KLM

That would mean you like the football players. I think you mean the cheerleaders.

Well, since Brawn's 2009 budget was secured as a 'dowry' by Honda when they left I don't think its a fair comparison. Also, since the 2009 Brawn GP car was fully researched and developed by Honda over the last 2 years at no expense it once again skews the budget analysis. While Ferrari and McLaren were devoting all their resources even late in the season towards their 2008 title bids, Honda had chucked the season in favour of developing a new car within the all-new 2009 rules package. Shame that they left early without realizing their investment. Despite the fact that they look like a classic small British privateer team, they are in fact still operating with the budget of a massive factory team and over the next few years, as Mercedes makes them their works team, they'll become even bigger. Yes, it's happening.

Awesome save at the entrance to the gooseneck on Lap 1. Fabulous stuff, Damith.

Phenomenal.

There was no luck about anything Kimi did because after Monaco and the Nurburgring podiums, it was obvious that the Ferraris are alright on the higher downforce tracks. Kimi in fact said before the race that he thought a podium was possible here in Hungary. Sure, they aren't on the ultimate pace but it'll be interesting to see how Kimi and Bourdais do at Valencia. Yes, I said it, Sebastian Bourdais for the temporarily vacant Ferrari seat.

Ashan is supposedly preparing the other Ashan's E3 conversion - the orange one that almost got snapped in half at the last Katu if you remember. Dilantha's Celica is rotting up at Hunas Falls and between the 3 series he runs, I doubt he has time for, or cares much about, racing in Sri Lanka. Good advice for Fuzzo. Katu should be good and will be shown live on TV I think.

That's an awesome car. Look up the famous battles the Datsun 510 had with the BMW 2002 in the early 1970's in the 2.5 litre category of Trans-Am. I remember reading a Road & Track article about some epic championship fights the 2 works teams had, especially at Laguna Seca. It might be worth your while to look up the 510's racing history. Please let us know if and when you find one.

Thanks guys. My birth of date will now forever be associated with Michael's death. Wait, I mean

Sa, I'm sure the Cultus would also love to be raced again. Welcome to Autolanka by the way.

Outstanding photos, Dilesh! Would you mind if the MRA used a few of your shots as part of our post-event press releases? I'll be in touch.

On the contrary, the potholes were only confined to one small section and the bridges etc. were all rebuilt and in fantastic shape. Despite the stage being only 500 metres shorter than in 2007, the times were quicker by almost half a minute on average. It was a very competitive rally and until the final 2 stages, the finishing order was not guaranteed.

Dilesh, it's completely FOC and the only requirement would be that you get to a safe viewing point on the rally stage before the action commences.

Pericles, the pre-scrutineering of the cars and the drivers' briefing will be held today at the MRF service station, located at #210/1 Obeyesekerepura Road, Rajagiriya. The briefing will be for competitors only but if anybody wants to check out the cars, feel free to drop by between 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm.

Pericles DO NOT delete my post about KKG! PS: For the record, I think a healthy (and by that I mean brutal) debate about rice vs. non-rice is a healthy automotive-related topic and since it drives traffic to the site, should stand.

Since this is surely the most-watched thread right now I figure a little grassroots guerilla marketing might help draw spectators to the rally this weekend. The upcoming MRA Kukuleganga Rally is a great chance for all you petrol-heads and performance enthusiasts to come and see actual fast cars actually being used the way they were meant to, on a closed tarmac course. Maybe you guys can even discuss this issue on location over the weekend. On second thoughts, maybe you guys can just watch the rally hahaha. It's only an hour's drive away and directions can be found here: http://www.kkgholidayresort.com/ Now, back to the rice vs. non-rice debate............

Anybody seen the 2 new black MB SLs in town?

I'm pretty sure this car you saw was the ex-Christy Lanka car. I'm also pretty sure it was established that Namal does not own an Aston Martin.

GTR SpecV pics: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/07/nissan-...specv-unveiled/

Hi Fiat, this is a special stage rally, on closed public tarmac roads surrounding the Kukuleganga Holiday Resort. It is also Round 2 of the 2009 MRA Rally Championship. As for the rally on the 28th, I think you're referring to the 250 km TSD Rally that the SLMCC is supposed to be holding.

I suggest you guys come on Saturday because you can stay for longer and maybe even enjoy a night stage or two. Grand_Civic too bad you wont be navigating this time around, after your superb 3rd place overall at Pelwatte with Dinesh Senanayake.

June 20, 21. Who's going to watch?

And then in 2012, this Prodrive team will become the works Aston Martin F1 team. Awesome!

There are at least 4 top-line professional open-wheel series that run spec engines - IndyCar, Renault World Series 3.5, A1GP and GP2 so yeah, we need the diversity of F1. That glamour, technical sophistication, exclusivity etc is something that the FIA can't afford to trash. Granted, yes, in the '70s there was great racing and spectacle when it was all customer Cosworth DFVs and a pair of Ferrari V12s but still, F1 has come a long way from those days and it's not something that can be re-generated easily. EVEN if the cars are more evenly matched in the other series, you'll find that the best drivers in the world are in F1, the cars more spectacular and in general, the whole circus is far more interesting to follow. IndyCar etc are great with 5 lead changes a lap on some ovals etc but if you follow close enough there is plenty of overtaking and action in F1 and it's rare to find people complaining of a boring Grand Prix weekend. It's F1. Everybody involved knows the value of it and the latest story is that McLaren of all people have brokered a compromise between the FIA and Ferrari & Toyota which were the teams most vehemently against the budget cap. It looks like the budget caps will be applied over a period of time and everybody seems to be on the same page at last which is great for the sport. As for Williams F1, they've always been FOR the support of smaller teams and budget caps and that sort of thing so I'm sure that the suspension from FOTA won't bother them too much. They've always been the rough-and-tumble garagistas who put cars on the grid by hook or by crook in the early days. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that.........

While I agree that Steve Slater is an incompetent, if passionate, old fool, I have to say that I enjoy hearing what Karun and Alex have to say. Sure, Alex might not have the voice and the personality to be a commentator, his insights are very valuable because of his F1 experience. Karun is even more of the finished product as a commentator and technical expert, in addition to being an accomplished driver who deserves a drive in F1. At Monaco in this year's GP2 race he led the entire distance with an unproven, brand-new team and then a drive-shaft snapped with 12 laps to go. That, his fantastic win in GP2 at Spa (the definitive proving ground of champions) a couple of years ago and general speed surely should mean that he gets at least a couple of competitive F1 tests this year. If one win at Spa was enough to propel Fernando Alonso into the big league then surely Karun deserves a shot at F1 too.

That Testa is sexy; ALMOST as sexy as the 250 GT California. I saw footage of it on TV last night and it looked bloody hot. I can't believe the 641/2 didn't fetch a higher price, considering the fact that it is considered one of the most beautiful F1 cars of all time (an example can be found in the New York Museum of Modern Art. No lie). The 330 P4 is another sex-on-wheels Ferrari, so it would be nice to have had a few million USD spare to pick it up.