Dope. #152

Image courtesy of Icypix from Edition38 2013.

What to watch this Weekend (Oct 10th - Oct 16th)

• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2013. From Chicago, IL (Part 1). Thursday @ 5pm - 9pm (Velocity/VelocityHD) new - replay @ 9pm
• WRC. Rally action from France. Thursday @ 7pm - 8pm (MAVTV) delayed airing from 10/6
• Formula 1 - Japanese Grand Prix; from the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan. Practice. Friday @ 1am - 2:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2013. From Chicago, IL (Parts 2&3). Friday @ 3pm - 9pm (Velocity/VelocityHD) new - replay @ 9pm
• Formula 1 - Japanese Grand Prix; from the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1am - 2:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• FIA European Rally Championship. Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Ingles. Saturday @ 2pm - 3pm (VelocityHD) new
• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2013. From Chicago, IL (Parts 4&5). Saturday @ 3pm - 9pm (Velocity/VelocityHD) new - replay @ 9pm
• Formula 1 - Japanese Grand Prix; from the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan. Race. Sunday @ 1am - 4am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Top Gear (UK). Marathon of past episodes. Monday @ 4pm - 3am (BBC America/BBC America HD) great replays
• Motorweek. 2014 Jeep Cherokee. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Chasing Classic Cars. Chance of a lifetime. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Mini-marathon. Wednesday @ 4pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) replays

We have a boatload of entertainment this weekend; auto auctions from Chi-town, rally action from two different continents, regular shows with the headline being another week of F1 action in Asia. This weekend the usual suspects will take their talents to Japan's Suzuka Circuit to essentially see who will make their mark on this season. Before that, lets recap the action from Korea...

Latest news is that Massa is being considered for the Mercedes DTM program. He's still all 'team' in public comments despite earlier comments stating he wasn't going to help Alonso with the championship chase, but in the grand scheme everything Massa does from this point forward is advertisement for his next gig. Do your thing Massa, Ferrari won't give a sht when you're gone. Adrian Newey's exhaust blown diffuser is a work of engineering art, if you haven't been watching. In addition to the new turbo v6 power-plants in the F1 cars next year, the new minimum weight limit for 2014 is 690KG/1520lbs. This is important to think about due to the size of some of the better drivers out there, who won't be competitive as long as horse jockey sized drivers still have the wieght advantage. Webber's retirement from Singapore was due to a water leak (coolant). The FIA wasn't to pleased with him getting a ride from Alonso in Singapore (Alonso stopped slightly impeded Hamilton's cool down lap) and due to accumulation with previous reprimands (three to be precise) he'll be docked 10 grid spots at the start of the Korea GP. Boo. Kimi's back is still bothering him, but he won't have surgery on it, just treatment.

Kimi got into the tire wall during P1, but was back together and for P2. Hams was tops in P2 with Vettel following. Medium tire endurance testing went well for Mercedes so in addition to the difference in track layout We'll see if Mercedes can capitalize on this this opportunity. McLaren's were both throwing out big black soot from the fronts in heavy braking areas, so this is something to watch out for.

Q1 goes by with Raikkonen up top. Q2 moves along pretty slowly, then next thing you knew there was no time left and guys were running flyers to make the top 10. McLaren's both missed the cut (Button held up on his flyer by a Lotus), along with Ricciardo. Vettel (137.5xx), Hamilton (137.7xx), Webber, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Rosberg, Grosjean, Raikkonen, Massa and Gutierrez round out Q3 qualifiers. Q3 begins with Webber dipping to 137.464 and Vettel besting him with a 137.202. The drivers do thier tire saving pit stop then come back out with 2mins left for fireworks. Rosberg takes the first flyer, finishing with a 137.8 not bettering his previous time (P5). Hamilton (137.420) can't get closer to Vettel, but jumps Webber to take P2. After a few more times come in Webber skips the finish line and hits the pits (P3), accordingly Vettel gets off the gas to save the supersofts for the race (P1). After the grid penalty to Webber (P13) the starting 6 are Vettel, Hamilton, Grosjean, Rosberg, Alonso, Massa.

