver to race in F1.

Hamilton, who has been in McLaren's young driver programme since 1998, said getting a drive with the team was "a dream come true". He faces the daunting prospect of partnering world champion Fernando Alonso, who will be making his McLaren debut after moving from Renault.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis acknowledged that promoting Hamilton was a gamble, but insisted he was a better prospect than any driver in F1 other than Alonso and former McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen. "He has earned his chance and he deserves this opportunity," Dennis said. Statistically, Lewis is going to find it tough in the first few races of his Grand Prix career "Yes, there's a concern," Dennis said. "But I'm open about this concern.

"Both Lewis and the team have their eyes open and we will be very supportive. We have mapped out a very detailed programme to give him a grounding in all the different aspects of F1. "By Australia [the first race], he will have been well prepared and well disciplined, and he will be as well equipped to handle it as we can make him."

Dennis said it was "not unrealistic" to expect Hamilton to win a race in his debut season "if we have a strong car, but certainly not in the early part of the season".

He added: "Statistically, Lewis is going to find it tough in the first few races of his Grand Prix career. "You only have to look at the first few races of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher to realise that unless he is something really exceptional, and that I doubt because they are two really exceptional drivers, you can't expect - and nor do we expect - immediate performance."

Hamilton's appointment means Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa will revert to being a test driver alongside another Englishman, Gary Paffett, who had been tipped for a race seat in another team.

Hamilton will join the McLaren team next week as they prepare for the 2007 season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
"To be racing in Formula One with McLaren has been the ulimate goal for me since I was very young," Hamilton said in a team statement. "This opportunity is a fantastic way to end what has been the best year for me.

"I'm aware that this will be a challenge and I know there will be a lot of attention on me," he added.

Hamilton, who joined the McLaren development programme at the age of 13, won the British Formula Renault title in 2003 and the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2005.

MIAMI: Juan Pablo Montoya's NASCAR Cup debut ended in a ball of flames when his Dodge Charger was tapped from behind on lap 252 of a 267-lap race at Miami Speedway on Sunday.

Okay I didn't have the stomach for it but I heard the fiery Colubian was enjoying racing the shopping cart with the hill-billies. Good for him. What next? A trip to Indy with Robbie Gordon for the 500 and off to the Coca-Cola 600? Whoopee.

The Tornado is first but about half way it shows a Tamiya F1 chassis... pre Road Wizard here. Check out the sweet Brabham BT50... a Gordon Murray design that fully exploited the skirts/bernoulli downforce idea in F1.

This is great. "Yes, at Tamiya we design them for realism, engineer them for hard and rugged use...Make them fun to own and operate... a family of modelers building for a world of modelers ". How true is that even today? Credo.

This is classic. If only the F1's had made the cut.

Former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya makes his debut in the American closed-cockpit stock car racing series this weekend at the season-ending oval race of the most popular US form of auto racing.

The Colombian driver will try to qualify a Dodge, car number 30, for Chip Ganassi Racing at the Ford 400 at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway oval.

Many cars qualify on points accumulated during the season for the 36th and final race of the year but Montoya will have to make it into the field on speed for one of eight spots open to cars not in the top 35 in points.

National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) rivals welcomed the South American F1 legend to the series when Montoya announced in July he was leaving the Grand Prix stage for a US series where cars often bump each other.

Montoya will replace Casey Mears, his Ganassi teammate this weekend, in car number 42 next season in the Nextel Cup Series.

Montoya will compete in a developmental series support race on Saturday, his fourth such event of the year. He finished 11th at Memphis, 20th at Phoenix and 28th at Texas in prior outings.

If Montoya cannot make Sunday's race, his NASCAR debut will come next February at the 2007 Daytona 500, the biggest race on the series' schedule.

Okay... I'll watch. Crappy Neckcar.

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Jer sent me this one a long time ago and it is a barn-burner. Check
out how nice the give and take is with the veterans. That's
something you can't teach. It must be learned.... (sounds like Yoda wisdom)... Even if it is Champ
Car.

But the cars look good... I've forgotten how good they looked back then.

