Seeping Matter

As long as I’m doing the post of ten motorcycles I need to be happy, I figure I might as well round that out and post ten cars I need to be happy also. Same situation applies: I can’t definitively say that having these cars will make me happy, but I obviously can’t be happy without them. Necessary but perhaps not sufficient, in other words.

Luckily for me, I already have one of them.

Nissan 350Z (source: seriouswheels.com)

1st Generation COPO Camaro (source: arkansascamaro.com)
This is a Yenko, but I'd also take a Dana, Nickey, or Baldwin Motion

Corvette Z06 (source: wallpaperstock.net)

Lotus Exige (source: nicewallpapers.info)

Ferrari 458 Italia (source: textually.org)

Aston Martin V12 Vantage (source: carclub.ru)

RUF RT12 (source: carsoftheworld.eu)

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 (source: netcarshow.com)

Ferrari FXX (source: seriouswheels.com)

McLaren F1 LM (source: protopage.com)

matt Cars 350z, Corvette, Ferrari

Today Ferrari, or someone, announced that Fernando Alonso will be replacing Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari next year.

Rumors about Alonso and Ferrari have been circulating for a few years now.  Always the question in my mind has been which Ferrari driver to replace with Alonso.  Massa very nearly won the world title last year, and Raikkonen won it the year before in improbable fashion.  When you have two drivers capable of winning the world title, how do you improve on that?

Well, I guess you improve by replacing one with another driver who is a multiple world champion in what was probably an inferior car.  I’ve just recently gotten to where I can stand and even kind of like Alonso again.  A year or two ago, the thought of him driving for Ferrari was too much to take, almost like Ricky Carmichael riding for Suzuki.  But RC became more likable about the time he switched to Suzuki; maybe Alonso will be the same.  I just hope all the winning doesn’t go to his head too much.

The decision to replace Kimi is a bit odd.  I guess if I were replacing one or the other of the two, I’d have to choose Kimi over Felipe because it just seems so hard to keep Kimi motivated.  Felipe seems like he’s always willing to try.  But in terms of raw talent, I think Kimi has the edge.  Felipe always seems to rock when he qualifies well, but it doesn’t seem like he knows how to pass people very well.  And with Felipe’s recent head injury — well, you add all that up, and it seems a bit risky to let Kimi go and keep Felipe.

So, where will Kimi end up?  That’s the question I suppose.  I wonder who could afford him.  USF1, perhaps?

matt Sports Ferrari, Formula One, Racing

In case you do not follow Formula 1, which is hard to imagine, I will fill you in on this story:  The Renault F1 team, having fired driver Nelson Piquet Jr. earlier in the season, some weeks ago found themselves facing accusations stemming from Piquet wherein he claimed that he had been instructed to deliberately crash his car in the Singapore Grand Prix last year in order to facilitate a victory for his teammate, Fernando Alonso.

I first heard about this Renault thing a couple of weeks ago.  I chalked it up to a Nelson Piquet Jr. temper tantrum, figured he was trying to get revenge on his former team for firing him a few weeks before.  I thought that perhaps there could be some merit — you know, maybe the team suggested the course of action, i.e. “Wow, if we had a safety car right now we could probably win the race, that’d be awesome, don’t you think so Nelson *wink wink* ?” — but surely they did not form a deliberate plan.

I hoped I was right.  I’m just starting to get to where I can stand Alonso again, and I really don’t want any more controversy in a sport I love.

This week’s events are sure to have far-reaching consequences.  Renault fired managing director Flavio Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds — that’d be like the Jazz firing head coach Jerry Sloan and GM Kevin O’Connor mid-season — and essentially entered a plea of “no contest” to the charges, which is all but an outright admission of guilt.  Piquet’s sworn statement to the FIA, if true, is certainly an earth-shattering piece of evidence, as he describes how he was instructed by Briatore and Symonds not only to “cause a safety car” (which, in F1, only happens if there is a crash on-track that cannot be removed in a timely fashion), but also the exact lap on which the crash should take place and the exact section of the track where it should happen.  The race events played out exactly as Piquet claims he was instructed, and his teammate Alonso went on to win the race.

