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F1 2006

Turkey Timings

by Colin Bowen3 Comments on Turkey Timings

Fisichella takes fourth 5/1000th of a second ahead of Ralph, and Heidfeld takes sixth 5/1000th of a second ahead of Button.

I think Jenson could do well again this race. His Q2 time was second quickest and he’s very smooth and consistent which helps at Turkey. My only worry is his engine, it’s its second race, and Turkey is a tough on engines.

Barrichello should be doing better, and DC too. Maybe DC is unsettled (or threatened) by the news that Webber is his team-mate next year.

So, what do I predict? Jenson will finish better than he starts if his car doesn’t die. Michael will pass Massa before or during the first pit stop. Raikkonen will pass Heidfeld and Ralph. Apart from those, the top ten will be in relative order.

Christian Albers made me laugh, sitting in the car in the pits after Q1. “Just a question, am I through or not; do I need to stay in the car or do I get out?”
His race engineer, “You are through. Position 16 always goes through.”
Albers, “I’m sorry,” nervous laughter, “I didn’t know.”

Karting, Personal

Things I’ve been doing, getting updates to this blog, and forthcoming events

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Things I’ve been doing, getting updates to this blog, and forthcoming events

Hi all.

Thanks to Les at ik Software for sorting out some problems for me that have prevented me from posting. Those posts now appear below.

August has been a busy month so far, and I haven’t had time to do any karting or anything racing related. I’m hoping to have an arrive-and-drive session next week. Depending on what my karting buddy is doing, I’m hoping to do two sessions; one smooth and one manic, to see which gives the best times.

After that session, I’ll probably arrange an “all welcome” session. I’ll post details here so anyone reading can come along for a drive. Since the RSS feed isn’t working, you won’t know that the “all welcome ” invitation has gone up on the blog unless you come to the site. If you want me to let you know by email about the “all welcome” session, leave a comment including your email address. I will NOT publish the comment with the email address, but I will email details to you when the date is set. I won’t use your email address for any other purpose.

When I get the RSS feed working, I’ll write about how to use RSS to get notified of new posts automatically.

So, what has been keeping me so busy? I’ve been to Hever Castle for a day out (including the Jousting Tournament), Chatham Historic Dockyard with my Dad, attended one of those new-fangled Civil Partnership things, had a couple of days away for the English Heritage Festival of History event (see below), and a long weekend camping with some friends in Kent. On top of that, I’ve been working quite hard for a couple of clients. That’s all in 18 days. There are a few things going on over the next few weeks too, then we have a five-week period with only three events booked in; time for a rest – and some karting!

I’ll post later about Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, maybe after the qualifying session on Saturday.

Personal

English Heritage meets blogging

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on English Heritage meets blogging

Hi all,

I’ve been to the biggest English Heritage event of the year today, Festival of History in Northampton.

It’s the annual big do for English Heritage, held over two days. We’ve only been for the Sunday this year due to other commitments. With over 70 events, it’s the biggest history festival of its kind in Europe.

This year, an addition to the programme is seven authentic World War 1 planes (Sopwith tri-plane, Nieuport 17 Scout, two Junkers CLIs and three SE5As). These planes took part in mock dog-fights, two of them flown by pilots in their 80s, one of which had flown in WW2 and made three kills.

Other battles included the English Civil War, The Viking Invasion at the Battle of Fulford Gate (the Brits lost), the Battle of Hastings, the Wars of The Roses, and the Spanish Civil War. There were also Romans showing combat skills and Roman Artillery.

I composed this post at the event (at the end of the day) and submitted it via mobile phone. [I added the photo later]

This event is one of the reasons that I probably won’t get any racing in in August; we’ve got a lot booked in.

BowenRacing is sponsored by ik Software at www.ik.com

F1 2006

No top ten predictions from me this race

by Colin Bowen3 Comments on No top ten predictions from me this race

Hi all.

Probably no top ten predictions from me for the Hungary GP, simply because I won’t have time.

I do predict the following though:
Kimi might make a few mistakes; it sounds like he’s not 100% healthy.
Jenson will be in the points, so will Michael and Fernando.

If anyone else want to make some predictions, please do so in the comments. Kaz? Anyone?

F1 2006, Karting

German GP predictions, and my latest karting session

by Colin Bowen6 Comments on German GP predictions, and my latest karting session

It’s the German Grand Prix today. I’ll make my predictions later in this post.

I went to Lakeside Karting on Monday evening. I did two 15 minute sessions. John and Jo, friends if me and Blanche, came to watch. Jo had come straight from work, so she left after the first session, but John stayed for both.

I was out on my own for the first session. I had hoped there would be other drivers because I want practice with some competition. Between sessions, two more drivers turned up. They had done quite a bit of karting before; Raleigh and Buckmore Park mainly. In the second session, I went out of the pits second and overtook both of them, which means I lapped one during my 22 laps (41.xx seconds lap).

