Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Hungarian GP

A year after Scuderia Ferrari's Felipe Massa freak accident that nearly cost his life during qualifying, the F1 party continues to Hungary. The 1st July race was quite a dull affair, as the race result was already decided on Saturday's qualifying. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took the front row for their 11th pole out of the 12 races this season. The race, won by Webber in his 150th outing and gifting him the championship lead, was interrupted on the 16th lap after a minor accident left debris on the track. While Webber stayed out on the track, Vettel was called in for a pit stop on the lap 18, a move which effectively ended his chance to challenge for the win and took second on the podium. It was during this Safety Car period that saw many incidents in the pit lane. A wheel rolled off Mercedes Petronas GP's Nico Rosberg's car and bounced wildly down the pits, hitting a William's pit crew. Another pit lane incident occured when Renault released Robert Kubica too soon, which caused him to collide with Force India's Adrian Sutil. McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who was leading the championship table prior to the race, was taken out by a gearbox problem on lap 24. Another drama unfolded near the end of the race when Mercedes GP's Michael Schumacher and Williams Rubens Barrichello got tangled in a dangerous overtaking maneuvre. Schumacher appeared to force Barrichello into the pit wall when the Brazilian was attempting to overtake him for 10th place, but Barrichello held on to his nerves and sped through trouble. After the race, a livid Rubens condemns Schumacher's driving, saying that the former world champion should have been black-flagged for it. Schumacher has since apologized to his former team-mate. As for Lotus racing F1 Team, the team was in an ecstatic mood as all new teams finished the race. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen finished 15th and 14th rescpectively. Technical chief Mike Gascoyne said, "That was an excellent two-car finish and once again we're the best of the new teams. Both drivers drove strong races and Trulli had a particularly good start. Once the safety car came out we made a strategy call to keep Trulli out as we knew it would be a short period behind the safety car and this was the right strategy for the team. Unfortunately this meant Jarno lost a place to his team-mate, so apologies to him, but we got the call right for the team. Kovalainen drove a good strong race to the end. Kovalainen said, "I think that was the maximum we could have hoped for, so we're all really pleased." Trulli added, "All weekend I've been strong, and today's two car finish shows how hard the team's been working." The F1 circus will take their 3-week summer break before resuming with the Belgian GP on the 27th to 29th August.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: German GP

Controversy reigns supreme in this year's German GP. The 25th July race was won by Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso ahead of his team-mate Felipe Massa, the team's first one-two of the season. But the victory was shrouded by controversy of team orders within the famous scarlet team when Massa, who was leading for 49 of 67 laps, was ordered by team boss Stefano Domenicalli and chief engineer Rob Smedley to let Alonso pass him. "Alonso is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand the message?" Smedley radioed to Massa. After the move 18 laps from the end, Smedley radioed Massa again, "Good lad - just stick with it now, sorry." A stony faced Massa told the media after the race that he would not comment on the messages, but said he was just helping the team. On the other hand, a jovial Alonso commented that the car was perfectly set-up and that he thought that Massa was having gearbox problem and that he was just doing what was natural: overtake his team-mate. During the start of the race, pole-sitter Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel tried to block off a charging Alonso, who started 2nd. Massa, directly behind Vettel in 3rd, took advantage of the front duo's antics and ran to the front without much problem. From then Massa was leading the race until the controversial overtaking move. Vettel finished 3rd from the sluggish start and was emotional for taking a spot on the podium in his home race. Lotus Racing F1 Team on the other hand endured another disappointing race with both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen retiring due to gearbox problem and accident damage respectively after a strong qualifying performance on Saturday, with Trulli starting from 18th and Kovalainen on 19th.

Charity Concert 2010

With this year being my last, I thought it'd be a great idea for me to attend my school's Charity Concert this year. Held at SRJK (C) Choong Wen's badminton hall on the 25th of July, the event was actually better than I had initially thought. There were shows and stuff, but the saddest thing about the event is it was also Mr Ong Poh Lye and Mr Lou Boon Chai's retirement party of sorts. Mr Ong is my Bahasa Malaysia teacher and Mr Lou is my Physics teacher. Although I admit that we don't really pay much attention during their class, they are probably the best teacher in their respective field. There isn't much else I could say besides that the event was successful and fun, so here's two pictures that I took at the event.