This sort of thing makes Stepneygate seem like a parking violation in comparison.  Formula 1 is incredibly dangerous, and extensive rules and precautions are put into place in order to increase safety.  To deliberately cause a crash is to deliberately put the life of the driver of the car, the lives of all the other drivers, the lives of the track workers (who are almost always volunteers) and safety crew, and to a lesser extent the lives of the spectators, all at increased risk.

So, the question is, what is going to happen as a result?

Well, in the case of Stepneygate in 2007, McLaren was fined $100M and was stripped of all of their constructor’s points for the season.  This was an incredibly harsh punishment, as McLaren was contending strongly for the constructor’s championship with Ferrari.  This incident is certainly more serious than Stepneygate was.  Some have speculated that Renault will be excluded from competing in F1.  I have doubts about this, primarily because F1 needs strong teams in the sport.  But Renault might get fined so heavily that they end up being excluded anyway.  I would be surprised if the FIA fines Renault less than $500M.

Nelson Piquet Jr., I expect, will lose his FIA Super License for the rest of his life and will never race F1 again.

As for Alonso, well, so far there’s been no evidence that he was complicit or even aware of the ploy.  Certainly he must have been wondering why he was starting 15th on the grid with only twelve laps of fuel.  But for all I know he just followed a “hear no evil” policy and stayed out of the whole thing.  We may never know for sure.

And honestly, I’d prefer to think that he had nothing to do with it at all.  If he’s going to go drive for Ferrari next year, as the rumor mill claims, I just don’t think I can stand to have him driving for my favorite team if I can’t cheer for him in good conscience.

matt Sports Ferrari, Formula One, Racing

There’s a lot of craziness going on in F1 these days.  This can summed up in a two-word example:  Force India, the perennial backmarker who is suddenly challenging for pole positions and race wins.  Then you have Giancarlo Fisichella moving to Ferrari.  I don’t know what is weirder there:  Ferrari actually wanting him, or him leaving his lead driver spot to go to Ferrari where his best future is probably a few years as test driver.  Ah, who am I kidding?  I’d give up an awful lot to be a Ferrari test driver also.

You’ve got BMW announcing they are leaving the series just when their car starts to get competitive again.  Toyota is also threatening to leave.  As far as I’m concerned, Toyota can stay or go, but won’t somebody please pony up and buy the BMW team and bring Sauber back?  Just sayin’.

Image Source: urbansportstalk.wordpress.com

Then you’ve got four new teams announcing that they are coming into F1 for 2010, including the USF1 team headquartered in (where else?) North Carolina.  USF1 is of particular interest, first off because they are going to be the first US-based F1 team since, uh, never?  Since Dan Gurney’s Eagle?  Who knows.

That team is also interesting because of their stated goal to only hire American (read: U.S.) drivers to race their cars.  This seems odd:  Ferrari doesn’t hire only Italians, Renault doesn’t hire only French, McLaren doesn’t hire only English, Force India doesn’t hire only Indians.  But I don’t so much have a problem with the loyalty thing.

I have a problem with the selection.  Names like Scott Speed, Marco Andretti, and Danica Patrick have been tossed about in the rumor mill.  But if there is one thing we should have learned over the past twenty years, it is this:  Success in American racing series (Champ Car for example) is hardly a good indicator of F1 promise.

Consider as examples Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Cristiano da Matta, and Sebastien Bourdais.  These four drivers have a total of nine Champ Car titles between them since 1991, and yet they share as a group only 27 F1 points, one podium finish and zero — ZERO! — wins.

