AUTO MANIA: by Dr. Iain Corness [email protected]

Italian GP this weekend

 Monza!

The GP circus moves to Italy, the home of Ferrari and the Tifosi. Spa was not such a great race two weeks ago, so let us hope that Monza will give us some real racing.
Monza is another driver’s circuit; however, like many other circuits, Monza has not been a single layout, but a series of more than a dozen layouts which have ranged in length from 2.4 km to 9 km.
The circuit was opened in the Monza Royal Park, near Milan, in 1922 and featured bankings, though these were demolished in 1939. The bankings which featured in some races, 1955-69, were new structures built on the format of the original. Bankings were used for the Italian GP in 1955, ‘56, ‘60 and ‘61, and were last used for racing of any form in 1969 when the concrete became in need of substantial resurfacing and rebuilding.
The 1971 Italian GP holds the record for the fastest-ever Formula One race but, emphatically, that is not the same as saying the fastest race for Grand Prix cars. That honor remains in the possession of the 1937 Avusrennen with Rosemeyer in the Auto Union recording a 276 km/h lap (that’s about 165 mph).
After 1971, the circuit underwent some revisions to discourage slipstreaming and to lower the average lap speed. Chicanes were added in 1976 and, in 1994, the second Lesmo Bend was tightened and the Curve Grande was re-profiled.
The World Championship which Alonso has his eye on, is not a 100 percent surety for The Finger yet and is still quite open, with seven more GPs after this one (175 points up for grabs). We can expect that the main protagonists will still be trying very hard, in particular Alonso, racing in front of the passionate Ferrari fans. We will be watching from our perches at Jameson’s Irish Pub (Soi AR, next to Nova Park) and the racing commences at 7 p.m., but join us around 6 p.m. for dinner (I do recommend the Sunday specials), and a beer and a chat before the race begins at 7 p.m. We watch on the giant screen, with the dedicated F1 telecast which is of top value and there are no adverts during the race! That’s right - no ads!

Nano a No-No?

The Tata Nano burst onto the world scene four years ago, hailed as the cheapest new car in the world. This was true minimalist motoring. You got a body, an engine and transmission and four seats and not much else.
Tat Nano

The concept was to offer four wheeled transport for the emerging middle classes in India as the next step up from the family motorcycle, which had been the ideal transport for a family of five.
However, Tata did not investigate fully the psychological aspect, and Indians rising through the ranks of society did not wish to look as if a Nano was the best they could afford. So the Nano was shunned. Sales plummeted.
Now the product planners at Tata are going to relaunch the Nano as a smart city car, hoping that will reverse the downward slide in sales. But will it? As Daimler-Benz found, their Smart city car has hardly been a runaway success, and other such vehicles as the Norwegian Th!nk seems to be sinking, if not already sunk.
Ambitious plans of bringing Nano to Thailand a couple of years ago seem to have been shelved, and I doubt whether it will last more than another couple of years in its home base India. Then it will be Ta-Ta to Na-No.

Nitto 3K Series at Bira this weekend

If you can’t fit a visit to Monza for the Italian GP into your schedule this weekend, then go to the Bira circuit for all the local action. Cars, Trucks, and Car Club events Saturday and Sunday, including the very popular Retro cars with our BBX/Acorn Pub Mk1 Ford Escort back to give the E30 BMW’s a hurry up.
The Bira circuit is on Highway 36 about three kays past the Regents School heading towards Sattahip direction.
Full days racing on both Saturday and Sunday, and an added incentive is our AA Insurance Brokers/Acorn Pub Hospitality tent on the Sunday from around noon on the outside of the hairpin at the end of the straight. Come in to the circuit via the “back” entrance, 50 meters before the main gate, go through the tunnel and turn immediately right and look for the red tent.

HighSide Tours at Kaeng Krachan

Rossi!

