A name change and Happy Xmas too

Just a quick minute with you guys. Just like Team Lotus changing its name to Caterham F1 Team for 2012. I'm changing my blogger domain name for this site from Jonnyh5onmotorsport.blogspot.com to now on jhonmotorsport.blogspot.com the same guy is still here. The reason I did because I felt it needed a name change to be honest. But only a name change to the web-site, if the new domain doesn't work I change back to the old domain name. Also, my twitter account has change from @Jonnyh5onracing to @JHonMotorsport too.

Before I go Ferrari had their own little Christmas party, a traditional event which takes place every year over the Christmas period. This year it was held in a special area set up in the Fiorano track featuring games, attractions and theatre performances with all sorts of events aimed specifically at the youngest members of the Ferrari family. So over twelve hundred company employees and their families attended the party, the children receiving gifts from some rather special Santas', such as double World Champion Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Jules Bianchi, Marc Gene and so forth. On stage with them were Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and Team Principal Stefano Domenicali. Big credit for Ferrari for doing this for each Christmas, classy team. So enjoy the YouTube videos below.





So last post for 2011. That means Happy Christmas/Holidays guys and see you in 2012. Bye.

Fiat or a Ferrari 500 in the high-street? Very very Un-cool idea to do

Hi again, first post of the week, A normal high street in England(I will not tell which high street), saw this with my own eyes a Fiat 500, a very cool car, right?



Until you see the front of it, a Ferrari badge on a Fiat 500! Why? a very un-cool thing to do. Its a Fiat 500 (fiat 500 are cool and so is Ferrari too, to a degree) not a Fiat 500!



Has there ever been a Ferrari 500 before? yes a Ferrari 500 back in 1952 for Formula 2, which I found out, while i'm typing this. You know what I like to see? Fiat 500 Abarth in Group B form a 1.6l turbo in the back of the car, that I would like to see. Anyway End of post for now, new one soon. That is all. Bye.

Recent driver changes for 2012

Last post of the weekend talking about recent driver changes for 2012, with four big changes for F1 2012.

Lotus Renault will hire Romain Grosjean as their second driver for 2012, as team mate to Kimi Raikkonen. Romain is replacing both Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov who hasn't got a drive for 2012 at Lotus Renault. In my opinion is a brave decision by LRGP, They bought back Kimi Raikkonen into Formula 1, also bring back Romain Grosjean back into F1 as-well (drove with the same team at the back end of 2009 replacing Nelson Piquet Jr). I would have kept Vitaly Petrov personally, for a bit of constancy, but does he bring in any Russian money with him in 2012?

Meanwhile at Toro Rosso, Daniel Ricciardo will be teaming up with Jean-Éric Vergne for 2012, replacing both Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari who are leaving STR. In my opinion Daniel Ricciardo was more than likely to get a seat at STR next year, but Jean-Éric Vergne getting a full driving, that really came out of a surprise. I thought Jaime Alguersuari will kept the seat which he brings in Spanish/UAE money. So no CESPA money for STR in 2012 or Jamie Alguersuari could be at HRT in 2012 alongside with Pedro de la Rosa with CESPA money then? who knows.

While at Force India Nico Hülkenberg will be teaming up with Paul di Resta next year, replacing Adrian Sutil who living Force India. In my opinion it would have been a hard choice between Nico Hülkenberg, Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil for the two drives at Force India. Is it the right decision? who knows until the first race at Melbourne. As for Adrian Sutil best bet for a drive would be at Williams then.

End of post for now, new post soon. That is all. Bye.

Subaru BRZ GT300 - Promo Video

Hi again second post of the weekend.The Toyota GT-86/Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S is a 2-door coupé sport car will be released in 2012, developed by Toyota and Subaru. The Subota BRZ-86 (by the way that's a joke) is a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout. 2.0 L flat-4 boxer petrol engine that will produced around approx 200 bhp.




So Subaru will turn their BRZ road car to a race car to run in the GT300 class of the SuperGT championship. They have produce a nice like promo video of their new race car below (note STI logos on the car while watching it). The BRZ GT300 will use a turbocharged version of the flat four that powers the production car to produced around 300 bhp for the GT300 class.



End of post for now, new post soon. That is all. Bye.