Hari Pameran 2010

My school's Hari Pameran this year would be my last. After much hype by my friend Timothy Tan, I was hoping to see our very own police force's Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X highway patrol vehicles up close and get a feel of the car by sitting in it. But all that came was the Federal Reserve Unit's Scania truck. Initial thoughts was, "Damn it! Where's the Evo?!". All things considered, it was quite cool to see it, actually. How often do you get to see an FRU truck, let alone being able to climb up and sit in it? My thoughts exactly. My day started out waiting for my club to set-up our exhibits of the day, but the officers from the Jabatan Penerangen was not there until almost noon, so all I did was hang around with the police cadets and wait for their show vehicles to come while at the same time running around doing errands for teachers. After assembly was over I took my time walking about the school with my Form 6 friends, talking lots of craps and dissing things that desn't fancy us (what's so nice about the 'Haunted House' anyway? It's been the same every year after all!). Come 11.30 a.m when I was supposed to be on duty for 2 hours at my club's exhibition booth, I was told that I can discharge myself at 12.00 p.m because the officers will be off by that time (WOW!! That was some easy job, eh? XD ). By almost 12.30 I stationed myself at the school gates and watched out for people trying to run out of school before 3.00, the time when everyone goes back. Pandemonium broke out when one of the teachers said that we would be going back at 3.30 instead. Everyone got pretty angry when we heard that because according to the letter of informant issued the day before it says that school would be over at 3.00. More problem ensued when some parents came up to me and demanded to know what was this about. As I have no clear idea on what caused that change, I brought them to the principal's office to discuss the problem. But alas all was settled and the school gates were finally opened to all at the original time of 3.00. All in all, this year's Hari Pameran is better than the years before not just because it is my last year in school, but in terms of exhibits and fun that everyone had.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: British GP

Controversy, team favouritism and unpredictable weather became the focus of the British GP on the 11th of July. Race winner Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing had an unhappy weekend as he believed his team was treating him as a number two driver after team management decided to take his car's new rear wing and hand it to team-mate Sebastian Vettel after the German damaged his on Friday practice seesion. To rub salt to the wound, Vettel managed to qualify ahead of him on Saturday afternoon. But all that changed from the start of the race. Vettel had too much wheelspin upon acceleration and lost his position to Webber on the first corner and struggled throughout the race, finishing his race in 7th place. Current championship leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished in 2nd with Mercedes Petronas GP's Nico Rosberg behind him. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa of Scuderia Ferrari had a race to forget after finishing 14th and 15th respectively, with the Spaniard running afoul with the Safety Car again after the previous round in Valencia of the European GP. Lotus Racing F1 Team, meanwhile managed to get both cars to cross the chequered flag for the first time since the Australian GP in March.

If You Come Back - Blue

For all this time
I've been lovin' you girl
Oh yes I have
And ever since the day you left me here alone
I've been trying to find
Oh the reason why

So if I did something wrong please tell me
I wanna understand
'Cause I don't want this love to ever end

And I swear
If you come back in my life
Baby till the end of time
(Come back to me, come back to me)
Oh yeah (in my life)
And I swear
I'll keep you right by my side
'Cause baby you're the one I want
(Come back to me, come back to me)
Oh yes you are (in my life)

I watched you go
You've taken
My heart with you
Oh yes you did
Every time
I tried to reach you
On the phone
Baby you're never there
Girl you're never home

So if I did something wrong please tell me
I wanna understand
'Cause I don't want this love to ever end
No, no, no, no

I swear
If you come back in my life
Baby till the end of time
(Come back to me, come back to me)
Oh yeah (in my life)
And I swear
I'll keep you right by my side
'Cause baby you're the one I want
(Come back to me, come back to me)
Oh yes you are (in my life)

Maybe I didn't know how to show it
And maybe I didn't know what to say
And this I won't disguise
Then we can build our lives
And we can be as one

I swear
If you come back in my life
Baby till the end of time
(Come back to me, come back to me)
Oh yeah (in my life)
And I swear
I'll keep you right by my side (by my side)
'Cause baby you're the one I want
(Come back to me, come back to me)
Oh yes you are (in my life)
I swear
If you come back in my life
Baby till the end of time (come back to me)
(Come back to me, come back to me)
Oh yeah (in my life)
And I swear
I'll keep you right by my side
'Cause baby you're the one I want
(Come back to me, come back to me)
Oh yes you are (in my life)

