Robert  "Bob” Barnard, (born September 20, 1946 in London), is a track designer and promoter. A qualified Civil Engineer, Bob moved to Australia in 1969 and raced successfully in historic sports cars and Formula Junior. In 1985 Bob was the Engineering Project Manager for the inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in Adelaide. Bob then rebuilt the historic Phillip Island Circuit and promoted the1989,90 & 91 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. He also built Eastern Creek in Sydney before moving to Spain with Kenny Roberts, and subsequently the US to promote the 1993 US Motorcycle GP for Kenny at Laguna Seca. Bob rebuilt Road Atlanta while the Exceutive Raceway Director and was the Operations Director for the inaugural Petit Le Mans in 1998. Bob continues to be active in track design and track safety, and was part of the team that rebuilt Daytona in 2004. Bob is leading the SCCA program to train new track reviewers and is working on a new private track in Georgia.

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 GREEN RACING AND Y2K

 What does green racing have to do with Y2K? In my view they are both a scam. Until recently I still had a pre 2000 computer that worked, admittedly very slowly, but it did not die the night of January 1, 2000. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in favor of wasting precious resources, but this whole global warming thing is still not convincing to me, but even if it is happening due to man’s activities the green racing thing is not doing anything for it.

 Motor racing is a discretionary activity as is all entertainment, whether it is opera, rock climbing or football. They all involve at some point the use of energy, and in particular vehicle transport, to get to whatever your thrill is. I remember during the 1973 oil crisis England thought hard about banning motor racing, till someone pointed out more gas was used by spectators going to watch soccer games than ever is used in racing. That is still true today. Just consider the latest Dallas Cowboys billion dollar stadium. How much energy did that take to build, and what does it take to run the lights, air conditioning etc. for one game? More than a season of ALMS gas usage I would bet. Al Gore’s plane probably uses more on one trip to promote global warming! So why are all these other sports and  entertainment bodies not running green challenges?

 Has anyone asked the spectators if they want to watch green racing? I don’t notice NASCAR falling over themselves to go green. Their night races use more power for the lights than most of our races. If the fans do want green racing why are we not racing solar cars? That’s the only true green racing. I did think the Tour de France was the best example until I thought about all the team cars, trucks and buses, and the logistics of setting it up. No, people come to watch motor racing as a spectacle, and particularly for sports cars and Formula One, the technology.

 We do not need to encourage increased efficiency of these cars, that is what racing is about. How to go faster than the other guy with the same spec equipment. If that is not efficiency what is? Audi did not produce a diesel powered car, probably the biggest step in promoting alternative fuels, because there was a special prize. They did it because they could see it was a better bet to win. It is also quiet if we are going to be concerned about the environment. They also did it because they sell lots of diesel cars. Europe is full of them. I drove a couple on recent trips and they are great. No smell, no smoke, drives like a gas powered car, and MPG is terrific.

 We need to ask questions like why is diesel more expensive than gas in the US if we really want to do something for reducing consumption and dependence. And don’t talk to me about electric cars. Where do they think the electricity comes from? Carbon fuelled power stations, that’s where, and they are less efficient than your average car.

 So why are we promoting green racing that uses a product that takes more energy to grow than it gives back and increases the cost of food to people who cannot afford it? Because someone is making money out of it, and in this case the series and teams are taking government money to promote a product that the government is already subsidizing, and the oil company wants to make themselves look like they care. I think Shell did a better job of that developing the fuels for the Audi.

 Motor racing needs to stop being apologetic about using gas and start to tell the story of the development that flows from it into all avenues of automobile technology.  Motor racing has always been the catalyst for improvement. Way back when I started watching Le Mans there was a prize called the Index of Performance, which predates our latest efforts by fifty years. Admittedly some will argue that it was a means for French cars to win something as their cars all had small efficient engines due to the taxation at the time, but it was a formula for the best use of the fuel.

 Think back to Formula One in the mid eighties when it was a fuel limited spec. They originally had a 225 liter tank, which was then were reduced to 195 liters to slow them down, and they went faster at the start of the following season than they had at the end of the last!

