by Dr. Iain Corness |
British GP this weekend at Silverstone
Last week the French GP and this week the
British GP at the famous Silverstone circuit. This was
actually the venue for the first World Championship F1 Grand
Prix and was held on May 13, 1950 with the British Royal
family in attendance.
The history of the circuit is one of
continuing development. During WW2 Silverstone was a bomber
station and it was pressed into service as a motor racing
circuit in 1948. The three pre-war British circuits,
Brooklands, Donington Park and Crystal Palace were all out of
commission and ex-military airfields offered ready-made road
surfaces, other basic facilities such as primitive toilets,
and they were usually a long way from densely populated areas.
In 1950 came a layout which was unchanged
for many years. An additional corner, Bridge Bend, was added
just before Woodcote for 1987, and the chicane was removed.
This altered the length to 2.969 miles. A major revision of
the layout was undertaken for 1991 which tamed the awesomely
fast Maggotts curve and Stowe and Club corner and added a
sequence of bends prior to Woodcote. These revisions increased
the length to 3.247 miles and remained in force until 1995
when further details were made which decreased the overall
length of a lap by a few yards leaving it at 3.210 miles.
The race should begin at 1 p.m. British
time, which is (I think) 7 p.m. here, but check your local TV
feed. We watch at Jameson’s Irish Pub where we get Martin
Brundle as an informed commentator on the South African feed,
so we do not have to listen to the prattle from the UBC
talking heads, nor do we get the breaks for adverts. Join me
at around 6 p.m. for a bite to eat and then settle down for
the race.
What did we
learn from the French Grand Prix?
The first thing we learned is that Alonso
has really come of age and is turning out to be a driver
worthy of a championship. An all the way win, and deservedly
so.
The second item worth noting was
Raikkonen’s drive from 13th to 2nd. Alonso is not home and
hosed by a long way yet.
We also saw some great disparities between
driver performances, which certain team managers must be
looking at very closely. Trulli, for example, is
out-performing Schumi Junior, Schumi Senior consistently
out-performs Rooby Baby, Alonso is making Fisichella eat
humble pie, and Raikkonen is head and shoulders above J-P
Montoya. Now it can be said that these second guys are just
“unlucky”, but it is final results that teams look at, and
“luck” is ignored. Quite frankly, if I were team manager
at McLaren, I would be looking closely at JPM’s contract. I
know that statement will bring all the JPM fans out and he
missed a couple of races, but just look at the numbers, chaps,
look at the difference in championship points! And for
interest, here they are: Alonso-Fisichella 49 points,
Schumi-Barichello 40, Raikkonen-JPM 29, Trulli-Ralf 9.
While also looking at contracts, I still
say that Jenson Button will be mad to make a dive to Williams
for next season. The BMW powered cars are not setting the
world alight, and next year Williams will have “customer”
engines, not “works” engines, which will go to the new BMW
(ex-Sauber) team. Button will score more points in this second
half of the season too. JB should stay where he is, for my
money.
A1 GP is
“A1” and all ready to go!
With F1 doing its level best to shoot
itself in the foot, the people behind alternative formulae
must be laughing themselves silly. One of these is the new A1
Grand Prix Series, the brain-child of His Highness Sheikh
Maktoum Hasher Maktoum al Maktoum (the name is ‘real’), a
member of the Royal family of Dubai, which seems to have
caught the imagination of everyone. Despite initial claims
that it was just a publicity stunt, or would be a flash in the
pan, it looks as if the A1 Grand Prix is here and rarin’ to
go!
To refresh your memory, the A1 GP series
will have up to 30 franchises available, limited to one per
country. Each national team will be represented by a driver
native to that country, making for strong local support and
presence for the team. So instead of Ferrari against BAR, we
will have Italy versus the UK. Good thinking. It works for the
Olympics, why shouldn’t it work for motor sport?
Currently there are at least 25 countries
who will be represented on the 25th of September at Brands
Hatch in the UK, when the first two rounds kick off, including
the latest team from Brazil, bank-rolled by footballer Ronaldo
and ex-racer Emmerson Fittipaldi. Even if the entire 30 places
have not been sold, 25 is still 19 more cars than we saw at
Indianapolis for the F1 series!
