Indian GP this weekend

Buddh International Circuit

India has unveiled the new $400 million Buddh International Circuit, promising to dispel the disappointing memories of last year’s Commonwealth Games, which had unfinished venues and massive budget overruns and the smell of corruption.

The Commonwealth Games were meant to showcase India’s status as an emerging global power, but instead, “The Commonwealth Games forced us to bow our heads in shame,” said Manoj Gaur, chairman of the F1 circuit promoters, the Jaypee group.

In case you missed it, following the “lead” of Singapore, the fans will also be treated to other entertainment at the new F1 circuit, including the first-ever performances in the country by US heavy metal outfit Metallica and pop sensation Lady Gaga. (Glad I’m not going!)

Manoj Gaur said tickets for the race were close to being sold out, except a few corporate boxes which range between 3.5 million rupees (THB 2.1 million) and 10 million rupees (THB 6.5 million).

Threats by some local groups of farmers to disrupt the race if their demands for better compensation in exchange for their acquired land were not met have been dismissed. “We have worked here with complete co-operation from local people. We are more than hopeful of hosting a peaceful race. It will be 100 percent successful,” said Gaur.

The track has 16 largely medium speed corners where F1 cars will lap at an average speed of 210 km/h. The back straight will let F1 cars reach 320 km/h making it one of the fastest tracks in the world. The expected F1 car lap time is 1 minute 27 seconds. A grandstand with a capacity of 13,000 will overlook the turn 10 and turn 11 giving the F1 fans an opportunity to be a part of the action.

For the future of F1 in India, let us hope it is a success. The owners of the two year old circuit built for the Korean GP are already making noises that they need the annual fee reduced, as they are losing too much money. However, I doubt if Bernie will be answering the phone.

I will be watching from my usual perch at Jameson’s Irish Pub, Soi AR, next to Nova Park for the Grand Prix. We will be gazing at the huge screen, with BBC coverage and no breaks for adverts. Now, important - with the time differential between here and India, the race on Sunday starts at 4.30 p.m. Thai time. Qualifying on the Saturday is 3.30 p.m. Join us for lunch and a couple of jars before the red lights go out, and stay for the post-race discussions and try the weekend specials.

Autotrivia Quiz

Quiz Car

Last week I mentioned that when the XK 120 was first produced, it had an aluminium body. I asked, at what number in production did they change to steel? The answer was 240.

So to this week. Look at this picture. What is the car? No clues, sorry, as this is too easy.

For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].

Dan Wheldon RIP

There has been much written in the popular press about the death of English driver Dan Wheldon in an IndyCar event in the US. Whilst I feel for his young family, those involved in all forms of motor racing know that there is always a risk.

Three times F1 World Champion Jackie Stewart has added his halfpenny’s worth, but has also stated that F1 has a much better safety record than IndyCar. “It has now been 17 years, six months and something like 13 days since a driver lost his life in a Formula 1 car, whether it be in testing, qualifying or racing. Every time there is a fatality, there’s another wake-up call and one must recognize that motor racing is dangerous and you cannot, because of the long period without fatalities, expect that to go on forever.”

The safety cell in the modern F1 car is just amazing, and that is one area where F1 is claimed to be superior to the IndyCar tub. Once again Jackie Stewart spoke out saying, “But we have to recognize that Formula 1 has been one of the examples of how you can make motor racing safer and our risk management is probably unequaled in the world in business or sport.”

As Sir Stirling Moss once said, he could remember when motor racing was dangerous and sex was safe, however, that is for F1. Dan Wheldon’s death has shown that those safety features are not comprehensively used throughout all branches of the sport. The ironic side to the accident was that Wheldon had been helping IndyCar develop a safer tub which was to be used in 2012.

What impact will the floods have on the Thai auto industry?

Honda under water

The Frost & Sullivan Analyst Comment is one of the better groups looking at the auto industry. Vivek Vaidya, vice president, APAC, Automotive & Transportation, and Vijay Rao, research manager, APAC, Automotive & Transportation, filed this report.

Thailand is currently experiencing the worst flooding in the last five decades. 26 of the 90 provinces in Thailand have been affected by floods and automotive assembly plants and parts maker factories located mainly in and around Ayutthaya and Pathumthani provinces are suffering from it.

