McLaren's new aeor kit promises to deliver

It seems the dark tunnel for McLaren has come to an end. After the German GP, it seems that actually the ray of hope has materialized.

Going into turn1 did show the amount of hard work the team has put into, but it lasted only for a few seconds... Cannot blame anyone for motorsport accidents. Its sheer luck. But this must have given the team enough confidence for the next race. With the new package, they claim to have improved 0.7 seconds per lap and this was proved by McLaren's dominance through the German GP's practise sessions and qualifying.

Its not only McLaren that have upreved their confidence for Hungarian GP. Chasing their improvement tags are Ferrari and Force India. We will have to wait and watch luck favours which one of these???

Rally Poland shuffles the championship table

Rally Poland - what a change it proved to be. The championship leaders changing orders and some last minute disaster from Latvala. One just couldn't ask more from a rally.

To start with, Loeb missing the tree stump in the pacenotes and damaging his Citronen's suspension. But that did not stop him from finishing in the points scoring zone. This gave Hirvonen and early advantage to take the championship lead from Day 1.

The 'unpredictable' factor is one of the best parts of motor sports. A lot depends on the driver, car, team strategies... but above all - 'luck' is one thing that matters the most. Invariably the Ford Focus team has seen disastrous results which can be classified as 'hard luck'. When and how does one over come their own fortune??? I guess the key is to hang on and not give up. It may sound simple but trust me, its the most difficult thing in motorsports - especially the things are against you!

Think of Ford Focus and the first thing that comes to my mind is how Fragile Latvala is! He has invariably proved his driving skills with outperforming the best in class, but his durability factor has always been questioned. Latvala has also confessed at times being over-confident and driving following his instincts rather than following the pacenotes - which we know what result it fetches. Experts say this to be a maturity factor which would smoothen his driving style over a period of time. Glad to know Latvala has been given a lifeline!

Brutal Acropolis Rally serves its reputation - Hirvonen scores and Loeb bites the dust

Practically all the drivers had a two word description for the Acropolis Rally 2009 - 'Hot and Rough'... And it proved to be devastating for quite a few top drivers.

I guess this is the first time the defending world champion has made a mistake. His first crash this season definitely sent a shock wave across the Citroen camp. Seconds before the crash he was correcting the peace notes, may be this caused a slight distraction and then rest is history. This has resulted in two consecutive rallies where Loeb has failed to win. I am sure he is gonna fire all cylinders in the next Rally - Rally Poland. This is also thrown up the championship wide open with 5 more rallies to go in '09.

Ford couldn't ask for more with a perfect finish and Hirvonen taking the maximum points. After Latvala went off on stage 6, and the two Citroens breathing on Hirvonen's neck, no one could have predicted Ford's results for that weekend. And to add to that, the team principle says - "stage 6 will be one I will remember for quite a while". But, luck was finally to favour Ford team, with all the front runners pulling out and Latvala covering up his 3 min drop to return with a podium finish.

Overall, Acropolis Rally served its reputation of being the most brutal rally on the calendar with some of the top drivers crashing out with all possible hits and flips.

What happened to Defending Champions???

It is always difficult for an individual or a team to carry the 'Defending Champion(s)' responsibility!

And when it comes to a Cricket-Crazy nation like India, the expectations were sky-high from Dhoni's team. Before the start of the T20 World Cup, the Indian were one of the favourites to retain the title. But somewhere things didn't go quite well for the title contenders. Then comes the damage control mode - the 'blame game'.

A very interesting analysis I came across on one of the sports channels about India's exit from T20 WC.

- 'IPL did not give players enough rest before such an important tournament'

This has turned out to be one of the most common sink to let some frustration. The team coach, the media, ... all could very easily target the IPL. May be IPL was responsible, may be not! But one thing is for sure, IPL did not have similar effect on the foreign players - especially the South African.

- 'IPL showcased Indian players' vulnerability'

Up to some extent, I agree with this justification. Anil Kumble was very bold to say that their team targeted Suresh Raina with short-pitched deliveries during IPL in a post match analysis. I guess every team was trying to nail down the weaknesses exposed during IPL. And finally West Indies and England did succeed. What was interesting is that Indian batsmen did succumb to 'bouncers' in both the games. Or I guess it was expecting too much from the batsmen to adapt themselves to these short pitched deliveries.

At the end of the day, it was not luck/faith but performance that let the team down. And the least we should do is 'blame'.

Latvala ruins Sebastian's dream run

Finally Ford has a reason to smile - a perfect finish in Rally d'Italia Sardegna 09!

