Jim @sullybiker@sully.site

Sportscar racing is definitely having a sunshine period, the surge in manufacturer support due to Hypercar, the convergence of IMSA and FIA regs. But, they're fickle. They tend to walk away. Audi and Porsche in particular treat it like their plaything. LMP2/3 filled the gaps in the grid with a cost controlled formula. it's a shame to throw it away.

A superb Racecar Engineering deep dive of the Oreca 07, of LMP2 fame. Probably the most important class of endurance racing, they kept prototype racing alive while all the big manufacturers swanned in and out as they pleased. Dropped from WEC next year, they will only be at Le Mans. #FIAWEC #EnduranceRacing
https://www.racecar-engineering.com/cars/rebellion-r1/

I first heard this version at uni in the 90s, and thought I imagined it. A kid in the next door room had it on vinyl and I remember thinking "what the hell is this?" Then I didn't hear it again for 20 years.

The 1986 rework of 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' is such an interesting example of a distinctive and timeless composition being made very, very of it's time. It sounds like Jan Hammer. A weird time capsule of the post-Police Sting dipshittery. I still like it, for all that.
https://youtu.be/8RlUMoWP-Mg

There's a cheapness in academia that sometimes gets right on my pip. They never want to pay for anything.

Taylor Swift features very prominently on my #SpotifyWrapped, as well as Sepultura. My eight year old (loves him some TayTay) has a lot to answer for.

Charlie Higson absolutely losing his shit as Johnny Nice Painter while Arabella Weir tries not to corpse is just fantastic. #black
https://youtu.be/phnUHcP6oXk

19F? This weather can kiss my arse.

There's a thing at Ferrari's site about it here: https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/magazine/articles/great-ferrari-innovations-the-f1-semi-automatic-gearbox

Here's Fernando Alonso having a go in a Supercar in 2022 at Albert Park, like he's never known anything else. I don't think he even blinks.
https://youtu.be/1f5QlfrODu8

Since around 2007 they pioneered 'seamless shifting' in F1, wherein - using some very trick arithmetic - two gears momentarily engage at the same time, so the next gear is 'queued' in milliseconds and the driveline simply keeps going with no interruption.

Since pioneered in the 1989 Ferrari this is usually done by computer now; the transmission forks and throttle are moved by an actuator, the whole thing is coordinated by a computer. The driver changes gear via paddles behind the steering wheel.

Fascinating footwell video of a V8 Supercar lap. The car has an ignition cutout on the upshift so the foot stays flat on the accelerator during the gear change. The heel and toe (clutch in and engine blip) is something you will not see in pretty much any racing series now, but they wanted it to stay in Supercars.

https://youtu.be/ytOujHHsIwI

We are a pretty big VMWare shop and I can't say this thrills me.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/broadcom-lays-off-many-vmware-182751113.html

The only series where the Sprint - which they borrowed from #F1 - is significant to the championship, and works because the tempo and format is very similar to Sunday's race.

#MotoGP in the end, not with a bang, but with a whimper. But it went to the last race. Not a lot of that about.

Glorious onboard of a Ford GT40 at a classics event. The camera is just forward of the engine bay firewall, hence the very vocal V8. These cars look like they want to leave the track at any given moment.
https://youtu.be/EfhSb2cAN_Q

#F1 these cars, between their weight and the sensitivity to ride height, once they start to wobble, they're just gone. Both Sainz and Hulkenburg having big spins from mild upsets.