French GP this weekend
The Magny Cours Circuit has an interesting
history. In the mid-eighties, an initiative by President
Mitterand saw the Circuit Jean Behra near Nevers updated and
modernised and renamed the Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours. The
circuit had begun life as a small kart track, started by
Magny-Cours’ mayor, Jean Bernigaud. The kart circuit grew
into a proper track which was inaugurated on May 1, 1961; ten
years later, it was lengthened from two kilometres to 3.85 km.
In those ten years, Magny-Cours had become
home to Tico Martini’s racing car company and France’s
first race driving school. The decision in 1986 to upgrade the
circuit to Grand Prix standards saw Guy Ligier move his
Formula One team to the circuit and the new track was opened
in 1989. Two years later, it hosted its first Grand Prix, and
the French GP has remained there ever since.
After the idiocy that was the US Grand
Prix, the bunch of ‘prix’ that run certain teams might
have seen some sense by now, and we might get a motor race
again. One thing is for sure, if they pull another stunt like
the last one, they can forget about F1. The American GP lunacy
gave Ferrari 18 points on a plate. Did they think Ferrari
would hand them back? A win, is a win, is a win! Just the same
way that Alonso happily took his 10 points when Raikkonen’s
car shook itself to bits while comfortably leading on the last
lap of the European GP.
The French GP starts at a sensible hour for
us - 7 p.m. I will be watching from my roost at Jameson’s
Irish Pub in Pattaya (next to the Nova Park serviced
apartments) in Soi AR (also known as Soi Sukrudee). Join me at
6 p.m. for dinner and a natter before the red lights come on.
The current
points are now as follows:
Driver points
1 F Alonso (Spain) 59
2 K Raikkonen (Finland) 37
3 M Schumacher
(Germany) 34
4 R Barrichello (Brazil) 29
5 J Trulli (Italy) 27
6 N Heidfeld (Germany) 25
7 M Webber
(Australia) 22
8 R Schumacher
(Germany) 20
9= G Fisichella (Italy) 17
9= D Coulthard (UK) 17
11 J-P Montoya
(Colombia) 16
12 F Massa (Brazil) 7
13= A Wurz (Austria) 6
13= T Monteiro
(Portugal) 6
15= J Villeneuve
(Canada) 5
15= N Karthikeyan
(India) 5
17= C Klien (Austria) 4
17= P De La Rosa
(Spain) 4
17= C Albers (Holland) 4
20 P Friesacher (Austria) 3
21 V Liuzzi (Italy) 1
Constructor Standings
Pos Team Points
1 Renault 76
2= Mclaren 63
2= Ferrari 63
4= Toyota 47
4= BMW-Williams 47
6 Red Bull 22
7 Sauber 12
8 Jordan 11
9 Minardi 7
The racing press has been all excited about
BMW buying a large chunk of Sauber, so it will have more
control over its destiny than they were having with Williams.
This was one of the worst kept secrets of 2005, but it is
interesting to ponder on what engines Williams will use next
year, and they have probably got quite a choice. BMW would
like to be in the back of the Williams cars again, giving them
two bites at the cherry, but both Toyota and Cosworth could be
there as well. We shall see.
Peregrinations
in a Pink Porsche
Back in my previous life I owned a Porsche
911. Please note, that after you sell a Porsche, you are for
ever afterwards “between” Porsches, rather than saying
lamely that you can’t afford one anymore. Right now, I
regret to say I am between Porsches.
Where I lived in Oz (Queen sland), the
capital is called Brisbane and was best described as the
largest country town in the world. A sort of Antipodean
version of Nakhon Ratchasima. Porsches were as plentiful as
rocking horse poo, so for my first Porsche I had to go 1000 km
to Sydney (New South Wales).
My brief was simple. I wanted a low mileage
911 Targa that had not been used to derail the Brisbane to
Sydney Express train, it had to have the 2.4 litre engine, the
manual 5 speed gearbox and painted black.
There was a choice of 10 cars that came
close to my specifications on the ring-around, so we flew down
and began the short list selection. Selling cars seems to
bring out the liar in everyone, Porsche owner or otherwise.
“Pristine unmarked Duco” turned out to have more runs on
board than the late Sir Donald Bradman scored in a lifetime. I
began to be able to spot collapsed timing chain tensioners at
50 paces. And second-hand Porsches seemed to attract more than
their fair share of clumsy parkers. Clumsy repairs were
everywhere.