Ferrari 599XX around Spa and the Nurburgring and the Ferrari 599XX Evoluzione

First post of the week. Sorry I've haven't been here over a week due to work commitments, so the post below.

Back in 2009 Ferrari launched the Ferrari 599XX, the car is based on 599, the car was designed for track use only and is not street legal, think of it as a Group B race car such as Ferrari 288 GTO for example. Engine is a 6 litre V12, producing 720 bhp at 9000 rpm.

Footage around Spa of 599XX


Ferrari announced at the 2010 Beijing International Auto Show that the 599XX had completed the Nordschleife circuit at the Nürburgring in a time of 6 minutes and 58.16 seconds - the second fastest time ever recorded for a production-derived sports car. As the footage below shows.



For 2012, Ferrari will bring out the Ferrari 599XX Evoluzione. 35kg lighter than the pervious 599XX, 20bhp more (740bhp overall for the Evoluzione) a DRS rear wing and will cost over £1.25m. Want one?



End of blog for now, new post soon. That is all. Bye.

Things you don't see usually at an ASDAs in Basildon on a Tuesday Afternoon

A quick post today, were things I don't usually see in an ASDAs in Basildon when I was there today. Example number one a Red Bull Formula 1 car, the 2010 car (RBR6, which includes F-duct, wide car mirrors).

I think to be honist Red Bull are promoting their product, so bring out a F1 car to do it. So therefore, I took the photos on a crap camera phone to enjoy. To be quite honist, this did make me happy today. So enjoy the pictures.







End of blog for now, new post soon. Bye.

F1 review 2011(via Twiter) and My Top Formula 1 drivers of 2011

Today I am doing My Top Formula 1 drivers of 2011. But first, I am doing a review of this seasons F1 that has finished last week in a twitter way I did this last weekend (3rd-4th Dec). I did this early on the season for the F1 Preview and F1 half term review too this season. So I'm re-doing this via twitter (@Jonnyh5onracing - follow me on twitter). Something like this, for example the image below I've done.



So starting off with the champs Red Bull Racing.

Red Bull Racing: best car, best team, best engine and best driver of the season with Sebastian Vettel as world champion. While Mark Webber, constantly fast throughout the season, won in Brazil, but not as fast as the double world champion Vettel is all season.

McLaren: second best car of the season, need to improve next season to match Red Bull. Jenson Button driving has been the best in his career finishing 2nd in the drivers championship. While Lewis Hamilton either having a good or bad races this season, good race at Nurburgring, or very bad race at Monaco this year. Needs to improve for 2012.

Ferrari: another disappointing season from the prancing horse. The same for Fernando Alonso as Jenson Button, driving his best of his career too, dispute a poor race car. While Felipe Massa hasn't impress he all season, slower than Alonso throughout the season, next season needs to improve, big time.

Mercedes GP: a disappointing season from the silver arrows. Nico Rosberg had a bad season compared to 2010, needs to improve in 2012. While former seven times champion Michael Schumacher was much faster 2011, in some races fast, in some races very slow and very clumsy still.

Lotus Renault: a good start for the first two races, then went down hill. Vitaly Petrov started well until after Canada, only 6pts in 10 races not impressive. Same as for Nick Hiedfied, but got fired after Hungary. Burno Senna no better, pace was there though. Missed Robert Kubica this season and next season too. Kimi Raikkonen could be the solution if things all work in 2012.

Force India: started disappointing, until Nurburgring everything change, possibly 5th best car of the year, if a few 11ths were 10ths could have finished ahead of LRGP in the constructors championship, still 6th in the Constructors is still good, improvement from last year. As for Sutil, 9th in the drivers, best of the non top 4 teams, impressive since Nurburgring. Paul di Resta best of rookies, Impressive this year, now next year.

Sauber: much improve from last season, disappointing in the second half to finish 6th or even 5th in the constructors championship. Sergio Perez has been impressive as a rookie, expressively in race pace after poor qualifyings. Kamui Kobayashi impressive until after Canada, 5pts in 10 races, needs to improve on. Don't forget that Pedro De la Rosa was too in Montreal replacing Perez with 10 mins before 2nd practice for Perez's Monaco accident for his only race in the season.

