The horsepower race is well and truly on

The world is certainly gearing up for some high performance motor cars, with the manufacturers all looking for some publicity via the performance route. Take for example, the latest 911 Carrera 4S. This is a 4WD that will run from zero to 100 kph in 5.1 seconds and notches up a top speed of 280 kph, all from the 320 bhp flat 6 engine of 3.6 litres.

MG ZT

If that is not enough, perhaps the new MG ZT is for you. This has a mere 380 bhp from its 4.6 litre supercharged V8 and nicks up to 100 kph under 5 seconds and gets 2 more kph than the Porsche.

BMW isn’t sitting still either with a new Hamann BMW M3 out with a V12 6.1 litre engine. This little jigger gets to 100 kph in around 4 seconds and will run the M3 up to 314 kph for those of stout heart and a piece of unrestricted, copper free road long enough.

Jaguar are playing around with a new high performance version of the S type-R, with 400 bhp on tap from its supercharged quad cam 48 valve V8 engine. Still in prototype form, this should also be a fire breather on the open road.

Of course, all these performance machines do not come cheap, but if, with your wallet in your back pocket, you are taller sitting down than you are standing up, then any of these vehicles will be just the ticket for you!

TGTC Round 5 this weekend

This is the final meeting for the Thailand Grand Touring Car series for this year. While the GT cars have been a bit thin on the ground, the Sport Grand Champion Cars have really taken off. The Concept 1 cars have been the breeding ground and the Sport Grand Champion Cars will be the training ground for the champions of tomorrow.

Race day is Sunday the 9th and racing commences at 0950 with the 400cc motorcycles. The Grand Touring Cars are on at 10.30 followed by the AIM Concept cars at 11.35. Joint leader and favourite to take out this class is Jomtien resident Matti Kaikkonen, our own flying Finn, so get along early to cheer him on.

At 12.05 the organizers have arranged for another “Pit Walk” so you can come across the track and walk through the pits and see the action that goes on during a race meeting. After that at 12.50 the motorcycles are on again, then at 1.30 it is the touring cars, followed by the Sport Grand Champion cars at 2.35 and then again at 2.55. A reasonably full programme.

The Bira Circuit is on Highway 36 coming from the ISR end and heading towards Rayong. It is on the right before you come to the 331 flyover.

Kimi Raikkonen - the youngest F1 champion? With the 22-year-old Raikkonen going to McLaren in 2002 to run alongside David Coulthard, there is no way that he thinks he is going to run second string to the Scottish bridesmaid. The following article I “stole” from the Planet F1 website, but it gives some inkling into the drive behind the young Finn, who has made no secret about his desire to become the youngest ever Formula One world champion, and as he gears up for the start of what could prove to be the most important season of his career, Kimi remains confident that McLaren can help him achieve what he has always dreamed about. Kimi Raikkonen “It would be cool to be the youngest driver ever to win the Drivers’ World Championship, and with West McLaren Mercedes I have that chance,” he told Racing Line. “I expect to win races with the team if I drive well enough and I think that the West McLaren Mercedes MP4-17 will be good enough for that. I believe that it’s something the team is also expecting from me. Otherwise, at this moment in time, I don’t really know what to expect from them, but I’m really looking forward to next year. “This year I had a good car and engine package at Sauber and I learned lots of things, but somehow I have a feeling that working with one of the best teams in F1 it will be different in a more positive way.” Raikkonen has received tremendous support from fellow Finn Mika Hakkinen during the past few months, and after listening to advice from the double-world champion he says he is confident that he will enjoy a strong relationship with his new colleagues at McLaren. “I don’t think that we’ll have any problems in working together. I’m sure I can and will learn lot of things from David and from Alex Wurz too when we all start to work together.” Raikkonen has attended a number of recent promotional events with McLaren as he settles in to his new role, but despite the attention he will undoubtedly attract as Mika Hakkinen’s replacement the young Finn is unconcerned by the forthcoming pressure. “I don’t think there will be any more pressure than I had at the beginning of 2001, because I had to prove then that I was good enough for F1,” he explained. “Possibly, the pressures will be different, but I don’t worry about those too much.” He certainly has the right attitude and nothing seems to faze the youngster. It will be interesting to see how he handles a certain German in a red car!

MG’s in British Touring Car Championship

Being an old MG man (like numerous MG TC’s, 2 TD’s, 2 MGA’s and a couple of MGB’s) and an ex-works driver for British Leyland in Oz, I was interested to come across the latest MG racing in the BTCC. This is called MG EX259, and shows that a sense of history has not been lost, as many of the works cars were called an EX something or other (standing for “experimental” I believe). Goldie Gardner’s record breaker was EX181 from memory.

Anyway, here’s the latest MG racer and a few techo bits for those who like that sort of thing.
Engine: KV6, 6-cylinder - naturally aspirated V6 24v with fuel-injection
Capacity: two-litre, 1997cc
Oil system: wet sump with single oil/water heat exchanger
Cooling system: single water radiator
Transmission: 6-speed gearbox with sequential gear selection
Clutch: 5 1/2" triple-plate sintered metallic
Chassis: fully seam-welded body shell, with integrated roll cage
The thing weighs 1150 kg and sits on 17 x 9 inch rims.

Natter Nosh and Noggin The monthly meeting for the auto (and bike) enthusiasts will be held as usual at Shenanigans this Monday 10th December. We meet in the back room at Shenanigans, but just ask any of the waitresses where Dr. Iain and the car people are and they’ll show you. We kick off at 7 p.m. and generally chat over one of the Monday special 195 baht steak dinners and a beer or two. Bring any magazines or old photographs for us all to paw over or drool, if they are particularly exotic.

Asian Touring Car Series

The Asian Touring cars had their own races at Macau, even though the national press carried very little of it. While the F3 sensation, Japanese driver Takuma Sato, scooped the pool and all the press coverage from the F3 race, since he moves to Jordan for an F1 drive next year, there was some excellent racing from the tin tops as well.

Natavud

The Asian Touring Car Championship has been wrapped up by our own local Thai driver Natavud, who is also the current Thailand Touring Car champion. I have been a fan of Natavud since I saw him race a couple of years back. He is smooth, fast and a thinking driver and deserves all the good results that he gives his teams. In Thailand he races for Toyota and around Asia for the W.K. Longman team of Peugeot 306’s. Interestingly, he is also an old moto-X rider, having won the odd championship on two wheels in the dirt in the late 70’s.

Back to the present, at Macau, Natavud qualified 7th and finished the first leg in 5th. For the next leg he came up another couple of places, finishing 3rd behind internationals Tom Coronel and Duncan Huisman in the Carly Motor Sports BMW 320’s. A great result for the team, and a great result for Natavud.

The other Thai driver I hold in high regard is Prutirat, the man behind the AIM Racing team and the man who developed the Concept 1 series and the step up, the Sport Grand Champion series. Prutirat was down to drive a Ford Focus, but the transmission problems experienced in qualifying got progressively worse and he was a non-finisher in the race.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I mentioned that the concept of qualifying to get your grid position was not always the case. The drivers used to draw for positions and that was it. However (and this was the big clue), in 1933 the first Grand Prix to be started from grid positions determined by the times in practice was held. I asked what was that first Grand Prix? The answer was Monaco, one of the most famous race circuits in the world.

So to this week. As I have been featuring MG a little in this issue, let’s have an MG question. The chassis numbers of the older MG’s (I don’t know about the “new” ones) always started at 0251. Why did they start at this strange figure?

For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct answer to fax 427 596 or email [email protected]