JAMES ALLEN

Formula 1 is as much about riding your luck as it is about excellence, as Juan Pablo Montoya proved yesterday.

The BMW Williams was in a class of its own at Hockenheim. If anything the cars were even stronger here than at the Nurburgring and Magny Cours.

Over a 67 lap race Juan was on average a second per lap faster than the rest and that is despite the fact that he made one pit stop more than his pursuers, which added 24 seconds to his race time.

Martin and I couldn't believe it when we saw he'd done a 1m14.9s lap time mid way through the race. That is seriously fast; I mean low-fuel-qualifying fast.

He didn't put a foot wrong, but he was lucky too that the first lap crash eliminated his team mate Ralf Schumacher as well as Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello. It made it an easier afternoon for him, as he admitted afterwards.

But that is motor racing.

When Michael got the puncture with four laps to go, you realised that it really was Montoya's lucky day. Kimi too will have breathed a sigh of relief to see Michael's yield go down from 8pts to just 2pts.

Montoya has had three non-finishes this season, which is pretty much the maximum a champion can afford. Michael meanwhile has had only one non finish, but he will hope that yesterday was the last bad luck day for him of the year.

He has had to work incredibly hard recently to get the points he's had. At Silverstone he was 14th after the priest ran on the track and the safety car came out. He climbed back from there to finish 4th.

Yesterday he was sixth on the grid and spent much of the race unable to beat the Renaults, yet still set himself up for second place until the puncture. He has now gone four grands prix - 250 racing laps - without leading!

It is therefore a very real possibility that he will lose the world title this year to Montoya and if he does it may well be this puncture that cost him the title. Six points dropped at a time when Williams and Michelin are so dominant. It is also highly likely that Williams will steal the constructors




LS's Tip of the week
ESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat

quite a nice read, thanks LS.

pretty much agree with what he said, although

Sadly for them, McLaren haven't quite got the speed in qualifying to capitalise on their opportunity, although the race pace is comparable with Renault.

I don't really think that's true...actually it probably is...but mclaren's so much better! grrr, hehe

McLaren will definately be strong in Hungary, but not as strong as the Williams!!



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Jenson Button and BAR..........Watch them fly in 2004

he doesn't make the commentary as.....thought provoking as Murray does he? spends too much time talking about the race as its actually happening on the track.

James Allen is a loser!

thanks for that thought filled comment.

even if he is a 'loser' you could still learn something from what he wrote, imo it was quite an interesting read.

james allen is not al oser at all.

he is a good journalist.

and when you are replacing someone of the stature of murray walker, any journalist would get flack

i think he does a good job, and he gives 100%

you cant ask more than that, i think everyone should get off his back.

I never heard James Allen on TV, but I know our RTL commentator. I always thought he was pathetric and had the tendency to get carried away by what happened on the track. I never understood why he was screaming with excitement when apparently nothing spectacular was going on. I was sitting at home, staring at the TV screen and asking myself 'Is he really seeing the same race?'.

After seeing my first live and watching it again on tape later at home I definately know: when you are there you are really seeing a different race. Even a boring race is all excitement if you see it live. There is no way of not getting carried away when you are at the track.

As I said, I don't know about James Allen, but I start to understand why our commentator is like he is.

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

James Allen is cool.

Williams aerodynamically as good as ferrari :?
The FW25 is indeed a very different car from the ferrari, it has no barge boards, front wing, rear wing, gearbox, sidepods, etc etc... but can it be better the ferrari? don't think so...

I think tires are the big difference but also that both teams have very good drivers.




Andrew. Australia.

James Allen does a great job

no barge boards, front wing, rear wing, gearbox, sidepods

really??
they're doing quite well then, aren't they.



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Tony

I was about to say that, too

On German TV they showed Ross Brawn standing next to the Williams on the grid. RTL asked him if he could see something interesting and he said the chassis of the Willimas was very different from what he had seen at Silverstone. That shows how cars constantly change and how even small things normal people do not see make a huge difference to the trained eye of an engineer.

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

James Allen is a good journalist, il give him that....but he lacks somthing with his commentary. Silly questions race after race to Martin Brundle that you can tell hes fed up with answering spring to mind.

Martin on the other hand is first class




'The beak of Ayrton Senna's chicken is pulling ahead!' ~ Murray Walker

yes martin is first hand

but he has been an F1 driver and has inside contacts (DC) etc.

allen has had to learn about the sport - and he thinks a lot about the fans at home that dont know much about F1

which can be annoying to us knowledgeable bunch, but helpful to the majority of fans that dont know much about it

allen has had to learn about the sport

your knowledge, is seriously in question sometimes! i cant beleive you just said that! maybe you should broaden your reading matterial from autosport hehe

seriously hes been in F1 for over ten years, maybe 15 now....



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24 Heures Du Mans 18-19 June 2005

james allens alright, but unfortunately doesnt provide so of them classic moments murray always did. when i were at silverstone the commentators on the loud speakers were pretty good, better than brundle and james allen. they were the cart driver darren manning and i cant remember the others ones name - but they certainly added excitement to the race - not as tho it wasnt exciting enuf!

Yes, James Allen is certainly a well-respect member of the F1 community for more than just a few years now. I think he's good enough to be a commentator, but I'm just not a fan. He tends to really dumb things down, which I don't like. Surely the fans will understand one-shot qualifying by now, we've seen it since March....!

they are the standard british motorsport circuit comentators, big F1 fan, they do most events from btcc to F3GT etc, they were ian titchmarsh and manning (at woodcote) david addison at stowe, david boben (in studio), john hindhaugh (radio) and bob constanduros in the pitlane



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24 Heures Du Mans 18-19 June 2005

oh for **** sake andrews, i know he has been a journalist for a long time in F1!!!!!!!

he worked for RTL i think

dont always take what i and others write as gospel

it is hard to write what i know or think without sometimes missing background info

what i meant was brundle is naturally going to be better at comentating, he has been there, experienced driving an f1 car etc., and also worked since 96 with the greatest ever commenator in living memory murray walker

Remember 'Nigel Mansells Indycar 1993' that used to be on late at night in, conversley, 1993? Yes, it was James Allen that presented that. He also wrote or assisted with Nigels biography, which is a cracking read. He has a son called Enzo. Hes often on talksport on a friday during mike rutherfords motorshow from 12.....................




'The beak of Ayrton Senna's chicken is pulling ahead!' ~ Murray Walker