Ya wanna go racing - cheaply?

A year’s racing for 50,000 baht sound interesting? If so, keep reading, you are about to get the best offer of all time!

A couple of weeks ago I waxed lyrical about the AIM Concept cars, a category that I honestly believe to be the best “feeder” formula in the world. Let’s just expand a little on that - what I mean by a “feeder” formula is a category of car that gives the new driver the preciseness and ‘feel’ of a pukka race car, something a modified saloon car does not do.

A feeder formula has to be affordable too, otherwise you cannot get the young guys into the sport. Even in today’s sponsored racing, a young hopeful is not going to get far approaching sponsors without any racing history or credibility.

Feeder formula cars should also be safe, because novices are more likely to win a wall than win a race first few times out. The Concept cars have a very strong chassis with side pods as crash deformables.

This feeder formula should also have a natural progression formula after it. A real rung up the ladder, more power and even closer to an F1 feel. There is one - called the Sport Grand Champion class, these are very similar in design, rear engined, etc., with a more powerful engine, bigger brakes and on race rubber.

Up till now, these cars could only be rented from AIM Racing for around 50,000 baht per meeting - a great way to get started in the six race series, without any large capital outlay. However, there is now the opportunity to go racing in the Concept series even more cheaply. Prutirat Seriroengrith, the boss of AIM Racing is making a few Concept cars available for sale. These will go for around 250,000 baht, I believe, and anyone seriously contemplating a move into motor sport has to consider this offer. If you look after the vehicle and don’t bend it you will have something you can sell at the end of the year that would still have to be worth 200,000 baht. So your year’s racing will cost you 50,000 baht in vehicle costs, plus maintenance and entry fees. This would have to make it the cheapest feeder formula in the world, as well as the best feeder formula.

For example, the feeder formula in Australian motor sport is the HQ series. Modified 25 year old Holden four door sedans, with all the preciseness in handling of a semi-set blancmange. After a year in these wallowing beasts the new driver is prepared for the local dodgem derby and nothing else. An HQ will set you back 230,000 baht to buy one race ready and it will cost you a minimum of another 230,000 baht in one year for bodywork and mechanical repairs. And after the HQ’s, to where? Nowhere. There is no natural step-up.

If you are interested in motor sport and would like to have a go, then the Concept cars will suit you down to the ground. If you would like to know more about the series for next year, or about the cars themselves, you can contact AIM Racing on 02 940 6600 or fax 02 940 6629. Now here’s another great offer - if after buying one you don’t like it, I’ll drive it for you for the rest of the year! What a bargain!

The dangers involved in bird watching Non ornithological bird watching has always been a hazardous pursuit. How many times in your life has something caught your eye and you have almost ended up like the end result of this photo sent to me by our Down-under correspondent John Weinthal? By the way, it was a set-up pic for a fashion house.

Anyone for a 300 kW 2 door coupe?

With GeeEmm now selling the Holdens as Chevy Luminas in this country, including the brutish V8 SS Ute (see Automania Vol IX Number 51), perhaps we might even see the new HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) GTO and GTS two door coupes coming into Thailand. These are for release in January/February 2002 and are performance cars that will hold their own anywhere in the world. 300 kW Callaway tuned 5.7 litre V8 engines power the GTS and a ‘cooking’ 255 kW V8 in the GTO model. Like a few more details?

The HSV plant is just for the high performance GM vehicles, and is run by John Crennan. At the press release of these cars he said, “We’ve applied the very best we have to offer to this sensational new model - stunning, aggressive, low to the ground exterior appearance, superb ride and handling, spirited engine performance and a dynamic feature-packed interior.

“I believe that, if the HSV Coupe was released exactly as is but with BMW badges, the price would be AUD 150,000. By any measure, HSV’s Coupe models are a great value for money story for a world-class high performance V8 two-door sports model.”

The GTS is the real stunner, complete with a 5.7-litre Reeves Callaway-tuned C4B V8 engine. Different to the LS1 found in the 255 kW GTO, the C4B revs higher, thus producing more power with maximum neddies at 6000 rpm, with an equally impressive 510Nm of torque at 4800 rpm. The GTS also gets a shift light and buzzer, which are hooked up to the close-ratio six-speed manual transmission.

To stop this juggernaut, HSV have put in the biggest brakes in Oz production car history. The GTS buyers get a package that consists of the UK-based AP 6 pot callipers biting on 362mm grooved, cross-drilled and ventilated discs up front, with the AP again at the rear, only with 4 pot callipers and 343mm discs. That will give the GTS a stopping capability close to a brick wall!

Both coupes get an eight speaker stereo system with a 10 stack CD player, while satellite navigation is an optional extra. The cars even come with HSV branded fire extinguishers - they are after all fairly hot property! The interior is also trimmed with several herds of Scottish cows, though I would have thought there would have been enough Aussie ones prepared to donate their hides.

The GTS has to be the boy racer’s dream, though the price would put it out of the reach of the average boy’s piggy bank. Try AUD 94,750. That translates into 2 million baht, then add in freight and import taxes and I think you’d be looking at around 6 mill landed. Ouch! But it’s still one helluva motor car!

An MX-5 on steroids Following on from the GTS story, I also plucked this one out of Oz, where some enterprising souls are stuffing the Lexus V8’s into MX-5’s. This sounds like a great swap as I have always thought the lightweight quad cam Lexus V8 very technologically advanced. For example, the GM V8 in the GTS is still a pushrod engine. Anyway, they are hanging hairdryers off the side of the Lexus lump and extracting 325 kW of Lexus power from the 4 litre V8’s. With the resulting machine weighing 1100 kg, the power to weight ratio is better than BMW’s M Roadster (3.6 kg/kW versus 5.7 kg/kW) so expect 0-100 kph in the low 5 second region.

Autotrivia Quiz

The Pampas Bull

So to last week’s question where I mentioned that the world F1 championship has now been going for 51 years. Unfortunately, until the rigorous safety standards of today were introduced, many drivers were killed in their chase for the crown and I asked who was the first driver to die at an F1 world championship event? Onofre Marimon from Argentina is in the record books with dubious honour. The accident occurred at the Nurburgring in practice in 1954, with two other Argentineans also in the event. They were Froilan Gonzales, known as the Pampas Bull, who raced for Ferrari and Juan Manuel Fangio who in that year raced for Maserati and Mercedes. Fangio is the only driver to have won five world championships, though I can see a certain Mr. Schumacher equalling that in 2002 unless the opposition have lifted their game somewhat.

And so to this week. The very successful line of Brabham race cars, were the results of the cooperative efforts from Jack Brabham and aircraft engineer Ron Taurenac. Before the cars were known as “Brabhams”, what were they called, and why was the name changed? Now that should get a few of you going!

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

Good luck!