A lovely little peice from ITV in the UK. I thought the graphics and presentations made car characteristics pretty straight forward... Looks like all my cars could use some set up work.

The Belgian circuit of Zolder is proud to announce that it has reached an agreement with the organisers of the Champ Car Series to organise a race at the track in 2007. The race is part of a European mini-tour.


I know I know... chump car news... but... This is pretty cool for nastalgic race fans. I wonder if Mario will suit up for one more victory at Zolder. Zolder used to be a mainstay of the F1 season once upon a time. Here's Niki Lauda going slowly with an on-board camera from 1978 in Bernie's old team Brabham. It would be cool to see him on the limit. Notice that his hand has to leave the wheel to shift... ah the good ol' days of racing.

Renault has picked up the promising talent Owen Fjeldsted from the fledgling Midland F1 team. Fjeldsted is known for his ties to RacedayRC.com but the team has made clear this is not a paid driver position. Fjeldsted amassed 25 points in just 5 races coming to SLCF1 mid-season to take a solid 7th place in the championship ahead of rival BMW Sauber. This puts Renault back in the fight for the constructors championship in 2007.

A very well edited piece. Plus a nice look back at the racing, teams, and drivers come and gone. Am I helping you waste time at the computer yet? 8)

Check out wacky MS working the oil reserve... nice. Just kidding. This is lame compared to the normal highlight video but I've never seem Michael in such fine comedic form.

Old rumour but this is a sad tale of a bright open-wheel star heading down the billy-bob trail...


Murmurs in Champ Car circles say Red Bull, which carries a personal services contract with AJ Allmendinger, might like to see the young American in Nextel Cup, where it hopes to strike big in 2007 in partnership with Toyota. With so much money and fame up for grabs in NASCAR, it has become a challenge to keep promising open-wheel drivers away from the France family circus.

A nice recap of Schui's career on Speed TV. David Hobbs' remarks at the end are quite accurate in my view.

This is the deleted post on Utahrc.com. So far I do not have an explanation why this was stripped off but it doesn't matter at this point. I find it a very open and honest confession that should scare any status quo lovers away...:

By the way, I apologise in advance dumping this post in the middle of what appears to be the successful launching of an indoor track in Utah that isn't filled with dirt.

Thanks Dave and Carl for insight and compliments. We lay out our tracks after the real ones used in Formula One. The hose and weighted corner markers were the only way to create the dynamic corners in real race tracks. It will be beefed up and tested for the weight and speed of 4WD touring cars in the 4 hours of Salt Lake race in May. We are abandoning the boards unless we fail in the use of track components.

I've been and raced in national events at Tamiya, ROAR, and NORCCA. Some of these were at permanent facilities but one is owned by Tamiya and the others were supported by a non-r/c business (i.e. Gas Station). You'd have to go back to the Ranch (even questionable), SIR or Socal to find something special that didn't require outside money to fund the track. If you were around when Ripon was being created then you would of read many of my posts on Trinity Tech Talk in support of the track and Dennis even though I lived 800 miles away. We also shared our F1 rules with your race organizer without credit. ( I'm amazed that online one always has to prove one's credentials, but who knows you might be talking to a 10 year old kid having fun with adults ). I've been racing since I was 15 when Pioneer Hobbies was on 8th south in Salt Lake. I've been to races all over Japan. The home of scale r/c racing. (Notice their recent TC rule changes.)

I've spent countless hours supporting, running, setting up, announcing, even working at a hobby shop, creating web and public marketing for on-road and off-road r/c local and national races when Scotty Ernst was still in the pits racing and not quite the known announcer/organizer he is today. Like Scotty I'm definitely a better organizer because I sacrificed my pit time running events. Unlike Scotty I don't make money from the r/c business because it's my hobby and just that. I still lean on everyone to help me get faster but my cars always suffer because I'm running the event. I started my own club in the winter of 1999 that is one of the only F1 clubs in the world that I know. We are the only independent club of 3 years or more of successful racing (if the Oahu club isn't dead) that I know of that does not run in conjunction with hobby shop, ROAR, or any other sanctioned events. Though we run our races as though we were sanctioned. AMB scoring with a computer announced race, a full set of rules comparable to any sanctioned rule book in racing (that most have borrowed for their series in redundant language that is word for word that I wrote), a full season of 16 races or more, in a reliable on time scenario realistic for the average racer who has 3-4 hours for racing. Oh, and they like F1 to some degree.

