Race track

I know because I'm tracking them, from Jack Brabham to Jenson Button, on a rare weekend when I can combine work with play.  The first GP of the season is the real reason for a trip to the Middle East, and there are lots of people to see and stories to file, but the chance to play autograph hunter on a unique occasion is too good to pass up.I get my first when I spot Mario Andretti in the Mercedes-Benz hospitality area, but I get a three-for-one deal when I realise Keke Rosberg is sitting behind him and Mika Hakkinen is also visiting his former backers.  Next up is John Surtees, who won for Ferrari in the early 1960s.He is checking his car for an on-track demonstration that will include a range of cars from the 1955 Mercedes-Benz W196 used by the late Juan Manual Fangio - and driven this time by Hakkinen and David Coulthard - through to Damon Hill's title winning Williams.I'm really getting into things now and pick up a second autograph book from Byron Young, a British F1 journalist who is too busy - or is it too polite? - to go hunting for the world title winners.  Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are easy during a visit to McLaren for an interview, I bag Jackie Stewart in the back of the pits, and also Nigel Mansell as he takes a break from the heat. Michael Schumacher is tougher, because he never rests and he walks fast...It goes on like this for a day and a half and I cannot remember the last time I had so much fun. I'm reminded a little of the 'deck of cards' manhunt after the fall of Iraq, but though there are a few F1 villains the majority of the champions are happy blokes on a weekend away with a bit of fun.  Jody Scheckter is definitely enjoying himself, flinging his historic Ferrari sideways for the fans while wearing the same overalls he used during his championship year back in 1979. Stewart also has his overalls, two different sets for the '69 Matra and '71 Tyrrell he is driving.I bag most of my missing drivers as they prepare for the second day of demonstration laps, including Emerson Fittipaldi, and have a chat about V8 Supercars and driving at Bathurst with Jacques Villeneuve.  Of course, there are two drivers I cannot get because they are not in Bahrain.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!Wild child Kimi Raikkonen is too busy with his new career, driving and crashing a Citroen in the World Rally Championship, and Nelson Piquet probably won't be seen at a Formula One race for a long time after the controversy over his son's deliberate crash in a Renault that sparked all sorts of accusations and recriminations and penalties in the grand prix world.But Niki Lauda is here and comes up with the snappiest one-liner of the Bahrain weekend. It's no real surprise when he says "All the wankers together, eh?".  By the end of the weekend the two big pages in my autograph book are almost full and I have the signatures tagged in case my memory fades.But two are missing. Can you believe it, the ones I don't have are Alan Jones and the one I want most of all, Sir Jack Brabham.  But the AGP is at Albert Park this weekend and I have my pen ready...

Mark Webber's former team mate at Red Bull Racing, who was a regular race winner at McLaren, is turning to touring cars for 2010 and believes he needs a start at Mount Panorama to complete his racing career.Coulthard is within a week of signing with Mercedes-Benz to compete in this year's German touring car championship and is also considering a move into V8 Supercars.  He says nothing is set but he believes he will be at Bathurst in the next couple of years."Bathurst is a legend of a race, so I would love to drive there," Coulthard tells Carsguide at the Bahrain Grand Prix.  "It would be nice, before I am too old, to do that. I have raced at Le Mans once and that's another one to do."Coulthard says he has already had early contact with V8 Supercar teams, naming Kelly Racing and Paul Morris Motorsport.  "One of them was associated with Red Bull, the other with the Castrol team. That came via Mick Doohan," he says.Morris Motorsport is also in talks with another retired F1 driver, world champion Jacques Villeneuve, and he says he would be keen to drive a V8 Supercar.  "That would be fun. Yes, I have had some talks," he says at Bahrain.  But Villeneuve is currently too costly, even with three potential starts - Phillip Island, Bathurst and the Gold Coast - available.Coulthard has already had his first touring car test with Mercedes-Benz and will drive twice more in coming weeks. He believes he will be in a one-year-old C-Class racer in the 2010 DTM series.  "Yes, we are talking. But it's too early to say," says Mercedes' motorsport spokesman, Wolfgang Schattling.Coulthard's only problem with a switch to tintops is the time, as he has huge commitments with the BBC as a grand prix broadcaster. This could also delay a Bathurst run.  "One of these days. They are legend races. To be there and have your name alongside the greats," he says."I've watched them on the telly. They are good meaty cars, and good drivers too. I would do it if I had the time."  Coulthard also cannot resist a swipe at Webber, who says he has no intention of ever racing a V8 Supercar."Maybe when Mark has retired from Formula One and is running his own team down there," he jokes.