 If we really want to promote alternative fuels then open up the specifications to allow anything to be used, but with a formula for equating the energy values of the fuels, either through tank size, overall fuel for a race or some other mechanism that I am sure many smarter people than me can work out. But let’s not make it seem that the “green racers” are the only ones doing something for the planet, and if we are serious let’s not exclude them from being part of the competition.

 Bob Barnard

Oct 2009

Robert  "Bob” Barnard

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 “I count myself fortunate to have grown up in England in the late fifties and sixties during what were probably the greatest years of sports car racing. Gendebien and Hill, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Ferrari and Mercedes, watching grainy black and white images of BBC updates from Le Mans, which was more than we had for Formula One. The World Sports Car Championship was as big as F1, if not bigger. I recall waiting impatiently during a cold winter for Motor Sport to come out with reports on the opening rounds from exotic places like Daytona and Sebring.

 Then we were treated to GT40s versus Ferrari, Derek Bell and Jackie Ickx, Gulf Mirages, Porsches and once again Jaguars. There was Can Am, running to the newsstand on a Thursday morning to buy the Motoring News to read the latest tales from the US on these amazing machines. To a schoolboy brought up on 1000 cc Fords and Austins these were from another planet. I loved sports cars. I owned three Morgans and raced one of them. But I also love F1 and raced an open wheel FJ. There is a place for both, but there is something about sports cars and sports car racing that creates a greater emotional response beyond the raw speed of F1.

 The beauty of the cars themselves, aerodynamic sculptures more than the pure techno functionality of open wheel cars. Who can look at the Peugeot, Aston, or Audi without being moved? Why is a Testa Rossa one of the most sought after historic cars? Still a vestige of similarity to road cars among the prototypes and of course real cars in the GT classes. The technology is there, even greater since the requirements to endure, because that is the heart and soul of sports cars. It is a test of not only a burst of ability, it is a mentally crushing test of drivers and teams stamina, the ability to overcome adversity, to keep going when all seems lost, because you never know.

 So how did we reach our current situation of being the poor relation? Yes, sports cars have had boom and bust periods, blamed on manufacturers coming, dominating and going, but is that really that much different than other series? Look at F1 with McLaren, Williams or Ferrari dominating, and manufacturers coming and going. Somehow it has resilience, a critical mass that keeps it going while sports cars have steadily declined. Can we blame it on two series? I doubt it, look at how many open wheel series there are on the world stage besides F1. GP2, Superleague, A1GP, World Series, F2, F3 etc etc. Yes some are struggling, but there is still no shortage of would be car builders, drivers and promoters. 

 Are the races too long for a world hooked on instant gratification? If that is true then how come the biggest race, Le Mans is 24 hours with 18 hours of live TV. Our biggest races are the Petit and Sebring, and of course the Daytona 24 hr. The current ALMS and Grand Am races are shorter than your average baseball or football game or NASCAR race. FIA GT next year is to be based on one-hour sprint races, is that sports car racing? Australian SuperV8’s run sprint races, but their showpiece is a 1000 km road race. How come 300,000 fans turn up to Le Mans but 10,000 won’t cross the road for others? 

 Something is wrong. Tony hit on a lot of it in his article on lastturnclub.com about clowns and the tent owners. Too many series, particularly in the US rely on making money from the “back gate,” i.e. the competitors, the stars that put on the show. Which performers at this level in other sports or entertainment pay for the privilege? Come to that how many theater owners put on plays knowing they are going to lose money? OK, promotion is a risk, I should know better than most, but it should be a risk, not a racing certainty.

 We need a new business model. Where do we look? Well we have a couple of examples that seem to have worked, each in their own way, NASCAR and F1. NASCAR spreads the wealth. Yes the France family makes a lot of money, but back when other promoters ran races they shared in the TV, sponsorship and the gate, and teams still make money. NASCAR kept costs down by restricting technology, and limiting competition to the big three. Australia succeeds with just the Ford/GM rivalry, but that is a cultural thing that is not readily transferable, but does indicate the importance of manufacturers. I’m not sure that this model is still working for NASCAR, a step too far towards uniformity with the CoT.

