Sidepodcast

Where Are We Still Coming From?

Back in March, before the season got going and our Fantasy Racers league was in its infancy, we were curious about who was signing up. In fact, we took the user by country stats, knocked up a quick graph and commented on the results.

At the time, the competition was dominated by the USA, followed closely by the UK, with Canada in third place. The components of the United Kingdom and Australia made up the rest of the notable figures. Keeping that in mind, does this look about right?

We promised to return to the statistics at the end of the season, and we do try and keep to our word in a timely fashion. The above graph is the updated version, with everyone who had signed up by the end of the season. Surprisingly, it looks exactly the same as the previous one. USA, UK and Canada are still leading the way in terms of Fantasy players, and once again, we have to give a call out to Bernie.

How can you not want a race in the US? How can you not want to fight for the Canadian Grand Prix? The numbers don't lie.

There are a few more notable countries than there were oh so many months ago, with Mexico getting a real boost. What happened there? Also, as I noted last time, where do the people who put 'none' actually live? Is the F1 coverage any good there or do they have to spend their time scouring Justin TV?

Joking aside, it seems preposterous that we can whip up a simple graph and take stock like this, whilst the powers that be either can't use spreadsheets, or won't pay attention to the results.

Remind Me. Who's Driving Again?

It appears to be tradition in America to do things bigger and better than anyone else. Except apparently in the case of Petit le Mans, which by all accounts is a shorter and less important version of the race from which it takes it's name.

Road Atlanta is our destination for the next 10 hours, as not for the first time this year Sidepodcast follows the escapades of but one man.

Yeah, I know it's not Formula One, but frankly when it comes to a certain Montagny exceptions have to be made.

Being clueless about this sort of thing, here are a couple of facts I've managed to blag from Wikipedia.

• The race uses the rules established for the 24 hours of Le Mans.
• The rules have been slightly modified, mainly to allow additional cars to compete.
• The race covers a maximum of 1,000 miles (approximately 394 laps), or a maximum of 10 hours, whichever comes first.
• In its history the leading team has never failed to complete 1000 miles.
• Last year's LMP1 winners were Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello in their Audi R10 TDI
• Last year after 1,000 miles the race was won by less than a second.
• Franck has qualified in 7th position.

The race starts at 11:15am local time, which should be 4:15pm here in the UK. We'll be watching the action on TVU Networks. If you're around please do let us know. No doubt you're far more clued up than we are, and we could use the insight.

Does it Count as Plagiarism if we Admit it Upfront?

I absolutely have to re-post this video vee8 dug up earlier today.

It's a video from Speed TV featuring F1 commentator Steve Matchett doing a chalk board session, which from what I can tell he does quite often. We don't usually get to see this sort of thing in the UK and we're really missing a trick here.

If this series is news to you, and if you're just a tiny bit interested in the technical side of F1, I heartily recommend taking a look:

It strikes me that as well as being informative and entertaining, it's a pretty damn simple programme to create. The perfect fit for a video podcast you might suggest.

The question is, can we get away with stealing the idea, or do you think someone will notice?

Damnit, back to the chalk board then.

I'll Name that Zune in One

Earlier this week a brand new podcast client arrived on the scene. Created by Microsoft in response to Apple's iTunes software, the Zune Marketplace means that owners of Zune devices now have an easy way to manage their favourite podcasts.

By all accounts this latest generation of software is a major step forward from the aborted first release. This time around users not only get a podcast solution, but the devices now support m4a and m4v file formats (essentially the two formats we use at Sidepodcast).

The first thing to note is that just like the original device, the Zune is limited to retail outlets within North America. I've no idea if there's a plan to expand the sales reach any time soon, so for the moment we are zune-less. Luckily there's no such restrictions on the software, so it was duly downloaded.

According to Microsoft, the initial directory listing would contain just 1,000 podcasts. So I was initially surprised to find both our audio and video shows listed. F1 Minute was missing, but looking at the details it would appear that the list was created some time before the show existed. All is not lost though, it's easy to add missing podcasts, which we did.

The next thing we tried to do was subscribe to something from the directory, and this is where the system fell to pieces. For reasons unspecified, users must have a Zune account to subscribe to anything in the directory and nobody outside of the United States is eligible for one. Which leaves us a bit stuck.

Presumably the theory behind this is, users would have no use for the software without the device, but as a stand alone client it seems like a pretty decent piece of software. Shame.

However, not to be beaten, it is still possible to add your own feeds manually. A simple process but one that is ultimately an unnecessary distraction.

All said, if you live within the US, and fancy an alternate podcasting eco-system, this one's worth checking out.

USA GP, 2007

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

The track temperature for the entire US Grand Prix weekend bordered around 50 degrees C, and many of the drivers commented on how hot it was.

Robert Kubica was unfortunately not able to race. He was perfectly fit and healthy after his 180 mph accident the previous weekend, but the medics decided that it wasn’t a good idea to risk a second accident and tempt any serious injuries. This meant a Formula 1 debut for young German driver Sebastian Vettel. At just 19 years old, the driver was called up on the Thursday and pretty much thrown in at the deep end.

The McLaren’s still looked as though they held pace over the Ferrari’s and took the top two spots in qualifying. All the potential and rumoured animosity between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton rested on the first corner.

It was close. Alonso desperately wanted to get past his team mate, and they could so easily have collided, but common sense took precedence over pride. Alonso settled for second place going through the first corner.

Traffic seemed to be a real problem around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, mostly because the circuit is so fast that it is very difficult to find overtaking spots. Having said that, Giancarlo Fisichella in the Renault had suffered a spin on the first lap and found himself having to make up places through the race. He was on top form, overtaking cars all over the place.

Takuma Sato retired from the race, but before he did so, he was investigated by stewards for overtaking under yellow flags. They decided that he had done so and penalised him with a ten place drop in qualifying position for the next race. This is quite a blow for the Super Aguri which will basically put it right at the back – unless he can pull an amazing performance out in France.

The battle between Alonso and Hamilton continued throughout the pit stops, and despite feeling that he was the faster car, Alonso was stuck behind his team mate for the majority of the race. During one pass of the pit wall, Alonso swerved towards his team, and it has been suggested that he was trying to show the bosses his frustration at being held up. Alonso claims that he was just trying to get some clear air. Hamilton held out for the win, and on the podium, second place Alonso made sure that they were arm in arm – a show of solidarity. But it definitely looks like there is more to this than meets the eye.

Video 7 - USA Preview

• Length: 03:50 
• Size: 42.8 MB 
• File: video7.m4v 
• Transcript: video7.pdf 
• Torrent: video7.torrent 

On the 2nd leg of the North American double-header, F1 heads South to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Christine takes a look at the winding, sprawling track that represents the US Grand Prix. Featuring the only banked track in modern Formula 1, marvel at how the designers managed to make a meal of the layout by creating a "Mickey Mouse" infield section, used only to extend the length of the racing lap.

Music played: Kick in the Can, Again

Music comes from music.podshow.com, with special thanks going to Allianz SE, Brembo, ING Group and Toyota Motorsports GmbH, for the use of their video footage.