Formula 1 & the Motor Industry

[Bahraini Spirit]

Well this event deserves its own thread. A few pics to start and loads more to come. And as you know, Bahrain owns 30% of McLaren now so don't be surprised to see loads of people supporting them.

[Dubai-King]

Guys, tommorow is the big day.

Where is the discussion, enthusiasm and pics everyone!!



Go Massa!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u5zvyhLrBI

[Bahraini Spirit]

Great news, the factory is officially launched:

German sports car maker launches factory at BIC

German sports car manufacturer RUF Automobile celebrated a golden moment in its history with the official launch of its new factory at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The occasion was marked by the launch of its all-new flagship model - the RUF CTR3 supercar.

RUF has become the first sports car manufacturer to build a factory in the Middle East.

The beautifully-designed facility will become a new hub for RUF customers in the Middle East and Asia alongside the marque's traditional home of Pfaffenhausen, situated in southern Germany's Allgu region.

It will also be the main production facility for the all-new CTR3 worldwide.

The factory, designed by the team led by Hermann Tilke, who also designed the BIC, features an eight-storey 34-metre tall glass tower topped with the iconic Arabic tent roof so familiar from the circuit's grandstands and Sakhir Tower.

The tower is flanked by the preassembly and assembly wings, and visiting customers will receive their newly-built RUF model in the VIP lounge on the top floor when the completed car arrives on a spectacular lift.

"Just one year ago we came to Bahrain and laid the foundation stone for this building with Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa," said managing director of RUF Automobile Alois Ruf.

"Back then we stood in a tent and displayed a small model car; now we have an entire factory and the sight and sound of the CTR3 in the flesh, our most advanced vehicle to date and one which will be built here in Bahrain at the BIC."

Among the many important anniversaries being celebrated by RUF Automobile in 2007 is the 20th anniversary of the RUF CTR, the now-legendary 'Yellow Bird' which became the fastest production car available in the world.

The revealing of the RUF CTR3 marks a departure for RUF Automobile, but one that follows the purity of performance design for which the company is renowned.

The CTR3 stands alone as the first RUF vehicle to have a unique chassis construction, with bespoke coachwork made from high-tech, lightweight Kevlar.

The styling of the mid-engined car is curvaceous, redolent of the sculpted sports car designs seen racing at Le Mans in the 1950s and 1960s, designed by talented newcomer Ben Soderberg.

The 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged car delivers shattering performance: 0-100km/h coming in 3.2 seconds and a maximum speed of 375km/h.

A cosmopolitan gathering of 250 guests and media were present from all around the world for the occasion.



And if you're wondering how do those cars look like, check these out:

[Bahraini Spirit]

Pics by rubens barrichello:

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[Bahraini Spirit]

Pics by Cynthia H:

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[Bahraini Spirit]

By Jim and Fran:

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[Bahraini Spirit]

By cooop...24:

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[Bahraini Spirit]

Originally Posted by Dubai-King

Guys, tommorow is the big day.

Where is the discussion, enthusiasm and pics everyone!!



Go Massa!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u5zvyhLrBI

Me and you can have a discussion hehe.

I'll post more pics tomorrow. Do post some yourself .

[Bahraini Spirit]

Bahrain bags top FIA safety award

THE Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) was in the limelight again yesterday as it added another feather to its crown by winning the FIA Institute Centre of Excellence award. This is the second major international honour for the BIC following the best Grand Prix race award it received in its inaugural year in 2004. Bahrain made history this time too as it became the first Grand Prix circuit to receive the Excellence award which is issued by FIA to encourage excellence in all aspects of motor sport safety.

"Bahrain International Circuit is immensely proud of this award. It reflects the confidence the FIA Institute has in the circuit," said BIC general manager Martin Whitaker.

"The circuit has always enjoyed an excellent relationship with FIA and together with our colleagues at the Bahrain Motor Federation, we are committed to strengthening BIC's position as a benchmark for the way in which modern day technology and safety are incorporated into the design of a racing track."

Each FIA Centre of Excellence exemplifies the high standards expected by the FIA Institute in terms of technology and the way it relates to best medical, marshalling and race control safety, said an FIA official.

The BIC has demonstrated its commitment to innovation and the development of new safety technology within motorsport - particular as the sport develops in the Middle East region.

"It certainly means a lot not just for us at the BIC but Bahrain as a whole on becoming the first Grand Prix circuit anywhere in the world to receive the award.

"It also shows the dedication of our staff and the efficiency at all levels, not only for racing but also when we hold functions and seminars," added Whitaker.

"We look forward to using the circuit as a platform and focal point for the development of so many new initiatives which will add value and benefit both the sport and the road user throughout the Middle East.