So let’s examine the named USF1 candidates.  Scott Speed was a flop in F1 when he drove for Toro Rosso, getting fired for poor results and blaming the car and team.  A year later, his replacement driver became the youngest to ever win a Grand Prix, making you wonder if it was really the driver after all.  And Marco and Danica?  Hey, I like them both, they are both legitimately fast and talented.  But they have only one win apiece in IRL, and if the history shows that champions of American race series tend to struggle in F1, how can we expect greatness from those two?  I mean, I get the market value of having them on the team, but there’s also market value in having competitive drivers that have a chance to win.

Some of you might be NASCAR fans.  You might be thinking that Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon or Kyle Busch, the kings of the roundy-rounds, would be great in F1.  Uh, get real.  Did you know that you have to turn right in F1?  Did you know that they also race in the rain?  Did you know that F1 cars also feature such things as Brakes, Downforce, and Handling?  The NASCAR peeps know nothing about that stuff!

Ah, who am I kidding?  NASCAR fans don’t even have the internet.  They can’t get a broadband pipe to their double-wide.  Kinda makes you feel sorry for them.

No, if USF1 is smart, they will hire at least one experienced driver.  From the sounds of things, both Robert Kubica and Jarno Trulli will be looking for rides next year.  Both are incredibly fast and are proven F1 winners.  Rumor has it that Ferrari is going to pick up Fernando Alonso, which means that either Kimi Räikkönen or Felipe Massa would be available also.  Another possibility could be someone like Mark Webber, who might not exactly be relishing the supporting role for Vettel and might relish a new opportunity to be the main guy on a hot new team.  That is, if USF1 becomes a hot new team.

Ah, yes, it’s been a crazy season.  Mostly, it has been great.  I can’t wait to see the new teams, the new cars, and who ends up on which teams next year.  I’ve loved seeing the tight competition and all the new faces on the podium.  In fact, apart from Ferrari’s struggles and Massa’s freak injury, the only dark spot I can think of is the appalling Renault scandal.  But that deserves its own post.

matt Sports Ferrari, Formula One, Racing

(Warning:  I’ve realized that when I wrote about that Ferrari before, I felt no guilt because it was not my Ferrari.  Now, even though a 350Z is no Ferrari, I feel guilt writing about it because it is mine.  So here’s the deal:  I’m going to write about my 350Z, because this is my blog and I want to.  I’m not boasting about it.  Okay, maybe I am.  I don’t care.  If you don’t like it, don’t read it.)

I said this already, but Project CRX is dead.  Or at least very, very dormant.

I had a CRX before.  I loved it.  Nobody else loved it but me.  The faded, chipping paint with the peeling clearcoat.  The black body with the contrasting white driver’s side door.  The rust spots that marred every body panel, discriminating against none.  The threadbare, torn seats and carpet.  The 200,000+ miles.  Yes, it was a car only it’s owner could love.

One of the best things about my 350Z is that it reminds me of my old CRX.  Or rather, what my old CRX would have been like if it had good paint, no rust, matching body panels, nice interior, and 300 horsepower.  Anyway, now that I have this 350Z, my yearning for a CRX has suddenly disappeared.

Cars are like people:  You love them more when you serve them.  This is why project cars are dangerous.  But I’m a man in touch with my inner feelings, and I’m not afraid to love my car.  So I’ve been doing some work to fix a few minor things here and there.  I’ve put an amplifier and subwoofer in to fix the pathetic lack of bass.  I bought an Escort Passport 8500 x50 and installed it discretely by hiding most of the wiring behind the dash and tapping directly into the stereo wiring for power.  I downloaded PDF copies of the stereo owner’s manual and the 350Z owner’s manual because the car came with neither.  I bought a brand new remote on the Internet to arm and disarm the security system that came with it.  I found an excellent site to help me with my project quest.

But now I have a problem.  My car came with some really sweet 19″ Carré CS-2 wheels, but two of the wheels are missing center caps.  I’ve been looking around trying to figure out where I can get some, but I’m not finding any good leads.  I finally went to a Les Schwab dealer nearby who does not sell them either, but gave me a phone number of a place that carries them.  I contacted this dealer with high hopes, but they were dashed.  Carré is out of business.  He has no extra wheel caps and cannot get them.