After a frustrating eighth spot at Bahrain and widespread complaints that new refuelling rules have taken the buzz out of the race, Webber is confident Albert Park will be different."Being a street circuit, this track evolves a lot over the course of the weekend," he said. "It's a very green circuit, with low grip initially and then as the weekend goes on the teams have to adjust to the track where Bahrain is grippy right through the weekend."The Melbourne weather could play a part too. "It can always throw something up," he said. "Either of those two I think will play a reasonable role on the Sunday afternoon. There's no way the next four races will go like Bahrain - there will be more action."Webber had two wins last year and is confident his Red Bull team and teammate Sebastian Vettel will do better this year. "We are certainly in the hunt of a good result," he said. "However Ferrari is very strong, they've just had a one-two in Bahrain and both Seb and I are certainly in a position to challenge for a good result. Ferrari have a phenomenal record here in Melbourne too, they have always had good cars here and we hope we can give them a hard time."Webber said the return of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher to F1 this season had hyped up the Bahrain opener and now it was down to business. "It wasn't probably the most exciting Grand Prix but I think there will be some other races this year that won't be like that," he said.Saturday qualifying and grid position will be even more critical this year. "In the past you could get out of jail sometimes but it's not the case this year," he said. "It wasn't the case in Bahrain, most people were in the position where they qualified."Lean as a whippet Webber is fighting fit, having lost the 5kg he put on over the off-season and getting the all-clear for minor surgery in November. "I was the heaviest I've ever been," he said. "I know what people go through now when they hop on the scales and ask 'how the hell did that happen?' It was the first time in my life it happened to me."Last year's success is motivating him. "I'm more than fit enough to do the job I need to do."

I also predicted Tander would make a comeback and being the champion he is, he did it in style.  What I didn't foresee was all the heartache our team would suffer.The biggest upset was my teammate, Jamie, receiving a mechanical black flag in the last few laps of the race when he was challenging for the lead. I didn't see it happen, but I sure found out about it when I got back to the pits.  The officials virtually decided the race with that one.Everyone knows that when you have a panel, window, door or whatever coming ajar, then you are going to get a mechanical black flag and you have to come in and address the issue.  But we also all know that if there is something hanging off and it then falls off, then the stewards don't take any more action.Jamie was given the orders to obey the black flag and he intended to do so as any of us would.   But then the rear diffuser fell off and he should have been allowed to continue.  The way the situation was handled was very bad and Jamie has a right to feel hard done by.It's an issue that has now raised its ugly head and we have to sort it out. Unfortunately, Jamie had to pay the price in exposing an area of our rule book that needs a good clean up.  Another issue that needs addressing after the Adelaide race is the kerbing on turn eight.It was more than a little bit concerning when we first approached that corner to see there were lumps of concrete flying everywhere.  It was lucky nothing was damaged underneath the cars or any tyres blown.We were instructed not to use the kerb after that.  Turn eight seems to go under the microscope every year and they made another adjustment this year with the kerbing, the wall and the Armco. It was a new design and I think they will have to go back to the drawing board on that one.Speaking of kerbing, it was also interesting to see the effect of the penalty in qualifying for jumping he kerb in the first chicane.  No one can really complain.  We were all told beforehand what would happen if we jumped the kerb with all four tyres and then right through practice 99 per cent of the drivers got a warning of too much kerb hopping.You may find this hard to believe given my love of getting some air, but I wasn't one of the 99 per cent, so I was a god boy for a change.  It's difficult, but drivers have to understand that on street circuits there are always going to be tyre bundles and kerbs to keep us away from concrete walls that can do a lot of damage.Cheeseburger (Shane van Gisbergen) found out what happens when you tangle with the tyre bundles you bend your steering.  We all dislike the tyre bundles and kerbing, but we know why they are there to protect our cars from damage.I knew it would be a race of carnage and unfortunately our strategy of pitting early put us in amongst the argy bargy of the backmarkers and we found ourselves struggling to fight our way back through the field.  Consequently there were a few incidents along the way, some of which I was on the receiving end of and one involving Will Davison where I was in the wrong.I was passing Will down the inside of Rick (Kelly) and tagged the back of him sending him around and tagging my own nose. Then I got a hit from behind by Todd (Kelly).  It was a bit of a mess, but it was just one of those incidents.I spoke to Will after the race and apologised and he was upset but ok and he accepted it.  Our early pit strategy was all about fuel economy which dictated the race and handed victory to Tander.  