Canadian GP this weekend
The Grand Prix circus returns to Canada,
having been dropped from the calendar last year because of
financial arguments with Bernie, the ‘benefactor’ of F1. The
same circuit as before will be used, the Gilles Villeneuve
Circuit, constructed on a man-made island which had been
used originally in the 1967 Expo. Previously called the Ile
Notre Dame circuit the circuit was renamed in Villeneuve’s
memory after his death in 1982. The location is one of the
loveliest in Formula One since the narrow track threads its
way through lakes and parkland. It is a narrow, medium-fast,
4.4 km circuit with 13 corners. Some corners were eased for
1979, a new corner before the pits was added in 1991 and a
chicane was added in 1994. And, it is possible to pass, as
opposed to Monaco! However it does have a couple of corners
with some very unforgiving walls at the edge of the bitumen,
which a few champions have tried out for size.
Red Bull management is saying that Webber
and Vettel have kissed and made up, but we shall see. They
are saying that there is no number 1 or number 2 in their
drivers, though all the signs are there that Vettel is the
white-haired boy. McLaren are buoyed up by their 1-2 in
Turkey, and they are also saying there is no preference
being given to either Hamilton or Button, but don’t believe
them. Wait till the chips are down. Schumacher gets better
every meeting and Nico Rosberg is having to play catch the
leader. He will be trying very hard in Canada.
I will be watching in front of the big
screen at Jameson’s Irish Pub, Soi AR, next to Nova Park,
come what may. Qualifying is at midnight on the Saturday
(grunt), but why don’t you join me on the Sunday at around
10 p.m. for the 11 p.m. start with a couple of drinks first.
The real enthusiasts do enjoy this late night race, as we
get the pub to ourselves. I promised Landlord Kim Fletcher
we would make sure the fridge doors are closed and will turn
off the lights and lock the front door on our way out!
Why electrics is a black art and physics doesn’t work
Some examples of the noble black art in
auto electrics. Remember the fuel pump on the original
Mini’s, made by Lucas, otherwise known as the Prince of
Darkness. In a fit of madness, Sir Alec Issigonis decided to
put the fuel pump under the floor of the boot. I personally
think he forgot about it during the design phase, and the
pump and its subsequent placement was an afterthought after
the engine wouldn’t fire. Oops! No petrol. Oops! No pump.
Now if the pump had been carefully
wrapped in its own pump-sized condom, everything would have
been fine. But it wasn’t, was it? Puddles, streams,
overflowing Bangkok klongs, or a decent spit, would cause
the pump to stop. Ok, OK, water in the points, so the
electrical pulse doesn’t, or something. Whatever, the end
result is that you are stranded.
Actually I have had a life-long hate of
fuel pumps. Remember the old MG TCs? The pump was mounted on
the right hand side of the scuttle firewall. Whenever it
stopped ticking you had to get out, and perform black magic
to get it to work. You unscrewed the cap and gently coaxed
the points back into flutter mode, then reassembled
everything and away you went.
I had another method, which did not
require you to stop at the side of the road or unscrew
anything. I used to keep a short iron bar down beside the
driver’s seat and when the pump stopped pumping, I would
lean out with the bar in my hand and beat buggery out of the
pump. It would start again, either because I had made the
points open and close, or because the pump was so frightened
it was trembling. To make it easy, the sides were off the
bonnet (‘de rigeur’ in those days, complete with leather
straps across the top bonnet panels).
Another bit of engineering that defies
physical laws lies in the universal joints in the propeller
shaft. A kind of metal X with case-hardened caps filled with
rollers. Despite all the greasing in the world, these things
would always seize up, and you had to pull it all apart.
The owners manual made it look easy.
(Those were the days when the manufacturer actually allowed
you to touch the car. These days your warranty would become
null and void and you would probably be subjected to some
kind of exquisite electro-torture.) But back to the manual,
complete with some chap in a dust coat. “Tap the yoke
lightly and the bearing will appear” was what the good book
said. Not one solitary word as what to do when the bearing
didn’t appear - and they never did.
No, the tapping physical law does not
exist. You have to get the biggest cold chisel you can and
split the casing, and by the time you have thoroughly
butchered it, then the bearing will appear - in bits. “Tap
the yoke lightly” indeed! Physics be damned!
Autotrivia
Quiz
Last week I mentioned that red quarters
on a BMW radiator badge denoted what car? This was after the
division of BMW following WWII. The Eisenach factory ended
up in East Germany, the Soviet side, and continued to
produce the pre-war BMW six cylinder models, initially
called ‘Autowelo’, and then EMW. The radiator badge color
was changed in 1951. Incidentally, the Vietnamese police
were using EMW motorcycle and sidecar outfits for many
years.