Do you want to be able to ride a motorcycle well? Perhaps not as good as Rossi, but better than you are now. A HighSide Tour weekend could be the answer.
HighSideTours held its first 3 Day Track School in January 2005 and has held over 70 school events and many more individual tuition sessions since then. They have featured extensively in Fast Bikes (UK), PS (Germany) and Rapid (Australia), magazines as well as having a satisfied customer base numbering in the hundreds. Many their customers have attended three or more events.
There are various packages depending upon your wallet, time and desire!
Packages Available
Standard Package - THB 56,000: Bike, fuel & tyres, 3 days unlimited track time, 4 nights accommodation, airport transfers, track transfers, crash insurance, instructor, photo CD, breakfast, soft drinks, lunch.
Basic Package - THB 40,000: Bike, fuel & tyres, 3 days unlimited track time, track transfers, crash insurance, instructor, photo CD, soft drinks, lunch.
Sampler - THB 16,000: Bike, fuel & tyres, 1 day unlimited track time, track transfers, crash insurance, instructor, soft drinks, lunch.
Half Day - THB 7,000: Bike, fuel & tyres, ½ day unlimited track time, track transfers, instructor.
Full details are available from Graham Knight, email [email protected].
 

BMW i Genius Launched

BMW i3

In a world-first, BMW is employing artificial intelligence to promote its ground-breaking new electric cars through an automated information service for UK customers, which if successful and well accepted by the potential customers, will spread throughout the BMW world.
‘BMW i Genius’ uses specially developed software to interact with potential customers in a live question and answer format that works on a mobile platform. Users simply text in a question relating to BMW i and the BMW i Genius system will instantly respond with a detailed and helpful answer. The adaptive system is capable of interpreting words, the context of those words and the sentiment behind each question in order to respond. Subsequent questions can be asked allowing an informative, real-time conversation (with a computer).
The system was developed by London Brand Management, in a partnership facilitated by a business accelerator program based in London’s Tech City called The Bakery and media agency Vizeum.
London Brand Management founder, 19 year old Dmitry Aksenov, said, “We are delighted to have been chosen by BMW Group as a partner for the launch of this exciting and innovative electric vehicle. Like the BMW i3, our Artificial Intelligence software is truly groundbreaking and provides a unique channel for BMW and its customers to make better buying decisions by getting access to the right information at the right time in the right place.”
BMW Group UK Marketing Director Chris Brownridge said the company’s marketing approach for its electric cars is as innovative as the cars themselves.
“BMW i Genius is capable of understanding each question and responding accurately every time just as if you were talking to an expert from the company. The system operates around the clock allowing the consumer to ask any question relating to the i cars but without the hassle of having to pick up the phone or go into a dealership.”
To use the BMW i Genius service users need to text their question to the shortcode 84737. The artificial intelligence program will then activate and generate a response regarding the BMW i3 or i8. Two BMW i cars are confirmed for production, the fully-electric BMW i3 megacity vehicle and the plug-in hybrid BMW i8 sports car. The BMW i3 is BMW’s first fully-electric production car and is due to go on sale in the UK in late 2013. Like the i8, the BMW i3 features an all-aluminium chassis combined with a passenger cell made entirely from carbon fiber reinforced plastic.
As well as the vehicles themselves, BMW i will encompass a range of premium services for mobility aimed at optimizing the use of parking spaces, recharging infrastructure, ‘smart’ navigation systems, intermodal route planning and access to other BMW vehicles on an ‘on-demand’ basis.
BMW is the first premium vehicle manufacturer to offer such a comprehensive ownership package surrounding electric mobility.
But is it a move in the right direction? I think I would still rather speak to an engineer in person, but then, perhaps I am old fashioned.

Natter Nosh and Noggin
The car club meets at Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR next to Nova Park. The next meeting is on Monday September 9 at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. A totally informal meeting of like-minded souls to discuss their pet motoring (and motorcycling) loves and hates (plus lies and outright exaggerations). Come along and meet the guys who have a common interest in cars and bikes, and enjoy the Jameson’s specials, washed down with a few beers. A couple of the members are scrutineers at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, so they may have some scuttlebutt about the F1 scene, with one having just been over to the US to watch the Indy 500. Always a fun night. Be prepared to laugh a lot at some of the antics of the members (when they were younger)! The Car Club nights are always on the second Monday of the month (not every second Monday)!

Autotrivia

Last week I asked which SUV came out with a quad cam, 5.2 liter V12 with six Weber carburetors? An easy one - it was the Lamborghini LM002. There’s probably still quite a few of them silted up in the desert around Dubai.
So to this week. Bugatti purchased a couple of American race cars to adapt the heads to his own engines. What was the American car?
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].