The race starts with Vettel getting the jump on Hams and Grosjean getting the jump on Hams. At the end of lap one Vettel has a 2 second gap. Going into turn 3 there's a mild pileup resulting in some busted front wings and Massa getting turn around...after further review it looks like Massa locked up his cold rears when going in about 4 wide and trying to avoid contact. After things get going again, Massa is second to last place. Webber and his small rear wing is working his way through the field, getting to P11 by lap 3. Button has to box for a new front wing on 4/55. By lap 8 Webber is in 8th. The Pits get active with those who have cooked thier front rights or had damage from the Massa incident.

Alonso pits on 10/55 for mediums. It seems the supersofts are lasting as long as what was expected. Vettel's pit tells him to watch his fronts as he stays out. Grosjean pits on 11/55 for mediums. Rosberg does the same. Grosjean comes out just in front of Hams and just about pulls a double move to keep him behind him in the DRS zone. Vettel pits on 12/55 as his fronts are going; he comes back out in first. Webber stays out until 12/55, going from P2 to P9. Daniel Ricciardo is still out on mediums at lap 15/55, so it's unclear if he's trying to go for a two stopper or less.

Hulkenberg is still having a great race, ahead of Alonso in 6th on 16/55.  By lap 17 everyone's front right tires are noticeably grained, especially Alonso. Vettel still has a big gap, but its obviously being managed due to the race tire wear that's being experienced. Hams is losing a bit of time to Grosjean; more than likely he's managing his tires. Vettel meanwhile has a terrible front right by lap 19. It seems like the mediums have gone faster than the super softs...pretty surprising based on the practice and qualy data. Mixing it up for position on this track is leading to some advanced tire wear, so drivers are trying to maintain gaps for the best air possible. Then all of a sudden in lap 22/55, the graining on the mediums starts to go away and the mediums come into their own.

Button pits for another set of mediums on 23/55 with an odd stop and go after leaving his pit. Nico Hulkenberg's tires are starting to go off, but his pit tells him he needs to stay out. Hamilton tells his pit his fronts are toast on 25/55, and they tell him about the passing of the graining the others have experienced. Lewis makes clear that he's already gone through that progression and his fronts still blow. Kimi pits on 26/55, coming back out in 10th on mediums. Paul Di Resta retires again (sound familiar?) with an odd rear end lockup mid-chicane. Local yellow.

Rosberg is up Hamilton's ass as Rosberg's tires are in much better off (28/55). As Rosberg passes Hamilton on the long straight, sparks start flying from the front of his car. Somehow his nose has partially come unclipped and under front downforce load the front wing is dragging on the track. I'm not even sure how that's possible, but it happened. Now Rosberg takes up the pit time for this lap and Hams stays out on his crap fronts; he lets the pit know about it. The nose swap on Rosberg's car didn't look that clean, but we'll see how that goes. Hams comes in the following lap 30/55 for mediums on a quick stop; comes back out in 5th.

Vettel is running in 1st, but is now up on lap traffic behind the last two cars. He weaves through smoothly not to wear his tires down with drama. Perez is running in 4th, locks up hard with Kimi behind him into a corner, then his right front tire delaminates in a small explosion tearing up the side of his car; smoke comes out the back while the carbon fiber undertray grinds while he steers off track. He limps the thing around the track on kevlar belts, the carcas is still on the straight. sergio makes it back and Grosjean and Webber pit as well. Webber had to pit more than once as he ran through the debris and was called back in; he's back out on supersofts (35/55)...he's out of medium tires. If you thought Webber was up against insurmountable odds with having one set of supersofts to finish 20 laps in, have no fear, because his streak of bad luck continues when Sutil loses his rear end and slams into Webber's side exhaust on turn 1. Shortly afterwards the car goes up in flames and Webber gets out. Then things get interesting on the track. For some reason the circuit officials take forever to get a extinguisher on Webber's car. Then they release a fire safety vehicle on the track before the safety car comes out. Meanwhile the rest of the field that passed this incident earlier are working their way around the track at full race pace, Kimi passing Grosjean for 2nd and then Vettel ahead comes to a halt behind this Jeep Compass fire safety car that shouldn't have been on the track. Then the real safety car comes out (SLS AMG), the the fire safety car pulls off.

