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5dollarpromo_160x600 Simcraft

February 2012

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M T W T F S S
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iRacing TV

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The Team

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  • David Phillips
    Editor and Chief
    David Phillips is a long-time contributor to print and electronic publications in the U.S. and abroad, including Racer, Autosport, AutoWeek, Motor Sport and SPEEDtv.com, oversees the daily updating of news stories and assigns, edits and contributes feature material for inRacingNews.com.
  • Chris Hall
    iRacing.com Series Writer
    Chris Hall has been writing since the nineties and moved into motorsports reporting in 2005, covering series such as ALMS, British GT, FIA GT, Le Mans and 2CV racing for Full Throttle magazine, Motorsport.com, The-Paddock.net, GTGateway.com, L' Endurance and, of course, inRacingNews. During 2008 and 2009, he worked with the RSS Performance Porsche Carrera Cup Team (and former British GT(C) champions) as a data engineer for a variety of drivers and models of 997s.
  • Jameson Spies
    Contributing Writer
    19 years old, Jameson Spies lives in Quartz Hill, California. He grew-up surrounded by racing. His mother raced late models throughout Southern California while his father built and setup the car. Not surprisingly, Jameson began racing go-karts at the age of 13, and is now racing Spec Trucks at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He has a passion about all forms of racing and hopes to make a career out of it.
  • Jason Lofing
    iRacing.com Series Writer
    Jason is 21 years old and was born and raised in Elk Grove. California. A big time NASCAR fan, he hasn’t missed a race on Sunday in years. Lofing is also a huge San Fransisco Giants fan and tries to take in at least a couple games a year. Other than sim racing, his biggest (and far more expensive!) hobby is photography. Although he is rather new to sim racing, Lofing has already accomplished some pretty impressive results, qualifying for the 2011 iRacing Oval Pro Series in Season 1, 2011, winning the inaugural Landon Cassill Qualifying Challenge and finishing runner-up in the second one.
  • Ray Bryden
    Technical contributor
    Ray grew up in Nova Scotia, which means he’s a hockey nut, but in Nova Scotia’s two non-winter months he had to find other diversions, which meant watching F1 racing on weekends with his dad and brothers. Without the resources to get started in racing, he gravitated to computer versions of racing – first Atari games like Pole Position, followed by PC racing games like Indianapolis 500: The Simulation. Dozens of others came and went, until Grand Prix Legends came along and he decided sim-racing was his official hobby. Years were spent enjoying this both offline and online until a few years of fatherhood took priority. When free-time reappeared he heard about iRacing and signed up in 2008 and became so involved in the service that he wrote one of the first books on the subject of sim-racing, iRacing Paddock. When not writing for inRacingNews.com, his main occupation is as a research associate with Saint-Gobain working on advanced ceramic materials.
  • Patrick Atherton
    Contributing Writer
    Patrick Atherton, originally from Adelaide in the state of South Australia, currently resides just outside of Melbourne, Victoria with wife of 17 years and 3 kids. A business manager by profession, but also dabbles with blogging, cartooning and fine art, having been published both as a writer in a short-lived South Australian motorsport yearbook and later as a cartoonist in a niche trade magazine. At the age of 19 he competed in club circuit events in an Austin Healey Sprite, later indulging in sprint karts between 1994 and 2000. Following the move to the State of Victoria he raced Road Race Karts (“Superkarts” as they are known in Australia) in the popular Rotax class, competing at Phillip Island, Oran Park, Mallala, Wakefield Park, Eastern Creek, Calder Park, Sandown and Winton. It was during this time he met former Australian F2 champion and inventor of Australia’s first, and most prolific race simulator rig, Jon Crooke. This culminated in an introduction to Papyrus’ legendary NR2003 simulation, and the subsequent sim racing addiction which brought him to iRacing.
  • Tim Terry
    Contributing Writer
    Tim Terry, aka the voice of Maritime stock car racing, fell in love with sim racing in 2004 after he joined the Sim Racing Network crew as a pit reporter. From October 2004 to SRNtv’s closure in June 2007, he’s covered prestigious races and leagues such as the Online 500, FLM Fall 400, Real Racing Online and the DMP Racing League – each as the lead broadcaster for the company. At the same time the wheels started to turn in another direction as he began announcing stock car racing locally. Terry became the assistant announcer at Scotia Speedworld in May 2007 and took over full duties in May 2009 when long-time voice Mike Kaplan retired from the track. Terry also became the series voice of the Parts For Trucks Pro Stock Tour in ’09 and continues to hold down both posts in 2011. He has also announced races for the Pro All Stars Series, Atlantic Open Wheel and Maritime League of Legends tours and has called races at six different Atlantic Canadian tracks. Terry can be heard online at WebRacingNetwork.com, RLMtv.com and OLRtv.com covering sim races. He also makes occasional appearances on PSRtv.com. In addition to inRacingNews, his articles and columns can be read on ScotiaSpeedworld.ca, MaritimeProStockTour.com and his own website at timterryonline.com.
  • David Allen
    Contributing Writer
    North Carolina born and raised with over 15 years of computer/IT experience, I combine two of my biggest hobbies -- racing and technology -- here at inRacingNews. In my spare time I run a Nascar fan site and cure my own need for speed riding atvs. If it involves technology or racing I'll be there, but combine the two and I'll be looking a front row seat. Stop by and say hello anytime!
  • Allen Krier
    Contributing Writer
    Allen was born in West Palm Beach, Florida but grew up in Atlanta and attended Georgia College and State University where he received a BS in Information Systems. Currently a resident of Albany, GA, he started sim racing in 2008 while in college when iRacing was first released to the public. Since then, Krier has been a two time iRacing Pro Series driver (2009 and 2010), picking up one Pro Series win at Daytona in ‘09. Besides sim racing, Allen’s other hobbies include RC Car racing as well as “attending and watching any sporting event that I can including going to the local dirt track.