We still don't really know what our consumption is like, but we're gradually getting some knowledge together.We were about five laps short of being able to do a two-stop pit strategy like Tander.  Unfortunately our strategy meant we were behind the eight ball after an early pit stop and then struggled to get back our rhythm and track position.It's a hard enough race being out in front, but back in the pack for 78 laps in a concrete canyon with not a lot of room to manuevre or adjust is nearly impossible.  Impossible doesn't seem to be a word in Michael Schumacher's vocabulary.After Sunday's race we sat down and watched the Formula One in Abu Dhabi where we were just two weeks ago and I have to say the cars looked fantastic and fast.  Schu did an amazing job of his comeback. To finish in the points on his return to the pinnacle of motor racing is just unbelievable.It was also pretty amazing to see Ferrari go one-two and to see Massa come back from that horrendous crash of last year.  As a driver I was pleased to know that he had fully recovered from his head injury.People had doubts and said he wouldn't have the speed or commitment but he proved he hasn't lost anything.  He's good for a championship.

I've just come from driving in sand storms in the Mid East to return home to flooding in South East Queensland.  We didn't get a lot of the summer rains on our cattle property, but in the past week we have copped a drenching and most of the roads around our area were under water. All our dams are either full or getting there.That's a far cry from how we finished the race on Sunday with sandblasted tyres, bonnets and windscreens and sand through almost every part of the car, plus in my ears and my race suit. It finds its way in everywhere.There were a lot of positives to come out of the first two rounds in the Mid East.  I think all the fans will have noticed that because of the open and flowing tracks there were no safety cars to slow the action down.That's not only a testament to the quality of the tracks, but also to the mature driving of a lot of the racers.  I was able to race door to door with guys like Tander, Johnson and Courtney without exchanging any paint.At the start of the season, the drivers have a lot of anxiety and enthusiasm than can get the better of you so it was good to get that out of our systems on such open circuits.  Usually we start the season in Adelaide which is a tough and uncompromising street circuit where you can do a lot of damage.We now have two rounds under our belts, so we can settle down a bit for the Clipsal next weekend.  Our car was quickest in practice in Bahrain, but we made some adjustments for the top 10 shootout to try and get more front turn because we had struggled with understeer on a simulated top 10 run.Ultimately we went too far and got a lot more turn than we expected which gave the car a nervous rear end.  Consequently we qualified ninth, but I was happy with the car set-up and we got through the field to third, thanks to Jeromy (Moore), my race engineer, who called the shots with a good race strategy.On the Sunday we developed a surprising clutch problem just before the second pit stop.  I stalled the car twice in the pits and only just managed to get it out again.Upshift was ok, but the downshifts into corners were very difficult without locking the rear tyres so we were happy to salvage an 11th. It wasn't such a bad result given our problems.  That is what the season is about. You have to maximise your position and score as many points as you can, even when luck is against you.Unfortunately, Will (Davison) and Garth (Tander) haven't been able to do that.  They've had a terrible start to the season which is a real surprise.  That team is so professional, they haven't changed manufacturer and they have the same cars as last year, so we expected HRT to be ultra-competitive right from the get-go.But don't right them off. They can come back. Every time you have races like that it just gives you motivation to do better.  However, every time they have races like that people like Jamie will just open that gap even more.  HRT have a lot of work in front of them. To win a championship while scoring so few points in two rounds out of 15 is almost impossible.Interesting to note that if we were still a Ford team, Ford would have the top five positions in the standings right now.  I still think it's amazing how we have hit the ground running with two new Holdens.It's my best start to a series in two years. Who would have thought that?  But people have to remember that the two tracks we have come from are open, fast, slowing and smooth. Now we head to some rough and demanding circuits, none more so than the streets of Adelaide.I see V8 Supercars has stitched up TV deals with Fox Sports in Australia plus subscriber channels in Asia and the US.  That's great that we're increasing our global exposure, but hopefully they don't sacrifice the local fans along the way.I suppose we have to remember that there are a lot of expat Aussies in all corners of the world who only have the internet to catch up with the V8s.  For the drivers it is encouraging to know we will have more worldwide coverage and possibly increase our fan base.Speaking of fan bases, may character, Conrod, in the children's TV show Roary the Race Car has apparently gone down really well and created some interest.  There's no fan mail streaming in just yet, but I believe the episodes were successful for the BBC in England and the ABC here.  I loved it and hopefully we can do some more episodes for them.