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: European GP

Once again, the F1 circus returns to Spain on the 27th June for the European GP round. Held at the streets of Valencia, Lotus celebrated their 500th race in a race full of controversy. In the race won by Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel, his team-mate Mark Webber was involved in a huge accident when he ran into rhe rear of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus on lap 8, flipping his car into the air before ending up in the tyre barriers. Kovalainen's race was effectively ended with his rear spoiler flew off in the incident. Soon the Safety Car was called into action for 4 laps, during which 2nd place man Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes pitted for fresh tyres and was deemed to have overtaken the Safety Car illegally when he was exiting from the pits. Lewis was handed a drive-through penalty 15 laps down the road but still kept his 2nd position until the end of the race. Jenson Button had a tough battle with Sauber Ferrari's Kamui Kobayashi for 3rd place, which saw the defending world champion grabbing the final podium spot when Kobayashi had to pit with few laps remaining for tyres. Kovalainen's team-mate Jarno Trulli suffered steering problems early in the race, but managed to soldier the car on, albeit down 4 laps from the race winner. Kovalainen said after the race, "First of all it's good news that both of us are ok. Mark had a hardcore flight, and it could have ended up much worse, so it's good we're both fine. It's such a shame the race ended that early - I was going really well, pulling away from the guys behind by about half a second a lap, and with Mark we were racing for position so I was always going to defend. I didn't do anything wrong and he just ran into me. I think he missed his braking point and he ran into me at a very bad angle - his front tyre hit my right rear and he took off. I had to make a mandatory visit to the medical centre, and shook hands with Mark there, but I'm absolutely fine, and glad Mark is too." Trulli was equally disappointed too. "Obviously it was a very disappointing end to our 500th race. Jarno got hit at the start, and we had to change the nose. He also took a hit at the back, and that caused a gearbox problem. We were able to fix that and send him out again, although he was three laps down. He was held up by some of the other slower cars, but at the end of the race he was able to push and really show the car's pace. Heikki had an accident with Webber - he was defending his line and racing for position, and that's what we will always do in that situation. It's just a great shame, and we're very glad that neither driver was hurt." Team boss Datuk Tony Fernandes sums up the teams feelings, "Heikki's accident is part of racing. It's a shame as both cars are coming on really well, but there is some good to take out of this. Despite being hit, Jarno managed to finish the race, and at the end it was great to hear him say 'the car is bloody good!'. Overall it's been a very positive weekend, with a good Qualifying session and lots of very positive meetings and good decisions made for next year. It's also been a pleasure having the Chapman family here, and now we're all looking forward to bringing Lotus Racing back to the UK and racing in front of the British fans."

The Green Hornet

"The Green Hornet" is Jay Chou's first movie in Hollywood, which also stars Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz and Christoph Waltz. Here is the the official trailer. The official release date of this movie is now January 14 2011, delayed from the original October 2010 date.

A Journey In Life

Getting dumped is not the best feeling and there's little you can do that will help you feel better quick. Sure they say that time heals all wounds, but I say why wait? Here's a story about a man who did everything for his woman, sold his business, sold some of his cars, bought her a diamond ring and a house in a upscale neighborhood, and then she left him. Some would just crumble under the immense pain, but Richard Jordan did what every red blooded guy wished he could. After loosing his love, he found love again in an Italian exotic supercar and the open American roads. He sold everything he had, bought a Lamborghini Gallardo, drove across America a few times, lived out of his Lambo, and racked up more than 160,000km in a car so expensive that some owners buy it to accessorize their garage. A great read for sure.

