Good news for motor racing fans on the box
F1 is in recess for the next few months,
but reader Mike Mayne has sent me over the list of other
categories and formulae available on TV, but for those with
a subscription to UBC.
Mike says that the A1GPs are televised, plus the Aussie V8
series, the Masters, Asian Touring Cars, the World Rally
Championships (also available on DD Sports channel), Formula
BMW and the DTM series, British Touring cars, F3, F Ford,
Formula Palmer Audi, NASCAR, Indycars, the ALMS and
Champcar.
Not having UBC myself, I have found the European 2 liter
championships on Eurosport, which comes with my cable
supplier, but I would appreciate any further telecast
information.
Other news isn’t so good
If you want to know what is happening in
the world, forget the news section of the newspapers, it is
the financial pages which will tell you what is really going
on, or in the motoring world, going down!
The motor industry is in trouble, and it is now getting to
the stage that smaller losses are almost hailed as
positives. Take the headline “Mitsubishi slashes losses by
75 percent”. What the headline didn’t say was that it still
made a loss! On the same financial page was “Hyundai Motor
reports a 47 percent drop in Q3 profit”. In the same article
was the information that Korea’s other major player Kia
reported a loss of 43.9 billion Korean won, compared to last
year’s profit of 75.9 billion.
Still on the same page was the information that the French
autoparts maker Valeo admitted its profits fell 76 percent.
This was following automakers in North America and Europe
cutting down orders as their sales of cars slowed even
further.
Ford is now forecasting cutting production by 12 percent for
the first half of 2007, after recording its worst 3rd
quarter figures for 14 years with a whopping $5.8 billion
loss. One of America’s biggest vehicle outlets admits it has
a 120 day stock of unsold Chryslers. GM is still staggering
with continued losses, but their 3rd quarter loss was only
$115 million. Only! Manufacturers own finance in the US is
offering 72 month loans at zero percent to try and move
stock. This will mean that today’s buyer will not be moving
into another new car until he has equity in the vehicle,
which will probably be around 60 months into the finance
period. The net effect is that in 24 months time, new car
sales will have slumped even more.
And my crystal ball says the market hasn’t bottomed out yet.
That will happen in two years time when the cheap Chinese
imports hit the US. The western automotive world did not
survive the Japanese invasion. Now the yellow peril is on
the horizon!
Sentimental favorites crash out
Michael Schumacher
Valentino Rossi
There was a significant percentage of F1 enthusiasts who
were hoping that Michael Schumacher could do what was
considered impossible, and get his eighth world drivers
championship, but he stumbled at the final round with
reliability problems in qualifying and a puncture in the
race.
Likewise there was a considerable amount of sentiment behind
the two wheeled equivalent, with Valentino Rossi on the
Yamaha stalking the American Nicky Hayden on the Honda.
However, Rossi tumbled, rather than stumbled, and Hayden was
to win his first championship at that level.
Unlike Schumacher, Rossi will be back next year, and we
shall see just what the little Italian can do. There are
many others ready to take away his chances a second time,
including Troy Bayliss who jumped on the GP bike in the last
race of the year and won.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked some F1 history. Which driver got his
maiden F1 pole in Portugal in the ‘60s? The correct answer
was John Surtees, the seven times motorcycle champion who
also won the F1 four wheel championship in 1964. By the way,
he was not the first motorcycle ace to do well in GP cars.
The Flying Mantuan, Tazio Nuvolari also won on two wheels
and four.
So to this week. Let’s stick with Nuvolari. At which race
did he and a couple of others ‘rig’ the results?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
More good news
Our Down-under correspondent John Weinthal, now
resident in KL, sent up the following about the A1GP series:
Motor mad Malaysia’s Sepang F1 circuit is the playground for
Round 4 of the second season of A1 Grand Prix on November
24/26. The racing is close and overtaking is a constant in
contrast to F1!
Identical 3.4 litre Zytek Engineering 520 bhp V8-powered
F1-style cars are run under the flags of 24 nations with
drivers from those countries. Participating countries
include Mexico, Brazil, England, Australia, Lebanon, New
Zealand, Germany, South Africa, France, the USA, Canada,
Switzerland, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Holland,
Ireland and France.
Asian teams come from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Singapore,
India and Pakistan - but not Thailand, Japan or Korea so
far.
The A1 season runs from October to April with races in 12
countries. This season’s first two rounds were in Holland
and Czechoslovakia. The third is in Beijing this weekend
(Nov 10-12). Round 5 will be at Jakarta’s Sentul circuit on
December 10. The final races will be at Britain’s Brands
Hatch on April 29, 2007.
