This race at the Spa circuit is a favourite with the drivers, and despite Ferrari having won everything, with four GP’s to go, this should be an interesting race. I will be watching the big screen in Shenanigans. Racing starts at 7 p.m. Join me.

If we didn’t know already, Ferrari has just been outstanding and have now secured the Constructor’s Championship. Their cars (forget the drivers for a moment) are just so much faster than anyone else it must have the respective designers at Williams, McLaren and Renault scratching their heads. Team orders were again in place and Schumacher’s new lap record with four laps to go were just to let everyone know he “could” have won it, if he wanted (or was allowed).

Marlowe - a master with over 36 years experience

What else? Oh yes, Eddie Jordan is going to run Ford Cosworth engines next year in place of the exploding Honda’s. Cosworth are going to have to find a few more neddies if they are going to get the Jordans consistently up the front.

The Alex Yoong replacement, Anthony Davidson, did a sterling job in his first GP (but remember he has been the official tester for BAR for a couple of years, so it’s not the first time he’s got his backside in an F1 car). Lead Minardi driver, Mark Webber, again dragged his Minardi through the race by the scruff of the neck. Hopefully he will get a competitive drive in 2003.

In line with the avowed intention as spelled out by CEO Bill Ford, the world’s number 2 car maker is returning to its roots - making and selling motor cars. Ford has also stated that all the various entities that make up the Ford empire must show an individual profit, and not be a drag on the overall profitability of the group. A decision that will have people in the smaller, specialist makes more than a trifle worried.

As part of the rationalization, Associated Press (AP) reports that Ford Motor Co. has signed an agreement to sell Kwik-Fit, the company’s European maintenance and light repair business. Unfortunately, these days you just can’t stick a “For Sale” sign in the window, the deal must be approved by European regulatory agencies before it can become final, a process expected to take “a number of weeks,” Ford spokesman David Reuter said.

Ford officials also announced that the company has completed the sale - at an undisclosed price - of Collision Team of America, a U.S.-based chain of collision repair shops. “We are pleased to have found such suitable owners for both Kwik-Fit and Collision Team of America,” said Martin Inglis, Ford group vice president of business strategy. “Although these are good businesses, they don’t align with our back-to-basics strategy. These sales further signal the progress that Ford is making on key parts of our revitalization plan.” (In January, Ford announced a restructuring plan that includes the closing of at least five plants and elimination of 35,000 jobs worldwide by mid-decade.)

CVC Capital Partners, a leading European private equity group, intends to purchase Kwik-Fit for about USD 500 million in cash and a note that will be paid as CVC obtains outside financing, according to a statement released by Ford. The automaker paid approximately 1 billion British pounds, or USD 1.6 billion, for Kwik-Fit in 1999, Reuter said. Kwik-Fit has 2,400 service centres and more than 11,500 employees.

The proposed transaction will be completed using a new company formed for the purpose, and financed by funds under the management of CVC. Ford will retain a 19 percent equity interest in the new company. The sale is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2002 and is subject to regulatory approvals. Ford will record a one-time, after-tax charge of approximately USD 500 million in the third quarter of 2002 related to the sale of Kwik-Fit.

Daniel Hall, a private businessman, has agreed to purchase 100 percent of the stock and assets of Collision Team of America and will operate the business. The sale of Collision Team of America was completed on July 31.

Collision Team of America operates 32 shops in four states under various names and has about 850 employees. Ford bought a minority stake in the company in 1998 and acquired the remaining shares last year, reports AP.

All in all, an expensive lesson that has been learned by the auto giant. I am glad I am not having to underwrite the losses!

There is a body of opinion, especially in the ranks of the ‘younger’ F1 enthusiasts, that pit stops during a GP are something that Bernie Ecclestone dreamed up recently. This is, of course, totally wrong. Well drilled pit stops were the order of the day in pre-WWII days and the photograph is of Manfred Von Brauchitsch in the Mercedes W 125 taking on fuel and rear tyres during the Swiss GP at Berne.

Today, the pit stops involve refueling and tyres and take around 10 seconds, with all the high pressure refueling rigs and high pressure air driven ‘rattle guns’ to remove and replace the centre lock wheel nuts. It may interest you to know that way back in 1937, when the photo was taken, they could refuel and change rear wheels in around 20 seconds, using hammers to manually remove and tighten the centre ‘knock-offs’ holding the wheel on the hub.