Fancy a trip to Laos and Vietnam?
My old friend Captain Sitthichoke has
passed on the details of the latest 4WD caravan tour from
Thailand to Laos and Vietnam (and return) during the period
December 20-26.
This is one of those all-inclusive tours and the fees cover
the permission document for caravan tour, procedure at the
border, accommodation in twin sharing room for six nights,
English or Thai speaking guide, admission fee and boat fee,
meals, bus transfer where required, organization fee,
parking fees, insurance fee for car and driver/passengers in
Lao Sector only, company car plus police escort.
What
is not included are the beverages at meals, personal
expenses, visa entry (if participants are non-Asian),
gasoline for car, insurance fees for car and
driver/passengers in Vietnam, and repairs.
A quick resume of the trip includes Mukdahan, then on to
Savannakhet with a welcome briefing at the international
border gate (Second Friendship Bridge), visit dinosaur
museum, Inhang Stupa, local market and gala dinner in
Savannakhet.
After Laos, the caravan goes through the border into
Vietnam, lunch at Dong Ha then visit Vinh Moc Revolution
museum and local market.
The next day it is Dong Ha - Hue - Danang on the Ho Chi Minh
Highway.
On 24 Dec, the caravan runs from Danang - Hoi An - Kontum -
Attapeu (in Laos) with accommodation at the Attapeu palace
with Lao local traditional music show.
Xmas day after breakfast it is on to Phapheng Waterfall via
Pakse, lunch at waterfall area late afternoon return to
hotel in Pakse City.
The final day is 26 December going from Pakse - Wat Phu
Temple - Chong Mek (Thailand) and that is the official end
of the six day escorted caravan. On a share basis, the cost
is B. 13,000, with an additional charge for single (not
share) of B. 2,000 and vehicle charge of B. 2,600.
For more information contact Tel: (856-41) 251972, fax:
(856-41) 253376, 212755, Mobile: (856-20) 5516890, 5864146,
5865466, 9841802, 2312637, email: sktravel @laotel.com,
thongxay@ hotmail.com, and website
http://www.offroad.laopdr.com
As a further contact point, Captain Sitthichoke who is based
in Thailand, speaks excellent English and his mobile is 081
902 4490. He also informed me that he has some 4x4 Offroad
Hilux Vigo trucks for rent if you want to join the above
trip.
A1GP replays Indy 2005
A1GP - the so-called World Cup of Motor
Racing - hit a low in Beijing this weekend worthy of
comparison with the F1 fiasco of Indianapolis 2005, the
infamous six car ‘race’ writes our correspondent John
Weinthal.
A1GP racer
A1’s first Beijing problem was that there
was no real circuit. A street course had been hastily
constructed on an extraordinarily ugly industrial park.
There was no prior testing or racing on it.
Friday practice was curtailed when, incredibly, it was
decided to alter the layout of the narrow, bumpy course.
A 90 minute Saturday practice was stopped after just 25 when
a manhole cover came loose on the racing line. Qualifying
was cancelled altogether. Times set in brief practice
sessions became the basis for the starting grid of the
Sunday sprint race.
There’s little point saying much more. The 20 lap sprint
started behind the safety car in single file. Likewise the
later 60 lap feature event which should have seen a
conventional paired standing start.
On a circuit which looked barely two cars wide in parts
there were inevitable ‘offs’ resulting in long periods under
the Audi S8 safety car. Clearly nobody was trained to remove
even stalled cars, let alone the mildly damaged.
The books will show Italy in first place from Great Britain
and Australia. They were the first of 13 survivors from 22
starters.
To add to the fans’ misery the TV filming was appalling. In
the face of this farce the results should be scrapped - they
are meaningless.
Until Beijing, A1GP had proved to be a fabulous concept with
intensely close racing and much overtaking by the identical
520 bhp cars. Beijing’s many blunders could never be
repeated, even if one tried. Pray that Beijing can do better
with the Olympics in 2008.
A1GP will come alive again at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit this
weekend - November 24-26. Our roving correspondent John
Weinthal will be there.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week’s quiz car
Quiz cars
Last week I asked you to have a look at the quiz car. It was
found in Thailand. I asked what is it, and what was wrong
with it? The answer was a Datsun Fairlady, but they never
came out with louvers on the front guards. Those have been
done later.
So to this week. Another set of very old photographs which
were sent in by Nick Fennessy. Now these had me scratching
my head, apart from the Morgan three wheeler. What is the
consensus on these?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Natavud takes the titles (again)
The most polished driver in Thailand is Natavud
Charoensukhawatana, in my opinion, and he has just taken the
Thailand Touring Car championship again in the factory
Toyota.
In fact, I consider Nat to be one of the best in Asia. And
what is more, he has been the best on two wheels as well as
four.