And he's certainly caught more than his share.  The Valiant Pacer was the performance version of the Valiant, in the days when the Australian car industry had the Big Three GM with its Holdens and Monaro, Ford with its Falcons and GT and Chrysler with its Valiants.Mr Moularas is pictured with just one of his collection, a 1970 VG Valiant Pacer, an ex-race car.  Chrysler and Valiant fans this year are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the VG model that not only introduced the famous Hemi six-cylinder engine but also stamped the Pacer as a performance and race car.  The Pacer was the first Valiant to be competitive in the Bathurst long distance race and it spawned the Valiant Charger."I've had this Pacer for three years," Mr Moularas says. "It's a late 1970 model and at the moment it's got a higher-spec 265 (cubic inch) engine in it and a four-speed gearbox. They came out with three-speed boxes and many of them have been replaced with four-speeds over the years."It's race history is a bit sketchy; I'm still researching that. But there are indications that Leo Geoghegan drove it, if you look at the shadow lines of the stickers. "I've kept it as original as possible and you can see where it's had a rollcage."Mr Moularas, a member of the Chrysler Car Club, arguably has the biggest collection of top-condition Pacers in Australia.  "It becomes a disease," he says. He says VG Pacers are "fantastic" to drive. They're thirsty on fuel but a good highway car and people are always stopping to talk about them."VG models had rectangular headlights distinguishing them from the previous VF model. But the major change of the VG was the engine: it introduced the Hemi 6, a 245 cubic inch (four-litre) inline six-cylinder engine to replace the earlier Slant Six. The "hemispherical" combustion chambers were claimed to be more efficient and so give better power.Stirling Moss became the brand's ambassador in 1970. Legend in Adelaide has it that when he was flown to do a TV commercial, he bogged a Valiant on a south coast beach, only for a film crew member to slip into the seat and drive it out.  A previous-model Pacer had come 17th at Bathurst in 1969 with former News Ltd motoring writer the late Mike Kable at the wheel but that had a fairly undeveloped engine.The VG model, however, had the Pacer with a 138kW engine as standard but also could be had in E31, E34 and E35 engine options, the top unit having a four-barrel carburettor, performance camshaft, close-ratio gearbox and well over 175kW power.Allan Moffat won the 1970 Bathurst race in a thumping Falcon GT HO but only one lap behind was Doug Chivas in a Valiant Pacer in fourth place. The tortoise-and-the-hare scenario is indicated by the qualifying times, Moffat 11 seconds as lap faster than the lighter Chivas Pacer which nevertheless finished the race on 129 laps to Moffat's 130.Leo Geoghegan was fifth in a Pacer with yet another Pacer in seventh, despite its three-speed gearbox. Chrysler had a local components policy and did not want to use an imported four-speed.  The Hemi engine was developed to the amazing 265 (4340cc) E49 unit of the Charger which really took on the V8s from 1971.Of the more than half a million Valiants built at the now-closed Tonsley Park plant of Chrysler (latterly Mitsubishi) in Adelaide, 46,374 were VG models. Only a small proportion were Pacers. Most were sedans with wagons, utes, two-door hardtops and the quad-round headlight VIP luxury version also in the mix.