 F1 succeeds now despite itself. It is an established icon that withstands dirty laundry on both a corporate and personal level. It has its problems with Governments now the only people who can afford to be promoters and show piece tracks being built in places where no one wants to watch. But, that was not always the case. Bernie built this show from a bunch of gentlemen racers by imposing standards of presentation, facilities for teams and the public, and doing a better job of selling the TV and improving the show. When he started fees for races went up, but that made promoters do their job better to build the audience even though this has long since gone over the top of reasonableness.

 A couple of things shine through these examples. Both have been built over the last thirty years or more with a consistent strong hand at the wheel. Can we say that of sports car racing? Of course not. Is it too late to start? It had better not be or we may as well go off and tell lies of how fast we used to be. Is it going to be easy? Again of course not or else someone would have done it. Will it cost money? Yes, and a lot of hard work and commitment. Is it worth it? If you don’t think so why are you bothering to read this? How do we start?

 We start by accepting we need teams and promoters to be making money. That needs a series promoter that is willing to invest and recognize the investment of those teams and promoter with a share of the returns. A bit too much to ask? The sports car world is filled with great businessmen with a love of the sport. How else do they afford it and why else do they spend that money doing it? Should the Sanctioning body be the promoter? I do not think that is a good marriage, the sanctioning body should be the umpire, not play the game as well.

The series promoter needs to work at just that, 24 hours a day, 365 days a week, not just the day before an event. Promotion is not just ads in the local paper, it is an incessant drive to spread the word to the media, sponsors, competitors of the value of being involved. Bernie did not promote F1 in the classic sense of the word, nor did Bill France take out full-page ads. They had faith in the product and were willing to invest time and money in it. Set standards and stick by them. Do not go to places that do not show off your product at its best. Make sure the races are run properly without long periods of yellows while a couple of guys try to clean up an oil spill. Look at F1 and see how little time they take to clean up even the worst of wrecks.

 Build the heroes. All sport is based on individuals. Love them or hate them you want to watch. We have stars and need to promote them. With no offence to others look at McNish, Brabs, Kristensen, Alex Gurney and Johnny O’Connell. We also have manufacturers, Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, Peugeot, Acura, BMW, Corvette, Mazda, and the specialists like Lola, Zytek and Courage. Yes we need them, not to dominate but to provide the technology. Sports cars are not a one make series and never will be at this level, but we do need to make sure that equal equipment is available to the privateer much as Acura has done this year. Perhaps we limit direct factory involvement.    

 I do not claim to have all the answers, but I do have a deep faith that here is a product worth saving and building. I have been a track owner and promoter, built tracks and run races, and owned and raced my own cars. We need a group of like-minded individuals to take this sport by the scruff of the neck and drag it kicking and screaming to succeed despite itself. Let me know if I can be part of it.”  

Bob Barnard

Oct. 2009

Johannes "Jan" Lammers, (born June 2, 1956 in Zandvoort), is a racing driver and team principal from the Netherlands. He participated in 41 Formula One Grand Prix races, debuting on January 21, 1979 after winning the 1978 European Formula 3 Championship. In 1988, Lammers wrote history at Le Mans. In a Jaguar he drove 13 out of the 24 hours, and beat the Porsche team who had remained unbeaten since 1982. Lammers and the team managed to finish first despite a broken gearbox. It was the first victory for Jaguar since 1957. He later participated in the race with his own team Racing for Holland. In 1990 Lammers won the 24 Hours of Daytona driving a Jaguar XJR-12. Jan Lammers is currently running the Dutch A1 Grand Prix team.

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A profile of Sportscar Racing

Sportscar racing appeals to many people, drivers, fans, manufacturers, designers, constructors, suppliers of engines, gearboxes, brakes, tires etc.  Even filmmakers love the concept.