"The circuit is regarded by many as the leading example of modern day Formula One circuit design but our focus is not solely on motorsport. The circuit is now, quite rightly, seen as the Home of Motorsport in the Middle East and is fully backing the development of grass roots motor racing both locally and throughout the region," said Whitaker.

The award, in its second year, recognises and rewards excellence at circuit facilities around the world.

Last year, Paul Ricard HTTT, the established testing facility in Le Castellet, southern France, was chosen to be the first recipient of the award because of its high safety standards and its continual developments in this field.

"I'm delighted to announce that the Bahrain International Circuit has been chosen as the FIA Institute's Centre of Excellence for 2007. The circuit facilities epitomise the high standards expected by the FIA Institute and will be used as a foundation to develop and deliver our safety training and educational activities in the Middle East," said FIA Institute president Professor Sid Watkins.

"We very much look forward to working with the BIC team on these safety programmes which we are convinced will have a hugely positive influence on the future of motorsport in the entire region."

The BIC also plays a major role in the creation of awareness for developments in field of medical facilities and road safety.

The recent announcement of FIA's Think! Before you Drive campaign has been fully supported by BIC and is a prime example of how motorsport can be used to educate the road user.

"We are delighted to receive the award. I think it acknowledges more than just our work within Formula One but also the other racing activity that we have here at the circuit not only competitive motor sport but the driving training programmes, medical training programmes and the F1 Medical Centre that we have built to the exacting standards of the FIA," said BIC Governmental Affairs and PR director Shaikh Salman bin Issa Al Khalifa.

"At the BIC we pride ourselves for constantly evolving and adding to our stable of motor sport activities, the new Hummer Academy specifically designed to train people in the principals of safe off-road driving is a perfect example of this," Shaikh Salman added.

[Bahraini Spirit]

Glamour on the track

A HOST of celebrities are in Bahrain to enjoy the glitz and glamour of the F1 festival.

Among those expected to show up at today's event are three-times Wimbledon Champion Boris Becker, former Miami Vice cop Don Johnson and members of the UK band Kings of Leon.

Bollywood star Zayed Khan and his wife Mallika Parekh are also taking part in the action after being invited to the Sakhir circuit as guests.

The GDN yesterday bumped into Miss South Africa 2005 Claudia Henkel during a walk around the F1 Paddock area. She is in Bahrain as part of a four-day trip to take in all three days of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix and help promote her country ahead of it hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

"It is my first time at a race and it is incredible," she told the GDN.

"It is very exciting, especially when the race actually begins and the engines start up.

"I am here to promote my country and be an ambassador and to make people aware of what they can expect when they come to us in 2010."

The 23-year-old, who stays in the capital Pretoria, has been enjoying the action from the Paddock Lounge as a guest of Gulf Air and waxed lyrical about the facilities at the circuit.

"I think the hospitality and the organisation is really well done and in terms of security, the food and the friendliness of the people," she said.

It was her first trip to Bahrain, and only her second to the Gulf having recently visited Dubai, and she described Bahrain's desert setting as "incredible".

[Bahraini Spirit]

Sell-out F1 in top gear
By Geoffrey bew


THE Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) may consider building more seats to cope with the demand, after announcing today's Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix has sold out for the first time. A total of 34,000 spectators will cram into the stands for the event, along with another 6,000 corporate guests and hundreds of journalists from around the world.

The sell-out follows a record attendance of 22,000 on April 13, which was 6,000 up on last year.

Another 26,000 also turned up yesterday as the F1 buzz continues to gather pace, a total of 6,000 higher than the same time last year.

"We have a sell-out crowd on the final day," BIC general manager Martin Whitaker told the GDN.

"It will be the first time that we have hit the capacity level on race day.

"We have always had a lot of people in the circuit and we were very close last year. The great thing for me would be the day when we actually realise we need to build more grandstand seats. Let's have a look after this race, we will do the figures and have a look at it.

"This is one of the things that we have always said about Abu Dhabi as well, I think we have got to realise that having another race in the region is going to help grow the fan base.

"We got a really good crowd for the last V8 Supercar Championship and I think we are going to get an even bigger crowd this year again.

"All these things are very encouraging."

Mr Whitaker described this year's record visitor numbers as astonishing.

"I could not believe the number of people here, it is great news for all of us," he said.

"It was exciting to see so many people here enjoying the F1.

"It is testament to the good job that we have done that most people tend to want to stay in the vending area, rather than go in the grandstands."

Yesterday's events included the final practice session and first qualifying session of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix as well as the first races of the Porsche Mobil 1 Super Cup, the GP2 series and Middle East Lumina CSV Championship.