What a come back from Latvala. From experiencing the worst accident of his life in Rally Portugal and walking out unhurt to winning Rally Sardegna. Nothing defines a perfect moment. The team management also deserves credit for this. There were all possible talks of him being replaced and questions being raised on his skills, but Malcolm Wilson's trust factor could not be defied. Team orders could have changed the results and favoured Mikko Hirvonen in his pursuit for WRC title, but I guess Latvala deserved this win more than anyone.

Citroen and Ford tried to outperform each other in terms of strategies. Both of their top drivers tried to loose position for the final day, but I guess the only orders that were fruitful were when Latvala was asked to push at the end of day 2. The results were more pleasing, since both the drivers who tired to use tactics to avoid road sweeping on the final day, faced an even more difficult, unforeseen circumstance - hanging dust. All this played in favour of the rally leader.

It all depends on how Latvala takes it from here. Weather he goes back to his 'over-confident' and 'slightly' negligent style or do we see a more mature driver who is going to give Sebastian and Citroen a cut-throat competition for the championship.

What is IPL???

Have you even been asked this question? If so what was the answer... I sometimes wonder what answer I will have to this question.

Lets check it out. So, if someone was to ask me - What is IPL? My answer(s) would be:

• Its a political endeavour where money is made to flow from all possible corners.
• There are loads of sponsors to hog up the limelight. This makes the commentator go - 'this is a DLF maximum', 'citi moment of success'....
• Every 20-25 seconds there is a contest announcement that can be participated via IPL's website or via sending an SMS.
• Every day is also a beauty pageant nomination and the grand finale shall be on the Finals.
• Vodafone is cashing on its services/feature with the help of Zoozoos... This is my favourite part.
• Every now and then the camera is focused on the bollywood team owner who thinks the stadium is a theatre where he/she can perform their not-so-cool acting skills (I am glad SRK returned back home, it was impossible to tolerate him).
• The commercials are so important that they hog up action replay.
• 20-20 match format is stretched way beyond with the likes of Strategic Timeouts.
• It is extremely difficult to figure what I am view is a match telecast or a commercial, since cricketers have maximum advertisement sponsors and appear in most commercials and bollywood stars snatch the limelight during the match. May be a caption would help - "MATCH TELECAST" or "COMMERCIAL" :)

And in the middle of all this, players find time to PLAY CRICKET!

Lewis Hamilton 09

For Lewis Hamilton this season so far has not been the way any defending champion would imagine.

Not the best car around, controversies, penalties/suspensions and close to being disqualified. What a start to 2009. It looks like McLaren has a tendency of enticing controversies :).

Hamilton showcased the worst set of his driving skills in the Chinese GP. He is suppose to be the wet condition master. But spinning on the same corner thrice is worst that what Felipe Massa did in British GP 08 :) . This was a shocker! Vettle proved his worth on wet tyres, but Hamilton had an excuse - 'I was pushing a little too much'.

This must be the first time in Hamilton's career that he hasn't got a good car. Since the start of his karting days, he has been nurtured by his McLaren relationship. And now he goes all out in media complaining about how difficult it is for him to drive his McLaren. I guess these are the circumstances that will prove his test of patience. He has to lead the team here and set an example. The best comparison here can be Fernando Alonso. After his exit for the McLaren camp in 07, he did not have the best car for 08. But still he won races and showed the world what a double champion is made of

IPL introduces ‘time outs’ - $$$

Compulsory 'time-outs' are to be introduced into the Indian Premier League, which starts on 18th April in South Africa, in an attempt to squeeze in more television advertising.

The breaks – each lasting seven-and-a-half minutes – will have to be taken after 10 overs. The IPL are planning to market the added time as an innovative by calling it a tactical 'time out'.

During the ‘time out’, the stadium crowd will be entertained by a live band while television audiences will watch three separate two-and-a-half minute segments, two of which will be sold commercially for an estimated $1 million each. The third will show the teams taking drinks and discussing 'tactics'.

“It is a move that is driven completely and totally by commercial objectives,” a senior production official told Cricinfo. “It is designed purely to make even more money by selling airtime. Nobody could argue that this adds any cricketing value to the tournament or that it can be in the viewers' interest, either in the stadium or watching at home.”

In total there are 118 two-and-half minute television advertising slots for sale.

And if this was not enough, IPL renegotiated its $1.8 billion ten-year broadcast-rights deal with Sony-owned Multi Screen Media (MSM) and World Sports Group (WSG) last month.

Did someone say we are in a 'Recession'!!!

Acclimatising to IPL - 2

This should be the last thing on any Players' mind - adjusting to weather/wicket conditions in South Africa. Most of the players have had a taste of the soil there, but how will it impact players who have not?

