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Hungaroring
Circuit
Hungary, despite its lack of success in
getting Hungarian F1 drivers near the front, has a long
history, with its first GP run in 1906, and regular events in
Budapest since 1926.
 Built
with state backing, and laid out in a natural amphitheatre,
the Hungaroring opened in 1986 and attracted an estimated
200,000 spectators. Though the event was well organized, and
the hosts very appreciative, it was felt that the 2.494 mile
Hungaroring had been laid out more in the style of a twisty
street circuit rather than a bespoke road track. There were
few opportunities for overtaking, though things were eased
from 1989 when a tight corner was by-passed and the lap
distance became 2.466 miles. However, it remains a circuit
that is not high on any of the drivers’ lists, unless you
are after a quick knee-trembler behind the pits, as the
Hungarian government actually erected (nice word in the sex
scene) some mobile brothels a couple of years ago. I think
they are still in use today!
F1 World
Championship points table
1 Michael Schumacher German Ferrari 110
points
2 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Ferrari 74
3 Jenson Button British BAR-Honda 61
4 Jarno Trulli Italian Renault 46
5 Fernando Alonso Spanish Renault 39
6 Juan Pablo Montoya Colombian Williams-BMW
33
7 David Coulthard British McLaren-Mercedes
19
8 Kimi Raikkanen Finnish McLaren-Mercedes
18
9 Takuma Sato Japanese BAR-Honda 15
10 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian
Sauber-Petronas 13
11 Ralf Schumacher German Williams-BMW 12
12 Mark Webber Australian Jaguar-Cosworth 7
13 Felipe Massa Brazilian Sauber-Petronas 5
13 Olivier Panis French Toyota 5
15 Cristiano da Matta Brazilian Toyota 3
15 Nick Heidfeld German Jordan-Ford 3
17 Antonio Pizzonia Brazilian Williams-BMW
2
17 Timo Glock German Jordan-Ford 2
19 Zsolt Baumgartner Hungarian
Minardi-Cosworth 1
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Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I mentioned that dual foot
brakes, with one that worked on the transmission and the
other at the wheels were offered and I asked on what cars?
The answers included Mercedes, Gobron-Brillie and Delaunay-Belleville.
The idea was that you alternated the brakes coming down
steep hills, to stop brake fade.
So to this week. A very famous French
racing driver raced under a pseudonym, which he took in
memory of his pioneering driver uncle. He was a world
class tennis player and an ice hockey specialist. He raced
in F1, but only six times, retiring in three and scoring
no points. I want to know, what was this driver’s real
name?
For the Automania FREE beer this week,
be the first correct answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
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Toyota Avanza hits
Thailand’s shores
The much touted Avanza has arrived, and I
took the opportunity to have a quick look at one the other
day. Made in Indonesia, it is the result of cooperation
between Daihatsu (owned by Toyota) and Toyota Motor in
Indonesia, as a response to the Indonesian government call for
a cheap local vehicle.
 Toyota
Avanza
According to Tokyo, the vehicle centered on
maximizing the strengths of both Daihatsu and Toyota Motor
Corp, resulting in a high-performance and high-quality
innovative compact vehicle at an affordable price.
Their take on it is that Avanza boasts a
refined and stylish exterior and hood design and a comfortable
and sophisticated interior with multiple seat arrangements. An
advanced package allows three rows of seats in a compact body
only four meters long, delivering ample space for up to seven
occupants.
It also comes with a newly developed
high-power, high-performance and highly fuel-efficient engine
(1.3 liter) and a suspension system that offers a comfortable
ride and stable handling.
It is produced at Daihatsu’s Indonesian
production base, PT. Astra Daihatsu Motor (ADM), and sold
through PT. Astra International (AI) and PT. Toyota-Astra
Motor (TAM).
Toyota is confident that the new small car
- based on Daihatsu’s small-car production know-how and
Toyota’s quality - is a new type of vehicle that can be
globally competitive. Total investment in this project is USD
90 million.
