The Formula 1 circus arrives in Germany this weekend
for the Nurburgring race. What a pity it is not on the “old” circuit.
That would really sort out the men from the boys. Once again, ‘safety’
rules forced the closure of the 22 km circuit to the GP cars, and a new
sanitized ‘safe’ circuit was built. To pinch Sir Stirling’s line, I
am old enough to remember when motor racing was dangerous and sex was
safe.
The last round at Barcelona would have been fairly dull
if it were not for Schumacher the elder’s shouldering out of the way of
Schumacher the younger. Ralf was certainly put in his place by big brother
Michael.
The strength of the McLaren Mercedes will have Ferrari
a little worried, and the refuelling pit work will have been worked on, I
am sure. Barichello will have spent a fortnight practicing starts under
the watchful eye of Jean Todt, as he has not done too well in that area
this year.
As
for the British racing green team, there is something very radically wrong
in the Jaguar’s lair. These racecars are about as unreliable as the
early Series 1 XJ 6’s! Herbert must cheer with every lap he manages to
complete, while Eddie the motormouth Irvine is not covering himself with
glory either. It is rumoured that Ferrari’s Ross Brawn has said that
Barichello has given Ferrari more feedback in four months than Eddie did
in four years!
With 12 Grand Prix to go, the Championship race is
still wide open, and undoubtedly, Ferrari are not as dominant as they were
at the start of the season.
Join me “trackside” at Delaney’s Irish Pub on
Pattaya 2 Road for the GP on the big screen. They do stop the jazz to let
the motor racing enthusiasts enjoy the Grand Prix, so don’t worry if you
walk in before the start and the band is still playing!
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week, I asked about the famous Italian driver,
whose initials were “A.A.” and who drove for many manufacturers,
including FIAT, De Vecchi and Alfa Romeo. He was in his mid 30’s when he
died driving a racecar. He won many races in his career, including the
French GP, the European GP at Spa and the Italian GP. Of course it was too
easy to think that it was Alberto Ascari, one of the world’s best
drivers, but the name De Vecchi should have let you work it out. This was
not Alberto, but was in fact his famous father Antonio Ascari, who died
when his son, the future world champion, Alberto was only seven years old.
So to this week, and let’s stick with the father and
son routine. I am looking for the name of this driver - he raced for over
40 years, won three GP’s in his first year and was almost unbeatable in
hill climbs. His son followed him into the sport and also won hill climb
championships as well as being a top driver. Who was he?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first
correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected]. Remember
that Automania now has its own web page, complete with its own link? Look
up the Pattaya Mail on line at www.pattayamail.com. Tell your friends!
Nit-picker Notes!
A couple of weeks back, I asked about the first
Egyptian built motor car (1958), which was the Ramses, based on the 600 cc
NSU’s of the day. Next I received an email to say that there was no
Egypt in 1958, because it was part of the United Arab Republic with Syria
and so I suppose this was supposed to mean that then there was no Egyptian
car!
My dear sir, this is nit-picking. I don’t care if
Egypt was part of the UAR, or even the USSR, there was still a place
called Egypt. That place famous for a bit of sand that the pyramids sit
on, and had done for many a long year. To say there was no Egypt is like
saying there is no place called Scotland, because it is part of the United
Kingdom!
Anyway, for the edification of everyone, here’s a
couple of historical notes about the place, which didn’t exist in 1958,
called Egypt. In 1952, they got rid of King Farouk (of Egypt) for
excessive gluttony and other assorted indulgences of the flesh, and his
son was appointed. However, on the 18th of June 1953, the monarchy ended
and Egypt was declared a Republic and Mohamad Naguib was named as the
first President (of soon to become non existent Egypt). In 1954 Nasser
assumed control as the second president (of somewhere). During Nasser’s
presidency, extensive agricultural and industrial development projects
were carried out. Progressive economic and social reforms were implemented
for the benefit of the majority of the Egyptian people (that’s the
people living in the place called Egypt, that wasn’t there). Nasser
ruled from 1954 to 1970, and the Ramses car project was part of Egypt’s
industrial development plans.
Now all I need is John, one of my other picky readers,
to write in and ask what colour socks Nasser was wearing! Spare me!
Rollin’ off the line
It has been a busy time on the Eastern Seaboard in the
automotive sense, with General Motors driving the first commercially
produced Chevrolet Zafira off the assembly line a couple of weeks ago, and
BMW celebrating the opening of the new assembly plant on this publication
Friday, the 19th of May.
All this is good for the local auto industry and good
for the Eastern Seaboard community as well. Automania congratulates both
GeeEmm and BeeEmm and we look forward to driving your locally produced
products shortly. (At this stage, BMW are proposing to assemble the 318
and 323 models.)
Unfortunately, the BMW plant will not be building the
M5 in the foreseeable future. My Aussie motoring journo mate John Weinthal
has just finished a one week stint with the M5 and is in raptures over the
thing. Considering they cost around 5 million baht in Oz, this makes them
one of the most expensive cars down under. John will send up some words on
the M5 for next week’s Automania. Stay tuned!
