With my enthusiasm toward go-karting, I decided to purchase a Bell Rib Protector Vest($31.95) and a K-1 Nomex Collar ($46.95) and both items included free shipping. I did quite a bit of research and found prices that were a tad cheaper but didn’t include shipping. This was by far the best price that I could find at the time. Working my way through the website was very easy and I liked the fact that I didn’t have to “register” on the site just to make a purchase (like I had to in the past with my Bell BR-1 purchase). The steps of the purchase itself was smooth and easy to understand. It was basic and easily laid out in plain English. Once the order was done, I got a confirmation email within minutes and within 24-hours I got another confirmation email that the item(s) had shipped. My only complaint is that I had only one tracking number for my shipment but I only got one. This didn’t come to my attention till after I received the Bell Rib Protector Vest and not the K-1 Nomex Collar. Realizing that I didn’t get he K-1 Nomex Collar, I immediately sent an email to customer service with an explanation that I only got one item. Within the day I got a response email assuring me that I had been shipped the K-1 Nomex Collar on a separate order and it was on it’s way. Although I never got an email with tracking information the collar showed up by the promised date. Dealing with RacingDirect.com was very easy and although their contact information is somewhat difficult to work through, I’m very happy with my purchase from them and if I ever do need to place another order, I will be checking with them first. Thank you RacingDirect.com for your services and speedy delivery.
Overall Website Experience: 10/10
Overall Product Deliver: 8/10
Overall Customer Service: 10/10
Overall Experience: 9.5/10
I will be posting product reviews later on the Bell Rib Protector Vest and the K-1 Nomex Collar.
For those of you in the local area and even the not so local area we are having our third anual Fantasy Formula 1 League to start very, very soon. As of right now we have close to twenty people and we are looking at potentially more. So if you’re interested please be sure to email me or write a comment and I will give you more details. For right now the fee is $10 for the entire season! That’s just about 50-cents per race (in USD). Top place(s) will take home the collection of money (or a percentage depending on how many people register). Please tell your friends about this too and we’ll get this party started! All entry fees must be done before the race weekend. No exceptions! With the new rules in place and with driver lineups changing, this season is completely open and I even expect teams with less experience to make it to the podium. This will be an interesting year regardless. For those of you who’ve already paid and are rev’ed up for the season, good luck and may you do well (just not better than me – wink-wink).
It appears that my first installment of “My ‘The Stig’ Sayings” has drawn quite a crowd. So I’ve decided to install a second part in hopes that Top Gear will use some of my own personal sayings on The Stig. My inside sources tell me that although Top Gear has not officially found a new Stig, they already have a short list of candidates that they are currently talking to. I wish I could tell you more but Top Gear might hunt me down and kill me, displaying my carcass on the show… Without further ado, here are my new sayings:
- Some say that when he uses a computer he’ll have an outbreak of the hives and that he can’t float in water and that alone is why he’s afraid of ducks… all we know is that he’s called The Stig
- Some say that when he goes in to get his helmet shined that he has to be put under horse tranquilizers and the color of his urine is white so you can never really tell if he’s pee’d his suit… all we know is that he’s called The Stig
- Some say that he thinks that the word ”procreate” is someone who is a professional at being creative and that he once attempted to learn how to swim and almost drowned in one foot of water… all we know is that he’s called The Stig
- Some say that had a car built in a bomb shelter but can’t get it out and that his right foot weighs 3.14159 grams (which is pi) heavier than his left foot… all we know is that he’s called The Stig
- Some say that he once was the escape driver for the US President and for the Queen at the same dinner ball and hated it and that he once played checkers against James May and won… all we know is that he’s call The Stig
Here’s a link to the part one of The Stig Sayings
I’m sure that all motorsport enthusiasts have thought of this in some form or another for it was probably the forefront of what many motorsports are today. But here’s some food for thought. Have you ever wondered how an F1 car would do in a 24-hour endurance race? Technically it can be done with the technology used in Singapore. Night racing is the new daylight racing. These lights are so bright that they look like they are driving in the mid-afternoon. So now that you technically don’t need lights on the cars you can take cars like Formula 1 cars and run them for who-knows-how-long.