STR: wasn't impressive until Montreal when STR was on form, 34 points in 11 races. STR could be stronger in 2012. Sebastian Buemi better than 2010, will he stay in F1 next year? Who knows. Jamie Alguersuari wasn't impressive until Montreal, 26 points in 11 races. More than likely seeing him in 2012 with Spanish/UAE money coming into team.

Williams: poor car, not alot of points (5 points all year), need to improve on 2012, big time. Renault engines will be a big help. Rubens Barrichello had a terrible year (only 4 points) possibly his last year in F1? Who knows. While Pastor Maldonado impressive at Monaco and Spa apart from that hasn't been impressive all year. Only Venezuelan money has saved him for 2012 at Williams.

Team Lotus: better pace then HRT and Virgin, better than last season, but still needs half a second/second. To match the likes of the midfield teams, also a name changed to Caterham F1 Team for 2012. Both Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli fast at race pace, needs to show it more in qualifying to beat the midfield teams for 2012. Karun Chandhok had a race in Germany, not as fast as either driver (Kovalainen or Trulli). Are we going to see Trulli in 2012, despite his has got a contract for 2012.

HRT: bad start to the season (both cars DNQ in the first race) however the team improved through the season until Monza. Pedro De la Rosa in 2012 should make the car better for pace. 2011 drivers Tonio Liuzzi impressive Canada, constantly fast with a poor car, Narain Karthikeyan impressive in Canada and his home race in India. Daniel Ricciardo shows better pace than Liuzzi for the second half of the season, are we going to see him in 2012? Which team? HRT, Caterham or STR?

Virgin Racing: another disappointing season again, 12th in the constructors championship again. Out goes Nock Wirth CFD and Virgin name. In comes McLaren simulator and wind tunnel, and Marussia name aswell for 2012. Timo Glock same as Liuzzi, constantly fast with a poor car. As for Jerome d'Ambrosio match Glock in pace in some races in his only season in Formula 1. Charles Pic will be a faster driver than d'Ambrosio for 2012.

Overall a dominating season from the World Champions Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel. A better season for both Red Bull and Vettel from last season. Despite last season was exciting from a championship stand point. But, the races this year are great, for example China, Monaco, Canada and Hungary, but with a little help from KERS, DRS and the return of Pirelli tyres who replace Bridgestone from 2010 which was a big factor. Bring on 2012.

And so My Top Formula 1 drivers of 2011, this is the part who was in my top 10 this season, not in championship order, so his list doesn't includes Felipe Massa or Nico Rosberg for example. So here is my list below.

My Top Formula 1 drivers of 2011:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) - 2011 World Champion, and the best driver all year, enough said.
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) - The best driving in his career so far, despite not winning drivers championship.
3. Ferando Alonso (Ferrari) - Same as Button, the best driving in his career so far, despite a poor car.
4. Mark Webber (Red Bull) - Constantly fast throughout the season, despite not winning until the end of the season.
5. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - Fast, some brilliant drives, but inconstant compare to his team mate
6. Adrian Sutil (Force India) - Best of the non top 4 teams, impressive since Nurburgring, should be in F1 next season.
7. Jamie Alguersuari (STR) - Impressive since Montreal, can get points from poor grid positions.
8. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) - The old fox is still has the old magic when the magic is there to surprise people.
9. Paul di Resta (Force India) - Best of the rookies, mostly match/ beat the pace of his experience team mate.
10. Sergio Perez (Sauber) - race pace is great, when he uses old tyres for a one stop strategy to collect impressive points from the rookie.

End of a super long post/blog for now. A new shorter post soon. That is all. Bye.

Lotus Exige 260 Cup, Rally Monza 2011

Hi again, found this on YouTube below this week, a Lotus Exige 260 Cup car on a morning/night stage at this years Rally Monza. a 4-cyl 1796cc, supercharger engine:with 256bhp, cost only £45,950. Three times cheaper than a Ferrari F430, which has got a 4.3litre V8 with over 483bhp.



In Rally Monza last week, M. Fortina's Lotus Exige 260 Cup finished 25th overall. But, first in GT class ahead of A. Forato's Ferrari F430 who's second in the GT class too, who finished 42nd overall. But, Fortina's Lotus was almost three minutes faster then Forato's Ferrari overall. But, don't you enjoy the Davids beating Goliaths on Goliath own yard, big time.

So enjoy the video above, new post soon. That is all. Bye.

