AUTO MANIA: by Dr. Iain Corness [email protected]

So now it’s the German GP

Hockenheim

Jim Clark

This Sunday is the German GP, which is being held at Hockenheim, not Nurburgring. It was opened in 1939, 15 miles from Heidelberg, and was used for German national car and motorcycle racing. In 1965/6 it was uprated to a design by John Hugenholz because one end was lost when an autobahn was built. The resulting 6.7 km long circuit remained blindingly quick for most of its length, with a slow section in the ‘stadium’ (i.e. grandstand) area, similar in concept to the arena course at Silverstone.
Hockenheim achieved notoriety in 1968 when, at one of the first major races held at the circuit, Jim Clark was killed in a Formula Two race following presumed tyre failure. His actual death was caused, however, by the fact that his car was able to leave the circuit unimpeded and hit a tree.
While the Nurburgring was being made safe, Hockenheim staged the 1970 German GP with a layout made slower by the construction of three chicanes. It was not a popular choice of venue but, following Lauda’s accident at the Nurburgring in 1976, Hockenheim became the home of the German GP for many years, but these days alternates annually with the ‘new’ Nurburgring.
With German cars and German drivers to the fore, there will be much nationalistic pride exhibited. Expect a thrilling race.
We will be watching in front of the big screen in Jameson’s Irish Pub, Soi AR, next to Nova Park. The race starts at 7 p.m. Thai time Sunday (Qualifying is at 7 p.m. Saturday), but get there around 6 p.m. for a good seat and join us for some dinner and a couple of drinks before the start.
A few words about Jim Clark is in order. With almost 20 Grands Prix in a year these days, statistics can be very deceptive. When Clark was competing there were generally about 10 Grands Prix only, so obviously his total number of wins were less than those of today, but look at these statistics to get an idea of just how good Jim Clark was as a Grand Prix driver: He holds the record for most Grand Slams, taking pole, fastest lap, race win and leading every lap of the race in 8 races (1962 British Grand Prix, 1963 Dutch Grand Prix, 1963 French Grand Prix, 1963 Mexican Grand Prix, 1964 British Grand Prix, 1965 South African Grand Prix, 1965 French Grand Prix, 1965 German Grand Prix).
Jim Clark won the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in extremely wet, foggy and rainy conditions. After starting eighth on the grid Clark passed all of the cars in front of him, including early leader Graham Hill. About 17 laps into the race, with the rain coming down harder than ever, Clark had not only lapped the entire field except for Bruce McLaren, but he was almost five minutes ahead of McLaren and his Cooper. This would be the first of seven victories for Clark and Team Lotus that year. Clark was also a winner in touring cars, Indy cars, F2, F1 and rallies. A huge talent.
Gone, but not forgotten.

Selecting your new car - heart or head?

Tight Scotsman?

A new study shows that our heart rules our head when it comes to buying a car. While we want to believe we are acting rationally, the report shows much of the decision is actually based on emotions.
The Hiscox Head vs. Heart Motor study on the conscious and subconscious influences that come into play when we buy a car, gave some surprising results. Its findings show that people say that the responsible ‘head’ factors such as reliability, value, safety, insurance premiums, fuel efficiency and shape are more important to them. However, the research uncovered that a number of ‘heart’ factors are more important to people than they admit. These ‘heart’ factors were comfort, interior design, the manufacturer, color, gadgets and speed.
The research reveals some fascinating contradictions. Although people said reliability, value for money and fuel efficiency were the most important to them, their subconscious thought was focusing on entirely different things - comfort, reliability and safety. Reliability was closest to male hearts, while women subconsciously preferred comfort.
The study showed that we have an emotive response to cars; it is not just the way the car looks but how the engine sounds, the upholstery feels and smells, the way the steering wheel feels beneath the hands, as well as the subjective value of how we feel behind the wheel. Subconsciously, we let our hearts rule our heads and are going to be guided more by our emotional reaction than our rational response the next time we go to buy a car.”
This survey was done in the UK, and it actually showed regional differences. Value for money when buying a car was more important to the Scots (10 percent above average) than to any other region, as was fuel efficiency (15 percent above average) - suggesting the Scots were more concerned with getting the best deal both when it comes to buying and running their vehicle than the other nine regions surveyed (and tight-fisted it seems). Value for money was least important to Londoners (17 percent below average).