The most successful driver to strap into a Ford, with four Bathurst wins and a matching set of touring car championship trophies, has just been brought back into the blue oval family.Moffat has been mostly ignored for the past two decades - and not just because he chose to race for Mazda and Holden after his Mustang and Falcon heydays - although he managed to do nicely as a driving instructor with BMW, which kept him in a classy car for a long time.  It seemed like nobody at Broadmeadows knew what they had.Yet Moffat is a dead-set legend and draws Brock-sized crowds whenever he shows up at a motoring or motorsport event. Ordinary people want to talk to him, want his autograph, want to stand beside him for a picture.His new job as an ambassador for Ford Performance Vehicles shows the company he championed is finally getting serious about leveraging its success and its heroes.Dick Johnson is also back in the family, after being punted at the end of 2008, Ford has finally appointed a new motorsport manager in former F1 man Chris Styring, and Moffat's speedy son James has been recruited as part of the Ford Performance Racing squad for 2010.The push comes right from the top, as Ford Australia's latest president knows the value of history and heritage and heroes. It's taken Marin Burela a while to get things in place, but he promised action when he hit Bathurst last year and he has now delivered.Moffat will do a great job for FPV and Ford, but it's Styring who has the big challenge. Ford has only eight cars in this year's V8 Supercar championship and that means he has to do the best with what he has while also building for the future.Mark Winterbottom and James Courtney are quick and promotable, but Ford also managed to punt the crack Triple Eight team under previous bosses so Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes are now part of the red team at Holden. And that is going to hurt.Still, something is better than nothing and Ford has a lot of good stuff to celebrate. Now it needs to to tell the rest of Australia that it's committed to the Falcon and the new generation building their own legends in the mold of Moffat.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

Our testing at Queensland Raceway on Tuesday in wet conditions wasn't exactly the right warm-up for the hot and dry conditions at Abu Dhabi and Bahrain over the next couple of weeks, but at least we got to run through some set-ups with the car.  We've got another test today (FRIDAY) before we head off to the Mid-East.The good news is that the Commodore seems to respond the same as the Falcon.  By that I mean that if they added 5 per cent downforce on the rear wing of the Falcon, I knew how to adjust the brake bias. I am finding I can do the same adjustments on the Commodore for the same results.Having said that, the Holden feels more stable at the back, but doesn't turn in as sharp.  The engine feels strong, but it's hard for us to know what car speed will be like because QR isn't a high-speed circuit.  We weren't the fastest in testing, but we've not really put our best foot forward yet, either.Tuesday's test showed that Courtney is carrying on his form from last year with good pace.  Ingall has come to grips with the new car quite well and he's also showing good speed.And Murph is right on the pace considering it's not his normal test track. He's come up from the South Pole and seems to be doing well. This is a brand new challenge for him.  One to watch out for is Jonathon Webb who circulated with reasonable lap times.Glad to say Jamie and I mixed it up pretty well with them all. There was no real stand-out.  Testing is one thing, but no one ever knows what tyres teams are running and what their plan is for the test day, so lap times really mean nothing.The true speed will come when we get to Abu Dhabi.  It should be interesting because Abu Dhabi is a totally new race track for everyone and I hear it even has a corkscrew like the famous corkscrew at Laguna Seca. It drops 15m over 100m. Wow! That should be interesting.  Even Bahrain will be new to everyone because this year we are racing the full-length circuit.There has been some good news and bad news in V8 Supercars this past week. It's great that the Ipswich race is definitely on, but it is really sad news that Barbagallo has been axed from the calendar.To be a true national sport, we have to be in every state.  It's sad news for the West Australian fans, in particular. Let's hope that something can be done for next year so we are back there racing again.As it stands at the moment, I could be the last winner there. Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better about the situation.  I know it's a long way off, but I've been thinking a lot about the Indy _ I mean the Gold Coast SuperCarnivale. I suppose it will always be the Indy to the drivers and the fans.Doubling the race distance and shortening the track will be great for the fans. They'll see the cars go past more often and for twice as long.   However, I also predict now that it will also mean double the carnage.That circuit is a graveyard for cars as it is. Twice the distance and it will really claim some victims.  It might make for great footage on the TV, but it will be hell for the teams.

