scott wrote:

>> ...or not. Apparently she's in "jerez" at the moment. :-(
> 
> The F1 track at Jerez is used a lot by the teams for testing...  Make 
> sure you know how to pronounce it correctly when you speak to her :-)

My dad said the same thing. (He follows F1. I used to too - before they 
started changing the rules once per season...)

Apparently it isn't proncounced "jerez"...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/

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St. wrote:

>> ...yeah. OK. Um. I am still trying to convince this girl to meet me. :-P
> 
>        So you've asked her for a date. What did she actually say to you?

No, I haven't yet. I'm just trying to find out when she isn't busy. (But 
it's now been almost a week since I last communicated with her...)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/

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> My dad said the same thing. (He follows F1. I used to too - before they 
> started changing the rules once per season...)

As far back as I can remember they have always changed part of the rules 
every season.

From around 1980 onwards F1 suddenly became very popular, the teams had huge 
amounts of cash and so started developing all these weird and wonderful ways 
to go faster.  The new rules were basically to keep all the whacky ideas at 
bay (eg no 6-wheeled cars, no fans to suck the car onto the tarmac, no 
rocket fuel, no 3 foot wide tyres).  Before this time teams didn't have the 
money to invest in this stuff, so the rules weren't needed.

After 1994 suddenly the emphasis changed to safety after the deaths of Senna 
and Ratzenburger.  Each year stricter and stricter rules were introduced to 
make the sport safer. More severe crash tests, wheels that are tethered to 
the chassis, that neck support system.  Now in F1 hardly anyone gets 
seriously injured, even if they hit a wall or roll over at 150mph.

In the last few years the gap between the top and bottom teams has been 
widening because of the amount of cash the teams have.  The top teams would 
be bringing 10 or so engines to each race, with engines specifically for 
3-lap qualifiying that would be useless afterwards.  The bottom teams could 
not afford to do this.  So since then the rules have been changed to reduce 
the performance gap between the teams, like only allowing one engine every 
two races, no engine re-design during the season, only 4 sets of tyres per 
event, etc.

Who knows what will happen next, but for sure the rules won't ever remain 
the same.

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scott wrote:

> As far back as I can remember they have always changed part of the rules 
> every season.

Yeah, but, they used to change the rules in such tiny ways that nobody 
outside the teams would ever notice.

I'm talking about when they decided "hey, what the heck? Let's just 
randomly have *two* qualifying sessions instead of one!"

> From around 1980 onwards F1 suddenly became very popular, the teams had 
> huge amounts of cash and so started developing all these weird and 
> wonderful ways to go faster.  The new rules were basically to keep all 
> the whacky ideas at bay (eg no 6-wheeled cars, no fans to suck the car 
> onto the tarmac, no rocket fuel, no 3 foot wide tyres).  Before this 
> time teams didn't have the money to invest in this stuff, so the rules 
> weren't needed.

It just amuses me. Everybody tells you that F1 is the apex of 
technology. But it isn't really. Every time they invent some technology, 
it instantly gets banned. So it's not really the apex at all...

I wonder - how fast would the cars be able to go without all the 
restrictions?

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/

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Yeh some stuff gets banned, usually because it already breaks an existing 
rule, or it would mean the cars would go too fast.  The FIA routinely bring 
in new rules to stop the cars going too fast - it's just dangerous.  There's 
plenty of invention that doesn't get banned though, it just doesn't make the 
papers because it's not very exciting.

> I wonder - how fast would the cars be able to go without all the 
> restrictions?

Well I would imagine they could easily make a car so that no human driver 
could survive the G force for two hours...

F1 cars already brake and corner at up to 4G, it would be pretty easy to up 
that to 7 or 8G and similar for acceleration if there were no rules.