Sky very own F1 channel, BBC live 10 grand Prix for next season

So now in 2012 we got Sky showing Formula 1 next year. Sky have now going to have its own F1 channel called Sky Sports F1, which will be launch in March. Instead putting onto Sky Sports 1,2,3,4 avoiding congestion with golf, cricket, football, WWE or tennis coverage.

Sky Sports F1 channel will show all 20 races without adverts, as well as qualifying and practice sessions. There will be brand new analysis and highlights shows and extra coverage through Sky's red button interactive service will be devoted to Formula One. According to Sky there will be no extra charge to viewers who take both Sky Sports 1 and 2 or the HD pack of channels. Good for the die-hard F1 fans who can afford it.

Meanwhile on the Beeb. BBC has revealed its coverage plans for all F1 races in 2012. Ten races will be shown live on BBC One, including these races:

• 15 April: China
• 13 May: Spain
• 27 May: Monaco
• 24 June: Europe
• 8 July: Britain
• 2 September: Belgium
• 23 September: Singapore
• 14 October: Korea
• 4 November: Abu Dhabi
• 25 November: Brazil

The other 10, there will be extended highlights programmes on BBC One, of either 90-minute or two-hour duration depending on race location.

My view apart from Silverstone, Spa, Shanghai and Sau Paulo, the picks the BBC got are poor! Monaco and Singapore aside they do give you excitement in different ways than overtaking, the other four races the BBC got live are poor races altogether to watch as a fan, Korea is boring, Abu Dhabi is horrible, Barcelona is dual, Valencia overall is worse on of that all, you can go asleep there will be no overtakes throughout the race.

And Yes I'm still angry with the Beeb, still selling out half of our Formula one coverage to Sky. What the BBC done with six nations Rugby union coverage (a new 40m per year deal for next 5 years for all 15 matches a year, compare to F1 coverage 25m for 10 races a year) and Formula 1 get more ratings (a third of UK audiences to watch F1) than Rugby, its utter shocking.

If the BBC done it better they should have done something slimier in Germany were Sky Germany get all races included practice, qualifying and race coverage, while RTL (the show with Nicky Lauda in it as a race analyst) get the qualifying and race coverage as-well for all Grand Prixs throughout the season. I wouldn't mind that deal, missing the practice coverage getting all live grand prixs (somthing BBC and Eurosport did the 90s), that would be a better deal for the UK fans in my opinion.

Oh by the way former F1 driver and lead commentator Martin Brundle said last week his moving from the BBC to Sky for next season, saying he wanted to commenting all 20 races, instead of 10 and 10 highlights to commenting. I can't blame him for that, despite some fans calling him a traitor, which I completely disagree with that comment. So Martin Brundle leaving BBC, who will replace him? a poor mans Martin Brundle/Murrey Walker possibly.

Anyway, end of angry post, well sort of, I will promise a nicer post next time out. That is all. Bye.

Loab vs Rossi, Rally Monza 2011

A couple of weeks ago, Sebastian Loab won his Eighth World Rally Championship at Wales Rally GB in his Citroen DS3 ahead of Mikko Hirvonen, who is going to be his team mate next sesaon at Citroen. So contractions to Sebastian for winning his eighth championship.

Wales Rally GB 2012


So last weekend its Rally Monza and two main drivers who was at the Rally was eight times world rally champion Sebastian Loab and nine times Motorcyling champion (seven MotoGP/500cc champ, one time 250cc champ, 125cc champ ) The Doctor himself Valentino Rossi. By the Way I do like Valentino Rossi Ford Fiesta RS WRC crash helmet Monster Engery livery, as this YouTube viseo below shows.



So the Rally itself, the final results saw The Doctor lose out to the Current World Rally Champion by just 24.2 seconds. Among other familiar names in the Rally were former Le Mans 24 hour winner Rinaldo Capello who finished 3rd in his Citreon DS3 WRC, Current WRC Mini driver Dani Sordo who finished fifth overall in his Mini Countryman John Copper Works WRC, with MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso 54th in a Peugeot 207 S2000 car as-well. Here's a YouTube video of the final super special stage between the best World Rally Champion ever and the best Motorcycling Champion ever. Enjoy.

Loab vs Rossi, SS9 Rally Monza 2011


End of blog for now, new post soon. That is all. Bye.