Click here to read the full story

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Canadian GP

The Canadian GP marks its return after a year's absence on 13th June. Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes reinforces their title contender status with their second consecutive one-two finish, the third for the season. Lewis Hamilton drove a superb pole to victory race while team-mate Jenson Button was pretty much untroubled during the whole race. Nearest rival Red Bull Racing finished fourth and fifth after struggling with tyre degradation and gearbox problem, hampering their bid for another win. Fernando Alonso of Scuderia Ferrari finally returned to the podium since the season-opening Bahrain race by taking third. Meanwhile, Lotus Racing F1 Team was having good evening as they became the first of the new team to lap the other new teams. But the happy mood was once again marred by Jarno Trulli's failure to finish after suffering brake problems. In a post-race interview, Trulli said, "It's such a shame I had to pull over - I had a great start and then I was really flying during the race. We got the strategy right on the tyres, and my pace was good - I was keeping up with the boys in front, and I was overtaking our other rivals. But then I felt a vibration that caused a problem with the braking system and I had to pull over. Still - we have to move on. It's another learning curve for the team and I think it's great to see that in the race I could really push and was putting in some very good lap times." Chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne said, "I think overall we can be very happy with the race, and the whole weekend. The one disappointment was obviously Jarno's problem - we will have to look at it in more detail, but it looks as though the vibration put paid to his race. Before he pulled over he was absolutely flying and the strategy would have really paid out for him, so that's a plus. Heikki drove a fantastic race, fighting all the way with the guys in front, and kept it up right to the end to keep Petrov behind him. I think this weekend has been a massive step forward for the whole team. Rather than being just one of the new teams, we actually got stuck in and raced the teams ahead, which is what we wanted to do, so congratulations and thank you to the whole team for getting us to this position. In the end we lapped both of the other new teams, so it was a great effort, and again, well done!" Team principal Datuk Tony Fernandes was in an equally upbeat mood. "I'm very happy with the result today, and the whole weekend's work. We got 42 laps from Jarno and Heikki drove an absolute cracker - beating a Renault was great, and Heikki did really well to hold him off, but the main aim for us is to get both cars home, and we'll keep working on that back at the factory and at the track. Now we go to Valencia where we'll be celebrating the 500th F1 race Lotus has competed in, and the ninth for Lotus Racing."

TV Marathon!

It's been a pleasent weekend for me last week. Try having an Formula 1 race and FIFA World Cup matched happening on the same night. First on Saturday night came the "Top Gear" show, where the 3 presenters went on an American road trip in 3 high-powered machines. Later came the F1 Canadian GP qualifying race and after that the World Cup match between Germany and Australia. And on Sunday night the F1 race having an exciting race and a pleasing outcome, coming after the "Driven" and "American Chopper" shows.

My Name Is Jay

And from today onwards I shall be called as Jay. Failure to do so will result in ignorance when calling me by another name.

Whatya Want From Me - Adam Lambert

Hey, slow it down
What do you want from me
What do you want from me
Yeah, I’m afraid
What do you want from me
What do you want from me

There might have been a time when I would give my self away
Oh once upon a time I didn’t give a damn
But now, here we are
So what do you want from me
What do you want from me

Just don’t give up, I’m workin' it out
Please don’t give in, I won’t let you down
It messed me up, need a second to breathe
Just keep coming around
Hey,what do you want from me
What do you want from me
What do you want from me

Yeah, it’s plain to see (It’s plain to see)
Baby your beautiful
An there is nothing wrong with you (nothing wrong with you)
It’s me, I’m a freak
But thanks for loving me
Cause you’re doing it perfectly (perfectly)

Yeah, there might have been a time when I will let you slip away
I wouldn’t even try but I think you could save my life.

Just don’t give up, I’m workin' it out
Please don’t give in, I won’t let you down
It messed me up, need a second to breathe
Just keep coming around
Hey, what do you want from me (What do you want from me)
What do you want from me
What do you want from me (What do you want from me)


Just don’t give up on me
Ohh!!
I won’t let you down, no
I won’t let you down

Just don’t give up, I’m workin' it out
Please don’t give in, I won’t let you down
It messed me up, need a second to breathe
Just keep coming around
Hey, what do you want from me

Just don’t give up, I’m workin' it out
Please don’t give in, I won’t let you down
It messed me up, need a second to breathe
Just keep coming around
Hey, what do you want from me (What do you want from me)
What do you want from me (What do you want from me)
What do you want from me (What do you want from me)

