So now it’s the German GP
Hockenheim
This Sunday the German GP is being held
at Hockenheim, not Nurburgring. It was opened in 1939, 15
miles from Heidelberg, and was used for German national car
and motorcycle racing. In 1965/6 it was uprated to a design
by John Hugenholz because one end was lost when an autobahn
was built. The resulting 6.7 km long circuit remained
blindingly quick for most of its length, with a slow section
in the ‘stadium’ (i.e. grandstand) area, similar in concept
to the arena course at Silverstone.
Hockenheim achieved notoriety in 1968
when, at one of the first major races held at the circuit,
Jim Clark was killed in a Formula Two race following
presumed tyre failure. His actual death was caused, however,
by the fact that his car was able to leave the circuit
unimpeded and hit a tree.
While the Nurburgring was being made
safe, Hockenheim staged the 1970 German GP with a layout
made slower by the construction of three chicanes. It was
not a popular choice of venue but, following Lauda’s
accident at the Nurburgring in 1976, Hockenheim became the
home of the German GP for many years. These days the event
alternates annually with the ‘new’ Nurburgring.
With Hamilton and Button at the top of
the world championship table, Mark Webber third and German
hero Vettel fourth, expect this to be a fiery race. We will
be watching in front of the big screen in Jameson’s Irish
Pub, Soi AR, next to Nova Park. The race starts at 7 p.m.
Thai time Sunday (Qualifying is at 7 p.m. Saturday), but get
there around 6 p.m. for a good seat and join us for some
dinner (the carvery is great value) and a couple of drinks
before the start.
Championship tables after Silverstone
(9 GP’s and 225 points to come)
Drivers:
01 Lewis Hamilton 145
02 Jenson Button 133
03 Mark Webber 128
04 Sebastian Vettel 121
05 Fernando Alonso 98
06 Nico Rosberg 90
07 Robert Kubica 83
08 Felipe Massa 67
09 Michael Schumacher 36
10 Adrian Sutil 35
11 Rubens Barrichello 29
12 Kamui Kobayashi 15
13 Vitantonio Liuzzi 12
14 Sebastien Buemi 7
15 Vitaly Petrov 6
Manufacturers:
01 McLaren-Mercedes 278
02 RBR-Renault 249
03 Ferrari 165
04 Mercedes GP 126
05 Renault 89
06 Force India-Mercedes 47
07 Williams-Cosworth 31
08 BMW Sauber-Ferrari 15
09 STR-Ferrari 10
10= (Lotus, Virgin, HRT) zero
Autotrivia
Quiz
Last week I mentioned that it is often
thought that Henry Ford ‘invented’ the assembly line
approach to building cars, but he did not. Who did pioneer
the assembly line approach in cars? Clue 1901. It was Ramson
E Olds with the Curved Dash Oldsmobile.
Quiz car
So to this week. What is this car?
British and they made 400 of them in 1958.
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Maserati
goes the lightweight route
The next Quattroporte (four door for the
non-Italians) will be lighter, more efficient and available
with all-wheel drive, turbo V6 and idle-stop technologies.
Current Maserati Quattroporte
The new Quattroporte will make its debut
at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show and is believed to be
designed on a new platform from the new generation of
top-shelf models to emerge from the Fiat-Chrysler alliance
(take-over).
Maserati say their target for the new
Quattroporte is to slash fuel consumption by 25 percent. And
that even includes the all-wheel drive at the top of the
range - by reducing weight by 15 percent and employing V6
and downsized V8 engines matched with an eight-speed ZF
automatic transmission, which just about every manufacturer
is offering these days.
Details of Maserati’s third model line -
which will join the Quattroporte sedan, GranTurismo coupe
and the closely related GranCabrio convertible remain
scarce, but Maserati expects the compact four-seat coupe or
sedan to be its volume-selling model by drawing a 10 percent
share of Europe’s ‘high-end E-segment’.
Maserati SpA commercial director Raffaele
Fusilli told GoAuto in Australia in February that the design
of the lighter and more dynamic new model was already locked
in, and that future Maserati models were likely to be
powered by twin-turbo petrol V6 and even hybrid drivetrains.
“We are working on weight reduction,
dynamic improvement, keeping the roominess, increasing the
room in the trunk and other parts. What I’ve seen up to now
is very exciting for the four-door.”
Fiat offering new Alfa Romeo models too
With Fiat’s boss Marchionne having taken
over Chrysler, and covering Maserati and Alfa Romeo and
Abarth, he promised new models for all the brands under his
administration. Not only new models, but better market
penetration with Marchionne’s ambitious target of 500,000
annual sales for the Alfa Romeo brand by 2014 - up from just
over 100,000 in 2009.
