Hi, reports on crash.net suggest the following methods will be discussed in order to slow down Motogp 1. Introduce a single control tyre. 2. Increase control of the throttle by the rider (by removing fly by wire technology). 3. Use narrower tyre rims. 4. A possible return to 990cc engines, but with a limit on top speed. 5. Stay with 800cc, but increase motorcycle minimum weight. Yes lap times are getting faster year on year dispite the change in the rules and everyone predicted that the 800cc bikes would be fast through the bends than the 990's were. I agree that this causes problems for the circuits who need to try to provide run off areas. As far as i'm concerned the problem with the approch taken todate to slow down the bikes is that it targets engineering not riders. As a member of both communities (low level on both!) i can say without a shadow of a doubt that the best way to slow the bikes down is to target riders not engineers. There are only 17 riders in motogp, then all the development riders but this is small number compared to the 00's if not 000's of engineers involved in Electronics Software and Mechanical disiplines. Limit fuel and you have 000's of engineers trying to beat the rules fiind effeciency or the lateral thought that provides the solution. Remove a rider aid and you only have 17 full time riders trying to solve it. Yes its scary to think of a 800cc bike without traction control or flyby wire. but its no more risky then us club racers with 165BHP and no traction control trying to do it manually using the wrist & a lot less skill. Riding is a complex thing man machine tyres, they all come together to create a spectacle that is great to take part in and watch. yes sometimes it goes wrong and a manufactuer bike or component such as tyre falls off the pace. These catch up or a new one fills their space. I personaly would like to see as many bike, tyre manufacturers as possible on the grid. it creates development and improvement. Yes they need to slow down or the great circuits of the world will not be able to accomodate them. Just rather take the fight to the riders and not engineers, I wonder if the top crop of riders will be the same if some of the rider aids are removed? I think Rossi is here to stay though. Regards Arron

Today, in this world of information and technology, every thing is controlled and processed through the help of computers. Computer technology has become an indispensable part of every day life. And, there is hardly any room for surprise as we get to know that the computer technology is avidly being used in the racing circuit. Today, it will not be an amazing thing to hear that in the racing cars, computer technology is widely used to enhance the performance in several manners. It is due to the computer technology that the speed and other related mechanisms of the racing cars have undergone a drastic reversal. If more performance is required from the engine, then there are many aftermarket chips and plug in device, which will help in rewriting the sparks and the fuel maps. To satisfy the mileage requirements, and in order to control all other devices in a racing car, the microprocessor has to handle different kinds of functions. For a smooth racing engine, advanced computer power is a revolutionizing way through which electronic engine controls the whole system. In the racing car system, there are primarily two control functions of the computer. First among them is the spark timing. This is actually a function of the RPM and throttle angle. The second one is the injector timing. Another crucial deployment of the computer technology that has marked great results in enhancement of the performance of the racing cars is pertaining to the *3D maps*. Use of the *3D maps* can greatly increase the speed as well as precision of the racing cars. They are actually plots, which are based on dyno runs, and it is stored in memory for rapid look up whenever necessary. The computer system in the racing cars have become so advanced that today racing drivers seldom need to put hand on the handles. It is a system, by virtue of which, you will be able to know about the different curves and turns that lie ahead on the path. This is undoubtedly a great benefit in itself and use of the computer application means there is almost no possibility of error for this extremely vital issue. You can calculate your distance and you can easily determine how much speed you have to give to cover that distance. Every racing car is provided with a LCD screen through which you will be able to know about the capacity of the engine, the petrol consumption per second. The racing cars are provided with memory chips, in which you can load any song or any items very easily. It is through the computer system that all the doors can be open automatically, just through pressing a button. The speed control is totally depended on the computer. It is the computer, which can make you aware of the other racing cars. It can even inform you about their exact location, and time you may take to complete that distance. It may also inform you about the speed that you must take to complete that distance. The speed of the computerized racing cars is much greater than the ordinary racing cars. Due to the computer technology, the driver have to do nothing other than sitting on the car and maintaining the pace, and the rest of the things are done by the programmed system of the computer. The computer technology, which is employed in the racing cars must be used and functioned carefully because any carelessness in this respect can lead you to fatal consequences. For that reason, it is advised that every body must take a preliminary training before using racing car.