So now it is up to you, dear readers.  Find me my two Carré wheel caps.  If you help me, I will reward you greatly by mentioning your name on my blog, which is sure to bring you fame, fortune, and an abundance of babes.

matt Cars 350z, CRX, Ferrari

What was the first car you ever rode in?  You know, the car that brought you home from the hospital after you were born? In my case, it was a 1970 Boss 302 Mustang that looked exactly like this one.

1970 Boss 302 Mustang = Awesome

This ruined me for life.

There wasn’t too much I could do about this while I was growing up.  I couldn’t afford my own car (or motorcycle) even after I was old enough to drive.  So mostly I would just ride my 20″ Redline around, in full aero tuck down big hills until that time I lost my balance, crashed, and broke my fall with my face.

Now as an grown-up, or at least an adult, silencing this addiction is much harder.  I’ve been to supercross races, motocross races, NASCAR races, ALMS races, World Superbike races, and AMA Superbike races before the Daytona Motorsports Group ruined it.  I watch every Formula One, World Superbike, and MotoGP race that gets televised.  This helps but doesn’t fully address the problem.

So about ten years ago, I bought myself a used 1988 Honda CRX Si with my annual bonus from IBM.  This car was not pretty at all.  But it was fun to drive, and pretty fast.  This really helped my addiction problem. Then the CRX died.  That was a sad, sad day.

I bought my 1998 Kawasaki KX-250 to feed the addiction.  And boy, it works.  My adrenaline rushes every time I throw my leg over and kick it started.  I shift into first, crack the throttle about 1/4 open, and release the clutch and that thing will climb through the gears just about as fast as I can shift.  What can compare to motorcycle acceleration? Nothing.  Well, a Ferrari, I guess, or a Corvette.  But I can’t afford a Ferrari – not yet, anyway. So yeah, my motorcycle will address this problem, except I never get to ride it.  It’s too hard to get enough free time all together to go ride.

So my addiction is not getting fed again. Which is why I test drove this.

2003 Nissan 350Z Track Model = Awesome

Boy, am I in trouble. My only hope is that someone buys it before I break down and get it myself.

P.S. I stole that picture from Innovative Motors, I hope they don’t mind too much.

matt Cars 350z, AMA Superbike, Corvette, CRX, Ferrari, Formula One, Motocross, Racing, Supercross, World Superbike

So the word on the street is that 2009 will be the last year of F1 as we know it.  With the FIA holding firm to what the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) considers to be unreasonable new rules and restrictions for the 2010 season, FOTA decided this weekend that they will be holding their own racing series in the future instead of racing the current F1 series.

I’m not going to say too much about this, because nobody cares about my opinion on the matter.  What I will say is, as far as I’m concerned, it isn’t Formula One without McLaren and Ferrari, and I don’t think I’m the only one.  So the FIA can continue being obstinate if they want to, but I’m willing to bet that without the bulk of the current F1 teams racing with them next year, whatever the FIA tries to put together will be about as meaningful as the AMA Road Racing series is this year.

With that in mind, it occurs to me that FOTA probably is looking for suggestions.  I’d be happy to take the job, for a lot less than what Bernie and Max get paid, and it’d be a good old time.

To show my qualifications, I present my proposed race schedule below.  It’s a longer race schedule – 25 races – not the marathon of drudgery that is the NASCAR season, but a little bit longer than the current schedule to make the season a bit more substantial.  I’ve included sample dates for the 2010 season, but dear FOTA, this is certainly negotiable.  I’d also propose reducing the sanctioning fees for each race to about $10M-$12M US, down from the current amount (around $40M?) and would allow the venues to keep their signage revenue, which makes hosting a Formula One race much more palatable than the FIA’s current bloodsucking scheme.  This means that there’s a lot more venues to choose from; now the series can be picky about choosing interesting, high quality race tracks at both traditional and new venues.

