Posted on 11/07/2010 5:33:11 AM PST by pobeda1945
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tested his capacities as a Formula 1 pilot, driving a racing car for several hours at a speed of 240 km/ h (149 miles per hour) on a special track in the Leningrad Region in Russia's northwest.
Three racing cars - two vehicles for racing in the Formula's youth completions and one intended for the Formula 1 Grand Prix, were put on show in St. Petersburg on November 6 and 7. As part of the presentation of the racing cars, Putin personally drove a racing car on a special track in the Leningrad Region. Before getting into the car's cockpit, the premier received detailed instructions on how to drive the racing car.
The premier put on a helmet with Russia's national emblem and the word Russia inscribed on it, and also a Formula 1 outfit with his initials. The yellow color of the racing car was reminiscent of the Lada Kalina sport car that Putin had used to drive along the Chita-Khabarovsk Highway in the Russian Far East earlier this year.
A month ago, Putin attended a ceremony of signing an agreement with Formula One in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi, under which Russia will stage a Grand Prix in the country between 2014 and 2020.
Am I a bad person for liking Putin more than Obama?
My nephew was a high performance tire testing engineer for Firestone a few years back at Ft. Stockton, TX. Went to schools to become qualified to drive all the major race venues to test their tires (Italy, Japan, Calif). His “job interview” was to drive a ZR1 around the track at Ft. Stockton, Tx at over 170 mph.
Thanks for that picture. I wos hoping it would show up next to Putin’s picture.
wos = was. Fast finger, slow brain morning. Must be the time change.
yup, drive it like ya stole it...
Would one expect the “opponent” to defeat Pooty-Poot? Siberian gulags still operational?
Go into any high school locker room in America and you’ll find boys who have driven pretty close to that speed, and not on a nice banked oval track.
Put it last on your bucket list just in case.
You succumb easily to staged Russian propaganda.
“Am I a bad person for liking Putin more than Obama?”
Not at all, but the nimrods on the left will label you a...RACIST!
LOL!
By the way ... look at that photo.
Who hangs curtains on a window marked with a EXIT sign? And also who hangs curtains before the painting job is finished (note the blue wall on the right, painter’s tape on the window to the left, and unfinished paint above the window)?
Also when you hang that kind of curtain rod, you bring it down onto the clip and drop it in. You don’t come from the bottom up.
This, like everything else with Zero, is posed. and posed poorly.
Also keep in mind that race cars do NOT have a speedometer (unless it’s showroom stock or a derivative). THAT particular F1 car might have been set up to display speed in the cockpit, but likely the speed was displayed back in the paddock, not IN the car. The Tach and oil pressure are your most important gauges, and you check those when you’re not busy, like AFTER you have completed your turn exit and have a bit of straightaway in front of you..
What you need to know when going REALLY fast comes to you through your eyes, ears, feet and butt. The tach and oil pressure gauge help keep you from breaking things.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!
I am the original owner of a '69 Charger 500 Hemi, so I'm familiar with 150+, and yer right, it's no big deal.....in a straight line.
BUT....the article does not mention where these speeds were obtained.
Were they top end speeds at end of very long straight? If so, why bother? Granny could do it.
Or were they on shorter straights on a road course? Lots harder, even for granny.
OR were they average lap speeds on a road course? NOW you are getting into F1 territory, and this ain't for the faint hearted.
I suspect it was the last. Regardless of what you think of Putin, he IS a macho SOB, so I can't imagine he would be double-clutching his way around in third gear in a real F1 car.
That's not to say he has any real racing talent, just big cajones and a whole country's wallet.
It takes both.
Am I envious?
No, because I have done these things myself (and hope I still can at 58).
However, I do prefer that America's current leadership be capable of such things in comparison.
Physically capable leaders set a better example of manhood and individual strength.
Do you honestly think that Obama could physically take on ANYONE, let alone a former KGB agent?
The thought of Obama driving 150+ MPH in ANYTHING is enough to cause concern.
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