CanuckInUSA

It was a two man race, nobody else was close to these two. Of course there was also some great mid field racing going on. All in all Austin was a success. Let's just hope it continues to be a success. Now we will never know if Vettel would have been able to hold off Hamilton on that DRS straight later on in the race if Karthikeyan had not gotten in the way. All it takes was for Hamilton to be within a second to enable his DRS and presto there was little Vettel could do to defend. Vettel can not afford to fight for the position since he can not afford a DNF whereas Hamilton does not care. A DNF means little to him at this point of the season. So he can attack attack attack. But what we do know is that Karthikeyan did slow down Vettel in the S's which allowed Hamilton to be on Vettel's tail when it counted. DRS is one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't tools to make the races more interesting. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Grosjean has cleaned up his starts since Spa (or should I say his 1st lap crash since Japan). But he had a bad record for 1st lap crashes in many races leading up to that Spa incident. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Do you think I agree with the Liberal Party of Canada and their anti-military stance and their Big Government nanny state? Have a look at this ad they put out during a 2006 election campaign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68toCAiPIjo Oh and they lied (not the first time either), they did make it up. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Good effort from Lewis Hamilton in Q3, but 2 time defending WDC and 2012 WDC leader Sebastian Vettel is on pole for tomorrow's race. I wonder if Vettel's 2012 rival Fernando Alonso (the only one who is still alive in the 2012 Championship) will be calling on his former teammate Hamilton tonight asking for a favor to have the Brit take out the young German in the first turn of tomorrow's race? Just kidding ... or am I? BTW: great to see tons of fans in Austin supporting the event. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It is the middle of November and there is close to one foot of snow in my yard. Is this abnormal? No not really, it is in fact normal to have snow on the ground for us at this time of year. I don't see any abnormal warming nor do I see any abnormal cooling. It just seems like the beginning of yet another winter which on some days it will be very pleasant outside and on other days it will be down right nasty. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I probably lumped you into something unwarranted. For that I apologize. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Just curious John, what was it that you disagreed with? That Canada can spend more money on it's social programs because it does not need to spend a whole lot on defense? Or did you disagree with my statements that Canada relies on the US for it's national defense? I don't recall saying anything about agreeing or disagreeing with the US's foreign policy, so it has to be one of the first two? By the way ... the crap going on in the Middle East is not good. I certainly don't want to see a war between the Arab states and Israel. But it looks like it can't be stopped. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What can we Americans say? You're welcome. In my first post of the thread I did say "Thank You" and was criticized by two people. One was a Brit turned Yank and the second was a fellow countryman. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

No are they on YouTube? Not sure if my email can handle large files. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

All apologies to the Monkey Man who started this thread. I am sure Canada was the last country on his mind when he made his post. I am sure he was thinking of all the crap that is going on in the Middle East. So blame me for making the observation that Canada has gotten off easy relying on the US for it's defense in the last half century. But professor ... yawn ... are you that obtuse ... or just argumentative to not know there was a time in Canada's history where the Canadian governments (this includes Liberal governments) spent money on national defense and Canada at one time in it's history actually had a reasonably competent and capable navy and also punched above it's weight in both World Wars. But that all changed when the Liberals of the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s demonized the military and slashed funding. But I guess the professor would refuse to acknowledge this reality because it does not fit into his agenda. So sorry Chuck, my bad for bringing this all up. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

