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French Grand Prix this
weekend
Magny Cours this weekend is the venue for
the French Grand Prix. If Schumi the elder wins this one, he
will have won the world championship with six races still left
to run. This has certainly been a year of domination,
reminding me of Mansell’s domination at the beginning of the
90’s (who also had team orders to help him when team mate
Patrese was told to pull over, just by the way!).
Join me in the front of the big screen at Shenanigans.
Starting time will be (I think) 7 p.m., but check with the
notices in Shenanigans.
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What did we
learn from the British Grand Prix?
An exciting race! Cars actually passed each
other on the track, and not in the pits! Dramatic and
suspenseful. Let’s hope the FIA didn’t see too much of
that or otherwise they will bring in regulations to outlaw
passing on the black stuff!
 What else was there? Well, if you didn’t
know before, Britain has lousy weather. Secondly, predicting
British weather is a ‘black art’ and there were only a
couple of teams to get it right, and BAR was one of them. They
had spotters all over the course, plus their own private
helicopter to radio in the changing weather conditions. They
were rewarded with a 4th (Villeneuve) and a 5th (Panis) and
both cars were running strongly at the end. Their first points
this season too. Well done!
So what can you say about Ferrari? Even
Michael Schumacher, who normally calls the shots on the choice
of tyre, admitted that he did not know which tyre to use and
left the decision to Ferrari’s master tactician Ross Brawn.
Brawn, despite his inability to shave (that stubble looks
dreadful), was spot on as usual and the combination of
Schumacher, Ferrari, Brawn and Bridgestone was just
unstoppable to give Schumi his 60th career GP win. I must also
say that Barichello looked good all weekend and his drive from
the back of the grid into 2nd place was masterful. I have
never been a particular fan of Rooby Baby, but I might have to
revise my judgement as he has been driving very well recently.
BMW Williams was another troubled team as
they sent Ralf S in and out as they tried to get the
refuelling rig to work. After that, Ralf just seemed to drop
his bundle and toured to the end. Montoya, on the other hand,
still had plenty of “tiger” and his scrap for 2nd/3rd with
Barichello was good.
What happened to McLaren? For one of the
top teams, their British GP was a shambles of botched tyre
choices, faulty refuelling rigs and a less than masterful
grasp of the conditions by their “senior” driver David
Coulthard. Young Kimi Raikkonen had exactly the same tyres and
was challenging for 3rd, whilst Coulthard was sloshing around
at the tail of the field. At one stage, Raikkonen was left
sitting in his car in the pits, shaking his head in disbelief,
while the mechanics ran around like chooks with their heads
chopped off.
Orange Arrows? The future’s not bright
and the future isn’t Orange, for this team. They were only
allowed to start at Silverstone after Tom Walkinshaw coughed
up the 3.5 million pounds he owed to Ford (Cosworth) for his
engines, and then Heinz-Harry Frentzen blew his to bits and
Bernoldi also didn’t finish. Shame, as the morale booster
would have been good for the troubled team. It was also
interesting that the Cosworth engine Arrows were miles in
front of the Cosworth engine Jaguars, who were dicing with the
Minardi of Mark Webber till his clutch cried enough and Webber
spun and retired.
And while mentioning Minardi, Alex Yoong
should fall on his sword and give his seat to some young
driver with enough talent to make the 107% cut-off. 2.5
seconds slower than his team mate is pathetic. These are
supposed to be the 22 best drivers in the world! No way!
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Autotrivia
Quiz
Last week I asked you what is this car and
who was the driver? I wanted to know both. The answer was that
it was “Number 1” the very first MG, driven by the founder
of MG, Cecil Kimber.
 So to this week. A very famous race car
designer invented socks with five toes! Who was it?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to fax 038 427 596 or email automania
[email protected]
Good luck!
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Drivers have a smashing time at Bira
The local race circuit was host to
the second round of the Hong Kong Touring Car drivers’
championship two weekends ago. If an HK driver wants to
compete at Macau on November 17th this year, they have
to show that they have got international experience, so
hence the trip out here. It was a closed event, so there
were no locals running, but the HK boys (and girls)
certainly were driving as if there was no tomorrow. And
for some of the cars, there were no tomorrows!