The confirmation of Francois Duval’s return to a factory Ford Focus RS WRC 07 is the headline to come out of the list of entries revealed by ADAC Rallye Deutschland organisers. Duval’s Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team example is just one of 14 Focus RS WRCs competing in the August 14-17 event. And those 14 Fords are complimented by a further 11 World Rally Cars, ensuring the Trier-based rally is one of the most popular rallies of the world championship season. ...to read more: click here (http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=1890&desc=Fourteen%20Focus%20RS%20WRCs%20for%20Germany)

Fantastic Race of Valentino and Casey!!! Really incredible race, looks that Ducati is still faster respect Yamaha, but this time Valentino has done the difference, also because no long rectilinear in this circuit. Finally we have seen a great battle for the 1st place in Moto GP, fantastic indeed!!

Transmission gearing provides an optimum torque-speed conversion, more commonly referred to as ‘gear reduction’ from a higher speed motor to a much more forceful output, by using the principle of mechanical advantage. In the arena of motorsports, where high speeds are the norm, transmission gearing is an important area of engineering, as the drivers run at very high speeds and require precision control during sharp corner maneuvering. Transmission failure in motorsports amounts to the vehicle being ousted by competitors, or making an untimely exit in the race. Automotive engineers and manufacturers test their prototypes to avoid this at all costs. Transmission gear failure is the result of significant amount of added stress with the increase of horsepower, which is substantially large in a F1 car, or a high speed rally car. Motorsports requires heavy duty transmission gears. Predetermined number of drive ratios in motorsports (R1-R4, 1G-10G) in combination with gear transmission, are taken to modify the automatic shift of the gear to accommodate the different loading scenarios of the transmission. Automatic shifting of a gear transmission with speed and load controls in the context of high and low drive ratios is attained by the different step by step changes in shift patterns. Modern gearboxes reduce inappropriate high speeds and low torque of the main output shaft, to a much more stable lower speed with a greater torque. The opposite is also attained, producing a mechanical advantage, allowing higher torque generation. Although the internal set up of a formula one car includes a clutch, gearbox and differential resembles that of any other production car, but the transmission system in a F1 car is configured to transfer the 900 bhp on to the rear wheels, which is radically different from an ordinary car. The clutch of a formula one car is linked directly to the engine and is fixed between the gearbox and the engine. This clutch is electro hydraulically run, and include multi plate designs to enhance engine pick up. The clutch in a racing car weighs very little, which means that they have low inertia, thus enabling faster changes of gear. Race car drivers do not manually operate the clutch with the exception of moving away from the standstill. When it comes to changing gears, a lever behind the wheel is pressed, to arrive at the next gear ratio. This entire process is controlled by an on board computer, which automatically adjusts the clutch and switches the ratios within fractions of a second. Left side clutches are in general designed for rally based cars, while ride side clutches are used in F1 cars. *Racing car gearboxes (http://www.windform.it/sito/en/optimization-lubrication-system-formula-1-gearbox.html)* have no synchromesh, and are semi automatic. The sequential manner of running resembles that of a motorcycle gearbox, with gears being changed via a rotating barrel containing selector forks. Without synchromesh, the engine electronics have to synchronize the engine’s speed with the internal gearbox speed before shifting a gear. Motorsports teams build their individual gearboxes, with regulations stating that cars should have the minimum of 4 and max of 7 forward gears, along with a reverse gear. Most race cars have 6 forward gears, although increasingly a seventh one is being included. The suspension of race cars’ rear wheels affects the gear casing directly, holding the entire weight of the rear end of the car. This means that the gearboxes have to be made out of a very strong material, so in the earlier years it was made out of stressed magnesium. However, with the advancement of materials manufacturing, many teams have developed titanium, and lately the carbon-fiber gearbox casings, making them strong yet light. This has helped with greater weight distribution. Racing cars use limited-slip differentials to maximize the corner tractions, as opposed to the open differentials of ordinary cars. A limited slip differential uses friction to alter the torque relationship between the drive wheels.

