Expensive Racing

With only 72 days left until the first Formula 1 showdown of 2009, the car manufacturers have started to debut their new cars! This comes with mixed feelings for some (myself included) since most of the regulation changes for the new year, are quite visible to everyone. And specifically... they really detract from the cars, especially considering how they seem to have grown more and more beautiful the past couple seasons. I mean check out the Ferrari F2008 from last season;

Compared to the Ferrari F60 for this season;

The new regulations require a lower and wider front wing, a taller and narrower rear wing, slick tires, and the removal of all the little extra aero bits around the side pods, and including the barge boards. Kind of reminds me of the UCI and their archaic rules that eliminated all the cool looking aero framesets. Something about the front view of the F60 looks very menacing though!

Next up is Toyota, introducing their new TF109 car in another 36 hours or so. Pretty cool idea (and adhering to the new cost cutting rules for the sport), they are introducing the car "cinema-style", with a video premier, rather than the usual media circus. Should be the perfect entertainment while I drink my coffee on Thursday morning. And then on Friday, the McLaren MP4-25 is scheduled to have it's cover ripped off, for all to see!

Speaking of expensive racing... congrats to Matt Shriver for being chosen for the US Worlds Cyclocross Team!

Too bad that since it's "just" cyclocross, he'll have to foot the bill for travel and expenses, all on his own, with no help from his "National Federation". Maybe instead of sending me 2 or 3 junk emails a day, about all the work they do for me, and how awesome they are; they could flip some coin for the small number of cyclocross racers at the elite level. Normally you could say, "Damn! It's the World Championships! I'll find a way to pay!" That's one thing for the normal working Joe, but Matt's a domestic pro, not the highest tax bracket, and I shudder to see what percentage of his annual income a trip to Europe would be.