Bernie is saying words again...

[Vocal Minority]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97143

Insists Bahrain is going ahead and that Bahrain doesn't have actual problems...not REALLY.

Seriously does he just trot out stuff he knows is nonsense out of a sense of duty, or does he think we actually believe him (until he u turns spectaculalry later on and insists it is what he thought all along)?

[joewilliams]

Approach Bernie with the idea that everything he says has a motive, and he makes much more sense.

If he says that there's a problem with Bahrain, then everyone panics and he loses his fee.
If he insists that it's all fine, but the race is unfortunately canceled (again) for reasons beyond his control, he still collects it.

I think Joe Saward said in one of the Aside With Joe podcasts that if Bernie insists a race is going ahead, it probably won't.

[team underdog]

You'd think by now he'd know better than to... speak words.

There's a month break between China and Catalunya - if Bahrain is cancelled/postponed/(insert excuse here), which it will inevitably be, whats the chance of the teams agreeing to a test weekend open to the public and media?

[Teppic]

team underdog said:

There's a month break between China and Catalunya - if Bahrain is cancelled/postponed/(insert excuse here), which it will inevitably be, whats the chance of the teams agreeing to a test weekend open to the public and media?

Zero.

[Vocal Minority]

My objection is not to Bernie saying 'as far as I am concerned it is still on'. It's the 'in his own little world' aspects of insinuating there are few problems in Bahrain when this is clearly not the case, and the other things he indulges in.

Silverstone is another example. They sign a shiny new contract and still Bernie turns round and says 'your still not safe you know'.

I understand he is defending his interests, its the copius helpings of bovine excretia I can do without.

[realjv]

Teppic said:

team underdog said:

There's a month break between China and Catalunya - if Bahrain is cancelled/postponed/(insert excuse here), which it will inevitably be, whats the chance of the teams agreeing to a test weekend open to the public and media?

Zero.

Yup because what would be the point? The mainstream media won't care, the general public mostly won't care, the teams already have their PR stunts planned for the year, testing costs money and unlike racing you dont get paid.

Its a nice idea, I'd love to see it happen but seriously we're talking about 12 teams who normally can barely agree on which way around the track they should go so I'm not optimistic.

[team underdog]

realjv said:

Teppic said:

team underdog said:

There's a month break between China and Catalunya - if Bahrain is cancelled/postponed/(insert excuse here), which it will inevitably be, whats the chance of the teams agreeing to a test weekend open to the public and media?

Zero.

Yup because what would be the point? The mainstream media won't care, the general public mostly won't care, the teams already have their PR stunts planned for the year, testing costs money and unlike racing you dont get paid.

Its a nice idea, I'd love to see it happen but seriously we're talking about 12 teams who normally can barely agree on which way around the track they should go so I'm not optimistic.

Well they tested instead of race at Bahrain last year, so why not again? Testing has always been about development, not PR. Why not build the car and ship it to Melbourne if testing is just for PR?

[DanDC5]

joewilliams said:

Approach Bernie with the idea that everything he says has a motive, and he makes much more sense.

If he says that there's a problem with Bahrain, then everyone panics and he loses his fee.
If he insists that it's all fine, but the race is unfortunately canceled (again) for reasons beyond his control, he still collects it.

I think Joe Saward said in one of the Aside With Joe podcasts that if Bernie insists a race is going ahead, it probably won't.

This 100%. Bernie is a smart character, he knows what's really going to happen, but he makes sure that no matter what he gets the money owed.

[realjv]

team underdog said:

Well they tested instead of race at Bahrain last year, so why not again? Testing has always been about development, not PR. Why not build the car and ship it to Melbourne if testing is just for PR?

They lost a test as well as a race in Bahrain last year. They replaced the test with one in Spain but i dont think there was an additional one. Maybe i misunderstood what you were asking for but to me holding a test to actually test and holding a test as a fan/media/public event are very different. Just testing wont attract any attention from mainstream media, if you really want to do that you've got to spend the money to make it into something that will get their attention.

[team underdog]

realjv said:

team underdog said:

Well they tested instead of race at Bahrain last year, so why not again? Testing has always been about development, not PR. Why not build the car and ship it to Melbourne if testing is just for PR?

They lost a test as well as a race in Bahrain last year. They replaced the test with one in Spain but i dont think there was an additional one. Maybe i misunderstood what you were asking for but to me holding a test to actually test and holding a test as a fan/media/public event are very different. Just testing wont attract any attention from mainstream media, if you really want to do that you've got to spend the money to make it into something that will get their attention.

Think we crossed wires there. I wasn't referring to a test purely for media/fans, but just a regular test day at a European track. I hear sky will have reports from winter testing on the dedicated channel.