There are "speed rush" similarities between swooping and tracking your car. Trust me, if I could have stayed current in swoop competitions like I was back in 2005 and 2006 I never would have given it up and I would still be competing today (though I am sure I would not be winning any PST events). But I just could not stay current what with winter plaguing me for 5-6 months of the year. So I found a substitute. Tracking my car which has a much larger margin for error meaning being uncurrent is not nearly as hazardous. My 1997 911 with my suspension and braking mods has been the perfect car to learn on. It is definitely not a slow car, but it is also not over powering where I find myself behind the eight ball. My 285HP 911 is like a highly loaded Crossfire canopy. I won't be winning any races/swoop competitions with it, but my learning curve is steady to the point where my own personal driving limits on the track is pretty damn close to the car's limit. A more accomplished driver could find a little extra performance out of the car. But not much. I have built a good reputation for being a fast driver in a medium speed car. Yes I lust for a faster car and I believe I have paid my dues learning on my medium speed 911. So could I handle a faster car? The answer is yes, but it would take time to learn it. There is no way I could just jump into a super car right now and lap as fast as a more experienced driver could. But for sure I could lap faster than the rich guy who passed the stop signs along the way and bought himself the super car without learning on the slower car. Yes there are a lot of similarities between swooping and tracking your car. But there are two huge differences. The margin for error in swooping is a lot smaller and a bad ass swooping canopy will cost you a couple of grand where a super car starts at over a 100k which I don't really have right now (so my moderately priced 15 year old last of the air cooled engines medium speed 993 will just have to do). It is so much easier to get yourself into trouble jumping in front of the line in swooping and the higher death rates would also back this up. But they are both so much fun. You know what it's like to dive your canopy at the ground, level off and swoop the pond and driving about 220 kph and in the matter of 200 meters braking hard and taking turn #1 at 140 kph is a cool substitute for swooping when you can't stay current with your swooping. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You are talking about my future wife (though she does not know this yet). Sabine Schmidt, the fastest taxi driver in the world. Oh and she also knows how to fly helicopters. So bring your rig. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I won't be there in person, but I will watch the race like I have watched all the races for the last few years live on TV through a BBC feed. F1 in Austin will be a big short term success. There is a lot of positive buzz going around about the event in the motorsports world right now. It just remains to be seen if America can open up to F1 in the long term. Oh and if people do attend the race, bring ear plugs if you will be close to the track. Those cars are loud. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Most of SkyMonkey's post was in reference to religious intolerance around the globe which isn't a huge issue here though we do have small pockets of intolerance. But part of his post also talked about the US spending money on it's military to protect geographic interests of theirs around the globe and what better country than the 2nd largest land mass in the world is there for the US to be concerned about when it comes to natural resources. Pick up an atlas and select any country that has a navy and that country would already be in Canada seeking to help themselves to our natural resources if it wasn't for the protection the US gives us. You damn well know this coming from the colonial country of your origins. Or must you argue with everyone? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Canada has gotten off extremely easy not having to spend money on it's national defense. So whenever people talk about Canada's social services like they are some sort of success story, just remember we would not be able to afford them if we were forced to pay for our own defense. Canada has a lot of natural resources others would kill for. So for those of us who's heads split in two when we talk, we thank you Monkey man. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What impresses me on the track is when I see someone driving the snot out of whatever car they have regardless of how fast or how not so fast it is. There is this fellow I know (let's call him Kyle because well that's his name) and he is never in a fast car. So I pass him all the time. But whenever I am behind him waiting for my opportunity to pass, I can see that he is squeezing every ounce of performance that he can find out of his car. What's not impressive if when some rich guy shows up with his super car and I can pass him with ease because he does not know how to control his beast in the corners. Of course nirvana is when you get to ride along with someone who not only has the super car but also knows how to drive it. That is a sweet experience. One day I got to ride as a passenger with an instructor I have used, Allen Berg a former F1 driver from 1986. Allen was fast and very smooth with his control inputs. He might have had a longer F1 career had he only had better sponsors. He finished 3rd behind Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle in the 1983 F3 championship. But F1 is all about the money. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Once again I am heavily bias towards cars driven on the track (call it a fault of mine if you want) and my '97 993C2 is only a medium speed car. But I can drive it at the limit and it corners just as fast as many cars that cost a lot more (I do have suspension and brake mods installed which helps). In fact you can drive any car you want on the track, you don't need to be in a super car. It's just that if you are too slow when the green flag is out, you won't be making very many friends out there. Keeping that in mind, a week ago I thought I was going to have to replace my '99 Jeep Wrangler. The PCM had failed and apparently Chrysler no longer makes the part. I had a PCM from a junked Jeep put in there and problem solved. But if the PCM did not work I would be forced to find a replacement for a winter daily driver. Yes putting winter tires on my rear wheel drive 911 was an option, but I am paranoid of being rear ended when the white slippery stuff is on the ground. So what was I thinking about as a possible replacement keeping in mind I will never ever buy a front wheel drive automatic? The replacements I was thinking about are not cheap, but I was thinking a good car for winter driving would be a car engineered from rally racing. The Evo was on the table, but I am not so sure about Mitsubishi's future. However Subaru is a solid company and not only would the WRX STi be great on snow, it also has four doors which would be good for kids. You could have fun driving a car engineered from rally racing with your kids riding along with you in the back seats. Oh and I do vaguely remember you talking about your Super Beettle last year. You have 500 or so ponies in that thing? LOL ... hope you have some good brakes and a stiff suspension for that monster. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I will admit my opinions are heavily bias towards how a car performs at the track. If you are looking for a car to get you to and from the food store, then any recommendations I make are total over kill. A Yugo, Lada or Ford Pinto will do the trick if you can still find one that works. But if you do find a Pinto, make sure you don't get rear ended. It will be the death of you. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I think you just gave Canuck a aneurysm by mentioning the "P" word... Panameras are ugly. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Not when KERS fails. (Monaco being the exception to the rule) Modern F1 cars are awesome, their performance is pretty spectacular. But they are pretty fragile compared to their endurance LMP1 cousins who lap almost as fast. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

No ... and nobody has ever shown up to the track with a Tesla. How many laps can you get out of them driving at the limit before they need to be recharged. A lot of cars may appear to be zippy on the public roads, but if you want to know how a car really performs, you need to drive them at the limit and you can't safely drive a car at the limit on the public roads. Yes I know what Kelpdiver means when he defines what "Car of the Year" means to the masses. I just think it is crap because best sellers on the public roads don't tell you the real story. So while it may not be accepted by the masses, I still stand by the "A better recipient for Car of the Year" award if there was a car that stood out above all others, should go to the Audi R18. Here was a hybrid car that won one of the world's most grueling races, the "24 Hours of Lemans". That was an impressive performance. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

- The Porsche 911 GT3RS 4.0 will put this car to shame. Too expensive? - The Nissan GTR will put this car to shame. But silly me, I forgot since they are not electric they must be immediately disqualified from any consideration? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Mototrend is so full of BS. They are completely political in terms of the car(s) they want to promote. There are numerous other cars out there that will put the Tesla to shame. By the way how many races has the Tesla won? Could the Tesla even hold up in a race? If there was a real "Car of the Year", you know a car that was actually worthy of that title, it should be awarded to the Audi R18 which won the 2012 "24 Hours of Lemans" race. Now there was a car that was pushed to the limit and was still running strong after a full day of constant abuse. http://www.lemans.org/en/races/24h/update/audi-take-historic-win-at-the-80th-24-hours-with-r18-hybrid-_7952.html By the way before people freak out thinking I am slamming Green cars, the Audi R18 is a hybrid. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Another fault with the map is that Chicagostonia needs to be extended to include Winnipeg Manitoba as well as extend into Windsor Ontario and Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Here is the entry point into a 26 part BBC documentary made back in 1964 on "The Great War". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHm7fNDDY9Y http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_%28documentary%29 It is long, it may take someone a few weeks to watch it all. But it is probably the most thorough documentary that could ever be made about "The Great War". Try not to worry about the things you have no control over