 There were also a few infringements
in Qualifying which reminded me an occasion back in Oz.
Some cars were copped qualifying with the wrong driver
at the wheel! Naughty! What had happened in Oz was that
in the 1000 km race at Bathurst, it was decided that
each team had to field two drivers. Consequently, many
teams “sold” the second seat, knowing that they
would only put the second driver out for a few laps
before bringing him in and slotting in the regular
driver again.
Some of these 2nd string drivers were
woefully slow and then came the edict - for a car to get
a start on the Sunday, both drivers had to meet the
qualifying cut-off in the car! Panic stations ensued!
 Racing
in Oz
2nd string drivers were seen coming
out of the loo, strangely not fitting properly into
their driving suits, with their face masks and helmets
already on and sprinting into the car, doing the
qualifying time and sprinting back to the loo, still
with helmet on. Equally as strangely, the number 1
driver was not seen anywhere while the “number 2”
bloke was out on the track. Needless to say, there were
some “Please Explains” in the Stewards office before
the Sunday race.
“Rent-a-drive” still exists, but
now the driver with the dollars has to be reasonably
quick as well. Which brings me back to Alex Yoong, so
I’ve gone the full circle this column.
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World F1
Championships Drivers: |
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Michael Scumacher
Rubens Barichello
Juan Pablo Montoya
Ralf Schumacher
David Coulthard
Kimi Raikkonen
Constructors
Ferrari
BMW Williams
McLaren Mercedes
Renault
Sauber
Jordan
BAR
Jaguar
Minardi
Toyota
Arrows |
86
32
31
30
26
11
118
61
37
14
10
6
5
3
2
2
2 |
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The Super Lekky bike is just
around the corner
If you were reading my columns last year
you will remember that I waxed eloquent about the electric
“bisikun” produced by an old mate, Paul Markham. I used
this device on the Jesters Care 4 Kids charity bike ride last
year, and despite calls of “Foul” and words in jest to the
ref to issue me with a red card, everyone was most impressed.
That was other than those super-fit riders who were greatly
miffed by being passed uphill by an elderly gent with grey
hair effortlessly “pedalling” at undiminished speed
despite the gradient.
Well, mate Paul has not been sitting on his
hands it seems. He has formed a new company, got himself a
stake in two new factories, and has come up with the ultimate
lekky bike. This is called the Eco-Brand Harrier.
 Eco-Brand
Harrier
The specifications sheet reads like an F1
race car, from the carbon fibre wheels, disc brakes front and
rear, 21 speed gears, alloy chassis, 200 bhp engine (sorry,
that should read 200 “Watt” electric motor), 36 volt power
source and the ability to maintain 25 kph using electric power
only. (Last year I averaged 25 kph on the original model, but
was pedalling all the time in addition to the electric motor.)
Looking at the photograph, it certainly is
one “spiffy” looking bike, and I am looking forward to
getting my hands on one (leg over one?) soon. Now, live-wire
Paul has also come up with another possible “first” in the
lekky bisikun stakes. Upgrades and factory options.
For example, you can have a high tensile
steel frame or aluminium, likewise the forks. Different grade
shock absorbers are also possible to be ordered. Wheels can be
steel rims, alloy rims or carbon fibre composites. You can
even order puncture-proof tyres and tubes (a great idea - on
the charity ride last year, the more serious entrants had
tender vehicles following them with spare mounted wheels). My
running mate, the incredible Jan Olav Aamlid, wanted a tender
vehicle with ice cold Chardonnay following us. And in
addition, instead of the original Proctoscopic haemorrhoid
removing seat, you can order a lightweight PVC, leather or
ultra light comfortable gel type.
If you are interested in one of these
superbikes, or any one of Paul’s other ranges of very cheap
electric bicycles, you can contact him on [email protected]
Just tell him the Doc sent you!
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