Jacques Villeneuve was born to the legendary Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve on April 9, 1971 at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. This Canadian racing driver’s full name was Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve. In 1984, after the death of his father he wanted to take racing as his career, but his mother put a condition before him to excel in his academics before he takes up racing. He was quickly allowed to perform at the Grand Prix circuit with a Formula Four car. Soon his uncle, Jacques sr. got him enrolled him at the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. In summer, 1987, Jacques enrolled in the racing school of Richard Spenard, in return of his services at the garage. As he was too young to get a racing license in his native country, he arranged for a license from Andorra with help from Canadian Automotive Federation. In the year 1988, he entered the Alfa cup against Johny Cecotto and Mauro Baldi and finished tenth. In 1989, he also competed in the Italian Formula Three series. Villeneuve raced the Formula Three from 1989 to 1991, where he stood sixth and in 1992, he raced in the Japanese Formula Three and finished a runner up. He won the North American Toyota Atlantic series five times. Later he moved to Indy car racing and was selected the Rookie of the year, 1994. In the same year, he finished second at the Indianapolis and won the Road America for the Forsyth team. That year he ranked sixth for the season. In the year 1995, however, Jacques won both the Indy title and the Indianapolis 500. Jacques made his Formula One debut in the year 1996, qualified in pole and almost winning the first race. Nevertheless, his first victory came at the European Grand Prix and his winning spree followed at the competitions in Britain, Hungary and Portugal. In the year 1997, he won three races and the next four wins put him just behind the star of racing Michael Schumacher. 1999, however, got him as the numero uno driver for the Tyrrell team, British American Racing. However, the year 2000 did not proved too good for his career and even though the power of Honda Engines was there to empower him, his strength was failed by the powers of Ferrari and Mclaren, but was rewarded the most improved outfit on the grid. However, for certain internal reasons his tenure with the BAR ended finally. In 2004, he raced under the Renault, but it also proved little for his career as he there also failed to gather enough points and the team finished third in the constructor’s championship. At the Sauber, Villeneuve started a shaky start but Jacques picked up the pace with the progression of the season and snatched the fourth position at the San Marino Grand Prix. However, he took up a new challenge and scored a final sixth position at the Belgian Grand Prix. Peter Sauber sold his team to BMW secretly and although Jacques Villeneuve was determined that the season finale in China is not his life’s final match in Formula One and that he would be able to race with the new squad in 2006 also, his days at the race track came to an unexpected halt. It is still believed that even if his days at the racetrack are over, he still has the talents to make it big at the racing championships. It is thus under close speculations of his supporters that he might rise back from the ashes of time and win races at the track again.

