Umbrellas, sunblock, winter-weight fleeces, shirtsleeves – Formula One is taking leave of Silverstone, a place where a midsummer weekend can encompass four seasons’ worth of weather, in traditional style. And as it prepares to say goodbye to one of its ancestral homes, where drivers have tussled over world championship points for six decades, the farewell messages are couched in every register from the exultant shriek of a 700-horsepower racing engine to a tangle of malicious whispers.
It was a Brazilian who most eloquently enunciated the feelings of the Silverstone public. “I’ve loved this place since I ran here in Formula Three,” said Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button’s team-mate, shortly after securing a starting position on the outside of the front row yesterday. “I know they cannot change the weather, but that’s England. It’s fast and it’s safe. Why the hell are they taking the race away from here?”…Â Details
General Motors last week said it was pulling factory support of NASCAR’s Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series, and the bankrupt automotive giant this week served notice to Sprint Cup teams it intends to scale back its support of the premier series as well.
“We had very productive conversations this week with the folks at General Motors,’’ Rick Hendrick said in a statement.
Hendrick, the owner of Hendrick Motorsports, fields Chevrolets for drivers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“It’s clear they are committed to racing and committed to our organization… Details
Just as the Formula 1 technologies of today filter down into the production cars of tomorrow, so Richard Jenkins, the designer of the wind-powered Greenbird, believes the technologies behind his record-breaking vehicle could herald a new era of environmentally-friendly transportation. Jon Severn reports.
On the morning of 26th March 2009 at Ivanpah Dry Lake on the California/Nevada border, USA, the Ecotricity Greenbird broke the world land speed record for wind-powered vehicles. Greenbird recorded a top speed of 126.4mph (203.4km/h), and sustained a speed of 126.2mph (203.1km/h) for the required time of three seconds, beating the previous, American held, record of 116mph (186.7km/h), set by Bob Schumacher in the Iron Duck in March 1999 at the same location (Fig.1).
The Greenbird project is a partnership between …Â Details