Have you ever wondered how an F1 car my fair against an IRL car or a CART car or even an A1 GP car? What if you put Formula 3 in the mix? Granted they all have different horse power ratings and setups but still could be an interesting shootout. Currently I believe the Canadian GP track was the only track in the world that shared CART series cars and Formula 1 cars. The times were pretty different from what I remember but it still would be interesting to watch.
What if you put a Grand Touring car on a tarmac stage of the Monte Carlo Rally or the Catalunya Rally? Or what if you put a monster truck in the Dakar Rally? I guess if you really think about it, that’s how rallying’s origins started out. Almost all forms of racing came from normal everyday cars and then were converted racing cars. What if the FIA allowed for this crossover though. Creating another GT class to help cross promote it’s other racing identities. So create at GT class to compete in rallying by incorporating rallying rules but in GT cars. Some things would have to change such as adding safety equipment for the co-driver and whatnot, but otherwise keep the GT cars pretty much to the GT series (whatever class they come from in the Grand Touring Championship) rules. And likewise with World Rally Cars competing in GT Series events under their own classification to cross promote for rallying. Although this is probably a dumb idea, with the economy the way that it is now, all motorsports are in jeopordy and all need to help one another to stay a float until all this passes (if it does).
There are some things that I just don’t get… wait, this is Formula 1 we’re talking about or better yet, the FIA. In any case, with the diminishing grid over the last couple of years, more and more teams are looking to a bitter end in Formula 1. Bernie Ecclestone is making every effort to get the teams to commit to Formula 1 even through bribery. I don’t mean bribery in the sense that he’s going to give them money to stay but in essence lift a limit on how much the team can spend and where they can spend it. This could be huge for F1 teams across the grid, but they have to commit to F1 first.
Last month Honda surprised the Formula 1 world when they announced that they would be pulling from Formula 1. With Honda suffering from the world economy, which is in utter chaos and profits down the tubes they decided to cut their F1 program to help save money. I’m sure that being consistently at that back of the grid did not help convince sponsors that the Honda team was a good investment. Why pay millions of dollars for limited TV coverage because your team’s at the back of the pack. What Honda really need at this point is to find what worked for them in the past and what made them successful. I have the answer and his name is David Richards. He was the team principal when it was the better known BAR Honda and when they could win. That formula seemed to work and it was getting better. Then Honda canned Richards for reasons that are still unclear to this day. Honda need to get that hunger back and they need to go back to basics. They need to go back to a formula that worked and worked well. The question now is will David Richards take Honda?
It’s well known that David Richards wants to get back into Formula 1. The question that I have though is, did David Richards pull the Subaru World Rally Team away from the WRC to consolidate funds for an F1 team? I guess that would make sense but as a WRC fan, I’m really starting to lose hope for the rally sport. It’s too bad really because I still believe that rally drivers are some of the best drivers in the world. I mean think about it; circuit drivers drive one corner a thousand times, whereas a rally driver drives a thousand corners once. All of this at full speed! One other thing about rallying that upsets me. The Co-Driver needs more credit for what they do. I think it’s ridiculous there are two people in the car and only one gets recognition. Anyway… that’s a whole ‘nother blog.
David Richards, if you’re reading this, please get back into Formula 1 but more importantly, stay in WRC! Prodrive is still the greatest competitive companies in the world and I hate to see them start to diminish. Motorsports will survive but it just won’t be the same without them.
It’s been out known for several weeks now that Prodrive, the World Rally Championship car manufacturers for Subaru, have pulled out of the WRC. This is a huge blow to the sport. Prodrive blame the economy for their withdraw from the sport however, I believe that the FIA will suffer the most. Subaru came to the sport in the early 1990’s and since then have become an icon to the sport of rallying. Subaru claim that they achieved what they wanted in the sport and are okay with the withdraw. However, for us Subaru fans, this has put a gigantic hole in our hearts. Privateers will most likely carry on with the name in the sport, but like Lancia, Peugeot, Toyota and others, Subaru too will die a slow death in rallying.
It’s sad really when you think about it. Take people like the late Richard Burns, Colin McRae, Mark Lovell, Michael Park and other iconic characters who raced for Subaru throughout the years and it was Subaru that helped them put their names in rallying enthusiast’s homes. Then you take people like former world champion, Petter Solberg, who is left without a drive for next year, it’s just odd to think of him racing for another team. Now like the greats that have raced in the sport, the “icon” itself is out of it’s element; it’s out of rallying.