Everyone I meet in this hobby is a nice guy or girl but ultimately they are in it for themselves. Most post's online reflect it and I'm guilty of it too. Their enjoyment, their own success, and of course bragging rights. I'm only sharing this with you because I don't believe in the system provided by manufacturers and sanctioning bodies available. I think it's great what is happening with the new track and I will come race too. But after it takes 5 hours to run two rounds I'll probably head home. When the top drivers throw away otherwise new tires that have 3 races on them because they lost less than a tenth I'll pick them out of the trash and run them the rest of the season. I'm not going to tune motors all day and blow them up just because I can pull one more tooth. That does not make a great racer to race with, only a racer willing to do anything with their equipment to gain that missing tenth. I may not be at the sharp end of the pack but I don't believe in chasing the manufactured-sponsored drivers line of thinking. I'm in this to have a great racing time (on the track and not in the pits), have some laughs (because no one is going to die racing r/c cars), and believe for a second that I really am racing and not standing 50' away holding a radio control.

I guess what I want to say is that I know what the "big boys" are doing and I don't care because I think the motives are warped and unrelated to the club level experience. Most of the national/sponsored drivers I've met are nice guys too but they don't build race facilities (except a few but one wanted to showcase his new company along with the facility) with their money and start up clubs to start up new driver programs. That's the manufacturer's job to give back and not theirs. On a local or forum note I'll listen to any line of thinking because usually everyone has good ideas and means the best by offering new ideas. So don't be bothered by my line of thinking because I'm not in tune with what's out there. But trust me that I do understand what's out there but walk my own line.

Honestly, I know that I'm lucky to still be racing. All my friends can attest to a great and supportive wife who hasn't swung the axe or left me despite my penchant for scale model r/c cars.

Some of this is known and most of it has been mentioned even without all parties aware of the changes. Some teams are splitting up to change and maybe some are looking for a better run in 2007. We will take as many drivers as neccesary with or without teams. Once there are more than 20 drivers then qualifying will decide the grid. Only 12 races to decide the champioship!

Williams or McLaren...?:
#1 Troy Kendall
#2 ? (Clete or TJ maybe?)

Renault:
#3 Ben Parker
#4 ? (Owen / Clete maybe?)

Tony Huber's Team of Choice... Williams?
#5 Tony Huber
#7 ?

Toyota:
#7 Paul Hatfield
#8 Ryan Sagers

Jim Fred's Team:
#9 Jim Fred
#10 ?

Ferrari:
#11 Anthony Aquila
#12 ?

Spyker F1 (formerly midland F1)
#13 Owen Fjeldsted
#14 ? / Bill Pendleton is lost to Camaro's... sad

BMW Sauber
#15 Gary Fulkerson
#16 Mike Fulkerson

BAR Honda
#17 Billy Davila
#18 ?

David Dunn's Team (McLaren livery perhaps but I believe the Champion is taking the team name for now)
#19 David Dunn
#20 Jeff Dunn

Mike Judd's Team
#21 Mike Judd
#22 Chris Lawlor


Driver's with F201's without a team that I can think of:

Jeremy Bowcut
Carl Hyndman
Jason Hatfield
TJ Kendall

Here are some photos that almost went into the trash!

Congratulations to Jim Fred McCrea who won the championship last year finally received his prize from West Valley Hobbies today. A sweet Spektrum radio! Better late than never. Special thanks to Tony and Ben from WVHobbies.

...even if he is from Brazil.

"If my weekend begins well," Massa confessed, "I use the same underpants on Saturday. If that is also a good day, I wear them on Sunday.

http://www.formula-1.updatesport.com/news/article/1162287943/formula_one/F1postcard/Massa-airs-dirty-laundry/view.html