What amazes me is the consistency of my times. In the last two visits, I’ve done four 15 minute sessions. The lap times are pretty close in each session. Here are the lap times of my last session Monday, with excuses for slower laps.
Lap Time
001 42.50
002 44.06 Waiting to pass
003 42.92 Passing
004 41.99
005 42.10
006 41.76
007 41.61
008 42.24 Passing (one driver was 4s a lap slower)
009 41.92
010 41.91
011 42.33 Beyond the limit in turn two
012 41.73
013 41.75
014 41.72
015 41.40
016 41.72
017 41.57
018 41.38 Best Lap
019 42.00
020 41.92
021 41.94
022 41.72

And the fastest laps of my last 4 sessions (earliest first)
41.71
41.75
41.71
41.38

Right, not long now before the TV coverage starts for the German F1 GP.

Blanche says Kimi will win. I think he’s on low fuel, and the Ferraris are good on strategy, and Michael was the only driver to get into the 1:13s, so my money’s on Michael. I’m no Schumi fan to be honest, I love McLaren, and Kimi’s a fine driver, so I’ll be happy to be proved wrong.

Jenson’s best lap was 1:14.3, and Alonso’s 1:14.7. That’s a big swing in favour of Jenson. Dare I hope for a podium finish for Jenson? I hope so.

Having said that, Fisichella is above Alonso. Looking at the three quali session times, they Renault’s have similar times except Alonso’s final time on race fuel. Perhaps he’s fuelled heavily, but that puts him in the pack so I don’t know why Renault would do that.

So things are a but mixed up. Here’s how I think things will finish.

1 Michael
2 Kimi
3 Massa
4 Button
5 Alonso
6 Fisichella
7 Barrichello
8 Coulthard
9 De la Rosa
10 Ralph

F1 2006

French GP Predictions

by Colin Bowen2 Comments on French GP Predictions

I was on TV, but only for about 1.5 seconds, I’ve been told. I haven’t seen the programme yet.

Qualifying is over for the French GP. I thought I would predict the finishing positions. I’ve never done this before. You can’t guess who’s going to crash and go out or lose positions (except the Supa Aguri’s who are at the back of the grid anyway).

Such detailed predictions are unlikely to all come true, but it’s interesting to me.

Rosberg changed his engine, so starts 19th on the grid instead of 9th (I think). I can’t see getting into the points from there, so why he didn’t keep the same engine and go for points (do or DNF) I don’t know.

The hardest positions to predict are the Midland and Toro Rosso teams. Midland seem faster than before, but can they keep up the pace for the whole race.

Further, I predict:
Shumi will run away from the start.
Massa, light on fuel but with less race pace will hold up the pack until the he pits.
Alonso passes Massa in the pits.
De la Rosa’s lack of recent race experience could lead to a few small mistakes. Having three races to show his stuff, I don’t think he’ll be tough enough protecting his line and will be overtaken; preferring to finish lower rather than crash out.
Jenson will make the best of a bad job, but I don’t think the Hondas have enough race pace. ‘Bout time they got themselves sorted out – they have the potential, but keep making mistakes.

My prediction:
1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari
2 Fernando Alonso Renault
3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari
5 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault
6 Jarno Trulli Toyota
7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota
8 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari
9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth
10 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes
11 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari
12 Rubens Barrichello Honda
13 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW
14 Jenson Button Honda
15 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth
16 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-BMW
17 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota
18 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth
19 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth
20 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota
21 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda
22 Franck Montagny Super Aguri-Honda

Competition Series, Karting

Will I be on TV?

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on Will I be on TV?

I think tonight (Wed 12th July 2006) is the most likely time that I’ll be on TV. The name of the programme is “So You Want To Be An F1 Driver”. It’s on at 8pm on Men & Motors TV. It used to be 6pm Wednesdays and 8pm Sundays, but that’s changed for today at least.

I had a good time at karting practice on Monday with my friend Colin, and beat my personal best lap time by about 0.5 seconds. Very consistent times, I’m pleased to say. Can’t wait to go again.

After karting, we went to Lakeside where Colin bought a new camera and accessories. He spent a lot on it, but I think his wife is paying for it as a gift. And I thought I could shop!

Karting, Personal

I’m Back!

by Colin BowenLeave a Comment on I’m Back!

Well, still here anyway.

I’ve been on holiday for a week in Cornwall, then busy at work. It’s been a bit hectic, and I haven’t had time to post.

I wanted this post to include a picture of the McLaren Mercedes SLR from the ‘guess the car’ post, but I need to start my PC and laptop for that and I haven’t got time at the mo, so I’m posting this on my Palm TC PDA. I’ll post the picture later.

I’m karting tomorrow with my practice buddy Colin.

I’ve got ideas for several later posts including: getting automatic updates to this blog using an RSS reader; internet security; maybe a post about the Schumacher Monaco incident (it’s been a while, but I was reading a piece in an F1 mag about it that reminded me); and a few others. I’m still quite busy, but I’ll post when I can.

Thank you to those who have posted comments, including the comment with some advice. Due to the personal nature of the comment, I didn’t publish it, but it was appreciated.

I’ll publish most comments unless you ask me not to, but I’ll remove any email addresses. So if you want me to contact you, leave your email address in a comment.

Competition Series

See me on TV, perhaps

by Colin Bowen1 Comment on See me on TV, perhaps

Just a quick post by email from my Palm TC (PDA).

The series following the competition I was in airs on TV for the first time this week.

See it on Men & Motors on Wednesday 21st June at 6pm.