Glad to see a fellow Jordan fan. When I was at the American grand prix I saw 1 jordan Fan (who was wearing all the gear and carrying a Jordan flag) and some people who had tricolours on their backs(that means an Irish flag). Comng to the conclusion that these were jordan fans aswell I saluted them and after seeing my Jordan hat they asked what part of Ireland I was from. This was grand and all of that but then I saw a guy wearing a jaguar hat, in fact a good few people wearing jaguar hats, I mean what sad bastard would follow such a crap team who get a better engine and more money than Jordan but who can only match up to us on the track? Jordan are a fun team and most people want to see them doing well but what does Jaguar have? F**k it it was such a f**ked up sight it reminded me of the Japanese wearing England jerseys at the World cup. Boring bastards that's all they are. P.S what do you think of the new Jordan Car?
Lovely......welcome back nik99......new you would be out of hiding for the kick off...LOL I believe, Jordan AND Jaguar are using the same engine this year......so it maybe down to the drivers ability for once........ Yes, the countdown is on.....kickin' off in Melbourne........the hype has been a little low key compared to previous years but I can feel it now.......what a rush...... Anyone seen images of the Bahrain/China tracks....I caught a small glimpse of the China one and I gotta say...looks full if dinero...I heard in the region of £180 million was plowed into it.........(maybe wrong...anyone know the cost?) Anyways...still avidly supporting Ferrari and MS as usual.......however I have to voice my concerns over the Renault setup........I think they will turn some heads this season and give the big boys problems from day one....they leapt so much last season....I think the momentum will still be there and the hunger..... JM is gonna be revved up - to impress Maclaren for his 2005 move....so I don't think he will be holding back......... The tyre war (I think is gonna be major important this year), rumours circulating that Michelin have the edge......however we know Bridgestone do not show all their cards and I feel there is some thunder lurking........ Shame about the one engine rule though...........I think it will force teams to drive conservatively (which may take the sting out of the hard racing....hope not)........ Bring it on people, can't wait for this to get started.........start your engines, let them roar, squeeze the throttle and watch them soar........
All around Formula 1 there is a tremendous buzz about the imminent new season. Of course we always have the ‘Winter Grand Prix’ and sensational lap times in the cool sunny mornings of southern Spain. Despite new regulations restricting rear wings to two elements and forcing F1 engines to work like pit ponies for the entire three days of a Grand Prix, the teams have all once again dramatically decreased lap times. I suspect this is particularly due to tyre development and the fact that we have once again stable and consistent technical regulations. They have all homed in on the small detail and copied each other’s best designs. What makes 2004 different is that it appears we could have at least five regular and major contenders for the podium slots. Ferrari are surely not simply looking over each shoulder at Williams on one side and McLaren on the other. They must fully turn around now and check out the consistent pace of the Renault and the ultimate lap time of the BAR. I am getting constant feedback that, despite less power from their ‘new but old’ 72° V10, Renault are able to maintain serious pace through race runs. Jenson Button and BAR Honda’s lap times and genuine confidence seem well-founded and don’t forget to note Takumo Sato equally on the pace and confirming the success of the new package. Ferrari seem confident in their new car but will be nervous of hot race tracks and the further advance of the competition’s Michelin grooved dry tyres. Over 25% of races tend to be rain affected and it is yet to be proved that Michelin have closed the gap to Bridgestone in this respect. For me Wiliams seem the early season favourites. They appear to have pace and reasonable reliability, a strong engine and a team who surely remember well how to win championships. If they can keep their two drivers focussed on the real job in hand they are looking very good. Despite early promise the McLaren is looking a touch off the pace and unreliable of late but you can be sure somehow it will be ‘alright on the night.’ The Sauber ‘Ferrari clone’ has two strong drivers and will always be there to pick up the pieces as will Jaguar and Toyota. In fact by mid season Toyota may well be making it six major contenders once Mike Gascoyne can begin to work his knowledge and magic into the package which already has a very strong engine.
Mark Blundell 2004 looks like a great season ahead of us, I am excited about the step forward by some of the teams during the winter testing so far, if everything is true then we have some great racing on our hands. As much as I would love to see a new champion for car and driver I still put my money on Ferrari and Shoey to be top guns again! They will be strong and durable and he will have to fight for every race result. McLaren and DC and Kimi will be very strong but I worry that they may have some slips in the early stage of the year with mechanical problems but I look forward to DC being carefree with his last year for McLaren and giving it a 100% with no pressure for the following year, Kimi should be a force as we have already seen! Williams have a great car design but will it deliver on the day, lets hope so! JPM is already off for 05 but he will want to make a mark this year and RS needs to prove his worth as there are some question marks over his commitment. Renault will be good and Jarno will have some great results I am sure and Alonso will progress and mature, they will be a surprise! The other surprise will be from BAR and Button and Sato, plus Sauber and Fizzy All in ALL lets get sat down and ready for some excitement!
I think everyone should make an effort to attend the US grand prix this year! i live 30 minutes from the track, party at my house all race weekend!!!! my company has a nice suite at the track overlooking turn 1, maybe i can get you all in, doubtful, but maybe
So are you one of those guys who rent out their front garden for parking spaces? That's low. P.S. Please don't kick me out mr.moderator
Excellent reports there Herbs.........nicely presented as usual..... Many congrats to you darthnip on your promotion (along with Herbs)..... Your offer sounds VERY inviting, would love to come across the pond for a break and mix it in indianapolis. My goal this year is to goto a grand prix, but may have to settle with the British due to workload commitments......:-( Anyone gonna make an early prediction? I am gonna sit on the fence for the mo' and maybe lay down a prediction apres OZ....... Not long now.......................................
