Spanish GP this weekend
With Spain’s Alonso having won three
GP’s on the trot, the Spanish GP is a sell-out this weekend.
Hopefully we will see some more action, such as we saw in San
Marino from Alonso and Schumacher (Michael, forget Ralf),
which will make it interesting.
Now I have returned from Pomgolia (the
country where the Poms come from), I will have my usual roost
at Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR for the GP. The race is
scheduled to start at 7 p.m. I believe (but check your local
TV feed to be sure), so why not join me for dinner at 6 p.m.
and we’ll throw chicken bones at Ralf after that?
What did we
learn from the Imola Grand Prix?
Well, the first thing we learned was never,
never, never write off Michael Schumacher. He stuffed up his
one lap qualifying, ends up 13th on the grid and comes second
by half a gnat’s knee. Alonso (who did not put a foot wrong
all weekend) deserved his third win of the season, but
admitted that he was powerless against the Ferrari driver’s
onslaught. A few more laps, after catching up with the back
markers and he would have been relegated, just as Jenson
Button was a few laps from home. The speed of the new Ferrari,
in the hands of MS, was such that he was lapping one second a
lap faster than anyone. That is an enormous margin, so we
could see a fight-back by Schumi for the 2005 crown. The
following table shows it all.
Alonso
and Schumacher
Times:
01. M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:21.858
02. J. Button BAR 1:22.604
03. A. Wurz McLaren 1:23.023
04. F. Alonso Renault 1:23.113
05. K. Raikonnen McLaren 1:23.296
06. T. Sato BAR 1:23.368
07. V. Liuzzi Red Bull 1:23.488
08. F. Massa Sauber 1:23.602
09. N. Heidfeld Williams 1:23.917
10. J. Villeneuve Sauber 1:24.017
11. J. Trulli Toyota 1:24.022
12. N. Karthikeyan Jordan 1:24.094
13. R. Schumacher Toyota 1:24.230
14. M. Webber Williams 1:24.419
15. R. Barichello Ferrari 1:24.435
16. D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:24.641
17. T. Monteiro Jordan 1:24.719
18. G. Fisichella Renault 1:25.665
19. C. Albers Minardi 1:27.420
20. P. Friesacher Minardi 1:28.334
We also learned, after the race, that
Jenson Button’s car was subjected to six hours of extra
scrutineering, as it was suggested that he might have been
running an underweight car for much of the race, but by
(over)topping up with fuel at the last refueling pit stop, he
would come in legal. The stewards of the meeting finally
passed the car, but the Federation Internationale
d’Automobile (the FIA and the supreme boss of world motor
sport) has questioned the findings of their own stewards and
there will be an appeal called by the FIA on May 4th, the
results of which will mean a mighty ruckus in the Eff Wun
camps, or alternatively much egg on the face for the FIA. Stay
tuned.
As a spectacle, the race was really just a
high speed procession, with passing manoeuvres only coming
about through mistakes by the driver in front (and I must say
that Aussie Mark Webber in the Williams BMW had more than his
fair share). Even Schumacher had problems in the first part of
the race, sitting behind his little brother’s Toyota,
apparently unable to pass. He leapfrogged from 12th to 3rd
only during pit stops, when he got some clear air to let the
new Ferrari demonstrate its speed.
The UK
motoring scene
Any car enthusiast weeps when they return
to Thailand and look at the plethora of pick-ups, after a
spell in the UK, such as the two weeks I have just had. The
Brits are definitely into small cars, both two and four door
variants, and I honestly believe that the Thai government is
heading in the right direction, trying to push the local
motoring industry in that direction too.
Renault
Laguna
Selling well in the UK are GM’s babies,
the Daewoo Matiz, and the differently badged Chevrolet Spark
(the vehicle copied by SAIC in China and sold as the Chery QQ
and subject to litigation by GM). In fact, I am led to believe
that the General would be happy to phase out the Daewoo name
altogether, and just use the Chevrolet moniker.
The Ford Ka is another very small vehicle
that would help lessen congestion on Thai roads, though its
quirky styling might not make it all that popular.
Yaris
Verso
The 1 Series BMW has not sold in great
numbers over there, with the price and that dreadful styling
being two obvious reasons. However, BMW’s Mini range is a
top seller over in the UK, despite the price tag. I did also
spot a new 5 Series with the dreadful Bangle bottom that I
actually liked. What they had done was to exaggerate the bum
of the car even further, making the boot into a giant ‘whale
tail’ a la Porsches in the mid 70’s. It worked!
The French are still one of the top sellers
in the UK, with the Renaults being very delectable - the new
Laguna is fabulously styled, for example.