Formula Whizzzz

Formula E

The new FIA Formula E begins this year in Beijing. The electric race cars have been designed and built by Spark Racing Technology, the SRT 01E has a monocoque chassis produced by Dallara from carbon fiber and aluminum which complies with the 2014 FIA crash tests. McLaren Electronics Systems is in charge of providing the electric motor, gearbox and electronics, while Williams Advanced Engineering takes care of the design, battery supply and battery management system.
The electric Formula E car has an output of 268 bhp (200 kW) and comes with custom 18 inch treaded tires developed by Michelin which will be used for both dry and wet conditions. Renault will be responsible for seeing all the parts put together, as well as dealing with performance optimization and powertrain electrical safety.
All 10 teams and 20 drivers will use the same cars to compete next year in the Formula E Championship. This will apply only for the inaugural season as Formula E wants to be an open championship which encourages automakers to build their own electric racers.
There will be an Indian Team from Mahindra, better known for light trucks, with the drivers being Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok. With new technology, as well as unknown city street circuits to contend with, Senna gave his thoughts about the championship and the technology.
“The commitment of the Mahindra factory and the key personnel has been very inspirational for us; to come to a new championship and see that everyone behind the scenes are completely on board and want to win as much as you do is great. As a driver you go into every championship wanting to win so seeing the same attitude in the garage and in Mahindra’s top personnel fills you with confidence.
“There are a few things that excite me (about the Formula E championship). First off, I love driving single seater race cars so that’s definitely a very big pull for more alongside the venues where we will have the opportunity to race - street circuits always throw up some fantastic racing. But it’s also very important to be involved in a championship which is developing technology which could potentially be used in the road cars of the future in order to make lives more sustainable. It’s certainly a pioneering enterprise and something I’m very interested in as well as the fantastic technology surrounding it.
“I had two years driving the Formula 1 car with KERS so I understood that aspect of the car and hopefully this will be good experience in Formula E. It is different but there are always aspects that you can take with you and work on. Formula E is an efficiency race so the more I know the better. I’m aiming to get as much homework done before the season so that I can maximize our potential and get the extra knowledge.
“You will probably never convert the hard-core Formula One fans - they like their screaming engines. However for general motorsport fans who enjoy single seaters, touring cars and endurance racing all together I think they’ll be more open to it because it’s another great motorsport series.
“I think the big draw for the Championship is that the visual aspect of the racing is going to be incredible - the cars racing around streets of cities will have such an impact that you will concentrate only on the spectacular sight on track.
“If we had started Formula One with electric motors and suddenly changed to a combustion engine the shock would be the same. It’s just a case of getting used to the differences and embracing them.”

Formula E calendar (subject to change!)
13-Sep	Beijing	Beijing
18-Oct	Putrajaya	Putrajaya
13-Dec	Punta del Este	Punta del Este
10 Jan ‘15	Buenos Aires	Buenos Aires
14 Feb ‘15	Los Angeles	Los Angeles
14 Mar ’15	Miami	Miami
4 Apr ‘15	Long Beach	Long Beach
9 May ‘15	Monaco	Monte Carlo
30 May ’15	Berlin	Berlin
27 Jun ‘15	London	London

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked what car was this? Born in 1970 of mixed parentage (Italian and French) with a top speed of 229 KMH. It was the Citroen SM, after the French manufacturer bought Maserati, slotting the Italian engine into the Citroen.
So to this week. What car was this? GRP body on a tubular steel chassis. It had one door, one headlight and one wiper. It had a chrome handle in the middle of the rear instead of a reverse gear - you just pulled it to wherever you wanted, as it weighed under 60 kg. Clue: it was only 135 cm long!
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].