This would be an interesting area of skill and even more interesting it would be to watch how this skill set is monopolized/exploited. How the teams would be formed based on the SA pitches would definitely have been sorted out by now. On the other side some say 20-20 is not about Class/Style/Elegance. Its about entertainment! How well a player (batsmen/bowler) performs depends more on his luck rather than his skill set for a particular wicket.

The Indian spectators' concern has been given a preferrence. The schedule has been adjusted to IST, and that should help. Its like the only thing you wanna watch after work would/should be IPL - which is not going to be any different from the first season.

Enjoy!

IPL off to South Africa!

This announcement has caused mixed feelings! There is joy of having the second season of IPL but on the other side it is the political turmoil that has caused the change in venue.

To be honest, I do not understand how complicated things would have been for the IPL governing body to decide on this change, but I do understand one thing - who is at loss! Its not about comparing players' security to the country's General Elections. Its definitely not about which political party is for or against IPL being organised in India. Of course this piece of news has enough matter for the Politicians to debate upon :) . And not to mention, all the eight team owners are satisfied with this decision! This makes me wonder if at all anyone is on the other side of the coin...

Cricket in India cannot be compared to any other soil. The amount of Passion this country has for Cricket cannot be and will never be replaced by any other nation. I still have a clear picture of the Stadiums during the first season. Not an inch of space left vacant. That is Cricket in India! IPL in South Africa will definitely entice the local crowd because of the International Players involved and the game format, and I hope that adds to the flavour!

At the end of the day, it is the players who should be comfortable. If they can focus on the game, nothing better!

F1 09

F1 09 has started of with loads of surprises! 

Its clear after 5 races, the teams who focused on Aero improvements have an edge over teams who spent millions of dollars on KERS. And not to mention, the KERS enabled cars use this option in absolute defence. To start with, there is still lot of work to be done on KERS functioning, so this does not give enough confidence to the teams using it. And so far the use we have seen is to avoid being passed by the car behind! What a mess KERS have turned out to be. There have been a couple of occasions where the McLaren and Ferrari have used this at the start line to gain a few positions, but that has be offset by the lack of aerodynamics/downforce of these cars. Lets hope we seen some development and teams put KERS to better use.

These rule changes have shuffled the constructor's order. Top three team of 08 failed to score points in first couple of races. The current standing are a complete turn around of last year points table, only Force India is glued to the bottom spot :( . But this has added a different flavour to the sport. This has shown that every driver in one of those 20 cars is capable of winning races given a better handling car. This has put an end to McLaren-Ferrari domination of F1. I wonder if this would result in less fan following. Lets not forget that F1 has a different flavour because of the Ferrai fan following crowd. And looking at its performance this year (disastrous pit strategies), this definitely doesn't look good. Not to mention the teams uncertainty for next year's budget cap proposal.

Brawn GP has been more than a life line for Button and Barrichello. Just months before these drivers were without teams! Ross Brawn has showcased his skills can get any team, not only Ferrari, to win races.

Sebastian Loeb is scaling incredible heights!!!

Sebastian Loeb is a name that is going to be glued at the top of the records' charts... definitely for long time.

What a start he has had to 2009 season. With 100% success rate, he is absolute victorious! A total of 52 career wins is a mammoth figure and who dares challenge it. His sheer experience differentiated his Cyprus Rally 09 victory. Choosing used gravel tyres for tarmac surface clearly set the standards for the rally. Later majority of the drivers in the pack followed, but I guess that was a little too late to catch up with the Champion.

Such legends who are drafting sporting history have extraordinary skills. Sebastian has always been  differentiated in this aspect. How often in recent times have we seen Loeb make a mistake? He is ready to compromise his speed/position but not ready to commit a tiny little mistake. This is what sets him apart. This is where loads of his experience counts in!

At the beginning of this season, there were talks on weather Loeb wants to win all the rallies. Well, as of now he is spot on!

Planet X

Some time last month, I visited this place in Mysore - Planet X. The only purpose of my visit was Karting! And it turned out to be a memorable experience.

This cement surfaced track is one of the best ones. The track is well balanced with low/high speed corners, couple of hairpin-bend turns and a long speed straight line. It reminds me of a classic F1 track. The charges are Rs. 100 for 10 Laps or 10 mins, whichever is quicker. This turns out to be the most economical karting track of my experience.

Driving on this smooth surface had another thrill added... 'Drifting'... It was kind of natural to have the kart drift and enjoy it even more by flooring the accelerator. Though it took me a few corners to get things under control... :)