Monaco GP is next week!
Hot on the heels of the Spanish GP comes the
Monaco ‘parade’ (I refuse to call it a race, as nobody can
pass anywhere) and one week later it is the European GP at
Nurburgring outside Koln in Germany. Both races are on the
Sunday starting at 7 p.m. Thai time (but check your local TV
feed). We will be watching the big screen in Jameson’s Irish
pub on Soi AR. Join me for dinner and a natter at 6 p.m.
first.
So what did
we learn from the Spanish GP?
The first thing we learned is that McLaren
Mercedes is back! With a vengeance. A flag to flag victory for
the Iceman who did not put a foot wrong all afternoon. Which
is more than can be said about Juan-Pablo Montoya’s
performance. Or lack of it. Being lapped by your own team mate
is more than slightly degrading, despite setting the third
fastest lap of the race (and quicker than Raikkonen). Ron
Dennis at McLaren Mercedes is not one to mince words, so
expect a fairly grumpy JPM at Monaco!
Renault had no answer to Raikkonen’s
pace, which will be worrying for them. If the Iceman can bag
another pole position for Monaco, he will be home and hosed. I
actually think the Renault domination has just ended. That
said, both their drivers drove well, and Fisi was unlucky to
have to come in for a new nose cone, as he could well have
unsettled Alonso.
Ferrari are not enjoying their F1 racing at
present. After being labelled as the cause for processions and
lack of viewer interest with their domination over the past
couple of seasons, the once mighty rampant horse has all the
finishing power of a lame donkey with gout. When Michael
Schumacher had a clear road, he did set the second fastest lap
time (only narrowly shaved by Fisichella in the Renault), but
it took him ages to get to that situation. A couple of
punctures then put paid to any hopes of points from Barcelona.
As for his team mate, Rooby Baby set the 12th fastest time,
slower than Massa in the Sauber and Red Bull’s David
Coulthard.
Alonso
BMW Williams should shoot their strategist.
There’s no point in running Webber light to get him on the
front row, and then find that while you have your driver in
for refueling, the others are running light and streaking
away. Webber was 4th and when he came out of the pits was
10th, and after everyone had their later first stop, he had
lost four places! Webber must also start looking ahead, rather
than in the mirrors when dicing with cars from behind. Running
off and making errors (and letting Fisi through) is something
he would have learned a long time ago - but has apparently
forgotten.
Toyota - please note I have written nothing bad about Ralf
Schumacher - because he didn’t hit anybody this meeting!
Trulli, with his third place showed that Toyota have arrived,
and the others should stop making jokes about them. Toyota
have the budget, the ‘need’ to win and the resources.
Is this the
ultimate Honda Accord?
Modified
Accord
Spotted this little gem at the Bangkok International Motor
Show. Upswinging door, lowered, all the extras you could ever
dream of, and the ultimate - a large blue bottle of Nitrous
oxide between the seats, which unfortunately I was unable to
show in the photographs!
Autotrivia
Quiz
Last week, I asked 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? The
answer was Tazio Nuvolari, the magic Mantuan! An easy one.
So to this week. I mentioned MG Rover
elsewhere, so let’s have an MG question. The octagon with
the letters MG inside have been part of the history of MG, but
the first models did not have it. What year did MG’s first
appear with the octagonal radiator badge?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
The BAR fuel tank saga!
After BAR and its drivers Button and Sato
were excluded from Imola and the next two races (Barcelona and
Monaco), there has been much ducking and diving in the pits.
Let me assure you that the scrutineers didn’t just decide to
look inside the BAR fuel tank on a whim. Somebody tipped them
off that there was another fuel tank, inside the fuel tank!
Button
and Sato
Later reports from the UK, where the fuel
tanks are manufactured, indicate that three other teams have
hurriedly had their fuel tanks re-designed! I wonder which of
the UK based teams that could have been? Toyota is based in
Germany. Ferrari in Italy. Sauber in Switzerland. Minardi in
Italy. The other six are UK based (even Renault) and it would
be interesting to know which three!
If you are unsure of the circumstances, an
F1 car has to be above a dry weight of 600 kg at all times,
and they are very sensitive to weight. This is why they go
quickest just before coming in for fuel, running close to the
magic 600 kg.
When BAR had the car weighed, they were
asked to drain the fuel tank and after the crew said,
“That’s it!” the weight was recorded. I believe it was
600.1 kg. However, the ‘other’ tank was still full of
fuel, which if it had been emptied, would have made the BAR
underweight.