 The often applied multi-drivers format generates the one-for-the-money-and-one –for-show effect. Through this loophole the ongoing clashes are created on-and-off the track. On the track because the dentists, lawyers, consultants, business entrepreneurs etc. are fulfilling their life-time dream by participating in the Le Mans or Daytona 24 Hour races, or even the 12 Hours of Sebring (a great classic!) or Petit Le Mans, while the upcoming  talent tries to build up stamina and recognition (like  Schumacher did) by scoring in sportscar racing. Skills and passion not always meet each other at the right moment let alone the right place. Off the track the organizers and rule makers have the task and challenge to create the regulations that inspire both the privateer and manufacturers. The private entries to create a full grid, the car manufacturers to create a full bank account. This requires outstanding marketing skills!

 It does create a fantastic atmosphere around the various paddocks in the World. One will find the most wonderful people of all levels of society in a Sportscar paddock. I feel so incredibly privileged that I was able to fly all over the World and arrive at most beautiful places to find our toys in an impeccable condition nicely stalled out to have us torture the equipment in an effort to discover new technological ground that would give us the advantage over our opponents, often very good friends.

 Reading back it actually means that you find a mix of people that love cars and money. The upstream of people that want to earn it and prove themselves, and the downstream of those that spend it and want to relax at the races. And of course those that are hovering in the middle, steering their career like holding a helicopter at a steady position.

 Mix the above with a fine blend of F1 drivers that love to unwind from their political environment and one understands the aura and ‘family’ like atmosphere of Sportscar Racing.

Jan Lammers

September 09'

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I AM a fan of the movie This Is Spinal Tap. And convinced I witnessed a scene from an upcoming sequel staged at the ALMS race at Mid-Ohio this past Saturday. General Motors must have spent some big money on product placement because the Corvette racing team is heavily featured.

The Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio was the coming out party of the new Corvette C6.R GT2 race car. After years of racing virtually against themselves in the GT1 class and destroying all comers with the exception of the UK based Prodrive Aston Martin team, the Pratt & Miller team decided to move to GT2 and race against other factory backed teams including Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and others.

So Mid-Ohio was the debut race for the new car. The Vette is beautifully prepped and prepared by one of the top crews in racing. The only bitch anyone had of the car was the paint scheme. Velocity yellow at the front of the car, and deepest darkest black at the rear. The problem with any black paint scheme is the inability to see any detail in the car's lines, and the blending of the car and the race surface. So photographers hate black. I was told the paint scheme was designed by some wonk at General Motors. I think "designed" is a stretch. The rear end of the car is so bad, one can only suspect the designer was sitting on the toilet, discovered he was out of paper, and decided to....well let's just say the back third of the cars looks like crap. As one of the new owners of GM, I herby approve them to spend a bit of my tax bailout dollars to repaint the back of the race cars.

So for three days in Lexington, Ohio we had the new GT2 car, a new badboys paint scheme and what we thought was new member of the Pratt & Miller crew. He was hard to miss. Tall, built like a linebacker, and a haircut that made you stop and take notice. A 4 inch tall mohawk on the top that blended like tar and molasses into a mullet in the back. Tattoos covered both sides of his shaved head. And he wore a nomex firesuit - all day, every day, while the other crew members wore daily team clothing. Turns out he wasn't a crew member at all, just a friend of the team. His name is Dan Fastuca, a heavy metal guitarist, and according to his website, a member of the Jet Black band and studied under Wendy o Williams of the Plasmatics. Word got out he was going to play the national anthem on his guitar before the start of the ALMS race.

A first glance, this actually makes a lot of sense. Every year the day before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Pratt & Miller crew member Mike West plays the national anthem on his guitar. It is awesome. A slightly toned down version of Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock and very respectful. Everyone assumed the Mid-Ohio version would be something similar.

Unfortunately we heard just the opposite. I was standing on the top row of the crowded grandstands at the end of the back stretch setting up a start shot that would show the packed hillside as the cars race through the esses. The PA announcer asked everyone to stand for the national anthem and the jumbo video screen showed Mr. Fastuca on the grid with his Corvette logo, driver autographed, "Starblaster" guitar in hand. He took the microphone and told everyone what a huge Corvette fan he was, how honored was to be wearing Ron Fellows old driving suit and how the guitar would be auctioned off to raise money to fight cancer. And then he started playing.