Things which would make the biggest difference to speed:
- Larger engine capacity
- Turbo chargers (with no limit on pressure)
- No regulation on fuel type
- No minimum weight
- Moveable aero devices (ie like a plane wing that changes shape depending 
on whether it wants maximum lift or minimum drag)
- Wider tyres
- Stickier tyres
- Not as many safety features

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46f2abef$1@news.povray.org...
> Apparently it isn't proncounced "jerez"...

Yes it is of course, but in the Spanish way  ;-)

Marc

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"M_a_r_c" <jac### [at] wanadoofr> wrote in message 
news:46f3d38f$1@news.povray.org...
>

> 46f2abef$1@news.povray.org...
>> Apparently it isn't proncounced "jerez"...
>
> Yes it is of course, but in the Spanish way  ;-)

"Yereth"?...

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46f458c7$1@news.povray.org...
> "M_a_r_c" <jac### [at] wanadoofr> wrote in message 
> news:46f3d38f$1@news.povray.org...
>>

>> 46f2abef$1@news.povray.org...
>>> Apparently it isn't proncounced "jerez"...
>>
>> Yes it is of course, but in the Spanish way  ;-)
>
> "Yereth"?...

The "j"  (jota) is pronounced almost as the "ch" in the German "ach" with 
the back part of the tongue against the back of the palate . I think there 
is no equivalent in English but in Gaelic and Welsh there is a softer 
version.
The "r" is rolled with the tip of the tongue  against the joint between 
teeth and palate
The English hard "th" is a good approximation of the Spanish "z".
The chaining of "j" and "r" is a little tricky at 1st try but not more than 
chaining "th" and "s" for non native
English speakers :-)
I found a  very well explained site but it is in spanish of course
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/spanish/frameset.html

Marc

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"M_a_r_c" <jac### [at] wanadoofr> wrote in message 
news:46f4bc17$1@news.povray.org...
>

> 46f458c7$1@news.povray.org...
>> "M_a_r_c" <jac### [at] wanadoofr> wrote in message 
>> news:46f3d38f$1@news.povray.org...
>>>

>>> 46f2abef$1@news.povray.org...
>>>> Apparently it isn't proncounced "jerez"...
>>>
>>> Yes it is of course, but in the Spanish way  ;-)
>>
>> "Yereth"?...
>
> The "j"  (jota) is pronounced almost as the "ch" in the German "ach" with 
> the back part of the tongue against the back of the palate . I think there 
> is no equivalent in English but in Gaelic and Welsh there is a softer 
> version.
> The "r" is rolled with the tip of the tongue  against the joint between 
> teeth and palate
> The English hard "th" is a good approximation of the Spanish "z".
> The chaining of "j" and "r" is a little tricky at 1st try but not more 
> than chaining "th" and "s" for non native
> English speakers :-)
> I found a  very well explained site but it is in spanish of course
> http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/spanish/frameset.html

Marc, thanks!

I had forgotten those '-ch" as in "Bach" sounds are in Spanish, let alone 
attached to "j".  Portuguese has a similar sound, at least in the Brazilian 
form, but I think it is in the European.  "R" at the beginning of a word, or 
a doubled "rr" in a word also have the tongue against the back of the palate 
in that fricative, unclosed "kh" sound.  Eg. "Rio de Janeiro" and "arroz" 
(rice).  Single "r" not beginning a word sounds as expected, and often has a 
single-tap roll of the tongue, eg. "Garota de Ipanema" (Girl from Ipanema).

Yes, the 'j' does make it harder to hit the roll on the "r".  Been 
practicing, and it's a challenge.
-- 
Cheers,
  Brian

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46f512e9@news.povray.org...
> Yes, the 'j' does make it harder to hit the roll on the "r".  Been 
> practicing, and it's a challenge.
> -- 
> Cheers,
>  Brian


My Spanish teacher at shool gave us a training phrase "El general 
Zumalacarregui es verdaderamente un grande general"
the "g" is pronounced same as jota before a "e" or "i" and the "v"  as a "b" 
(v de vaca , b de buey to spell the difference)

Marc

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