SEGA - hahaah no man, i live way to far from the track to park in my lawn. My town is northeast of indy. I dont know if i'll be having a party, my wife is pressuring us to move. but i will definately be at the race. I'd love to pic a central spot at the track we could meet. my buddy lives right across the street from the front office, he rents his yard out. but he also gets to wake up every morning and see all the flags out his bedroom window. and get to hear every practice, test, and race that happens all year. that would freakin rule, man my buddy sucks
Predictions for Oz: Micheal & JPM mixing it up at the front Anyone studied the new track layouts yet & any thoughts ??
Right first qualifying out of the way & guess what... the Ferrari prancing horse is top of the pack !!! Oh & blinding drive from top BAR man -- Go [bold]Jenson[/bold] What happened to the McLarens ? tee-hee
wow...didnt expect to see so many replies and all the oldies back on to the thread... nice as fukin expected th reds are on pole again.. and my good ol macs.. im only hopin they are on a 3 stopper or they are playin it cool to guard against the new engines unreliablity my pred ..MS,Jm rb fo r tomrw
Man I am behind on the regs..... Just found out about the [bold] No Launch control[/bold] That may hit the Renaults hard, pity really cos they had the best setup and were hot...... Nice to see the [bold]prancing horses[/bold] are still stickin' it to 'em....lovely..... Yeah good drive by Jenson, I am still with MS and Ferrari but would love to see Jenson kick some butt and have one in the bag for the [bold]Brits[/bold] nik99, yeah you must know that Maclaren do normally differ from laying their cards on the table compared with the others.....but still I think they have something in reserve. I hope we have a really good race in 6 hours time........really looking forward to the start, wheel spins and rubber everywhere..........c'mon...... Best of luck to everyone, but c'mon schuey.....you know it's what we want, give Herbs a belated birthday present and romp it................
oh well, the F1 season opener was boring at best, unless you are a Ferrari fun, WHICH EVERY ONE AROUND ME SEEMS TO BE!!! Lifes hard when you watch F1 and don't support Ferrari Anyways, go McLarren, some one has to stick it to Ferrari. On another note, it was good to see other cars mixing it with the top pack, i.e the BAR's and the Renaults. If McLarren and williams hade the act together the race from 3rd down couldnt have been interesting.
not true.... look around im a Mac fan 2..woo hoo..a dying breed if they continue like this... yea ..a mighty boring race.... and as expected the macs bugged out ..man ..is there one race where both cars came thru without any mechanical failure .. malaysia wil be a diff story tho..where the macs and williams shd be ableto hold their own.. if not ..i think il retire fm watchingthe game.. he he..i was right the macs were rev limited .to around 17000+..dam this seasons gonna suck.. and ralf's heading to toyota.... watch out for alonso in sepang _X_X_X_X_X_[small]"i woulhd have stuck to sniffing coke-only the ice cubes tend to get stuck in my nose" irc.addictz.net : #ad_buddies[/small]
Really! That would be great. I always wanted Toyota to do well in F1, used to support 'em during there rally years.
gozilla I used to like chip ganassi in the indy racing with his target toyota team I am pretty sure they won it 3 years in a row jimmmy vaser 1 and zanardi 2 dont see much of that sport now ~dammit~
There is talk of Ralf going to Toyota , but is not a given fact ... by any means I too used to watch a couple of years ago when them two were running ting' , and just after when Montoya had that winning rookie season. I dont watch it that much anymore cos it's on at like 4am here in U.K. There is a TV programme on Alex Zanardi tonight , such a shame he lost his legs ... but when you have stupid oval tracks with concrete walls --- WELL What d'ya expect (??) [bold]FIRE BREAKS OUT AT FERRARI HQ[/bold] A fire has damaged part of Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters. The blaze started early on Tuesday morning, burning several prototype cars being developed at the site. An official for the local fire brigade said: "We intervened at around 1am. A hangar in the experimental section containing several car prototypes was burning. The fire is now under control." Nobody was injured in the fire and a Ferrari spokesman said the work done in the damaged building has already been moved to another factory. ****************************************************** [bold]HOPES HIGH FOR QUALIFYING CHANGES[/bold] Team bosses are still looking at new ideas for qualifying - despite the news that the new format will remain in place for the next few races. Minardi's Paul Stoddart, Ian Phillips of Jordan and Williams' Patrck Head were all unimpressed with the new back-to-back sessions, which debuted at Melbourne last week. Bernie Ecclestone met with team bosses on Friday and discussed the idea of switching to another format. Stoddart told the BBC: "It missed out by a couple of votes. We'll just have to wait and see." The new system dragged on for nearly two hours at the Australian GP, and failed to provide much in the way of excitement. Jordan business director Ian Phillips said: "It was absolutely terrible in Melbourne and we really have to do something about it. "I don't think there was quite enough thought put into the options but we've got to move quickly. What we want is a cut down version of what we had last week." Patrick Head added: "I think everybody concluded that the whole process was too long and not really exciting enough. "It wouldn't be a problem to drop the first part of qualifying, which is supposed to be there to set the order in which you qualify for the grid in the second part. "We would be quite happy to go for qualifying for our grid position according to either the finishing order of the previous race or the positions at that time in the championship. "If that is going to happen, then it should be in place for Malaysia but all the teams have to agree. I sincerely hope it will be done immediately."
I just saw that Webber qualified third (or was it second?). You little Beauty!! Go you good thing!! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!! Oi, Oi, Oi,!!!
YAY ! It's The Red Headed Ranger... Webber did do well !! As did Jenson aswell , but before anyone counts their chickens ... it was a change to qualifying so I would expect Webber & both of the Renaults to be pit-stopping first. I'm reallly looking forward to this race !: ]-~