“In the past you have heard several times
Alfa promising such growth figures, but this time we have
the right conditions, the right products and the right
synergies to get there,” said the CEO of Alfa Romeo, which
celebrated its 100th anniversary in June. Confirming plans
revealed in the Fiat-Chrysler alliance plan announced two
months ago, Alfa will launch six new products in the next
four years. They include a five-door version of the MiTo, a
new Spider, a medium SUV, a large SUV and the 159-replacing
Giulia medium sedan and wagon, which is scheduled to appear
in 2012.
The Golf-sized Giulietta hatchback is
based on a new compact platform that is eventually forecast
to underpin annual production of one million Fiat, Chrysler
and Alfa vehicles. Marchionne might just be smart enough to
make this, on the surface unwieldy monster, work!
Pro Races
at Bira this weekend too!
The Pro Race series will be at the local
Bira circuit this weekend as well. This series is one step
down from the very professional SuperCar category, but the
lesser (or supporting) classes will be much the same.
Racing at Bira (Highway 36 around half
way between the Regent’s School and the Highway 331 flyover)
allows for close to the action spectating and photography.
We usually go to the outside of the hairpin at the end of
the straight. Remember to bring a hat! A very inexpensive
lunch and refreshments are available at the Bira Caf้ at the
back of the pits. Action begins around 10 a.m. each day.
How to
become a world champion
So your lad is showing talent in go-karts
and avidly watches F1 on the TV. What are his chances of
becoming the next Michael Schumacher, Mark Webber, Lewis
Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel?
BMW FB 02
Well, the bad news is, that unless you
have very deep pockets, the boy will remain an amateur
racer, or at best, semi pro, for the rest of his life. These
days there is a very well defined stairway to the top, and
your lad will have to excel all the way, and at every stage.
The Formula BMW Asia series used to be
the way to get on the ladder, and that was not a cheap
exercise, with around USD 250,000 needed to fund the 12
months. Yes, that’s right, quarter of a million US dollars.
Win the Asian series and he could go to the run-off with the
winners from the other F BMW regional series. Win that and
you were ready to move up to the next rung on the ladder -
an even more expensive rung.
However, BMW are closing off F BMW Asia
at the end of this year and will have a new series called
the F BMW Talent Cup for 2011.
According to BMW, as part of the
strategic realignment of its motorsport involvement, BMW is
embarking on new paths in its promotion of young racing
talent following almost ten successful Formula BMW
championship years. Starting next season, the Formula BMW
Talent Cup will be established. BMW will no longer be
running its Formula BMW racing series in Europe and Asia.
The Formula BMW Talent Cup concept has
two aims: to offer young racing drivers a comprehensive
education and to prepare them for a professional career in
motorsport. The target group are talented young drivers aged
14 and above, bringing the Formula BMW Talent Cup even
closer to the junior base in karting than the current
Formula BMW series. The Formula BMW FB02 will continue to be
used as the race vehicle centrally operated by BMW
Motorsport.
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen
explains: “Promoting young talent continues to be an
important strand of our realigned project landscape. BMW has
been actively involved in supporting talented young drivers
since the 1970s and aims to continue this tradition. With
the Formula BMW Talent Cup we are positioning ourselves
between karting and professional motorsport, so starting out
a stage earlier than with our previous Formula BMW concept.
This realignment allows us to react to new conditions and
the increase in costs seen in junior, single-seater racing.
As such we are offering young drivers an extremely
cost-effective platform and are sharpening our focus on
practical driving experience and driver education so to
provide them with the best possible preparation for their
future career on and beside the track. At the end of the
one-year training, the greatest talent will win a season in
an appropriate higher race series financed by BMW.”
A season in the Formula BMW Talent Cup is
offered to a maximum of 15 participants for 100,000 Euro per
person (around 4 million baht). Entry is restricted to those
without experience in racing series outside of karting.
Those interested can email [email protected] with
immediate effect. The official pre-registration for the 2011
season begins in late summer 2010. The latest information
can also be found on the internet at www.FormulaBMW.com.
Formula BMW in its current format has
spawned many Formula One drivers. In the current season
alone, seven Formula One drivers have come out of the
Formula BMW fold and many more are knocking at the door.
Well over 70 drivers made the leap into Formula 3 or similar
race series.
As I said, the opportunities are there -
but it is expensive.
Nine
seater Honda revealed
Having secret tests in China, a new Honda
MPV (midget people vehicle) was spotted by our vigilant team
of highly paid photographers. Unsure as to whether the paint
can held at the side of the MPV would be considered as an
extra sidecar, we have included the passenger in the
head-count.
With three and four up being common in
Thailand, and even five up at times, this new Honda MPV
certainly outdoes them all.
9 seater MPV