Ferrari eager to help F1 secure future

January 11th, 2012

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Ferrari eager to help F1 secure future

Ferrari is eager to play a role in helping secure a better future for grand prix racing, despite its recent decision to break away from the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA). That is the view of the Italian car manufacturer’s president Luca di Montezemolo, who believes that securing healthy foundations for F1′s future is more important than it remaining a part of FOTA – which he originally helped create. “I think that as in every moment of life, there are moments that are good and moments that are necessary to change,” said di Montezemolo, during a brief appearance at Ferrari’s Wrooom media event at Madonna di Campiglio

Lotus reactive ride height is legal

January 11th, 2012

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Lotus reactive ride height is legal

Lotus’s rivals look set to be forced to copy its innovative reactive ride height system ahead of the 2012 season, with the FIA happy the concept is totally legal. There has been much intrigue in recent days about the mechanism that Lotus was reported to have tried out at the Abu Dhabi young driver test last year. The mechanical system helps maintain a standard ride height during braking – when often the front of the car would dip down

Domenicali wants swift end to RRA row

January 11th, 2012

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Domenicali wants swift end to RRA row

Ferrari hopes that the long-running dispute over Formula 1′s Resource Restriction Agreement can be resolved by next month, ahead of fresh talks between leading teams over the matter. On the back of Red Bull Racing and Ferrari leaving the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) because of the failure to reach a deal on the matter, further discussions have taken place between the two outfits and McLaren and Mercedes GP to try and hammer out a solution. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali revealed at his team’s Wrooom media event at Madonna di Campiglio on Wednesday that more talks were planned for next week – which come ahead of crucial discussions about the framing of a new Concorde Agreement

Ferrari awaits FIA call on Lotus device

January 11th, 2012

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Ferrari awaits FIA call on Lotus device

Ferrari is awaiting an answer from the FIA on the legality of an adjustable ride-height braking system that Lotus is believed to be developing for 2012. A report in Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday revealed that Lotus was running a ride height control mechanism – reported to be activated by a driver using a pedal – to help maintain the car’s distance from the ground under braking

Ferrari moves to cure tyre issues

January 11th, 2012

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Ferrari moves to cure tyre issues

Ferrari has moved to overcome the tyre issues that hurt its form last season by signing former Bridgestone Formula 1 chief Hirohide Hamashima to work in its technical department. Throughout 2011, both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa struggled at times to get the most out of their tyres – especially in using the harder compounds

Domenicali: 2012 crucial for Massa

January 11th, 2012

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Domenicali: 2012 crucial for Massa

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has labelled the 2012 season as “crucial” for Felipe Massa’s future at the Italian squad.

Teams ‘must trust’ FIA over Bahrain GP

January 11th, 2012

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Teams ‘must trust’ FIA over Bahrain GP

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali says Formula 1 teams will have to trust the FIA and other official authorities regarding the situation in Bahrain. Doubts remain about this year’s event due to the political situation in the country, with human rights groups having asked the teams to boycott the race.

Ferrari sets February 3 launch date

January 11th, 2012

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Ferrari sets February 3 launch date

Ferrari will launch its 2012 Formula 1 challenger on February 3 at Maranello, team principal Stefano Domenicali has confirmed. Speaking at the annual Wrooom event, Domenicali said that Ferrari also planned to hold an initial shakedown of its 2012 car either on its launch or on the following day, February 4.

