New F1 World Champion Jenson Button

We have a new world champion in F1 racing, and his name is Jenson Button from Brawn Mercedes. He is the second British driver to win the F1 championship in the last 2 years. Lewis Hamilton from McLaren Mercedes won it last year. They have good drivers in England, just remember Nigel Mansell.

Jenson started the race in Brazil in the 14th. position and finished 5th. It was an excellent race for him, He showed everybody the excellent driver that he is because he drove very aggressively pushing through the hole race. It was great to watch him singing "We are the champions" as the flag from Felipe Massa fell, by the way, Felipe looked in good condition, I hope him the best of Lucks for next season. I remember that when David Coulthard came to Lima Peru this year He said that Button is an excellent driver and has the experience to win the F1 championship. He was right, and Jenson won the championship in his 10th. season.

Congratulations to Jenson Button and the Brawn Mercedes team. It is a victory for all the fans.

Picture courtesy of http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Old Car Vs. New Car. Surprising Results From Crash Test

I found this very interesting article in The Wall Street Journal, and I think it will clarify our ideas about old cars safety features because surprisingly in this particular crash test the older car's structure proves weak compared with the modern model. Safety technology has made modern cars more crashworthy. Modern cars are much more safer than old cars. They are specially designed with safety technology to protect the passengers in crash situations.

If you need a car, try to buy a new one. Remember, always drive safely.

By Jonathan Welsh
They don't build cars like they used to -- and passengers are safer as a result.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently conducted a crash test between a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu and a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air. The test shows how safety technology has made cars more crashworthy.

This is an uneven match in part because the 1959 Chevrolet, like most cars of the era, doesn't have the simplest seat belts. Air bags, crumple zones and other energy-absorbing features were also decades away. But even the older car's structure proves weak compared with the modern model. The old Bel Air's body buckles severely. It loses its windshield, the driver's door opens and the rigid steering column rams the test-dummy driver. The 2009 Malibu holds together and protects its driver well enough to get the insurance group's top rating.

The accompanying link shows the video with several views of the crash and the resulting damage.

http://online.wsj.com/video/chevy-crash-test-1959-bel-air--vs-2009-malibu/81C56182-07AA-490A-BB32-60391DE4035D.html


Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.

Careless Bus Driver

Picture courtesy of http://www.rpp.com.pe/

This incident happened in an avenue in Lima which is Peru's capital city. As the picture shows, the bus driver tried to go through a tunnel which was only designed for particular or minor vehicles, not for trucks or public transportation vehicles. I have driven in this avenue many times, and I know that there are big signs before the tunnel that prohibit trucks and public transportation vehicles to go through this tunnel. You can read them clearly. There is also a sign showing the height of the tunnel. I have also seen a lot of public transportation vehicles going through the tunnel despite all the signs. They do this is in order to pass other public transportation vehicles and get more passengers. It is like a race for them, a fight for more passengers. They create a lot of unnecessary dangerous situations.

Most of these drivers don't have a licence to drive a bus for public transportation purposes, and they don't care when they break traffic laws. This picture shows the consequences of these drivers maneuvers: A damaged public transportation bus trapped in an main avenue causing damages to the tunnel, and also causing big delays on the road. What can you do about it? Probably the police should give a big fine to the bus firm or company, and suspend the driver's driving licence. By doing this the driver and the company will learn from the driver's mistake, and will obey all traffic laws.

Check the picture.

Big Scandal In F1. Renault´s Fake Accident

I have never seen a bigger scandal in auto racing than the one caused by the Renault team last year in Singapore. Piquet was the driver of the Renault car, and he crashed his vehicle on purpose against a wall at the Singapore circuit last year. He did all of this under orders given by the team director Flavio Briatore who was expelled by the team´s owner last week when the scandal appeared. The crash benefited Fernando Alonzo (Piquet´s teammate) who was already in pits when the accident happened, and when the safety car came out all car went to pits and Fernando Alonzo came out first to win the race. This is no way to win a race, and this is not good sportsmanship. There will always be the doubt if Fernando Alonzo new about Briatore´s orders, I hope not because he is a good driver. Piquet was offered immunity by the Fia because he exposed the scandal; But he shouldn't have accepted those orders in the first place, and he only revealed the scandal when he was expelled from the Renault team.

It looks like the Renault team was under a lot of pressure to earn money, and perhaps by wining more races they could get more sponsorships, but this is not the way to do it. Watch the scandal in this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZrCVbU6pWQ


Picture courtesy of http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Video Of Irresponsible Maneuver From Truck Driver

I was driving in the Panamerican highway near Casma, north of Lima, Peru. Suddenly there were two trucks in front of me, one was passing the other and was invading my line. I made signals with my lights, and used the horn to alert the truck in front of me. The Truck driver completed his passing maneuver like nothing happened and acted like if it was a normal maneuver despite his mistake of passing in a no passing zone. I got the maneuver on video. check it out.

Everybody should drive defensively, and should be alert for other drivers mistakes and risky or stupid maneuvers. Expect the unexpected like this crazy truck driver's maneuver. Don't drive like this truck driver, He made a very irresponsible maneuver and created a very risky situation that was totally unnecessary.

Remember to obey all traffic laws, and always drive safely.

A Cinderella Story. Brawn-Mercedes

Once upon a time there was a F1 team that was on sale because its owner was very affected by the financial crisis. This team was the Honda Racing team, and it was sold by Honda to Ross Brawn (the team's director.) Everything was uncertain. Mr. Brawn had to find the money for the team, The Honda car was not that good in the last years. It has been struggling in the races. Last year alone, most of the time the cars finished in the fifteenth place. The pilots could not do more and they were frustrated in most of the races; and the team spirit was low. As you can see this year's season was a big question mark.

Well, so far this F1 season is incredible for the new Brawn-Mercedes team. The team has won 6 of the 8 races. All of these races were won by Jenson Button who is an excellent driver, but until now did not have a competitive car. Before this year he has only won a few races in his entire F1 career. Rubens Barrichello, the other team driver, has been second in most of this year's races, and is second to Jenson in the F1 Drivers Championship. Ross Brawn is showing that he is a F1 genius because of all of his correct decisions in this year's races, and how he prepared the car for this season. F1 experts say that now in order to win a F1 race you have to have a good car (80%), and a good Driver (20%). As you can see the car is a very important factor.

This team was practically broke, for sale, and without an owner at the beginning of the year, and now It is the dominant team in F1 beating Ferrari and McLaren. It is very close to become this year's champion in the team and driver category and it is only half the season. Where is the trick?. I don't really know, but I guess it is a mixture of the experience of Ross Brawn, The driving abilities of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello (who is also a very experienced driver), the know how of the previous Honda team, knowing the correct people, and finally a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck. This is a real Cinderella story.

Image is a courtesy of www.brawngp.com

F1 Red Bull Team Showcar Run

I had the opportunity to see this showcar run in Lima Peru, and it was very impressing. You could hear the noise of the Red Bull car's engine and it was pretty loud. David Coulthard reached a speed of 280 Km/h., and also used the car to spin a lot. You could smell the burning of the tires and watch the smoke coming from them while he was spinning with the F1 car. It was a great show. 50 thousand people showed to see the spectacle, and most of them were yelling at Coulthard's maneuvers. It is more impressive to watch these F1 cars live than on TV. because of the noise that those engines make. If you have the chance try to watch them live. Here you can watch a video.