Vauxhall
Astra
GM’s Vauxhall top sellers are the new
Astra’s and Vectra’s. Both of these cars look very good in
the sheet metal, with sculptured ‘edge’ styling being very
attractive. In a similar mode, Ford’s Focus and Mondeo look
excellent.
As opposed to Thailand, Toyota does not
rule the roost over there, and none of the Toyota models we
are familiar with here, could be spotted in the UK, despite
the names sometimes being the same. The Toyota Corolla in the
UK is a stumpy-tailed, wheel at each corner vehicle (like the
Mazda3 here), and I actually thought it looked very good. The
very small Yaris has different variants, with some looking
quite fetching, while others (such as the Yaris Verso) look
dreadful.
Ford
Mondeo
However, the prize for the worst looking car of the
post-war era must go to Fiat with its Multipla. A strange box
on wheels with frog-eye lights in an obese stomach roll below
the windscreen. Completely hideous. I must add that some of
the Renault Megane’s go close too, especially around the
rear!
Horrible
Fiat
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week, I asked what was the connection
between the Peugeot company and Porsche’s 911 series. This
was simple. The Porsche was supposed to be designated as the
901 (in fact the early engine cases even have this prefix),
but Peugeot had reserved all the three number series with a
zero in the middle, so Porsche made their cars into 911’s.
By the way, the previous week’s question
of the weight of Karl Benz’s first vehicle (without driver),
which was 265 kg, was correctly answered first by Dennis P.
McGinn of the USS Reuben James, FFG-57.
So to this week. Another easy one. Which
racing driver used to take a record of his national anthem to
race meetings, just in case he won and the organizers didn’t
have the music?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
You don’t have to kick the
doors in on your ‘Lemon’
The person who physically attacked their
Honda CRV (and many copy-cats unhappy with their purchases),
will not have to do this any more to get a response, according
to an article in the latest ASEAN Autobiz, written by Senior
Editor Montha Panthong.
Apparently 12 auto companies have got
together and formed the Automotive Quality Diagnostic
Committee (AQDC) with Pairoj Sanyadechakul, the
secretary-general of the Office of Industrial standards as the
chairman. This body has on its panel representatives from the
government Office of Consumer Protection (yes there is one in
Thailand), the Automotive Institute, the Federation of Thai
Industries as well as representative from the 12 automakers
which includes Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Chevrolet.
Complaints about purchased cars are not
new, the Office of Consumer Protection has received many
complaints (2001 - 220, 2002 - 306, 2003 - 568 and in 2004 -
300). The CRV kicker was not alone!
There is now legislation going through to make the
manufacturer disprove any complaints, as opposed to the
situation up till now, where the consumer has to foot the bill
to prove his dissatisfaction, but it stops short of
America’s “Lemon Law”. In the US situation, the law
states that if a vehicle within the first 18 months (or 18,000
miles) has had the same defect repaired four or five times, or
the vehicle has been off the road for repairs totalling 30
days in that period, then it is a “lemon”.
And so does Nippon Paint
The Eastern Seaboard of Thailand should
also see expansion with a new plant for Nippon Paint
(Thailand) which currently has a 34 percent share of the auto
paint market. With the increasing production in this country,
and Toyota isn’t the only one increasing its numbers, Nippon
Paint will need to increase its production to even just
maintain its market share. This will apparently cost 1.5
billion baht over the next two years, to double the
production.
Toyota believes in us!
If 37 billion baht buys belief, then Toyota
Motor certainly believes in Thailand. The financial pages of
newspapers often give more information than the motoring ones,
and this little gem was one of these. 37 billion will increase
Toyota’s output from 350,000 units to 550,000 over the next
two years. This will also make Thailand the third largest
plant in the Toyota empire, after Japan and the USA.
The expansion is mainly to increase the
production of the pick-ups, though some of the other models
such as the Wish, Corolla and Vios, which are also produced
here, could be ramped up.
A large percentage of the new production
will be for export, with official forecasts being for 250,000
units, up from the current 150,000.
Natter Nosh and Noggin
The monthly car enthusiasts meeting has
changed venue, and will be at the new Jameson’s Irish Pub on
Soi AR next to the Nova Park development. The car (and bike)
enthusiasts meet on the second Monday of the month, so this
time it is Monday (9th) at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. This is a
totally informal meeting of like minded souls which meets on
the second Monday of each month to discuss their pet motoring
(and motorcycling) loves and hates. Just ask any of the lovely
Jameson’s girls where the group is and they will point us
out and give you a push.