Countries ‘in’ at this stage includes
Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and China, South
Africa, Egypt, Bahrain, UAE, Australia and the UK, plus
Sweden, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece,
Turkey, Russia, Canada, USA, Brazil and Argentina.
A1 Grand Prix series presents a level
playing field. The cars are identical single-seater A1 racing
cars, built by Lola, and powered by identical 550 bhp Zytek A1
Grand Prix V8 engines.
To keep the playing field level, no driver
aids allowed. No driver aids! Is this not what we have been
calling for? We, the viewing public, want to see the drivers
change gears and use the clutch, just like we do. We want to
see them manage their own starts, none of this “Renault have
better starts than the other cars” rubbish. We want to see
if driver B can get the drop at the start, better than driver
D.
To maintain the level playing field, so
there is no more of the Bridgestone versus Michelin debate,
there will be one tyre supplier, which is Cooper Tires (Avon),
who have been supplying Formula 3000 for the past years, so
they know what they are about too.
To keep the world informed, TV coverage is
also in place with Sky Sports taking up broadcasting rights.
Full coverage from each round of the international FIA
sanctioned series will be broadcast exclusively live, with
practice sessions, qualifying and the races themselves.
Each three day racing weekend will have the
same format. Day one, the Friday, will be free practice, day
two further practice followed by qualifying and day three a 15
to 20 minute sprint race which will determine the grid
positions for the longer main event, which will be for between
50 to 60 minutes.
The different countries are taking the
series very seriously as well. China has been having driver
shoot-outs, with top two hopefuls Ma Quinghua and Jiang Tengyi
being sent to South Africa to continue testing and
familiarization with the single seater race cars. The UK has
also been attempting to assess four drivers, with this being
done under the watchful eye of the legendary John Surtees, the
only man to have won the world championship on both two wheels
and four. The only problem the UK has been having is to find a
day where the weather remains constant (and dry) for all four
drivers! The Australian entry also has Alan Jones, a former
world champion at the helm, and this will be another serious
entry.
Here is the (almost) finalized A1 GP
calendar:
25 September, 2005 Brands Hatch UK
9 October Eurospeedway,
Germany
23 October Estoril, Portugal
6 November Eastern Creek, Australia
20 November Sepang, Malaysia
11 December Dubai, UAE
15 January 2006 TBA
(Indonesia or Singapore)
29 January Durban or Cape Town,
South Africa
12 February Monterrey, Mexico
26 February San Antonio, USA
12 March Laguna Seca, USA
26 March Beijing Goldenport,
China
At each venue, two rounds will be held,
making it a 24 round series (F1 has 19 this year). There are
also two street races (Durban and San Antonio), as well as
some fabulous circuits such as Laguna Seca in the US and
Eastern Creek in New South Wales, Australia. (I have raced
there and it offers many passing opportunities, as well as
being a great driver’s circuit.)
The A1 Grand Prix series looks like it will provide the
spectacle that the motor sport enthusiasts have been calling
for, and with the strong Asian involvement, we will all have a
‘local’ team to support! F1 should start seriously looking
at itself.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week, I mentioned that V8’s were not
a popular configuration in Germany. The first appeared in
1931, and I asked what was the company that produced it? The
answer was N.A.G. and was designed by Paul Henze. I was
looking for German V8’s, not American V8’s.
So to this week. Which band leader drove
for 52 hours straight to win a European rally, after his
co-driver fell ill?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
US GM sales jump 46.9
percent in June
Automotive News in the US reported some
good news for GM, a company that despite being Number 1 in the
world, has had more than its fair share of battering in the
last few months. To pump up sales, GM offered everyone the
chance of having “employee” discount, pushing the total
sales in June this year up to almost 50 percent more than June
2004. This gave GM almost a 33 percent market share for June,
the best it has seen for some time.
World number 2, Toyota Motor Corp, also had
a rise in sales compared to June 2004, but its healthy 14
percent pales into insignificance, compared to the General’s
results. Meanwhile, back on the ranch, FoMoCo saw a less than
1 percent rise compared to June last year.
Mind you, sales were down for BMW and VW, a
little worrying for the German car companies, although
DaimlerChrysler did show a 5 percent increase.
Good retailing and marketing seemed to be
the answer for GM, but the question remains - can they keep it
up?
Natter Nosh and Noggin
The monthly car enthusiasts meeting has
changed venue, and will be at 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 (11th) 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.
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