Casey Stoner delivered a stirring win and a stern rebuke to his critics when he romped to his third straight Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix victory.The 24-year-old Ducati wizard held off world champion Valentino Rossi, who hounded him throughout the race, to cross the line 1.9 seconds ahead of the Italian with Honda's Dani Pedrosa a distant third.Stoner continued his remarkable comeback from a mystery illness which prompted a 10-week break from the series. He returned two weeks ago in Portugal and finished second to the surprise of his rivals.  But Sunday's victory, where he led virtually from the drop of the flag, was one of his sweetest under the circumstances.Throughout his layoff the Australian had had to put up with rumours he was retiring, was sick of racing, was in dispute with his team - but he produced the perfect answer today.  "At the start of the season we were competitive enough to fight for the championship but by the time we got halfway through we were just collecting points, we weren't fighting for anything," Stoner said."That's why we decided to take that decision to take time off - and this is the result of it.  I think without taking that time off we wouldn't be anywhere near the podium step today, things would have been too difficult for me and, physically, definitely I wouldn't have been able to last the race.  It's just been fantastic to come back and get a second in Portugal and (have) almost enough pace to win it and here have the pace to win ... I can't ask for more.  We definitely made the right decision to take that time off and find our way."Stoner said he remained wary after his weakening illness, waiting for his "arms to start buckling" every time he went under brakes "but it just never came".  "I was definitely a little bit more exhausted in Portugal - of course the weather was a little hotter and we hadn't done any physical training," he said."We've done a little bit this last week just to get myself back up there a little bit and there were no problems through the race."  In fact, Stoner said he could have stepped up the pace and was able to pull away from Rossi every time the Yamaha rider closed.  "I thought the track conditions were good enough to go a little bit faster than what we were," Stoner said."We were struggling with rear-end grip - I think everybody was to a certain point - but that's something we struggle with in general with our bike at the moment.  "We tried to go every which way with our settings ... but we just can't get grip out of the corners at most of the circuits we go to.  When we solve that I think things will come along a lot better and it will work a lot more smoothly."Stoner's win was his third this year, after victories in the season-opener in Qatar and in Italy, and it moved him to third place in the world championship, despite missing three rounds.It was also his 19th MotoGP victory, moving him one spot ahead of Australia's first world champion, Wayne Gardner.

Its 5 degrees here in Bathurst and we’ve just finished the walk around the track in cold, cold drizzle. All the team have their jackets and beanies on, trying to beat this cold while they work out some new strategies for qualifying and the race. We hadn’t figured on this. All our strategies have been for a dry race, so well have to develop some new strategies.They say it is going to be cold and wet all weekend. I guess that’s just the way it goes, but at least it’s the same for everyone. Im pretty sure and I’m hoping that we will get some rain during the practice sessions so we can at least work things out and get the car settings right for the wet. It will then be a fairer and more exciting race if everyone has had a chance to prepare. If not, then the cars won’t handle too well and there will be some carnage and no one wcan’ts to see that.One strategy we have sorted out that I can tell you about now is that the team has decided Craig (Lowndes) will qualify and start, and hopefully I can steer the ship home. I did the qualifying last year and he did it the previous years. Either way it seems to be a winning strategy. Craig’s done a great job all year and he knows this track like the back of his hand so he’ll do a good job again, I’m sure.When I got on the plane on Monday it suddenly hit me that the rest of the year is full-blown motorsport right through to the decider at Homebush in December. It’s going to be full on with racing and all the off-track promo work as well. We’ve really hit the ground running this week with heaps of PR stuff, meeting the fans and signing autographs.Its not a distraction from the race. I never get sick of it and Im particularly looking forward to the annual barbecue we put on at the top of the mountain for our fans on Friday after the qualifying session. Even our team boss, Roland Dane, will be there. Should be great fun.Its all part of the hectic pace Ill have to get used to over the next few months. And Ive only made it more hectic for myself by accepting the race of Champions in Beijing in November.Speaking of which, my teammate in that event is Mick Doohan and he’s here this weekend, so Ill be catching up with him to work out our strategies to beat the rest of the world. I hear Mick has backed me to win this weekend. That’s a good start on the teamsmanship.However, I hear a few others think the odds are against us becoming the first crew in race history to win four straight Bathursts. Doesn’t worry me. Records are made to be broken.I also hear Mark Larkham thinks we will be too distracted by the change next year to Holden, but we’ve built cars before for ourselves and other teams and it hasn’t distracted us. We are definitely focused on this event. It may be a one-off, but it counts for so much in the championships.The track looks very similar to last year, but with some improved safety. Over the top theyve added some yellow lights so we get more warning of a crash and theyve made some changes to the surface and the off-track area around the Esses so we dont get rubble on the road.There have been some safety issues in the past, but it just goes to show that they have listened and addressed it.