racing

20 May 200624 April 2017

Jacques’ F1 season so far

I must say that after 6 rounds of the F1 season, it is looking like another championship for Fernando Alonso. The scoreboard is 3 wins for Alonso, 2 for Schumi and 1 for Fisico. Alonso also leads the championship and Schumi can only hope that the realible Renaults would fail once or twice for him to catch up.

Unlike last year, Schumi’s position (compared to Kimi’s last year) is a little more predictable. Kimi’s 2005 run during the first half was beset by reliability woes. Schumi’s challenge to Alonso so far is looking reliable if not strong.

So, another Alonso year? Will it be a snorefest? I hope not. Unfortunately the last 3 races (Imola, Nurburgring and Barcelona) have been somewhat boring with very little wheel to wheel battles.

To entertain myself, I keep my eyes on the BMW Sauber F1 team and Jacques Villeneuve. So far BMW is looking a little unreliable. The speed is not there yet. But I guess this is their first year as a total package. So I should give them some time. But what is interesting though is Jacques Villeneueve.

IMHO, Jacques is having quite a season so far. To think that Heidfeld in the opinion of many got the better of the highly touted future world champion Mark Webber in 2005…

So by comparison JVil is enjoying a strong renaissance. This time last year, many were writing him off as a has been as he struggled with the Sauber. It is not until Jacques practically have to demand changes to the cars’ setup that things start to get better.

This year, it seems he started on a stronger footing. And he seems to be a much stronger team player this year. There is less of the hard talk of old. Jvil of 2006 seems to be keen on seeing the new BMW team improve further. In the recent Paul Ricard F1 testing session, JVil topped the times ahead of the two Renaults of Kovalainen and Alonso. Now I know these are just testing… but when have you seen JVil go for hot times in testing?

Stories of JVil insisting on softer tyres are circulating on Atlas F1 forums. At Nurburgring, BMW confirmed that they were using the softer compund tyres which helped JVil to points scoring positions. Again, at Barcelona JVil took advantage of his ability to make tyres last a long time even though on soft compounds to run an extra long (fnar fnar) first stint up to more than 50% of the race distance (the last driver to pit for fresh tyres)!

So the recent Paul Ricard tests, rumours have it that JVil was testing even softer tyres. Let’s hope that these can be put to good use at Monaco. Let’s hope that JVil continues his strong season and get a new F1 drive contract for 2007. I do hope that BMW will retain his services.

3 March 200624 April 2017

F1, 2006 – not long to go now!

The wait is almost over!

In slightly over a week, the 2006 F1 season will come.

So far in testing, it looks like Renault will once again be very strong. World Champ Alonso looks like a strong bet for his second title. However, teammate Fisico will have to dig deep to perform at the same level as his younger colleague. They have been both quick and reliable so far.

Next up is Honda. All their drivers have been spectacular at one time or another during testing, even test driver Ant Davidson. They have also run the most test mileage. Honda may surprise by even beating Renault this year. But let’s see if they hold up for the whole season.

What about McLaren? Once again, reliability has been their achilles heel. On occassion, however they have been quick. Let’s see.

Ferrari look like they are having a bit of a renaissance… however, the key to their success are their bridgestone tyres. It is interesting though that Massa is looking as quick as Schumi.

I will add more in the next few days.

1 February 200624 April 2017

Busy, but so many things to do for my-kart

It’s the usual year end thing. You see, I’m an accountant – of sorts. Our company year end is December. So January is usually a hectic time for us as we close our books and the auditors come in. But typing this down is already boring, so I’ll quit.

I guess karting is more interesting.

Anyway, a few weeks back a few of us my-kart guys paid a visit to Rosedi Kart at Subang Jaya. Subang Jaya navigation is not for the meek, I must say. With all the massive road works and the terminal & inherent traffic problems, you really need to know exactly how you are going to get to your destination. Otherwise you’d be stuck in a chronic traffic jam.

The visit to Rosedi Kart was good, but I’ve written more of it on my-kart.org. It is interesting that there are many people around who believe and want to push grassroots racing & karting. Fellow my-karter Yusnee and I also paid a visit to Brian Palmer at Shah Alam to chat with him about the state of the industry.

In conclusion, there seems to be a lot of work to be done to get the industry into first gear. Unfortunately for years the motorsport industry has been starting and stalling, starting and stalling. A sad state for us fans and enthusiasts. The oil, air and fuel filters are all clogged up.

my-KART is fired up to be a part of the solution… but how? Are you keen to be a part of this wave of change?

16 January 200624 April 2017

Tested my Rotax 125

Yesterday, Munib and I went to the USJ Elite kart circuit for a few rounds on our Rotax Max.

I can concluded 3 things:

I don’t know much about karting technicals
the track is very bumpy and physical (ouch!)
need to improve my fitness *sigh*

The chassis is an Arrow 2004 ax5-125 chassis. Not sure whether that is correct. The handling was alright, although the bumpy USJ circuit did not help the relatively stiff chassis. A few times the bumps caused my foot to either fly off the pedals or on to it! Imagine going round one of the fast (& bumpy) corners and having the left foot accidently hit the brakes… that was a bugger moment for me.

Luckily for me, the kart was set with a bit of toe-out (1mm), thus making the kart less likely to spin under braking. Still, I felt that it made cornering a bit less compliant. Perhaps a bit more neutral toe setting. May want to experiment with a bit of toe-in as well.

9 January 200624 April 2017

my-KART updates: these guys are getting fast!

To round off 2005 for my-KART we kicked off with an Inter Company / Car Club (“IC3”) Challenge. We even had a newspaper coverage in The Star recently. The participation was very encouraging and I have had a few enquiries from companies and car clubs about wanting to participate in 2006. The Star article did help a lot – I received several phone calls that day. Problem is I may need to think of how to manage an entry list of more than 12 teams….

Anyway, I am pleased that the 2005 my-KART activities has been very good. The last round of the race was a key & successful one for me. We also opened the 2006 KART series last Sunday the 8th of January 2006. The rain forced us to postpone the race by one from the scheduled 7th January date. Still the participation was very competitive and encouraging despite the initial wet weather. My co-founder Azlan found it enjoyable too.

Since the various articles and increased word of mouth, many Klang Valley (and some from outside the Klang Valley, as far as Melaka) are joining my-KART events. Some of these guys are very quick drivers. One thing’s for certain – there are many keen racing enthusiasts around.