The melee subsides with the green flag on lap 41. Everyone makes a mad dash for position with the remaining 14 laps; if everyone stays out until the end it'll be survival of the best on tires. If everyone has to pit, then position is even more paramount. Raikkonen is holding onto 2nd with both hands, his tires are old. Some really good action is going on mid-pack; Massa gets the benefit of Gutierrez and Perez battling each other to move forward. Hamilton is trying to get past Hulkenberg without success; he can't beat him out of the exits and Alonso is looking to pounce on Hamilton. Ham's finally passes Hulkenberg on 48/55 for 4th, but he gives it back on the straight in the DRS zone. Too much pace for the Mercedes at this point in the race.

52/55 and everyone's front right tires are looking like crap. Hamilton tells his pit how much more traction Hulkenberg is getting out of the corners. Grosjean's lead engineer tells him to stick it to Kimi, but his Team Principal tells him to back off. Vettel's pit tells him to watch the right front then they tell him something cryptic as if something has failed on the car (53/55). Rosberg swerves to keep Button from passing, Vettel's pit tells him to make it home and Daniel Ricciardo retires off the side of the track on 54/55. Hams tires are going but Alonso doesn't have enough grip to catch him. Vettel takes the checkered flag, followed by Raikkonen, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Alonso and Button. Nico Hulkenberg had a hell of a race. The current top five standings are as follows: Vettel, Alonso (-77), Raikkonen (-105), Hamilton(-111), Webber (-142).

Suzuka is a legendarily difficult circuit and the fireworks should continue. Make sure to start your F1 meal with Practice on Friday morning; set your DVRs. Enjoy your weekends.

Video hosting courtesy of WRCforeva.

Neo-Vintage: This Saab 900 Was Built to Last (PetroliciousCo)

Despite the semi-misleading title, Petrolicious delivers another solid piece on one of those new-classic Euro's that has spoken to most of us in years past. I always wanted a Saab 900 Turbo as a kid growing up in the 80's, even drawing them during class in Elementary School, but never got one. I'm happy to live vicariously through owner Jordan Melville, though, as I have enough projects on my hands these days.

Video courtesy of PetroliciousCo.

Neo-Vintage: Magnus Walker's '66 Irish green Porsche 911 (XCAR)

XCAR interviews Magnus Walker about one of his favorite Porsche 911's -- his Irish green 66'. Not heavily modified at all, but sometimes that's the point. I feel like the 993 generation 911 will be as nostalgic for me when I'm in my 50s as the 66' is for Magnus. Tape deck,

Video courtesy of XCARfilms.

Car Pron: Alfa Romeo 4C First Drive, Road and Track. (CHOC)

After years concept reveals and promises of a production version, the Alfa Romeo 4C is finally drivable in the flesh. Chris Harris gets to check out this new ultra light, carbon-fiber tubbed, 4-cylinder turbo powered, mid-engined sports car in Italy. Pretty awesome little car imo, but I was hoping there would be a manual option to compliment the double clutch automatic as this car was spec'd out to be much like a modern Lotus'(i.e., Elise). Regardless, I think that driving enthusiasts everywhere benefit from the existence of the 4C.

Video courtesy of Drive.

Wallpaper of the Week. #25

Image courtesy of AP from BGP 2013.

