What many of you may not know is that it is not just
the drivers who have to have a licence to compete, but the tracks have to
have licences to allow them to run internationally recognised formulae or
classes as well.
Our local circuit, the Prince Bira on Highway 36, has
just had its inspection, and I was honoured to be asked to be part of the
inspection day. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (better
known by its initials FIA) is the governing body for world motorsport, and
the official they sent to Thailand was a very well known and well
respected Australian ex-race driver and constructor and now an FIA Track
Inspection official, Brian Shead.
Inspection is done on foot, and every inch of the track
and the verges, safety fences and walls, kerbs and drains, pit facilities
and medical equipment is checked. In fact, the circuit is presented to the
inspector as if a race were going to be held, including all the rescue
vehicles and even the trackside ambulance from the Bangkok Pattaya
Hospital was present.
Having walked right around the track, 2.4 kilometres by
the way, and noted any points, we then walked around it again, with Brian
Shead taking photographs of not only any points of note, but a complete
photographic record of the entire circuit with every corner and
straightaway.
So after 4.8 kays on foot and sunburn to boot, the Bira
Circuit was given the thumbs up by the FIA. It is good to know that the
Bira race track is of international standard.
A Great Book to stop writer’s block!
Sometimes any writer will look into his or her blank
monitor and wonder what to write about that day. Call it writer’s block
if you like - but it is definitely real. And when you have to produce
words to a deadline, it can become quite scary.
AIM
Concept car
I was having one of those sessions the other day, when
in came motoring enthusiast Nick Deighton with one the best books I’ve
seen in a long time. Called 50 Years of the Formula 1 World Championship
it is just a magnificent memory stimulus. With the book split into
decades, each ten year section is introduced by one of the top drivers
from that time. It really does give a good glimpse of how the drivers
themselves saw the sport in their decade.
I must admit I found the exploits of Fangio, Ascari,
Hawthorn and the boys from the fifties to be the most stirring. Those were
the names from my boyhood, and I can remember walking round the pits, just
enthralled with every aspect of motor racing, and imagining myself as a
driver of one of those front engine racing machines. Gawd, I even
“touched” the first BRM!
AIM has the right Concept
The other day I managed to get my backside into one of
the AIM Concept cars. These vehicles run in a six race series and you
“rent” the cars for the race meetings. For 50,000 baht per meeting you
get a fully race prepared car and all you do is put on your suit and
helmet and go racing. Totally hassle free.
Now what I really liked about these cars was the
thought about driver safety that went into them, making them an ideal
“starter” formula for new drivers. While basically a single seater
open wheeler chassis, they have built in side pods and an all enveloping
bodywork so you do not interlock wheels, always a danger in the open
wheeled categories.
The other amazing factor with these cars is that they
are 99% locally made - only the shock absorbers are an imported unit. The
workmanship in the cars is extremely high quality, and a credit to the
builders, AIM Motor Sports.
When you remove the bodywork, the chassis resembles the
AF2000 single seaters. Rectangular tube is used for the chassis, with the
fabricated pushrod suspension being made from round section.
The cars are rear engined, using Toyota East-West
configuration and Toyota 5 speed transmissions. Disc brakes all round, of
course, attached to cast alloy uprights.
For the novice drivers, for whom these cars are aimed,
instrumentation is at a minimum. A large central tachometer and a water
temp gauge - that’s it. Now keep your eyes on the road!
The gear shift is on the left of the cockpit, quite
short throw and very close in the gate which is the standard H pattern
plus the dogleg up for 5th and back for reverse. Pedals live down in the
footwell, where you cannot see them, or your feet, but they are all there,
plus a foot rest for the left leg - an important part of any race car
engineering.
Seat belts are 3 inch numbers with rotary quick release
button. Surprisingly they are only 4 point. I much prefer 6 point for the
obvious reason of avoiding “submarining” into the pedals. A quick
release steering wheel completes the package, with the end result being a
purpose built race car that you would be proud to have in your
transporter. But that’s the good thing - they do all the transporting.
All you do is turn up!
So that no-one can feel that one of the other drivers
is getting a “better” car than anyone else, you draw a number before
the race, and that car is yours. The bodywork with your name on it is then
dropped over the chassis you drew and away you go. Michael Schumacher,
move over.
AIM Motor Sports were kind enough to make one of the
cars available for me to drive before the last meeting at Bira, and next
week I will tell you what it was like.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week’s question was what other race cars did Ron
Taurenac, Black Jack Brabham’s mate, go on to make famous after his time
with Brabham? The cars were called RALT’s and were very winning cars in
the Formula Atlantic ranks.
So to this week. And this is for the stalwart Americans
out there who mutter that I’m too pro-British. An American in an
American car scored the first major American victory in Europe at the
French Grand Prix. Who was it? I want the driver, the car and the year!
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first
correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected].
That’s another easy one!
