The London to Sydney Marathon 2000 comes through
Thailand this weekend. The cars left the UK in early June and have driven
through France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Greece and
Turkey with the cars and drivers all supposed to be in Chiang Mai by the
17th.
From there, they go to Petchabun, Cha-Am and Nakhon Si
Thammarat and then through to Malaysia by the 21st. They are supposed to
finish in Sydney on the 4th of July.
The event is in two sections - one is the
“Challenge” and is more of a scenic tour for current model vehicles
and the other is the “Competition” section for the older vehicles, as
per the original London to Sydney Marathon. There are loads of 911
Porsches, Ford Escorts (including some BDA models), Mustangs, a Hillman
Hunter (remember Andrew Cowan in one all those years ago), Ford Falcons, a
Skoda (brave souls) and a couple of Holden Kingswoods.
There are some interesting names in the list too. How
about Hannu Mikkola, the famous Finnish rally driver or Clay Reggazoni the
ex Ferrari Formula 1 driver? There is also Rick Bates, one of the current
crop of Aussie rally drivers and Ray Bellm from the UK who is a Le Mans
regular.
The Event Director is Nick Brittan, who organised the
last one if my memory serves me right. Nick used to race a mean MG Midget
in the UK in the 70s.
Canadian Grand Prix this
weekend
With only David Coulthard on a high after the Monaco
Grand Prix, it will be interesting to see what is going to happen in
Canada. Coulthard has out-qualified Hakkinen twice in the last two
meetings and there is no doubt about the fact the Finn is getting rattled.
Adding to that is Ron Dennis, who will swing behind the winningest member
of his team and Mika will be looking even glummer than usual!
In the Ferrari camp there will have been work done to
see why Schumacher’s suspension collapsed, and there will also be some
discussion as to Barichello’s performance. While Rubenho might have come
second at Monaco, he certainly didn’t “earn” it. For all
Barichello’s talk that there was no “Number 1” at Ferrari, his
performance shows that he definitely has the talent to be number 2 only.
If you want to join me “trackside”, you will find
me in front of the big screen at Delaney’s Irish Pub on Second Road.
Starting time should be a red eyed midnight, but check!
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week, we spoke about the first NZ Grand Prix where
the incredible BRM was driven by ERA exponent Ken Wharton. It came third;
second was a Cooper Bristol and first was a very famous Australian car
with an equally famous Aussie driver. What was that car and driver?
The
car was the Maybach, built by legendary Australian Charlie Dean and driven
by Stan Jones, father of World Champion Alan Jones. The Maybachs (there
was more than one) were based on war surplus Maybach military engines
which were 6 cylinder SOHC.
So to this week and I thank Hawaii Pete for this one.
Look at the photograph. Who is this driver and, to be the winner, I want
to know how many times he won the world championship and in what cars.
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first
correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected].
This one’s easy!
Del Schloemer
My old mate Del Schloemer died a couple of weeks back
and his obituary was published last week. While it detailed some of his
life’s experiences, an official obituary can never really say it all.
Del was really one of the nicest guys around this town. Always ready with
a story and generous to a fault.
Recently we had sat together at Delaney’s and watched
Schumacher win the Grand Prix at Nurburgring. We bought each other a
couple of beers while we watched and swapped reminiscences, but Del left
quickly after the race had ended, while I chatted to some other
enthusiasts. When it was time to “Check bin” the girl said, “No bin,
your friend pay already.” That was typical of Del. I was going to do the
same to him when we watched the Monaco race, but fate stepped in and Del
missed out on Monaco, and now we are all missing out on the company of a
guy who was a very fine motor racer and an even finer gentleman.
You are sorely missed, my old mate.
Shovelling out the Chev’s
I have been noticing quite a few Chevrolet Zafiras on
the roads recently, following the official production ceremony of the new
GeeEmm plant last month. These things are actually a lot larger than you
would imagine from photos and really can ferry up to seven people in one
sitting, so to speak.
I
think it was very apt that the gentleman that GM got to drive the first
wagon off the assembly line was none other than G. Richard “Wagoner”
Jnr. the CEO (elect) of General Motors Corporation.
The Zafira is being built primarily for export and will
be produced under four different brand names - Chev, Holden, Vauxhall and
Opel. The Holden ones will be easy, as they can use the Holden badges they
get off the Holden Calais they bring up from down under to sell as Chevy
Luminas. (Sorry Ellis! Can’t help myself!)
Haven’t driven one yet, but I will do a full test on
one when I do. In the meantime, here are a few details on the MPV. The
engine is a 1.8 litre petrol with twin overhead camshafts and 16 valves.
It delivers 115 BHP (or 85 kW if you must) which is enough to propel the
1430 KG van to a maximum of 175 kays. The acceleration is not mind
shattering with the 0-100 KPH time being quoted (by the factory) as 14
seconds, but to be fair, you don’t buy a 7 seater to look for F1
performance figures.
The Zafira is FWD, like just about everything these
days, and comes with a 4 speed auto. ABS is quoted as standard
complementing the disc brakes all round.
As I said, I’ll let you know what they’re like
after I drive one. Mind you, I will wager I go to the bottom of the queue
behind the 300 or so Thai “auto” writers that come to all the free
lunches and dinners. Funnily enough, only about 25 make it through to the
actual press conferences!