What to watch this Weekend (Oct 4rd - Oct 9th)

• Formula 1 - Korean Grand Prix; from the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, Korea. Practice. Friday @ 1am - 2:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Fifth Gear (UK). Aston Martin Vanquish. Friday @ 10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new
• Formula 1 - Korean Grand Prix; from the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, Korea. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1am - 2:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• FIA European Rally Championship. Rally Liepaja-Ventspils from Latvia. Saturday @ 2pm - 3pm (VelocityHD) new
• American Le Mans Series. VIR 240. From Virginia International Raceway. Saturday @ 2pm - race end (ESPN3.com) live; delayed broadcast Sunday @ 5:30pm on ESPN2
• Formula 1 - Korean Grand Prix; from the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, Korea. Race. Sunday @ 1am - 4am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Top Gear (UK). Marathon of past episodes. Monday @ 4pm - 3am (BBC America/BBC America HD) great replays
• Motorweek. 2014 Corvette Stingray. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Chasing Classic Cars. Red hot and rowdy. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Top Gear America. Season 4 - Episode 4. America's Biggest Cars. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (History Channel/History Channel HD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Triumph TR6. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) replay

A solid weekend of entertainment ahead with more of the usual suspects. We're back in Korea for F1 this weekend, but before we get to that lets recap the action from Singapore two weeks ago...

The major news in F1 is that Kimi is officially going to Ferrari, leaving Massa a free agent. Word is that if Massa doesn't jump on an existing team there may be a DTM opportunity for him. In the meantime though, Kimi re-injured his back (pinched nerve) and it affected his performance in Q3, missing the cut.

Practice was mostly uneventful, but Webber clips the wall a few times with his right rear. Vettel shows his dominant pace in practice with a 1:44.2xx. Qualy starts with Massa teetering on getting booted from Q1, but hops up into the teens to make the cut. Hams is tops in Q1 with a 1:44.196, Button right behind in P2. Red Bull started to separate itself from the field in Q2, ending with Vettel throwing down the gauntlet with a 1:42.905. Q3 wasn't even close at first; Vettel put down a 1:42.84x and pitted. This almost cost him as Rosberg puts down a 1:42.932 on a flyer. Grosjean rounds out the top three of qualifying with a 1:43.058. Webber, while starting his flying lap practically even with Vettels' pole setting lap in the first couple sectors, fails to keep the pace up in the end, finishing 4th with a 1:43.152.

The race starts with Rosberg beating vettel into the first major turn, but overcooking it, letting Vettel back ahead. Then Seb takes off. By the end of lap one he has a 1.9 second lead on Rosberg. Things shake out as expected, with the first tire pitstops coming around lap 13. By lap 15 Vettel is still going purple with old tires while Webber pits for mediums. Lap 16 Rosberg comes in for mediums, while Grosjean follows for another set of softs.

On lap 17/61 Raikkonen is getting word from his pit that KERS performance is dropping. Vettel gets told by his pit to box -- he comes in for mediums. After Vettel returns to the field, he still has a extremely comfortable lead. Di Resta is running (super)softs and is still out at lap 18/61, showing very solid tire wear, putting him in 3rd for now. Hamilton is in 7th at 20/61, complaining about the mediums to his pit about their feel (much like he did in qualy). 

Di Resta's soft tire marathon finally ends with a pit stop on lap 21, bringing Alonzo into 3rd position. He returns to the field in 13th. Rosberg is running well, but is still 9secs back from Vettel. Hams is now in 6th. Kimi's KERS is still an issue, but the pit won't disclose more over the radio. Things are going smoothly overall then our new RedBull front man, Ricciardo, puts it right into the wall on a slow turn he overcooked (25/61)...it appeared to be a mechanical issue as he was all by himself. Singapore is notorious for safety car laps, and now Vettels lead has been shrunk to nothing. The teams scramble for the pits for new tires, however the top 4 haven't pitted as they're all committed to the same strategy. Vettel, Rosberg, Alonzo and Hamilton are all still out with one stop under their belts.

Safety car stays out through 30/61 and when the green flag waves Vettel takes off in usual fashion. Within a lap and a half, Vettel incredibly (and predictably) has a 3+ second lead. Grosjean, running comfortably in 6th, has the rug pulled from under him when his pit found there was an issue with the pneumatic valve control system on his car, as the compressed air used to run it springs a leak. The refill takes 40 seconds, effectively ruining his chances of a podium; I'm sure he's hoping for another safety car deployment. It also appeared that the mechanic that filled the air tank didn't have a fire suit on, so this could be an issue. Sadly, Grosjean ends up having to retire on 40/61 as the leak continued.