The list of racers who have tried two and four is actually
quite impressive. The most famous pair would have to be John
Surtees (F1 champion 1964) and Mike Hailwood. Then there is
another F1 world champion who started on two wheels (but
without international success), and that was Damon Hill.
Others include Johnny Cecotto and Eddie Lawson and Wayne
Gardner, all of whom excelled on two wheels and did quite
well on four wheels, but were never champions in the field.
Even the greatest two wheel rider of all time, Giacomo
Agostini with his 15 world titles, tried his hand at four
wheels, and although scoring a few podiums in his Williams
FW06 in 1980, never made it to the top of the lesser
championship classes he contested. No, it takes a rare
talent to be a champion in both disciplines.
And it is that which brings me back to Nat. Were you aware
that this very mild mannered man was a two wheeled champion?
And not tiddlers either. He was a multiple champion around
the highly dangerous Macau circuit on SuperBikes. He was the
champion in 1989, 1991 and 1993, riding the ferocious
Kawasaki ZXR 750-750R in those years. For those who have
never seen the Bike GP at Macau, there are stone and
concrete walls all the way round the public road circuit. It
is like the Isle of Man races in the UK, but without the
hedges! And like Valentino Rossi, there’s nothing of him.
How he wrestled large superbikes, I do not know. Having
tried two wheels (and failed miserably) I stand in awe of
these racers.
What must be remembered that Nat really is a veteran, in
motor sport terms. He is also not a one-class wonder, as so
many drivers are. Brilliant in one category and nowhere in
the next. Try these results over the past 12 years:
Thailand Grand Touring Car (TGTC) Champion
Year 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003
2nd runner up year 2002
S.E.A South East Asia Touring Car (Super touring car)
1st runner up year 1995
2nd runner up year 1998
3rd runner up year 1996, 1997
Asian Touring Car Champion
Year 2001
Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
2nd runner up year 2003
1st runner up 2004.
These wins have been in many types of cars, from Peugeots,
Porsches and Toyotas of various types. He has been the
Thailand Touring Car Champion for so many years he has run
out of places to put the cups! He has driven for
international teams such as Longman Racing and FuSpeed, as
well as the Toyota works team.
So here we have the most unassuming Asian driver who has
been and still is a champion on two wheels and on four. He
has been consistently at the sharp end of the grid for more
than a decade, and is still there. He is not slipping
backwards at all. In fact, for my money, the skill of a
driver is shown by his ability to master wet conditions. Nat
is a ‘rain-meister’.
What pilots can do with
your tax dollars!
Nothing to do with motor cars, but I have always
had an admiration for people who can do things fast and
well. Go to http://www.glumbert.com/media/flylow and watch
the most amazing footage of jet pilots training (playing?)
over a desert somewhere. Truly, I have never seen anything
like this! It makes Top Gun look like kindergarten stuff.
Renault takes an Indian
bride (on the rebound?)
Renault’s Carlos Ghosn has reportedly taken
another bride, polygamy apparently being considered OK for
meandering motor moguls.
After the much touted arranged marriage with GM, managed by
Kirk Kerkorian, ended up in tears at the altar, Carlos took
the bag with the bride price to Asia and courted India’s
Mahindra and Mahindra.
India
has a long history of arranged marriages, and the European
fair skin is much sought after, so it did not take long for
the Mahindra match-makers to bring on the flowers, exchange
the rings, and fire up the Tandoori ovens.
But there are those that would say that Carlos is not in it
just for the curries. Not only has there been a PreNup
agreement over Carlos’ adopted son to be called Logan
Mahindra, but Carlos wants room to play around as well. In a
recent interview on Indian TV, where he was asked directly
whether he was going to be faithful, Carlos uttered, “You
are tempted to go out of a partnership if this partnership
gives you a so and so kind of reward. In this case that is
not the case, we have a very open relationship with Anand
(Mahindra) and his team and they understand us and we
understand them very well. There is no reason to break this
relationship, on the contrary we are eager to develop it and
let him benefit from it and Renault and Nissan benefit from
it.”
So not only does our Carlos want an open marriage, he is
already suggesting a ménage a trios. Trust a Frenchman! Or
should that be never trust a Frenchman?
Of course, I am sure that Carlos knows that his main bed
partner Nissan, whom he is suggesting might like to join in
the fun, has been “having it off” with Suzuki who has had a
well publicized affair with Maruti, resulting in an
offspring known as a Maruti 800 by Maruti Udyog. This
somewhat mixed parent vehicle sells for a little over US$
4,000 and is a major player in the annual 1 million vehicle
Indian car market.
However, being the astute man that he is, Ghosn knows that
it’s first in-best dressed as far as available brides in
India is concerned, and Renault and Rogan Josh has a nice
ring to it. Just like Carlos and Curry.