Relentlessly we narrowed the field, until
there was just one car that fitted all the specs - except for
one slight parameter. It was not Midnight Black - it was a
weird hot nipple pink! What’s worse, it was an original hot
nipple pink, ex-factory, that had been ordered in that colour
from Stuttgart. If you do not believe me, check with the
Porsche agents for the factory pink colour available in 1973.
Reluctantly the deal was done, but I
couldn’t stomach the thought of driving the pink creation
1000 kays back to Brisbane. The ‘Homecoming Queen’ would
have nothing on this! I put it on a transporter, rang my panel
shop and ordered enough litres of Midnight Black to paint a
battleship, and told them the car would be delivered on the
Tuesday morning. And yes, please start right away, before
anyone sees it!
On Tuesday afternoon I received a call from
the panel shop, “Where’s this bloody pink Porsche then?”
said the painter, “I’ve got the effing paint ready to
go.” I rang the transport company who said they had dropped
the car off that morning. More frantic calls until I finally
tracked it down, delivered to the wrong panel shop, 25
kilometres away.
I took an expensive taxi over and claimed
the expensive car. My face was as pink as the paint as I got
in, quite sure I could hear mutterings like “poofter” from
the local lads all waiting for me fire it up. I drove to the
correct panel shop wearing wrap-around sunglasses and a paper
bag over my head, but while driving I began to notice that
from inside, safely behind the wheel, you couldn’t see the
colour of the bodywork. By the time I had done the 25 clicks
it was too late. It would have taken a crowbar to get me out
from behind the wheel.
This was not the right time to leave the
car for painting. I told the panel shop to store the 20 litres
of Midnight Black for me, and when I was ready I would bring
the car in and the colour change could be done. I really did
mean it. Shortly after I had discovered that there was one
shade of Max Factor lady’s pink nail polish that was the
exact colour, and stone chips were expertly attended to by the
local nails lady. I even used to keep a bottle in the glove
box! I also found out that a Porsche is a head turning motor
car - and a pink one doubly so!
Three years later, when I sold it, I threw
in the black paint with the deal, and the new owner was very
appreciative, telling me he was going to get it done in a
couple of weeks. Two years later I would still see a pink
Porsche in the supermarket on Saturdays. Now many years later,
I am sure it is still pink!
Another
“genuine” car for sale
As many of you know, I have a soft spot for
Daihatsu Mira’s as they make much sense in the clogged roads
of Thailand. This particular Mira I know very well, being
currently owned for the past two years by a friend of mine.
This Mira has a most interesting history. It was bought to be
used as a rental car in 1998, but before the owner registered
the company, he died suddenly, and this Mira and three others
were stored for the next four years, all with delivery
kilometers only.
After all the legal machinations were over
(the purchaser was not a Thai so everything was going back and
forth overseas), the vehicle was then purchased by another
friend of mine. It was fully checked at that time, needing a
new battery, four tyres (they had perished), all fuel and
brake lines flushed, air-conditioner regassed and given a full
service. So it was four years old on paper, with almost zero
kilometers.
He used it for 12 months and sold it with
10,000 kays on the clock to another friend of mine who has
used it for two years, and the car has now done 38,000 km and
has been fully maintained. It is now theoretically seven years
old, but has only been driven for three!
The interior is like new, it drives like
new, it has a couple of minor bumps (motorcycles) on one door
that he has never bothered fixing (and neither would I).
Good Mira’s are like gold these days as
everyone wants one, but most are getting too long in the tooth
and the kays too high. This is an opportunity to get an
“almost new” Mira which will give excellent service for a
few years yet (mine has 115,000 kays and has been on the road
for a real seven years and is completely reliable).
The asking price is 140,000 baht and it is
worth it. The ideal “city” car or second car for “her
indoors”. It is in Pattaya, and if you are interested
contact me through the Pattaya Mail.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week, I asked what is the name of this
vehicle? And what horsepower does it churn out? It was the
Bandag Bullet, the fastest diesel truck in the world. It
develops 2,800 BHP and does the standing 400 metres in 12
seconds!
So to this week. V8’s were not a popular
configuration in Germany. The first appeared in 1931. What was
the company that produced it?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