So to this week. Which helicopter factory
became one of the most significant makes in motorcycle
racing? Clue: it was owned by an Italian Count.
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
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 (June
14) 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. Many interesting debates
come from these evenings. Come along and meet guys who have
a common interest in cars and bikes, and enjoy the Jameson’s
specials, washed down with a few beers.
Daimler
forges electric alliances
with China as well as the US
Daimler AG has forged a significant
alliance with Chinese manufacturer and battery giant BYD
(build your dreams) that will give the German luxury
car-maker a toehold with electric vehicles in the world’s
biggest marketplace.
Daimler and the Chinese BYD have signed a
contract in Beijing which creates a 50:50 research and
technology joint venture - Shenzhen BYD Daimler New
Technology Co Ltd - that will develop an EV for China.
BYD is backed by American billionaire
Warren Buffet, and will supply battery technology and
electric drive systems for use on Daimler platform
architecture - as seen on its Mercedes-Benz A-class and
Smart ForTwo - to create the first model in a new, as yet
unnamed, brand of electric vehicles to be sold in China.
Daimler and BYD will jointly invest RMB
600 million (3.1 billion THB) to use as registered capital
for the joint venture, which is still subject to Chinese
government approval.
Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche said the
joint venture was well positioned to make the most of the
vast potential of electric mobility in China. “We are
fortunate to have excellent joint venture partners in China
and the establishment of this research and technology centre
with BYD adds another dimension to our growing presence in
this important market,” he said.
BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu said: “Together
with Daimler we are making excellent progress identifying
opportunities to utilize the strengths of both companies to
create a new brand of electric cars for China. This is a
unique and exciting initiative and together we are pushing
hard to bring this new electric vehicle to market as soon as
possible.”
BYD already has plans to begin selling
its own cars in Europe next year, with right-hand drive
markets, including Australia and the UK, set to follow in
2012. Thailand is part of the RHD market, but it would be
unlikely that they would bring these vehicles in here, with
our customs duty and excise.
Other BYD models on the horizon are the
e6 full-electric people-mover unveiled at the Detroit motor
show in January (and now in production in China), and a
number of more established models including the F0 micro,
F3/F3R light sedan/hatch, G3 small sedan, F6 medium sedan,
and the F3DM and F6DM plug-in hybrids.
Daimler set up a joint venture in 2008
with Evonik Industries AG to build lithium-ion battery
packs. It also holds a 10 percent stake in the American
Tesla Motors, which builds electric sports cars and supplies
batteries for the Smart EV.
Fancy a
DB5? For $6 million?
The James Bond 1964 Aston Martin DB5 is
apparently set to fetch more than $6 million when it goes to
auction for the first time in its history.
Bond’s DB5
The second of only two ‘007’ versions of
the famous sports car driven by actor Sean Connery in the
‘60s 007 films Goldfinger and Thunderball will go under the
hammer in October in the UK.
The DB5 comes equipped with all the
original ‘Q’ gadgets and modifications seen in the movies,
including the front-mounted machine guns, rear pop-up
bulletproof shield, revolving number plates, oil-slick
sprayer, smoke screen, tracking device, and, of course, the
removable roof panel that allowed Bond to jettison his
unwanted passenger from the Aston Martin’s ejector seat.
Now how is this for inflation? An
American radio broadcaster, Jerry Lee, bought the 1964 DB5
prototype from the Aston Martin factory for $12,000 in 1969.
The first Bond DB5 sold in 2006 for US$2,090,000.
130 mph
laps at the IOM
The annual Isle of Man (IOM) TT’s are on
again, and our motorcycling correspondent Alan Coates has
been keeping me up to date. The top riders are averaging 130
mph (208 km/h) for the very tight and twisty 37.7 mile (60
km) road course around the island.
Cameron Donald Suzuki at IOM
In addition to the Super Bikes and Super Sports, there is
also the TT Zero electric bike race again. These noiseless
electric bikes look like breaking the magic 100 mph (160
km/h) barrier this year and there is a STG 10,000 incentive
for the first electric powered motorcycle to do this. This
landmark was achieved for the first time by a conventional
bike in 1957, when Scotsman Bob McIntyre lapped the TT
Course in 22 minutes 24.4 seconds for an overall average of
101.03 mph. Rob Barber and Team Agni recorded a fastest
electric lap time of 25 minutes 53.5 seconds (87.434 mph) in
the 2009 clean emissions race.
