Sunday, June 21, 2009

The Return of Jenson Button


Jenson Button was born in Frome, Somerset in 1980, son of Simone Lyons and John Button, for Rallycross driver. His first experience of motorsport came at an early age. When he was eight years old his father bought him his first kart. He took to motorsport very quickly and in 1991 he managed to win all 34 races of the British Cadet Kart Championship. The following years saw further Karting success, culminating in 1997 becoming the youngest ever driver to win the Super A championship

By the age of 18 Jenson had progressed to single seater car racing with the British formula Ford championship, winning 9 races and taking the title. That year he was also awarded the McLaren Autosport BRDC young driver award.

The following year he joined the Formula three championship, winning three races and ending the season as the leading rookie and third overall in the championship.

It was at the end of that year that Jenson Button had his first taste of Formula 1 action. As part of his McLaren Autosport BRDC young driver award that he won the previous year he had a test drive in a McLaren F1 car. Following the exit of Alex Zanardi, a seat had become available in the Williams F1 team. Having been awarded that Williams drive he went on to finish eighth in the 2000 F1 drivers championship. Sadly the next few years driving for the Benetton team lacked the success he had previously enjoyed.

2003 saw Jenson replaced by Fernando Alonso in the Renault F1 team. He joined the British American Racing team alongside former world champion Jaques Villeneuve.

2004 saw a turnaround in Jenson's fortunes.. His first ever F1 podium finish eventually came at the Malaysian grand prix, finishing third and then went on to 9 further podium finishes. By the end of the season he was third in the driver's championship, behind the two Ferrari drivers.

In August of 2004 Jenson announced that he had signed for the Williams team for the next two years, causing a lengthy contract dispute. However the switched was ruled legal by the FIA and Jenson moved team. Further contract controversy was raised at the end of 2005 when Jenson decided that BMW's decision to stop supplying engines to the Williams team limited his prospects. Buying himself out of the Williams contract he then went back to the BAR team for 2006, driving alongside Rubens Barrichello, ex Ferrari driver.

In 2006 the BAR team was bought by Honda, becoming Honda Racing F1 Team. Jenson took his first ever F1 victory at the Hungarian grand prix that year and went on to finish sixth in the drivers championship
The next two years were frustrating for Jenson as he struggled to find any form and doubts were aired over his future and ability to win a championship. Previous British world champion was quoted as saying " if he is serious.. he has to get himself a car that is a championship contender" and even the Guardian newspaper quoted "Button will win a couple more races but is not a title contender". It was however proved that the car was aerodynamically poor, rather than being a lack of skill on Jenson's part. His frustrations culminated in describing the 2007 season as a total disaster and the car as ' a complete dog'. On the 5th December 2008 it was announced by Honda that they were quitting Formula One due to the global economic crisis, leaving Jenson's F1 future hanging in the balance.

On the 5th March 2009, Jenson's F1 career received a lifeline. After months of waiting for a buyer for the Honda F1 team it was announced that the team was to become Brawn GP, with Ross Brawn, former Honda Racing team principle buying out the team. The world of F1 was about to see history being made, and Jenson's F1 career revived.

Keep up to date with the latest goings on in Formula 1, including where to get Jenson Button and Brawn GP merchandise as well as all the other official Formula 1 merchandise for all teams.

Budge Cap Row in Formula 1 2009

The recession has caught up with Formula 1. In the past, FIA president on many an occasion stressed cost cutting. It was not until 2008 that many drastic cuts were announced. The present FIA budget cap proposal is 40 million dollars per season. The over spenders MacLaren, Ferrari, and Toyota entered a law suit. The conflict has accelerated among racer fraternity globally. The reasonable FIA has agreed for functional technical leniency if budget cap is adhered to.

Budget cap row has jeopardized subsequent course of events for the remaining year in Formula 1. This is the apprehension of BMW motor port head Mario Theissen, It is his view that the position continues to remain challenging and urgent even though the FOTA union teams have tentatively enrolled for the forthcoming 2010 event.

Theissen is optimistic of collective effort in unraveling the knots to reach an acceptable result. The Turkish Grand Prix formula 1 is shortly due in Istanbul. FIA chief Max Mosley has a proposal of inducting 45 million euro budget cap for the 2010 race. The teams have openly disapproved of this idea and instead seek cost cutting at different levels in the race. FIA is expected to announce the names of the 13 participating teams of 2010 on June 12.2009.

The volley of comments on the issue has charged the game environment. Theissen admits to the existence of intense pressure politics on the issue. Mosley foresees many tangles and chances of an early acceptable solution appears bleak to him. Theissen comprehends the situation as being too flared up for a straight forward solution. Theissen is of the view that only a compromise solution is the way out of this impasse. Both the volatile sides has no choice but to save face by coming out with consensus policy. The fans are watching every move.

More of this text on http://www.worldracingforum.com

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Road Bike Cycling - Choosing a Suitable Bike

There are many reasons for cycling on the road and there are several different types of road bikes. The four main types of bikes for road bike cycling are road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid bikes and folding bikes. All of these types of bikes also have many variations and different designs so choosing the right bike for your needs can be a big decision.

What type of bike you choose to ride on the road depends on how often you will use it, the purpose and distance of the journeys you make, as well as which type of bike you feel most comfortable riding, as they all have different riding positions.