Ferrari signs Hamashima

January 11th, 2012

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Ferrari signs Hamashima

Ferrari has signed Hirohide Hamashima, the former director of Bridgestone’s tyre development, to head up its department dealing with the interaction between car and tyres. It is believed Hamashima will start from today and will report directly to Pat Fry. Speaking at the annual Wroom Ducati and Ferrari media event at Madonna di Campiglio, team principal Stefano Domenicali said he was looking forward to Hamashima’s contribution in a department in which Ferrari struggled during 2011.

Lotus sets date for Raikkonen return

January 9th, 2012

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Lotus sets date for Raikkonen return

Kimi Raikkonen will return to Formula 1 action in a 2010-specification Renault at Valencia on January 23-24. A Lotus team source has confirmed to AUTOSPORT that Raikkonen will have two days of running in the Renault R30 to re-acclimatise to F1 machinery after not having driven a grand prix car since the 2009 season finale in Abu Dhabi. The team has been working on scheduling a test since he was originally signed for 2012, as reported by AUTOSPORT magazine last month

Barcelona may reconsider GP deal

January 9th, 2012

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Barcelona may reconsider GP deal

Catalunya’s government says it may need to rethink the hosting of Formula 1 and MotoGP events given the difficult economic situation. “We could reconsider the hosting of Formula 1 or motorcycle grands prix,” Andreu Mas-Colell, Catalunya’s minister for economy, told RAC1 radio. “It is not clear to us that we can afford them in the current situation.

Bahrain downplays human rights worries

January 9th, 2012

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Bahrain downplays human rights worries

Bahrain Grand Prix organisers have downplayed fears about the unrest in the kingdom following calls from human rights groups to boycott the event. The Sakhir event is back on the calendar this year after last season’s race was first postponed and then cancelled because of the political situation. Over the weekend, human rights groups urged F1 teams to boycott the race in order to show they “respect human rights.” On Monday, however, Bahrain GP organisers moved to ease fears about the situation, saying the government has already acted to make sure no human rights are violated.

F1 teams asked to boycott Bahrain GP

January 9th, 2012

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F1 teams asked to boycott Bahrain GP

Human right groups have called for Formula 1 to boycott the Bahrain Grand Prix amid continued unrest in the kingdom. The Sakhir event was cancelled in 2011 because of the situation in the country, but the race is scheduled to return to the calendar in 2012, as the fourth round of the championship on 22 April.

Marko: Ex-STR duo ‘were not winners’

January 8th, 2012

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Marko: Ex-STR duo ‘were not winners’

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko says Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were given enough time to demonstrate whether they were potential grand prix winners, and lost their Toro Rosso seats because they failed to do so. Buemi and Alguersuari had driven for Red Bull’s junior Formula 1 team since the start and middle of the 2009 season respectively, but have been dropped in favour of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne for 2012. While Alguersuari’s future is currently uncertain, Buemi will remain in the Red Bull fold as a reserve driver.

Force India ‘on schedule’ with ’12 car

January 7th, 2012

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Force India ‘on schedule’ with ’12 car

Force India has indicated that its 2012 car will be ready for the first winter test at Jerez from 7 February, having completed the mandatory crash tests for the VJM05 before Christmas. In a rule change for 2012, the FIA now stipulates that the crash tests must be passed before testing can commence, putting pressure on teams to be ready sooner.

Valencia seeks to renegotiate F1 deal

January 6th, 2012

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Valencia seeks to renegotiate F1 deal

The Valencia government will seek to renegotiate its contract with Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone as further doubt is cast over the Spanish event.

Senna downplays Williams rumours

January 6th, 2012

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Senna downplays Williams rumours

Bruno Senna insists his future in Formula 1 remains uncertain despite speculation having linked him with a seat at Williams in recent days. The Brazilian raced with the Renault team in the second half of the 2011 season, but the squad has hired Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean to race with it during 2012. Senna has been linked recently with the second racing seat at the Williams team, the Grove squad yet to announce who will partner Pastor Maldonado.

Raikkonen: Comeback fanfare no worry

January 5th, 2012

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Raikkonen: Comeback fanfare no worry

Kimi Raikkonen says that the fanfare surrounding his comeback to Formula 1 has had no effect on him since his return with Lotus was confirmed last month. The 2007 world champion ended months of speculation by confirming that he would return to the sport after two years competing in the World Rally Championship. Since then the potential success of his comeback has become a huge talking point.

Hamilton: McLaren will be stronger

January 5th, 2012

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Hamilton: McLaren will be stronger

Lewis Hamilton is adamant McLaren will be in much stronger form in 2012, although he concedes Red Bull Racing will start the season as favourite again. “Certainly. It will be up to us to be able to surpass it,” Hamilton told Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if Red Bull would still be the team to beat.

Buemi confirmed as Red Bull reserve

January 5th, 2012

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Buemi confirmed as Red Bull reserve

Red Bull Racing has confirmed that Sebastien Buemi will join the team as its test and reserve driver for the 2012 Formula 1 season.