A series of off-the-track events also helped to keep fans entertained, including live music, trapeze artistes, break-dancers, circus acts, stilt walkers, performers wearing cuddly toy costumes and a giant sandcastle display.

A glittering array of activities have been lined up for today's race, including the annual Gulf Air flypast over the circuit, action from Bahrain's parachute display team, who will drop onto the track, and a show from the death-defying pilots known as the Blades in Bahrain.

[Bahraini Spirit]

Aggressive Massa aims for revenge



Felipe Massa is hungry for revenge, Lewis Hamilton craving for a piece of history, and Formula One itself is about to dish out a great feast of motor racing even without Michael Schumacher.

It's mouth-watering just looking at the prospects and possibilties.

Massa is on his second successive pole, Hamilton on the front row for the first time in his nascent career and the winners of the first two races this season - Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso - just behind them.

The BMW cars will be on the third row to add another dimension to a wheel-to-wheel contest.

Can Formula One racing get more exciting?

The final qualifying yesterday was an apt appetiser. It was intense, frantic, and exciting to the very last minute as the top drivers fought every inch and to the last fraction of a second.

Massa saved his best for last and clocked the top time of 1:32.443 to give Ferrari its fifth straight pole.

But McClaren was not very far behind as Hamilton, who is eyeing a historic third successive podium, came storming back to finish second in 1:32.580.

Championship leader Raikkonen, who could not sustain the pace which saw him top both the sessions yesterday, and Alonso, who was upstaged for the first time by his rookie teammate, had to grudingly settle for the seocnd row.

Impressive

BMW's Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica continued their impressive form and took the third row behind frontrunners Ferrari and McClaren.

"I am very happy and the team did a very good job. The two teams in front of us were clearly faster. The gap is significant, but we have again been the third strongest team," said Heidfeld.

The battle lines are so closely drawn and the top drivers so evenly matched that the first corner in today's race clearly holds the key to the coutcome of third race of the season.

Ferrari in particular will be wary of the start following the Sepang fiasco when Hamilton in a daring move overtook both Massa and Raikkonen.

"We will have to be a lot more aggressive this time. Last week we gave Lewis a lot of space. Now we know what we have to do," said Massa of the first corner.

Hamilton, sitting to the right of Massa during the Press conference, was unfazed.

"It's going to be interesting what happens in the first corner," the 22-year-old said.

"We have to make sure we get around nice and clean."

Hamilton is also in line to become the youngest Briton to win a Formula One Grand Prix.

"To go into your third race in Formula One and to get a front row, it's amazing," said Hamilton clearly not interested in looking too far into the future or talk about obvious and odious comparisions.

"I don't really take much notice of that sort of thing. I'm not Tiger Woods, I'm Lewis Hamilton," he added.

" I'm completely different. I do think he's a sensational athlete and it's an honour to be compared to someone of such great calibre.

"But I'm here in Formula One, I'm here to do a job. I hope I can have a similar impact on Formula One as he has had in golf."

Raikkonen too was in the cautious mood. "In the first lap Giancarlo Fisichella was in front of me. It wasn't ideal so it wasn't the best we could have done.

"But being in the top three is good and it is quite close. We will have to see how the race goes."

The battle down the grid was as expected for minor gains as four different teams won the next four places on the grid.

Giancarlo Fisichella put defending champions Renault in seventh spot while Mark Webber of Red Bull was eight.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Williams Nico Rosberg completed the top 10.

Lower down, Honda continued to struggle for pace and power with Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button down to 15th and 16th, even below Anthony Davidson for Super Auguri who had an impressive outing before finishing a credible 13th, a slot head of Toyota's Ralf Schumacher.

"It was a very good qualifying session and I enjoyed it immensely. I managed to get through to Q2 and that's been our aim from the start of the year, so to do that, and to also beat my team mate, was a really good achievement for me and I'm really happy," said Davidson.

"The car balance we achieved in the morning for the long runs was also good, so I am confident for a strong race tomorrow."

Schumacher, by contrast, was downcast.

"This has been another difficult weekend for me so far, just as it was in Malaysia. The car is quick enough but I've had problems all weekend adapting it to suit me.

"I've been battling with understeer both yesterday and today and it's been difficult to set it up for my needs," said Schumacher.

"We certainly hope for a better race but it's hard to predict what we can achieve from so far back on the grid."