Generally road bikes have drop handlebars and thin tires, and they are relatively lightweight. They are mostly designed for speed so that the riding position is low down rather than upright, as this is the most aerodynamic position. This type of bike is certainly the quickest choice for road bike cycling and is the bike of choice for racing and most experienced road bike cycling fans.

Road bikes can essentially be divided into two sub-categories - touring bikes and racing bikes. Touring bikes are excellent for long distance rides and cycling holidays, while race bikes are designed for acceleration and speed.

Touring bikes have lower gear ratios so they are appropriate for carrying gear with you on a long ride or tour. Race bikes are extremely light and have very rigid frames to maximize the transfer of power from the rider to the wheels, in order to offer a smooth ride.

A good choice of road bike for commuters, keeping fit and cycling for leisure are hybrid bikes. These are essentially a mixture of a mountain bike and a road bike, and they are growing in popularity all the time. They have fast spinning wheels like a road bike, but the riding position is more upright and similar to a mountain bike position, because they have flat handlebars.

Hybrid bikes are easy to maneuver, with a range of gears that make it easy to cope with changes in speed or gradient. They have wide tires similar to a mountain bike so they can used off-road. They are definitely a convenient choice for general road bike cycling and leisure rides.

Mountain bikes have tires with substantial tread as they are designed for off-road riding, but they can also be changed to road cycling if you already have one and want to cycle on the road without another huge cost. To adapt a mountain bike you can just swap the tires for narrower, smoother tires. This will decrease resistance and make cycling on the road easier and faster.

If you cycle on the road as part of your journey to work a convenient sort of bike to use is a folding bike. These are ideal if you use public transport as part of your journey, or if storage is an issue at work or at home. Instead of having to worry about where to leave your bike safely you can just fold it up and carry it with you.

Whichever style you choose, when road bike cycling always think about making yourself obvious to other road users by wearing reflective items and using lights. This is imperative for your safety on the road, regardless of the type of bike you choose.

For further information on all aspects of road bike cycling and the different bikes available to buy please visit roadbikecycling.co.uk.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Aerodynamics - Brawn GP and Formula One

The first time aerodynamics was used in Formula One as a way of making the cars faster, was in the late 1960's by Lotus, Ferrari and Brabham. Since those simple days of slight modifications, the aerodynamic parts of a formula one car has been greatly improved. It is a one way to get an edge over competition and claim a place in the winners books, just like Brawn GP likes to do.

The main aim of the Formula One aerodynamic parts is to reduce drag and increase downforce. Drag is friction on the of the parts on a car caused by air flowing over it and getting disturbed by bumps, creases or any other distorted shape that prohibits air flow. This slows the car down and makes accelerating and achieving a high top speed very difficult.

Downforce is the force that pushes the car down on to the road surface, thereby creating more grip allowing better traction, and therefore better cornering abilities. This achieved by one of two methods:

Wings or Ground Effect Aerodynamics. Wings are located at the front and rear of each car, forming downforce by pushing air upwards and effectively creating a downward type of thrust.

Ground Effect Aerodynamics are very complicated and use the method of creating a vortices on the underbelly of the car. As the pressure of the vortices is lower than the atmospheric pressure, the atmosphere effectively pushes the car down onto the road.

Drag slows the car down in the straights and downforce speeds the car up in corners, but the act of wings displacing air to create downforce causes drag, which in turn slows down the straight line speed of the car. Therefore the balance between drag and downforce has to be adjusted at each track, for example at Monza the setting will be less downfoce but also less drag, so the speed of the car will be increased for this high speed track.

Another example is Monaco, where the need for downforce is much greater than the need for straight line speed as there is many sharp and bending corners and not very high top speeds are reached on this track. Therefore the downforce will be great, but drag will also be high.

For the time being, Brawn GP has found the perfect balance between drag and downforce on each track, resulting in high finishing positions.

Brawn GP is the latest F1 Team to hit the tarmac, and is taking the world by storm! Follow Brawn GP on their path to victory, and check the stats, cars, drivers and more!

Find Discount Football Tickets - Save Money and Get Cheap Seats

Watching a football game can be exciting especially if it is your favorite team. We all would love to go to the game and watch it live but it can be expensive finding tickets that you can afford. If your team is popular it is possible that the game can sellout which creates a tough situation because usually ticket prices are more expensive. There are places that you can search to find tickets that are both affordable and the seats you get you are ideal. You want to first search online and find a website that has discount football tickets available. Always make sure you are using a reputable website because there are fraudulent tickets that can leave you out of the game.

A great place to search first is eBay because it has a large section for tickets in the secondary market. When searching on this site you always want to find a person who is selling you tickets to have great feedback. This will help you because you can feel confident that spending your hard earned money on great seats will pay off for you.

We all love when football season arrives and most of us gather around our TVs to watch the big games, but wouldn't it be fun to actually go see them in person. Another great way you can see your favorite team for not a lot of money is to attend a preseason game. I know it is not the most desirable game to go to but you will get to see all of your favorite players.

Depending on whether you are going to a professional football game or a college one there can be deals you can find through that particular school. Many college games can be attended by students and also people who are alumni. You want to call the student union and ask them about getting discount football tickets.

Remember that finding tickets to your favorite football team is not hard to do when you use the Internet. There are many great deals available but make sure you always use a reputable ticket dealer. One of the worst things that can happen is you spend your hard-earned money on tickets and many do not let you in because the tickets are fraudulent.

Find: Cheap Football Ticket
How to: Buy Discount Tickets

Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Tickets and Finding a Deal