Well that’s the blurb from Toyota Motor
Japan. Looking at the vehicle, it is a very standard front
engined, rear wheel drive, drum braked rear, scaled down
people mover. It does have tricky rear triple row seats, so it
will seat seven (or probably a family of ten Thai people). It
does have air-bags and ABS brakes and a variable valve timing
engine that develops 88 bhp, say Toyota, but at only 1.3
litres I reckon it might get a little breathless with seven
up. But we shall see.
It was not expensive, and with its lack of
engineering sophistication will probably last forever! What it
drives like, I have no idea, but I will try and get my
backside in one as soon as possible.
Toyota are importing 700 a month at this
stage, and there are back orders for the car in Indonesia.
Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup
Asia
With Thailand being well represented in the
international Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup by Nattavude
Charoensukhawatana, currently the joint leader with Hong
Kong’s Charles Kwan (88 points), the next round in China
should be interesting.
This will be August 14-15 at Beijing’s
Goldenport Circuit in rounds 6 and 7, as the season reaches
the half way stage. The championship title is still wide open
as just 16 points adrift is Malaysia’s Rizal Ramli. The
Malaysian has collected pole positions for four of the five
rounds held so far, winning three. Ramli, who previously
competed in Formula 3 in Europe, won both rounds in Thailand
last month.
A colleague of mine is A-Ha Racing’s
Matthew Marsh who is fourth going in to the next rounds but
will also be on top form coming fresh from his win in a
support race for the British F1 Grand Prix.
Kwan is sponsored by Infineon, but knows
that he is in for a tough time. “Nattavude and Rizal will be
my biggest challenges in Beijing, but Matthew is also a quick
driver,” said Kwan.
Another Thai driver, Vutthikorn
Inthraphuvasak, is in fifth, while local identity Bill Heineke
is there too, racing in the ‘Gentleman’s class’ called
Class B for amateur drivers. Bill missed the Thailand rounds
at the Bira circuit because he was in Italy having a fang in a
Ferrari Cup car. Class B is led by Max Chen of Taipei with 27
points, followed by Dr. Toshihide Hashimura of Japan.
The Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia runs
as part of the Asian Festival of Speed, organised by
Malaysian-based Motorsport Asia Limited.
Good news if you’re
lusting after a Lambo
Lamborghini
Murcielago
Those of you with a spare 30 million baht
for a Lamborghini Murcielago (or even 19.5 million if you want
the ‘cheapie’ Gallardo) will be heartened by the news that
Niche Cars Ltd is a new company set up in Bangkok to import
Lambo’s and other exotic sports cars. They have even set up
a Lambo service center under the concept “Passion for
Perfection” according to the latest issue of ASEAN Autobiz.
Those of you who have the misfortune to have one of those
diabolic Diablo’s now have a place to go to have all the
bits that drop off glued back on again! (And I’m not
joking!)
Mitsu on the mend - well at
least in Thailand
With Mitsubishi Motors in Japan being in
more strife than Flash Gordon, it is heartening to see that
Mitsubishi Motors Thailand (MMTh) claim that their profits
last year were higher than predicted and they exported a
record 82,000 vehicles from our shores.
President and CEO of MMTh, Hisayoshi Kumai,
claimed that the Laem Chabang assembly plant is working at
capacity, and despite problems elsewhere, including the parent
company in Japan, there were no plans to down-size, and in
fact they were looking at expansion in Thailand, with more
dealerships. Currently they have 92 with 142 showrooms.
Earlier this year, before the fit hit the
shan, Mitsubishi had promised a 21 billion baht expansion fund
for MMTh, but the new CEO Kumai claims this is still
happening, despite plant closures in Japan and Australia.
“The investment is well underway and being carried out in
stages,” he said.
MMTh will also introduce the new Space
Wagon people mover in a few months, to make another player in
the market initiated by GM with their very successful Zafira.
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Jenson
Button