GRID POSITION

1 Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:32.652

2 Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren 1:32.935

3 Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 1:33.131

4 Fernando Alonso Spain McLaren 1:33.192

5 Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW 1:33.404

6 Robert Kubica Poland BMW 1:33.710

7 Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault 1:34.056

8 Mark Webber Australia RedBull 1:34.106

9 Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:34.154

10 Nico Rosberg Germany Williams 1:34.399

11 Alexander Wurz Austria Williams 1:32.915

12 Heikki Kovalainen Finland Renault 1:32.935

13 Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri 1:33.082

14 Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota 1:33.294

15 Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 1:33.624

16 Jenson Button Britain Honda 1:33.731

17 Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri 1:33.984

18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso 1:34.024

19 Scott Speed US Toro Rosso 1:34.333

20 Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker 1:35.280

21 David Coulthard Britain Red Bull 1:35.341

22 Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker 1:35.533

Second practice timings

1 Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren 1:32.543

2 Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 1:32.549

3 Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW 1:32.652

4 Robert Kubica Poland BMW 1:32.755

5 Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri 1:32.900

6 Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:32.950

7 Fernando Alonso Spain McLaren 1:33.235

8 Mark Webber Australia RedBull 1:33.399

9 Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault 1:33.602

10 Heikki Kovalainen Finland Renault 1:33.605

11 Nico Rosberg Germany Williams 1:33.614

12 Alexander Wurz Austria Williams 1:33.658

13 Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso 1:33.700

14 Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:33.724

15 David Coulthard Britain RedBull 1:33.826

16 Jenson Button Britain 1:34.023

17 Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri 1:34.082

18 Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 1:34.397

19 Scott Speed US Toro Rosso 1:34.791

20 Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota 1:35.144

21 Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker 1:35.395

22 Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker 1:35.436

[Bahraini Spirit]

Hamilton F1's new superstar!



WITH Michael Schumacher long retired and the present breed of Formula One drivers lacking in chuptza and charisma, the new bloke on the block Lewis Hamilton has emerged as a possible superstar of the future.

The 22-year-old has already created a record by becoming the first black driver on the Formula One grid. He his now on the verge of creating a plethora of records starting by becoming the first rookie to win three successive podium spots since Formula One began in 1950.

Hamilton is also in line to become the youngest Briton to win a Grand Prix and down the road the first black champion too.

At the Bahrain International Circuit, Hamilton is already a big hit. Easy to approach and down to earth, Hamilton was the darling of the crowd.

Young and charming, and immensely talented, the Briton was also cheered the most, by both men and women and young and old alike.

Even Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone took time off to praise the manner in which Hamilton has adapted to the sport.

"He is good for F1," said Ecclestone. "I wish people wouldn't keep on talking about him being coloured and all that because he doesn't need to have the praise because he happens to be coloured.

"He is just bloody good. I hope he will be the next superstar of F1."

He explained to reporters how he hoped the McLaren Mercedes-Benz driver could become the next superstar of the sport, but played down his heritage as being a factor.

"He has got all the makings of doing very well. Lewis is doing a great job. He has obviously done an awful lot better than anybody expected him to," Ecclestone added.

Hamilton added weight to Ecclestone's superstar' claims by finishing first and eclipsing the pace of Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari by 0.006 seconds in the final practice session on Saturday ahead of afternoon qualifying.

The Briton was thrid in the frist race in Australia and seond in the second event in Malaysia last week.

He his third on the driver's list with 14 points.

[Pearl of the Gulf]

15 APR 2007 (BNA)

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[Pearl of the Gulf]

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[Bahraini Spirit]

From the bbc. Loads more to come soon :

[Adel]

Bahrain's my new F1 home!



By GEOFFREY BEW

FORMULA One racing star Sebastien Buemi has swapped the Alpine mountains of Switzerland for the warm climate of Bahrain, it has emerged.The 19-year-old Red Bull Racing test driver is living with his uncle in Manama, after recently moving from the European country's Aigle district.

Bahrain's sunny weather and its strategic location for F1 circuits around the world helped to lure him to the island, said team officials.

Mr Buemi was unavailable for comment due to his hectic training schedule ahead of Friday's Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, which a Red Bull Racing spokeswoman said included a rigorous fitness programme and meetings withteam officials.

But she confirmed the Swiss driver had moved to Bahrain from his home in Switzerland.

"We can confirm that Sebastien lives in Bahrain with his uncle in the Manama area," she said.

"He likes it because of the warm climate and that fact that it's well situated for getting to all the races around the world.

"It's a growing area, which he likes and he feels comfortable there."

An earlier report in the Switzerland daily newspaper Blick quoted the teenager as saying the tax-free lifestyle was also a big draw for his move to Bahrain.

"Should I ever make any real money (living in) the Gulf region would certainly not be a disadvantage," he said.

The teenager is not expected to take part in the race in Bahrain, but will be on standby in case of injuries to David Coulthard or Mark Webber. geoff@gdn.com.bh

[world1]

Did u guys c the new gulf air livery???????!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS AWESOME!!!!

[Adel]

[channel]

many thanks for the excellent pictures, great thread