On his website, Fastuca invited "all you shredders in the Ohio area to come down (to the track) and hang with Dan." It is actually difficult to put into words the sounds we all heard. Just imagine 100 rabid cats simultaneously scratching a chalkboard. It you listened hard enough, you could occasionally pick out a bit of The Star-Spangled Banner, but it was difficult. About half one through it, the speakers cut out and the fans actually started clapping. Unfortunately 10 seconds later, the speakers started working again and we all were forced to listen to the bitter end. On the video screen we saw Fastuca flashing back to his Jet Black glory days, back arched, mohawk flying, the Starblaster completely vertical. Rock on dude. When it all finally and mercifully ended, everyone stood in stunned silence, not one clapped, and finally one person said, "that was the worst rendition since Roseanne Barr."

At the scene of the crime. at the head of the grid, stood members of the Ohio National Guard holding the American flag. Standing close by were Erik Berkman, President of Honda Performance Development, Kurt Antonius, Assistant Vice President of Public Relations for American Honda Motor Company, and Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series. They were standing at the top of the grid because Honda and Acura were the sponsors of both the IRL and ALMS races and the place was packed with Honda employees and guests. All were first hand witnesses to the Honda/Acura party crasher. A real life scene straight out of This Is Spinal Tap.

How exactly this was allowed to happen is anyone's guess. The ALMS took the word of the Corvette folks. Apparently the videos on the Fastuca website didn't sound any alarms. The video was never mentioned or viewed by Scott Atherton. The more important question and what in the world were the Corvette folks thinking? While they are friends and fans of Fastuca, what made them think his rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner was appropriate? Did Doug Fehan, Program Manager of Corvette Racing approve of this? Fehan is the face of GM's Vette Racing program, the man who is front and center on the Le Mans 24 Hours podium (and I mean literally front and center) waving the American Flag for the car company whose "The Heartbeat of America" slogan still rings in every red- blooded American's ears. Did he think this was cool? Or appropriate?

At sunrise in 1814, imprisoned on the frigate "Surprise," seeing a battered flag flying over a battle torn Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key penned the Star-Spangled Banner. This past Saturday, Dan Fastuca surprised everyone at Mid-Ohio by shredding our national anthem. General Motors owns an apology to the American Le Mans Series, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the American Honda Motor Company, and the fans and families that were forced to listen to this rendition.

Tapped out.

I Am.

August 2009

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 I was interested to hear recently that one of Sports Car racing’s all time great drivers, Tom Kristensen, is stepping away from his works DTM Audi to concentrate on Sports Car racing at the end of the year.

 He’s a fellow F1 commentator too now and he seemed very content when I spoke with him in Monaco at the GP.

 He reckons Sports Cars are about to have a golden era. It is just possible he thinks that the competition in DTM is getting ever younger and faster so quit while ahead, but he won the opening round anyway.

 Tom is a smart operator and he sees more manufacturers involved, especially at Le Mans. He could well be right, especially if F1 stays on its current self destruct course. Endurance and fuel efficiency will sit very well with the manufacturers’ future goals, along with the need to justify budgets together with technology transfer into profitable and highly regarded product ranges.

 Audi is one of the strongest brands and most robust businesses in the car world, and they didn’t need F1 to make that happen.

 If the various sports car series get their act fully together they could indeed be very well positioned. I did plenty of sports car racing form 1985 to 1999 and I have one piece of advice. Keep it clear,simple, and consistent for manufacturers, teams and fans alike .

 I was lucky to win plenty of races and a championship but I wouldn’t begin to be able explain the differences between Sports Car, GTP, GT, LMP, Super GT, GT1, Group C, FIA GT, ALMS, ELMS, LMS, IMSA, Grand Am, Daytona Prototype, British GT, World Endurance Series, World Sports Car. All definitely TFC.

 Just call them Le Mans cars. That’s the only way I seemed to be able to explain it to people who asked what I was racing at the time.

 MB

June 2009.