Natter Nosh and Noggin
The monthly car enthusiasts meeting 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
(November 13) at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. This is a totally
informal meeting of like minded souls to discuss their pet
motoring (and motorcycling) loves and hates. Bring along any
magazines, photos of old vehicles, old girlfriends or the
latest Jaguar for us all to drive.
Alfa Romeo 147
I spotted a very nice black Yaris the other day,
but when I caught up with it, I realized it wasn’t the
Toyota which is currently swamping the streets, but an Alfa
147. Considering the Alfa was released before the Yaris, it
certainly makes you think! Somebody was influenced by some
body!
The performance variety of the 147 is the GTA, reviving the
model designation that Alfa has used many times. However, in
Australia, this vehicle is $60,000 compared to its base 147
at $40,000. However, according to GoAuto, the extra money
buys you performance well beyond what you’d normally expect
of a compact hatchback. In fact, the GTA’s zero to 100 km/h
figure of 6.3 seconds is faster than a Volvo S60 R, or a
Subaru WRX – and it doesn’t have any turbo lag!
Alfa
147
It is a real pocket rocket. In a configuration where 2
liters of engine would normally be quite adequate, the GTA
has 3.2 liters and 184 kW of V6 power. And its 300 Nm of
non-turbocharged torque is produced in a linear, very
useable way - unlike the turbo-induced torque of an S60 R or
WRX.
Combine this with a relatively light 1360 kg (for its size –
it’s up about 110 kg on the 2 liter 147) and it’s no
surprise that the little Alfa turns out to be a relaxed, but
always grunty performer.
Apparently, according to those who have driven the GTA, it’s
not so much that the GTA is able to accelerate in a way only
a select few cars can match - it’s the fact it does it all
so easily.
The flexibility is exceptional; to the point that it can be
left in higher gears at far lower speeds than would ever be
considered acceptable without any sign of driveline snatch
or shuddering from the engine. Alfa says the GTA can be
dribbled down to less than 2000rpm in sixth gear and still
accelerate away smoothly and strongly.
With torque capabilities like these, Alfa could easily have
got away with a five-speed gearbox but, true to the car’s
total integrity of design, it gets the same six-speed manual
transmission used in the identically powered 156 GTA.
To stop the little projectile, there’s a set of dual-piston
Brembo-calliper disc brakes, complete with four-channel
anti-lock and electronic brake-force distribution to keep
the whole package in check.
Alfa
147
GoAuto also state that the 147 GTA is more than a straight
line dragster, but its handling and roadholding are at the
same high levels. The 147 GTA has a modified wishbone front
suspension that is so capable, the overall handling
abilities are amazingly secure, predictable and, in terms of
available grip, tenacious.
There are no perfect cars, and the downside of the 147 GTA
comes in part from its very wide wheels and tyres, which
caused fouling, so the steering limits were reduced, making
for a small car with the turning circle of the Queen Mary.
12.1 meters means there’s lots of three point turns for the
sporting Alfisti!
Goodbye Chavalit
Soontarapook
Many people will have never heard of
Chavalit Soontarapook, Grand Prix International’s
communications manager, who died on November 2, 2006 after a
long battle with cancer. However, Chavalit (Daeng) was the
kind of man that I was honored to call a friend.
Dr.
Iain and
Khun Chavalit
Chavalit was not the style of person who wanted the
limelight, but toiled ceaselessly behind the scenes. Any
overseas motoring journalist who has been to the Bangkok
International Motor Show will know what I mean. For the
international scribes, Chavalit made it all happen. For an
international motoring writer with a problem, Chavalit fixed
it. And he did this with a seemingly boundless supply of
energy, and a smile.
Chavalit is now no longer with us, but my international
colleagues and I will be unable to visit the Press Room at
the Bangkok motor show without thinking about him. He was,
for us, an integral part of the whole event. You are missed,
Khun Chavalit, but not forgotten.
Purloined petrol
Had an email the other day from one of the local
Eastern Seaboard readers. He wrote, “When I fuelled up at
the newly reopened station in Ban Chang last week it took
4-5 liters more to fill the tank than I expected. I went
back there again today to fill up, and to check my
suspicion, and this time it took about 4 liters more than I
expected to fill the tank. I zero the odometer every time I
fuel up and whenever I pull into a station I have a pretty
good idea as to how many liters I should get. The easiest is
of course to fill up at a different pump station, which I’ll
do anyway, but that doesn’t seem right as other motorists
are getting cheated. Andy.”
The usual way of purloining petrol is by not resetting the
pump to zero. Sometimes the pump jockeys will distract you
by pointing to your tyres or something, so that you do not
notice that the gage was not reset. By the time you look,
the nozzle is in the tank and pouring, and you have no idea
what was on the gage before. But it would be about 4-5
liters worth of fuel, say around B. 100.
Thanks Andy for reminding everyone to check carefully in
future.