Japanese OEMs such as Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Nissan and American OEMs such as GM and Auto Alliance (Ford and Mazda) have assembly locations in Thailand with a combined annual production capacity of approximately 1.7 million - 1.8 million units. The Honda assembly plant is located in Ayutthaya and hence has been the most affected OEM with flood inundation within the assembly plant. All other OEM assembly locations are outside the flood affected regions such as Chachoengsao (Toyota and Isuzu), Samut Prakarn (Nissan and Toyota), Chonburi (Mitsubishi), Rayong (Auto Alliance Thailand and GM).

The floods have had a severe effect on auto parts makers and as a consequence disturb the supply chain structure. The situation has had a cascading effect on automotive assembly and production in Thailand. Almost 10 percent of total auto parts for local production come from flood affected regions. Toyota, Auto Alliance Thailand, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan are all dependent on auto parts makers in the flood affected region. Ayutthaya and Pathumthani provinces have around 40 auto parts suppliers supplying to most assembly plants in Thailand.

Honda, which is the most severely affected OEM, is likely to have a production loss of about 10,000-15,000 units with the closure of its plant for about five weeks. Toyota and Isuzu are likely to lose the next 2-3 weeks of production due to shortage of parts supply with loss of estimated production volume to be approximately 30,000-35,000 and 10,000-15,000 units respectively.

BMW’s “Concept e” maxi scooter

BMW scooter

BMW is leaning more and more towards electric power, despite being one of the first to promote hydrogen as the fuel of the future.

At this year’s Frankfurt Auto Show, BMW displayed its electric i3 and i8 plug-in hybrid concept cars, plus another concept for city living, being a plug-in electric scooter.

The “Concept e” maxi scooter is the third model from the Bavarian maker to focus on urban sustainable mobility, with small environmentally conscious vehicles for congested cities such as Bangkok, after the boats have left.

The City Cars were better represented this year, and undoubtedly point to an e-future. On display were production versions of the Volkswagen Up, the all-new Smart Fortwo, Audi A2 and Urban Concept, as well as BMW’s own i3 city car, which is expected to be eventually joined by the smaller i1.

The Concept e will be BMW’s smallest electric vehicle. It could easily go into production, with BMW stating it “aims to put a premium offer on the market in the area of electro-mobility in the foreseeable future.”

The electric scooter is claimed to have a “realistic” riding range of 100 km between recharging, which only requires a regular household power socket, and takes less than three hours to recharge when the battery is completely flat, according to BMW.

One very interesting feature is the use of two rearward facing video cameras integrated into the number plate and two LCD monitors for the rider to see.

The Concept e was not the only electric-powered two-wheeler, with several brands offering zero-emissions city mobility. These included Honda, Vectrix, Yamaha and other traditional car manufacturers including Volkswagen and BMW’s own Mini brand.

Ford E-Bike concept

Ford’s half electric - half pedal bike

Another two-wheeled concept unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show was Ford’s idea of an urban-focused commuter vehicles. However, this was a foray into the two wheeled bicycle for FoMoCo.

Ford claimed its new E-Bike concept pushbike “could be an innovative solution for urban mobility”.

Using a hub-mounted electric motor on the front, and a traditional pedal driven rear wheel, is this the best of both worlds?

“The e-bike market is growing very, very rapidly, with some 30 million units sold globally last year,” says Axel Wilke, director of vehicle personalization from Ford’s European service division.

“We see e-bikes as an important element of urban electric mobility. More and more people are using e bikes for short distance commuting and they are becoming comfortable with the concept of electric mobility.”

Ford said it has taken inspiration from technology used in F1 in the form of “magnetostrictive” materials, which “are used to convert magnetic energy into kinetic energy, and vice versa”, with sensors able to provide “a seamless integration of the power of the legs with the power of the motor” by switching between or blending the two power sources “within a hundredth of a second”. The use of magnetic power is becoming more accepted, with the ‘mag-lev’ trains a good example of this.

The bicycle frame is constructed of lightweight aluminium and carbon fiber, weighing a feather-light 2.5 kg. The frame houses the integrated lithium-ion battery which is good for 85 km on a full charge, and takes just two hours to charge to 80 percent or four hours for a 100 percent charge.

However, don’t go rushing down to your local Ford dealership, even though Ford admits that e-bikes like this are important for the future of transport, it is not planning on bringing the E-Bike to production.