The legendary Juan Manuel Fangio was born on June 24, 1911, in Argentina and was a dominant figure of motorsports racing during the first decade of the Formula One Championship series. His record of five Championship wins remained undefeated for about 46 years. He has been widely addressed to as the ‘greatest driver’ in the history of Formula One, because of his amazing feats of achievement in the sport. Fangio was part of four different teams in his racing career, including Alfa Romeo, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, and Maserati, which is a fact completely unique to Fangio, Unlike most motor car racers of his time, Fangio started racing at a mature age and was even the oldest person to race in many of the races he took part in. In any case, his age did not show any signs of faltering as he defeated younger rivals of Alberto Ascari, Sterling Moss, and Giuseppe Farina. Fangio entered the world of Formula One at the 1948 French Grand Prix, held at Reims, France. He did not win the race however, with his Equipe Gordini Talbot. Fangio’s next race at San Remo was a success, when he raced with an upgraded Maserati 4CLT/48, which was sponsored by the Automobile club of Argentina. In 1949 Fangio took part in six further Formula One races, winning four of them against established F1 drivers. The first Formula One driver’s championship title in 1950, the win came to Fangio while being a part of the Alfa Romeo team, along with Giuseppe Farina and Luigi Fagioli. Fangio won the three races he finished in that season, as well as the non-championship races he took part in. His winning spell continued to dominate the race tracks, with three yet again championship races in 1951, in the events held in Switzerland, Spain and France. His modified Ferrari did not let him down, when he took the championship title in the final race of the season, finishing six points ahead of fellow competitor Alberto Ascari. In the year 1952, when Formula Two regulations were imposed, the El Maestro (or the little master, as Fangio was nicknamed), could not use the supercharged version of the Alfa, so he could not take part in the first race of the season. That very year he met with a terrible crash, at the Monza circuit, in a Maserati car. But he astonished everyone when he was back to complete fitness the next year, which he started with a bang by coming first at the American race Carrera Panamericana, in a Lancia. After returning to Europe, he went back to Maserati for the championship season races, ruled by the dominating Ferrari led Ascari till then, and managed to squeeze out a victory at Monza. In 1954, he was with Maserati until he began racing with Mercedes Benz mid season, which became a successful partnership for both parties that season. In 1956, Fangio went over to Ferrari, replacing the late Alberto Ascari, who was killed in an accident, and won his fourth Championship title. In the year 1957 he went back to Maserati, and exhibited a hat trick of race wins in Argentina, France and Monaco. That season he claimed his number five Championship title. The iconic El Chueco, El Maestro, and other names Fangio was called, had at the end of his career won a total of 24 Grand Prix races, from a record 51 pole positions. The unparalleled race legend died at the age of 84 in the year 1995. The immensely talented Michael Schumacher had to say this about Fangio when Schumacher broke his record of Championship wins: "Fangio is on a level much higher than I see myself. What he did stands alone and what we have achieved is also unique. I have such respect for what he achieved. You can't take a personality like Fangio and compare him with what has happened today. There is not even the slightest comparison." That sums up the El Maestro, he was truly a class apart.

Rapid prototyping is the process via which any physical object is automatically constructed, using solid free-form fabricating methods. In the world of motorsports, rapid prototyping methods have significantly advanced, leading to a much more efficient manufacturing process. The earliest Rapid prototyping (http://www.windform.it/sito/en/rapid-prototyping-materials-comparison-racing-engines.html) methods were developed in the late 1980s, when models and prototype parts of cars were designed. In the 21st century, rapid prototyping and manufacturing process in motorsports is a world apart from the earliest techniques. Solid freeform fabrication methods are used in the manufacturing of solid objects by a series of delivery of energy or material to particular points, in order to construct that solid. Rapid prototyping and manufacturing in motorsports (http://www.windform.it/sito/en/rapid-prototyping-materials-comparison-racing-engines.html) involve the use of solid freeform fabrication techniques to arrive at the physical model of the sports vehicle, which begin with a blueprint of the final aerodynamic design of the same. This design is taken from the drawing board to the computer, The initial stages of the design of any motorsports vehicle comprise of rapid prototyping on virtual design platforms such as computer aided design packages, or 3-D animation modeling software. Such software allows designers to take the initial design and transform them into virtual cross sectional patterns, which are then recreated in physical space side by side, so as to form the complete model. This WYSISYG (acronym for a computer terminology) process establishes an identical correspondence between the virtual model and the model in 3D space. There are additional parameters added to the basic virtual 3D graphic design package, which prompts the manufacturing machine to read data from the CAD design, and lay down successive layers of projected material that go into making the vehicle. This include liquid, powder or sheet material, represented at first as horizontal cross sections corresponding to the CAD model as designed by engineers, which are then fused automatically to form the final shape of the vehicle. With such a procedure, engineers can easily create any sort of shape they wish to, and especially in the context of motorsports create the optimal aerodynamic shapes. The typical data interface between the CAD software and the manufacturing machine is the STL file format. The STL file determines an approximate shape of any vehicle part or assembly by employing triangular units. These tiny units produce a high quality finished surface, with a much greater realistic similarity between the virtual and the physical model. There are solid freeform fabrication methods using two different materials in the process of constructing parts. The first of these is the part material, with the second being that of the support material. The support material holds up the suspended features during construction, which is then removed by heat or dissolved with a solvent. There are various different prototyping technologies available today, including the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), and 3D Printing (3DP), among others. Materials manufacturers are by now using advanced technology as well, giving rise to bring about a drastic improvement in the overall quality of the rapid prototyping and manufacturing product. Commercially used materials for the rapid prototyping and manufacturing of motorsports vehicles, include carbon filled WINDFORM® XT (http://www.windform.it/sito/en/windform-xt-carbon-fibre-material-reinforced-plastics-composite-material.html). In the world of motorsports, time is everything, and with competitive stakes so high, every team wants to be ahead when it comes to the designing, wind tunnel testing, and race track testing of their vehicle. The sooner the model is built, the sooner can it be tested for the tracks, hence the emphasis on rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing. The aerodynamic testing in the wind tunnels is a major element in the entire manufacturing procedure, which is arrived at only after a successful rapid prototyping of the final assembly of the vehicle is done.