Also, the races will be held on Saturday instead of Sunday, so I can attend without feeling poorly about myself.  And as you’ll notice, the series stops by Miller Motorsports Park, which is probably the best road circuit in all of North America and one of the best in the world, which also happens to be within day-trip distance of my house.

Yeah, this is going to be great.

• Pacific Leg
  • Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia – February 27, 2010
  • Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – March 6, 2010
  • Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore – March 20, 2010
  • Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan – March 27, 2010
  • Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China – April 10, 2010
• Mid-Eastern Leg
  • New Delhi Circuit, New Delhi, India – April 17, 2010
  • Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi – May 1, 2010
  • Losail International Circuit, Losail, Qatar – May 8, 2010
    • MotoGP and World Superbike both race here. Formula One should too.
  • Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – May 22, 2010
• Greater European Leg
  • Circuit de Monaco, Monaco – May 29, 2010
    • It can’t be F1 without stopping at Monaco on Memorial Day weekend.
  • Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Turkey – June 12, 2010
  • Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain – June 19, 2010
  • Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, San Marino – July 3, 2010
    • Why did F1 stop racing at San Marino? This is a great track.
  • Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany – July 10, 2010
  • Flins-Les Mureaux, Paris, France – July 24, 2010
  • Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Great Britain – July 31, 2010
• North American Swing
  • Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada – August 14, 2010
  • Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA – August 21, 2010
  • Miller Motorsports Park, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA – September 4, 2010
    • Besides being probably the best road course in North America, this track has the additional advantage of being close to my home.
• Second European Tour
  • Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium – September 11, 2010
    • My favorite race track in the entire world – Spa is AWESOME.
  • Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary – September 25, 2010
  • Magny-Cours Circuit, Nevers, France – October 2, 2010
  • Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy – October 16, 2010
    • One word – Parabolica.
  • Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia, Spain – October 23, 2010
• End, of course, at:
  • Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos, São Paulo, Brazil – November 6, 2010
    • The last few F1 races at Interlagos have been so incredible, I can’t imagine not keeping this one on the calendar.

So, FOTA – feel free to give me a call.  I think the choice is obvious.

matt Sports Ferrari, Formula One, Racing, Shameless Self-Promotion

Ducati is to motorcycles what Ferrari is to cars – a dominant Italian world champion many times over

… mmmmm, Ducati …

Is it possible that the Aprilia RSV4 Factory is even better looking than the Ducati 1098R?

Is it possible that the new BMW S1000 RR is as awesome as it looks?
Oh, those are the Germans, in the background, that sat next to us in the Tooele grandstand. Pure coincidence.

matt Sports Ferrari, Hobbies, Racing, World Superbike

My brother does this fantasy F1 thing at his work with these three girls he works with.  He’s obviously cherrypicking here – since he watches every F1 qualifying and every F1 race, he thinks he can destroy these three girls in fantasy F1 because he knows so much more about F1 than they do.

(My brother has a different approach to women than I do.  Historically, I always tried to treat them nice, because I wanted them to pay attention to me.  He always tried to treat them like crap, because he wanted them to go away.  Of course, he always had girls falling over themselves to worship him, whereas with me they always sprinted away from me like creeping death.  When I got to college I started treating girls badly, against my nature, and then they started paying attention.  And of course, the girl I liked the most, I treated her the worst, so she would marry me, and it worked out great.

Hey, girls, its true.  Don’t blame me – you girls are the ones that make it this way.)

Anyway, it is really funny that my brother is doing this, because his all-Finn fantasy F1 team totally got pwned this week, and he is currently in LAST PLACE in his fantasy F1 league.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Ah, I can’t blame him.  I mean, who in their right mind would have said, going into the first race in Melbourne, “Hmm.  Yeah, probably the Brawn team will rock!  Surely they will sweep the top two qualifying spots as well as the top two podium spots!  Surely Brawn, Toyota, Williams, and Red Bull will be the fastest teams!  Surely McLaren will be competing with Force India for worst team on the grid!”

