Hungarian GP this weekend
As
a racing venue, Hungary has a long history, with its first
GP run in 1906, and regular events in Budapest since 1926.
Built with state backing and laid out in a natural
amphitheatre, the Hungaroring opened in 1986 and attracted
an estimated 200,000 spectators. Though the event was well
organized and the hosts very appreciative, it was felt that
the 2.494 mile Hungaroring had been laid out more in the
style of a twisty street circuit rather than a bespoke road
track. There were few opportunities for overtaking, though
things were eased from 1989 when a tight corner was
by-passed and the lap distance became 2.466 miles. However,
it remains a circuit that is not high on any of the drivers’
lists, unless you are after a piece of quick action behind
the pits, as the Hungarian government actually erected (nice
word in the sex scene) some mobile brothels a couple of
years ago. I think they are still in use today!
I will be watching from my favorite roost at Jameson’s Irish
Pub on Soi AR (next to Nova Park) and the racing begins (I
think) at 7 p.m. but check your local TV feed. We watch the
South African channel so are not troubled with the silly
talking heads on UBC, or even if UBC will broadcast the
race. Join me at around 6 p.m. for a natter and some food
and then sit down for the Grand Prix.
After the European GP, the title chase has certainly
narrowed, with Alonso at 68 only two points behind his
McLaren-Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton, followed by the
Ferrari duo of Massa (59) and then Raikkonen (52).
For the Manufacturer’s championship, the table reads:
McLaren-Mercedes 138
Ferrari 111
BMW 61
Renault 32
Williams-Toyota 18
Red Bull-Renault 16
Toyota 9
Super Aguri-Honda 4
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I mentioned that a famous
French record breaking car had to stop its endurance run to
allow the French Grand Prix to be held, then it continued on
after the GP was over. What was the car, and when did this
happen? The correct answer was La Petite Rosalie, a Citroen
that was vying for the endurance records between two and 133
days! It was in 1933 on the Montlhery circuit, and it had to
be parked on a dais while the French Grand Prix was run,
after which it resumed the record attempts. The outcome was
288,000 km at an average speed of 93 kph. That’s not bad
going for 1933.
So to this week, and let’s stay with record breaking. Ice
cooling was used for three world land speed record attempts.
What were the three cars? Clue: 1928, 1929, 1938.
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Say “Hi!” to Hyundai
Hyundai
Tiburon
After many years of its absence in
Thailand, Hyundai is coming back to the kingdom. Not only is
it back as a sales entity, but it intends to assemble the
Hyundai Sonata model at the Thonburi Automotive Assembly
Plant in Samut Prakan, where Mercedes Benz also assemble
certain models. The Sonata will be pitched against the
market segment with the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and
Nissan Teana.
“Bendai”
As well as the Sonata, Hyundai will be selling the Santa Fe
SUV and their two door Coupe, also called the Tiburon or
Tuscani. I am not sure which name will be given to it in
Thailand.
Hyundai have been getting good ratings overseas, so it will
be interesting to see if they can get a toe in the door
currently being held shut by the Japanese.
And for the most fantastic Hyundai make-over take a look at
this, sent up to me by our roving correspondent John
Weinthal, who called it the “Bendai” or “Hyuntley”. Take
your pic. The license plate says California. Brilliant job
by whoever did it.
Fantastic plastic for wheels?
Lightweight wheels are a must-have for
automotive enthusiasts as they significantly decrease
unsprung weight and improve handling characteristics. What
is more, they make your car look better.
Though fiber-composite materials are used in motorsport, and
promise better long-term performance than their metal
counterparts, they have been unable to make their way into
the mainstream due to a lack of suitable testing methods.
Just because they hung together in a 600 kg race car, does
not mean that they are necessarily going to hang together on
a 2,500 kg pick-up, for example.
Standardized testing methods do exist for conventional rims
made of steel or aluminium, but there is doubt as to whether
the testing methods for metal wheels can be applied to
composite materials. However, German researchers have
created a new method which can reliably simulate how an
individual composite wheel will cope with the stresses of
driving on public roads, including hitting the curb and
potholes, and the meeting of quality standards, without
destroying the wheel. Non-destructive testing, in the
scientific parlance.
A composite wheel consists of two main components - a matrix
and reinforcing fibers. Through their interaction the two
components achieve better properties in the composite
material than they do separately.
Working in conjunction with colleagues from four other
Fraunhofer institutes, research engineers at the Fraunhofer
Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability
LBF in Darmstadt are developing a simulation method which
reliably predicts the quality of the rims. “First we produce
a computed tomography (CT) image of the wheel,” explains Dr.
Andreas Büter, Head of Department at the LBF. “The image
enables us to ascertain the length, alignment, curvature and
density of the fibers. These parameters are crucial for the
strength and load capacity of the material.”
On the basis of these results the research scientists
simulate the microstructure of the material, a virtual
unitary cell in which they can for the first time depict
arbitrary material configuration.
Applying the results from the unitary cell, they use a
numerical component model to simulate how the wheel will
handle bends in the road or hitting the curb and how it
would behave in a crash. “We calculate the stress and
elongation occurring in the material under various
loadings,” says Büter. “We know from experiments what
stresses the material can withstand without being damaged
and what elongations will damage it. This enables us to make
a reliable assessment of plastic wheels.”
This is an interesting development of the medical CT scans,
now applied to wheels. The only problem I see is that it
would be very expensive to carry out the testing, and how do
you ensure that all wheels from the same batch have the same
standard in construction.
Young local racers on way up
The first local driver is Jack Lemvard, now with sponsorship
from Ocean 1 Tower Racing to assist him make the next step
up the very expensive motor racing ladder. Jack has been
racing go-karts (guided by ex-Danish champion Thomas
Raldorf) and then last year went into the Toyota Vios one
make races, winning that very competitive series quite
convincingly (and incidentally beating his former mentor
Thomas Raldorf).
Dr.
Iain wishing he were 22 again with Jack (left) and James
(right).
With the Ocean 1 Racing behind him, which has already
supplied him with a test drive in the Formula BMW Asia
open-wheelers in Indonesia, the world is certainly his
oyster at present. He has the talent, all he needs now is
more experience and ‘lucky breaks’.
The second young driver is teenager James Grunwell. Now in
his second year in Formula BMW, James Grunwell, representing
Thailand, has taken the lead in the Asian series. Following
a win in Sentul (Indonesia) Grunwell (18/THA/CIMB Team
Qi-Meritus) took victory in Round 11 of Formula BMW Asia,
and following the exclusion of his team mate Jazeman Jaafar,
Grunwell has now taken over at the top of the Driver
Classification with the slim margin of two points. Jazeman
second and Zahir Ali lies 3rd on the leaderboard, 20 points
behind, with BMW Junior Ross Jamison (17/CIMB Team
Qi-Meritus) of Hong Kong 4th overall and top of the Rookie
Cup standings, although an impressive performance by fellow
Junior Kyle Mitchell (16/RSA/Eurasia Motorsport), which saw
him take both wins in the category today, mean his lead is
reduced to 13 points.
Rounds 13-16 will be held at the brand new race track in
Chengdu China, on September 15 and 16. Thailand has its
fingers crossed for you, James.
