Belgian GP this weekend

Herr Schumacher, the elder, may have won the World championship, but do not think that he’s now going on holidays for the last four Grands Prix, as second place man David Coulthard said he hoped would happen.

The Spa-Francorchamps circuit is one that Schumi really enjoys, and the blindingly quick Eau Rouge corner really sorts out the men from the boys. I expect the reigning champion to have a go here. So who is going to challenge him? Both Coulthard and Hakkinen (when he gets focussed) can provide the answer, but will they? The BMW Williams could also do well here and Ralf might just be the man - or ‘Nutsack’ Montoya. Anyone else? I doubt it. Having said that, I do believe there are some drivers out there who could challenge Michael Schumacher, but they are just not in the cars that could challenge the Ferrari team.

Nothing really to do with cars, but tickled me This came from my mad motorcycling mate, the one on the pillion of this shot taken several decades ago. It’s very poignant, so have your hanky ready. Her husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she had stayed by his bedside every single day. One day, when he came to, he motioned for her to come nearer. As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of tears, “You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my car sales business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you stayed right here. When my health started failing, you were still by my side. You know what?” “What dear?” She gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth. “I think you bring me bad luck.”

Autotrivia Quiz Last week I investigated tail fins. On a street car these are not really of much aerodynamic use (I’ve even seen cars in the choked Bangers streets with wings mounted on the roof) but they have been an important styling tool for some makes. We published a photo of the ultimate tail fins, 42 inches high and I wanted the year and the model. It was the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. They made over 11,000 of the monstrosities too. I wonder how many are still going today? (But that’s not this week’s quiz question!) This week, remember the TV series called “The Saint” with Roger Moore? The Saint’s vehicle was a Volvo P 1800, remember now? The producer was Sir Lew Grade (I think that’s his title these days) and he wanted an E Type Jaguar to be the Saint’s transport. Why did Roger Moore end up with a Volvo instead? For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected]

Schumi - Will he keep trying and is he the greatest?

After the win at Hungary, Schumacher said during the press conference that he wanted, quote, “To keep winning races. I said after last season, particularly after winning the championship that the aim is to win as many races as I can. I feel that despite winning the championship it’s a new challenge and next race if I make mistakes you will not say what a wonderful race I have done in Hungary, you will pick out me and say ‘what a stupid mistake you have done’. Formula One - and sport in general - is like that and so I feel every race is a new challenge for me, and I like to compete and I feel the competition is what makes Formula One so special. And I feel there is enough fire in me which keeps me pushing for quite a while.”

While this now gives Schumacher four world titles, the record of five championships is still held by Juan Manuel Fangio, and at the conference he was asked if he thought he could break that record. His reply was very interesting, “You know it’s not really a target and I don’t think it’s really a fair comparison anyway because what this man has done in the times when it was Formula One I think is outstanding. All we are doing in comparison is pretty small, if you see the safety and the cars from the old days it’s something unbelievable to imagine to race this fast. I couldn’t, and I think it is not fair to compare at all.” That’s the present world champion saluting someone who was better than anyone. Then or now, in my opinion.

A press release from Citroen Our Down Under columnist, and my old mate, John Weinthal sent me up the latest press release from Citroen Australia - a wonderful piece of double entendres headed “Citroen scores with condom contract.” It then goes on to say... “Australian Therapeutic Supplies has bought a fleet of Citroen Berlingos for its Urgent Condom Delivery Service that delivers thousands of condoms across Sydney each week. “The Citroen Berlingo fought off stiff opposition to win this contract, explains Graham Porter, Director of Australian Therapeutic Supplies. We chose the Berlingo because it could carry a bigger load than any of its competitors, but still get in and out of tight spaces quickly and easily. With front wheel drive and Michelin tyres, it can handle wet and slippery conditions effortlessly, while the large rear entry barn doors making loading the Berlingo a breeze.” ‘Nuff said, but it’s great to see that someone in Citroen PR has a sense of humour.

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish

The new Aston Martin will definitely come to Thailand. Reason? It costs $228,000 in the States, which will mean it will end up as something around 30 million baht landed here. There are still people in this country who want to show they have so much of the folding stuff that they can park 30 million of it at the side of the soi. That’s why I say we’ll get one.

Aston Martin Vanquish V12

So what do you get for your baht? Well you get a car with a maximum speed in excess of 190 mph and a 6.0 litre V12 engine developing more than 450. And that’s just for starters. Available as either a 2+2 or 2 seat coupe the V12 Vanquish will accelerate to 100 kph in under 4.5 seconds and 160 kph in under 10 seconds. You also get F1 style gear-change paddles on the steering wheel and a super-trick auto/manual select gearbox.

You also get a car which has just the best and most aggressive look of any supercar around, bar none, in my opinion. It has managed to retain the corporate Aston Martin look to it, and yet be as modern as today. All of the exterior panels, including the roof, bonnet, boot lid, front and rear wings and doors are produced from “super-plastic-formed” and pressed aluminium. However, each individual panel is tailored and bonded to the central structure by hand to ensure a perfect fit and finish. And just in case you think that it is just a glorified race car, the body features a limitless range of body colours and a limitless choice of Connolly hide upholstery for the air-conditioned interior. Each body receives eight coats of paint with eight Connolly hides and twelve square metres of Wilton carpet being used to complete the furnishing of the interior. Brilliant!

It pioneers a series of world firsts in its design and construction. The main body structure utilises carbon fibre, extruded aluminium and composite materials bonded together to form a central monocoque safety cell with additional deformable composite structure energy absorbent zones at both front and rear. It provides standards of efficiency, structural integrity, torsional rigidity and occupant crash protection comparable with a modern Formula 1 car. The V12 Vanquish also exceeds by a substantial margin all known or projected safety legislation.

To slow this package up and keep it on the road requires some advanced engineering too, and the Vanquish features anti-lock ventilated and drilled 355mm (front) and 330mm (rear) diameter Brembo disc brakes together with variable ratio power steering and independent front and rear suspension systems which incorporate forged aluminium wishbones and cast aluminium front suspension uprights. The rear axle is equipped with a limited slip differential in tandem with electronic traction control. Yokohama 255/40 ZR 19 front and 285/40 ZR 19 rear tyres are mounted on 19" diameter wheels with 9" width rims at the front and 10" width rims at the rear. Individual tyre pressures and temperatures are monitored through an automatic electronic sensing system.

With Aston Martin owned by Ford Motor Corporation these days, it is good to see that FoMoCo have not stifled engineering thought and more importantly, engineering excellence in this car. The only criticism I have read is that some of the switches on the console come from lesser Ford models. I’d put up with the inconvenience!