Seriously – who would’ve thought?  Brawn GP is the former Honda factory team.  The team that competed with Force India last year for worst team on the grid.  The team whose car sucked so badly that they weren’t even competitive with the Super Aguri team who was running Honda’s customer engine and previous year chassis.  And who in their right mind would have ever voted against Ferrari and McLaren being at the top of the charts?  They’ve dominated F1 for years now!

I expect by about mid-season we’ll see Ferrari and McLaren dominating like before – those teams adjust so well.  But who knows?  Would it be so bad if any team except Force India was able to win?  This might be the start of a really exciting and interesting season, even if the cars do look a little weird.

matt Sports Ferrari, Formula One, Racing

It is said that possessions alone do not make you happy. This is true; sometimes you find the happiness through other people’s possessions instead.

Another common belief about money is that the love of money is the root of all evil. This is also true – you should not love your money.

What you should do is give your money to Ferrari, in exchange for an F430. Or, make friends with someone who has a Ferrari, so their possessions can make you happy instead.

If you are like me, and you just can’t find anyone with a Ferrari to be friends with (or, can’t hide the superficiality of pretending to want to be friends with someone who has one already), the next best thing is to make friends with someone like Kyle who has a friend that will loan him his Ferrari F430 for the day in order to help Kyle complete his Halloween costume of “a successful person.”

And then, of course, you have to be selected for a ride. Gratefully Kyle stopped by my cube first thing after he got to work this morning and asked if I wanted to go for a ride. When I looked at him, he showed the Ferrari key, completing the thought. A ride in a Ferrari? Is there really any other answer to that question than an emphatic “Of course!”?

When I walked outside this is what I found – a beautiful silver-gray Ferrari F430 Spider:

We got in, carefully, and gingerly – getting in is a bit of a feat, especially if you are 6′2″. Kyle inserted the key, then pressed the starter button and that wonderful 480hp Ferrari V8 roared to life. We slowly pulled out of the parking lot here at Mozy and then onto the freeway.

If I had one of these, I might just drive it onto the freeway all day long, just pulling off so I could pull back on again.

This car is incredible. I must have said that ten times during the drive. The seats were incredibly comfortable; the side bolsters securely hold you in place, so much so that when going through corners you don’t even feel the lateral g forces. The car is firmly planted on the road with no body roll through corners. And hearing that Ferrari V8 climb through the gears as you click them off with the paddle shifter – wow.

We cruised along the freeway at what felt like a crawl but was actually around 80 mph.

If you look closely you can see that we are well below the 8500 rpm redline, but at near redline for most normal cars. The engine sounds so nice you just can’t think of shifting to a lower gear.

Oh, that black rectangle in the dash, pictured in the lower right corner? Yeah, that is the stereo. You don’t really use that thing in a Ferrari – it muffles the sound system in back, pictured here:

You can see the cool air ducts in this rear view mirror shot at speed, and even some of the jealous people around us on the freeway. When you are in a Ferrari, everyone else on the road is jealous.

We’re doing about 90 here, hoping to not find any cops. If I had this car, I don’t know how I would possibly avoid getting a ticket. It is so easy to take it up over 90; this car gets there before you know it, without even thinking about it. And it doesn’t even feel like you are going fast, other than the fact that you are blowing by everyone else on the road.

After leaving the freeway we went down into town to return to work via this nice curvy road called Pleasant Grove Boulevard. Speed limit on Pleasant Grove Boulevard is 40. We were taking those curves at 80 without even thinking about it. It didn’t even feel like we were pushing it at all. Simply amazing.

Um, yeah. That plaque says “28 Formula 1 World Titles.”

I didn’t get to drive this car myself. Oh, I wanted to. But it wasn’t loaned to me, it was loaned to Kyle. There’s no way I’d even ask. Besides, even just getting to ride in it was awesome, and enough.
Still, here’s a picture of me wearing a Ferrari. I think it looks pretty good on me.

That does it. Someday, someday…

matt Cars Ferrari, Formula One, Mozy, Racing