According to Max Mosley, the boss of the FIA, Mosley’s
response was damning, and when asked if he felt BAR were
cheating said, “Effectively, yes,” he replied. “In our
view, they knew what they were doing, they knew the advantages
they were gaining, and they did it notwithstanding that. It
destroyed the whole basis of F1. I’m sure that the senior
management at Honda had no idea this was going on, there’s
no way they would let this carry on. This was done by
engineers at a team level and kept very quiet.” Strong
words, and it is also noteworthy that BAR have huffed and
puffed, but have accepted the two race ban, and being put on
“good behaviour” for the next six months.
More on
renting cars in the UK
I have just returned from two weeks in the
‘old country’, and it is hoped my clothes will be dry soon
(it rained continuously for 12 of the 14 days I was there) and
my feet should have thawed out as well (it staggered up to 11
degrees Celsius on one day, hovering around 5 degrees for the
rest of the time)!
Whilst the car rental companies will accept
UK debit cards, they obviously don’t like them, and they
point blank refused to even try my Thai one. It was all too
difficult, even though I could use the card with abandon in
supermarkets, petrol stations (fuel was around 60 baht per
litre, so don’t complain at the Thai pumps any more) and the
like.
It seems the car rental people want around
500 pounds Sterling deposit (which they can get with a credit
card impression, but not use till needed). The answer was to
take the optional insurance to make the maximum liability only
75 pounds, and leave the 75 pound contingency sum as a
deposit, to be returned when you return the car. You also pay
cash for the rental sum up front, which I was happy to do. You
need to have something to show your Thai address and plane
tickets.
I used the National-Alamo people again as
they were the only ones to accept my Thai driver’s license
last time. I must admit that the laminated cardboard effort
does look a little sus, especially if you’ve never seen one
before, as the nice young chap in Aberdeen told me.
National-Alamo also allowed me to pick up and drop off in
different areas, which fitted in very well with my plans in
the UK, and were happy to honour the return of the 75 pound
deposit.
Cars I used included a Vauxhall Zafira (same as our
Chevrolet Zafira), which left me totally underwhelmed, I must
say. One of those vehicle you sit ‘on’ rather than
‘in’. However, the Ford Focus Zetec was brilliant. One of
those vehicles that felt ‘right’ from the moment you sat
in it. If I owned one I would bring the accelerator pedal
closer to the brake pedal, to facilitate heel-toeing, and that
would be about it. The seats were good, superbly quiet and
very economical - with the fuel costs in the UK, fuel economy
suddenly becomes very important! Ford Thailand has promised
that the Focus will be here this year. If you are in the
market for a medium sized car, I would definitely suggest you
wait and compare the Ford Focus with what is currently
available.
Fearless journalism!
You have to give the Brits some credit as
far as their newspapers and periodicals are concerned. Unlike
Thailand with its ‘reputedly’ free press, the Brits are
not afraid to let their pollies have it both barrels, and in
the automotive area, the Brit testers are not gushing in their
praise. I picked up the latest copy of Top Gear over there,
and look at these classics in their New Car Guide, where they
run a brief description and a final score out of 20.
“The City Rover : Don’t be fooled by
anyone who tells you it’s a Tata. It’s not. It’s a Tata
with a Rover badge stuck on it. Score 3/20.”
BMW
5-Series
“The Suzuki R+ : Mad-looking tall boxy
thing that makes sense in Japan where length and width
restrictions apply. Handy for hat wearers we suppose, or ugly
people with no dress sense. Score 6/20.”
“New Beetle : Appealing retro styling
atop common-or-garden Golf underpinnings. Convertible version
terribly chic apparently. But only with people who have hair
extensions. Score 8/20.”
“Morgan Aero 8 : A ‘modern’ Morgan
with a fantastic BMW V8 engine but with all the looks of a
melted Wellington boot. Score 8/20.”
“MG ZR : Old Rover 3 and 5 door models on
life support with go-faster stripes. Engine needs thrashing
but that won’t drown out the creaking interior. It’s
mutton dressed as lamb. Score 9/20.”
Even BMW is not missed by the British poison pens. “BMW
5-Series : In years to come we may look back on this car as
the point where BMW lost the plot. Don’t be fooled by
i-Drive. It’s awful. Should be called i-Distract and
i-Crash. Score 12/20.” (At least it scored more than half
marks!)