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Turkish GP

The Turkish GP on the 30th of May looks to be a sort of a title-deciding race. After qualifying for pole on Saturday's qualifying, Red Bull's Mark Webber looks like the favourite to take the winner's trophy following on his 2 consecutive wins at the Spainand Monaco. Team-mate Sebastian Webber took the 3rd spot with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button qualified at 2nd and 4th respectively. Webber kept his position from the start of the race with Hamilton chasing him close behind until the first pit-stop. Vettel pitted first before Webber and Hamilton did so on the next lap, which gave Vettel 2nd place upon the leading duo' exit from the pits. Button, who was enjoying a quiet afternoon in a not-so-distant 4th after earlier being overtaken by Michael Schumacher at the start, caught up with the three and together with Hamilton piled the presure on the Red Bull drivers. Webber and Vettel finally cracked under the pressure, with the duo colliding with each other on the 4oth lap, which costed Vettel's race and Webber slipped to 3rd after needing to pit for damage. A few laps later, Button tried to pull the same overtaking maneuvre on his team-mate which he succeeded for a few corners only to be overtaken again later down the main straight leading into the first corner. In the end though, McLaren still dominated the afternoon with their second 1-2 finish of the season with Hamilton first and Button second. A bitter Webber came home a distant 24 seconds behind in third. While the McLarens celebrated their victory, it was yet another heartbreak for the Lotus Racing team. A double hydraulic failure ruled Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen out of the race. To make matters worst, Force India is now suing them for alleged breach of intellectual property, citing "components and tyres exclusively licensed by Bridgestone to the Force India F1 Team, on its wind tunnel model design for the current Lotus T127 chassis without permission from the Force India F1 Team.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Monaco GP

Easily one of the most anticipated races on the F1 calendar every season, the 2010 Monaco GP on the 16th May has tonnes of close wheel-to-wheel action at the famous narrow and tight street curcuit, known for its difficulty to overtake at ease. In the race where only 12 vehicles made it to the finish, Red Bull Racing made their first one-two finish of their season with pole-sitter Mark Webber taking the chequered flag ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Taking third spot on the podium is Robert Kubica of Renault F1 Team, who made created a few surprises in qualifying with some fast lap times. Michael Schumacher, who is notorious for his 2006 season's qualifying fiasco, created headlines once again when he overtook Fernando Alonso during one of the four Safety Car periods. Elsewhere, Lotus Racing failed to finish their race for the first time of the season Jarno Trulli winding up in an accident and Heikki Kovalainen suffered a steering problem.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Spanish GP

9th May 2010 marks the start of the European races in the 2010 season of Formula 1. The Spanish Grand Prix sees a closely battled qualifying session, which sees Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, both from Red Bull Racing, slugging it out for the pole position. Going for pole position here is vital as for the past 5 years the winner of this race started from pole. At the end of the qualifying Mark Webber took the coveted spot, which saw him won the race by a massive 24-second margin ahead of Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who is racing in front of his home crowd for the first time in the scarlet machine. 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton, who was ahead of Alonso and poised for the second podium spot, was dealt a cruel hand when his left front tyre suffered a puncture and caused him to crash. This gifted Alonso 2nd place. Taking the final podium spot is Sebastian Vettel. Former world champion Michael Schumacher, who was criticised for his unimpressive performance in the first 4 races, had a better afternoon and finished 4th in a car made to his requirements, ahead of defending world champion Jenson Button. Lotus Racing's Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen qualified at 19th and 20th respectively, but a gearbox failure ended Kovalainen's race on the first lap. Jarno Trulli, who failed to finish a race since the Australian GP, did the team proud and finished 17th. Trulli said after the race, "I'm pleased we finished comfortably ahead of Virgin even though the car felt a bit difficult to drive! I don't really know why but it didn't feel the same as it did on Friday. We achieved what we set out to do and we showed good race pace and finished well." Technical director Mike Gascoyne is confident that the team will do better at the next race, the Monaco GP.

Mother's Day 2010

Mother, a figure that tells of love and sacrifices,
How can anyone's love and sacrifices compare to thee's?
Selfless acts of kindness only a mother can show,
Never complaining of tiredness, pain and sorrow,
Never once showing dissatisfaction of everything done,
Nothing can we do can we repay thy's kindness.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers in the world!

Sentosa Idol

After last year's failure to even break pass the first Sentosa Idol audition, I found myself heading to the next audition this year after using Green Day's "21 Guns" as my starting point. For the final audition I'll be using "Wake Me Up When September Ends", also from Green Day. Wish me luck now as I head to the toughest stage of the audition on this Friday.