Left-foot braking is the technique of driving that is used to operate the brake pedal in an automobile with the left foot while the right foot operates the throttle pedal. It is different from normal driving techniques because, generally, it is the left foot that operates on the clutch pedal and the right foot that operates on the brake and accelerator pedal. The most basic purpose of left-foot braking is the decrease in time spent between the throttle pedals and right foot moving between the brakes. The left-foot pedaling is also used to control load transfer. It is normally used in the races, but is also used by the drivers with an automatic transmission. Left-foot driving technique is useful for front-wheel-drive cars during cornering at very high speed. If you understeer suddenly at the corner suddenly, the car still tends to move in the straight line and do not bend in the direction you want it to, thus leading to an accident. The left-foot driving technique help in canceling out the understeer so that there is more grip at the front wheels than the rear wheels. Left-foot driving technique requires a whole process to follow. While you approach a corner at high speed, slow down your vehicle as necessary by pressing the brakes with your right foot, use the heel-and-toe maneuver, and downshift the gear. At this point, you are to move your left foot to the brake and your right foot simultaneously to the accelerator. This is the actual way of applying left-foot-braking. You may continue to slow down the vehicle to a lower speed reasonably by applying the brakes with your left foot. As the vehicle is about to turn around the corner, simultaneously hit the gas and apply the brakes with your feet. By applying this left foot driving technique, the rear wheels will lock but the front wheels keep moving. When this happens, the complete weight of the car is transferred to the front wheels of the vehicle causing the front wheels to have more grips as compared to the rears. This is the time, when the car actually starts to oversteer. However, at this point of time, you have to keep the vehicle under control just by steering in the desirable direction and applying brakes and throttle as required. The practice of using the two brakes together requires skill and dedicated practices. When you intentionally lift the accelerator, it will cause much more oversteer and the car’s rear flips out even more. Reduction of oversteering will require more throttles and easing of the brakes causing the car or the vehicle to straighten. At the time of racing cars, the racers use thus left-foot braking technique to clear the cornering smoothly with a high speed while making little changes to the steering. At last, they just floor the car and speed off with high velocity. When one is good at doing left-foot-braking, he will be able to keep the accelerator completely floored and the understeer is eliminated. However, it is not advisable to use left-foot-braking on roads other than the racing tracks. This is prohibited on the highways because, in the case of emergency banking situations, the driver often tend to use both his legs to press the brakes and while doing this if the right foot is on the throttle, may cause unwanted and dangerous accident situations. This is why many manufacturers of cars provide a rest for the left foot so that the driver may use the right foot for both the brake and the throttle. However, the racers to maintain speed and to turn the corners without any fatal accidents or any speed reduction that often occurs during cornering mostly use this technique.

It's now official. David Coulthard has announced his retirement at the end of this 2008 season from competitive Formula 1 Championship. "I will remain actively involved in the sport as a consultant to Red Bull Racing focusing on testing and development of the cars," explained the Scot in a statement. "I have an open mind as to whether or not I will compete again in the future, in some other form of motorsport, so I am definitely not hanging up my helmet!" You can read more on Formula1 (http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/7/8033.html)