Hams tires are going off on lap 40, Webber pulling away from him. Vettel now has a 20 second lead on Rosberg; Rosberg's pit is telling him he has rubber clag in his front wing which is affecting his front-end downforce, but super slow-mo isn't cooberating that tale. Rosberg pits on lap 42, losing a position to Webber(11th), when he came back out (12th) on mediums. Hams stays out, sitting in 2nd, 27 seconds back from Vettel. Hams pits on 44/61, comes out in 10th...4sec stop. Vettel is told to pit on 44/61 for his brand new set of super softs (that he was able to save in Qualy by pitting after that hot lap). He comes out in 1st.

Rosbergs' pit implores him to push, but he sounds like a beaten man; probably exhausted from the hottest and most physically demanding race of the year. Button is now in 3rd (46/61), and could possible pull this out if his tires hold up. Alonzo's strategy seems to be a pit late for softs affair where goes nuts to try to finish strong; he sits in 2nd currently. Hams is now behind his tired teammate Rosberg (49/61), both of them behind Webber. They're going to try to pass Webber, but easier said than done. The tricky thing here is that if the drivers ahead of this trio (7-8-9) decide to stay out on tires, including Alonzo, they all need to pass like crazy over the next ~11 laps if they want to see the podium. Raikkonen is sitting in 4th behind Button, which makes you think about the issues Grosjean had and if they'll rear their head in his Lotus as well.

Webber is working his way to Hulkenberg and up front, Raikkonen and Webber go at it for P3. Vettel slows the pace after the pit tells him to look after his brakes. Tires up front are starting to go off and things are heating up. Lap 55/61, ol' bad back Raikkonen pulls a great move over Button and speeds off. It appears Buttons tires are just about roasted. Rosberg and Hams jump Hulkenberg, then Di Resta puts his nose into the wall on 56/61. Safety Car is looming and everyone else is making moves. Webber passes Button for 4th and Hamilton and Rosberg are chasing down Perez for 6th. Hams is trying to take 7th spot from Rosberg, he's being held up. Rosberg passes Perez for 6th and Massa tries to pounce on Hamilton while he tries to get past Perez. Webber gets told to short-shift all gears (sound familiar?) by the pit.

(59/61) Hamilton gets by Perez, but is now very far behind Rosberg as Perez held him up. Rosberg passes Button for 5th. Now Buttons sinking and Massa passes him. Rosberg is reeling Webber in, but he may be too far back (60/61). But with the short-shifting Rosberg gets him on 61/61 followed by Hamilton. Webber's engine is giving up on the last lap, smoke starting to come out the back...three miles worth of a single lap left. Vettel meanwhile is taking the checkered flag. Webber's car goes up in flames, he pulls off to get out of the car. Alonzo pulls off second, getting 36 laps out of a set of mediums. More impressively Raikkonen comes in third, behind his future stable-mate, on a bad back, from 13th place. Vettel has just about sealed up the Championship at this point, 33 career wins, new age records, yadda, but what else do you expect. Alonzo picks up Webber on his way around the track after finishing the race, providing a gentlemanly lift back to the paddock. The ceremony wasn't as crazy as Monza, but in similar fashion and large crowd gathered on the track to hear the national anthems of both Germany and Austria. Third Singapore Grand Prix win in a row for Seb. The current top 5 driver standings are as follows: Vettel, Alonzo (-60), Hamilton (-96), Raikkonen (-98), Webber (-117).

This weekend should be another exciting scrap for Manufacturer and Driver's Championship points in Korea. In related news it appears the group responsible for paperwork and capital to get the 2014 NJ/NY F1 off the ground has met the deadline for submission; cross your fingers for a second US F1 race next year. Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Drive.