So from here forward, I’m not sure if I’m really interested in the WRC. I mean it’s not the Ford and Citroen show. Suzuki pulled out as well and who knows if manufactures such as Hyundai, Peugeot, Seat, Skoda and Mitsubishi will return to the sport. It will be interesting to see if the FIA can resuscitate the WRC and get other manufacturers to participate like in the late 90’s. Till then, the sport will continue to die leaving the, arguably, the best drivers in the world eternally on the bench.
I really don’t know what happened or to what extent the Canadian Grand Prix and the US Grand Prix did to piss off Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosely but I know that there are millions of pissed off fans at them. Taking away an F1 Grand Prix from any country is just sad but taking it away from an entire region of the world is just preposterous! I’m sure there are a lot of financial logistics and the lack of sponsorships for the race weekends but shouldn’t that be in part of the responsibility of the FIA? I mean the FIA as a whole and the people that run it need to help and assist with the success each venue. Yes, there’s a main point of contact at the venue but the FIA need to step in with generating money, sponsorships and crowds. I feel that the FIA have lost that vision of the “love of motorsport” and have focused more on “what’s going to make me money”. Yes, the FIA is a business and not an organization and therefore will need money and lots of it to keep that spark alive. It’s sad when you really think about it; needing money to “like” a motorsport. The passion is all but gone in the FIA organization.
Please, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for new venues such as India and Singapore but we don’t need two Spanish GP (Catalunya and Valencia) where other countries are dying for and F1 Grand Prix. Spread the wealth and expose the world to a sport that is the top of racing world. How can you inspire dreams of children to become F1 drivers or participate in any facet of F1 if there’s little exposure. The FIA is not just taking Formula 1 away from North America (United States and Canada) but you’re taking away the passion as well.
First and foremost… I LOVE the Scudaria Ferrari F1 Team! I still think that Kimi Raikkonen can win this years title. However, with the anouncement of Ron Dennis stepping down from being Team Principal of the McLaren F1 Team, I found a spark of renewed liking for the team. As smart as Ron Dennis is, I still can not get over the way he’s treated his team in the past (the falling out between Alonso and Hamilton… that could have been avoided all together with some better leadership) and even amongst other teams (handling the Stepney-gate saga and remarks about Kubica’s nose on public TV). With the anouncement of Martin Whitmarsh taking his place, I have renewed hope for the team. If you’ve ever watch Whitmarsh on TV you’ll notice that he’s always excited about the sport of F1 and for his team. This is something that I think is potentially needed for them to win both the Driver’s Championship and the Manufacturer’s Championship. Go team McLaren! … … I mean, Ferrari?
As I suspected, I was afraid that all the Formula 1 cars were stepping away from what made them unique; not just from each other but from other open wheeled motorsports. Now we might as well step into the realm of A1, CHAMP , Indy Cars, F3, Formula Mazda, etc and just look all the same. Gone are the days when you can put a good driver in a good car and obliterate the opposition. Gone are the days of drivers wanting to go to top teams like Ferrari and McLaren. Gone are the days children stabbing each other in the back to get a seat in Formula 1. Now, we have another open wheeled sport that’s just like all the others… the doldrums of the same looking cars. Yeah, paint schemes are different but if you painted all the cars the same color, you wouldn’t be able to depict the differences between the different manufacturers. It’s more difficult to decipher the uniqueness of each manufacturer. I’m still going to be an F1 fan, but I won’t enjoy it as I have in the previous years. Oh well… I hope the evolution of the cars becomes more demanding by the public interest and will someday soon return to what an F1 car “should” look like. Till then…
Ferrari F60
Toyota TF109
McLaren MP4-24
I love Top Gear. These guys are funny as hell and the show in general is just a blast to watch. The producers of this show are pure geniuses! The Stig has got to be one of the most publicized best kept secrets in all of Europe if not the world. Even the paparazzi can’t get a hold of the identity of The Stig. If you’ve never seen this show then find it, it’s worth the watch even if you’re not a car lover. There have been rumors of an American version coming but I don’t think that it will hold a candle to the English version. In any case, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard “Hamster” Hammond or James May usually will start off by giving The Stig an unusual introduction. Here are ones that I’ve made up… Enjoy!
Here is a link to Part II
