Bahrain GP this weekend
The F1 season arrives at the sand this
weekend. Bahrain has a Grand Prix circuit constructed in a
country with no tradition of motor racing, but with a desire
to enjoy the prestige of being host to a major international
sporting event. And the necessary financial wherewithal to
be able to do so. How times change - constant doubt over
Silverstone’s ability to host a GP (and never forget F1
started at Silverstone in 1950), but the sandy deserts can!
Bahrain (Sakhir) is not a single circuit but a complex of
six individual tracks which includes a drag strip and an
oval test track. From the beginning Bahrain was clearly
interested in more than an annual event because it
incorporated the infrastructure to run club races and to
become a centre for motor sport in the Middle East.
The test oval suggests that Bahrain is interested in
attracting motor manufacturers who might wish to test
prototypes at sustained high speed in very hot conditions.
The drag strip suggests a use for all those supercars which
are bought by wealthy Arabs and which otherwise receive
little serious use. There is no shortage of interest in cars
in the Middle East, and no shortage of money, and no
shortage of interest in competition with camel and horse
racing being immensely popular, but until the complex opened
in March 2004, there were no bespoke motor sport venues.
To judge from the flexibility of the complex, which cost USD
150 million to construct, Bahrain hopes to become the
driving force of motor racing in the region. Read those
numbers again - USD 150 million. That is why you will not
see an F1 track in Thailand!
The Sakhir track is quite superb, but Bahrain must sort out
issues such as hotel accommodation if it is to be taken
seriously and not merely regarded as a race-track in the
desert.
The race begins at (I think) 2.30 p.m. in Bahrain, which
would make it 6.30 p.m. here, but please check your TV
guides. I am setting up in front of the big screen in
Jameson’s Irish Pub (Soi AR, next to Nova Park) at 5.30 p.m.
just in case it starts early! Why don’t you join me for
early dinner, a couple of ales and some spirited
conversation?
What did we learn from the Malaysian GP?
Well, we learned that all the hype about
Lewis Hamilton is deserved. This young man is demonstrating
a very rare talent, and will definitely be a future
champion. He made Massa look silly, and was able to cope
with all the pressure that Raikkonen tried to apply. And
hats off to Ron Dennis of McLaren who picked up the
youngster 10 years ago and signed him up as a future McLaren
F1 driver!
We could also see that Alonso deserves his World Champion
status. He drove a well timed race from the front, lapping
very consistently, and will be a good role model for Lewis
Hamilton.
So, what else did we learn? First off, Felipe Massa will be
very lucky to keep a Ferrari drive if he continues to make
such elementary mistakes. It is reported that he is unhappy
that Raikkonen’s contract is worth five times the one he
has, but Massa has not been delivering the goods this year.
It may be early days, but Jean Todt has a long memory. “We
are disappointed,” said Ferrari officially.
BMW has certainly elevated itself so far this season, though
Kubica (of the aerodynamic nose) did not do as well as
Heidfeld. In fact, Kubica is not meeting the potential he
showed last year.
Williams is still in trouble, though at least one of their
drivers is showing enough pace to be in the top 25 percent
of the field. Rosberg was looking good until an unknown
malady stopped him. Wurz again could not qualify well and is
playing catch-up, but Sir Frank is not known for his
tolerance towards his drivers. Remember he sacked a couple
of world champions. Wurz has to improve.
Toyota has to get to the front or there will be extreme
measures taken. This loss of face from the world’s most
successful car manufacturer cannot continue. Ralf Schumacher
should start selecting his pipe and favorite slippers for
next year. He won’t be at Toyota.
On the other side of the Japanese invasion, Honda’s
performance was ludicrous, it was so bad. However, Honda’s
press release was even more ludicrous, using words like
“drivers drove textbook races” and they are “hopeful of
another tenacious and reliable performance” in Bahrain. The
real situation is that the cars are hopelessly outclassed.
Honda should be brave and admit it.
Spyker should just pack up and go home and try again next
year after buying an old McLaren, instead of protesting
other teams that may be running last year cars from other
manufacturers. The only positive aspect the Spyker team
reported in their press release was that Alber’s fire “was
quickly extinguished by Spyker technicians.” How memorable!
Autotrivia
Quiz
Last week we continued in the female race
driver mode and I asked who said, “What I would really like
to see happen is to find the right girl, perhaps a black
girl with super looks, preferably Jewish or Muslim, who
speaks Spanish.” It was Bernie Ecclestone himself, always on
the lookout for promotional ideas for F1!
So to this week. Which member of the British monarchy had a
Jaguar Mk VII upgraded to Mk IX specs by the factory?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Motor Show 2007
In the cheapie department, it was the
slow Chinese invasion that was obvious. Wuling had the
Scorpion again, offering a 10,000 baht discount during the
show, making it 265,000 baht, whilst their 11 seater Resort
mobile had a 20,000 baht discount sticker, bringing it down
to 350,000 baht for show time. And Dongfeng was there with a
giant bus, which was yours for something under 3 million
baht. The Chinese are coming! By car, truck and bus.
Wuling Resort
carrier.
At the other end of the scale, Bentley probably had the most
expensive cars of the show, with all models well over 20
million. (Very well over.) The Bentley Flying Spur, which is
the Bentley Continental GT with two more doors and a
stretched wheelbase, looked very good, but it is hard to
justify the 24 million baht price tag, no matter how
practical it was.
Now I have nothing against women, in fact I have enjoyed
their company for many, many years, but I have really got no
time for dolly birds on motor show stands, parroting off
technical details of the cars on show, when it is quite
obvious they would not know a cam belt from a chastity belt.
I am waiting for some manufacturer to give me a real live
engineer on the stand who can speak with authority on just
why this car is good, better, best.
Zero
percent Jaguar.
And while on the gripes, many of the exhibitors produced
absolutely dull and dreary displays, making one feel that
their product was also just as dull and dreary. GM is guilty
here. They threw a few cars at their stand, all
higgledy-piggledy, and thought that was enough. They had
some NGV Optras with a sticker on them to announce it,
whilst they should have highlighted this (it was supposed to
be a ‘green’ show after all) and made a feature of it.
Instead, what did they have? Another bunch of dolly birds,
in ridiculous outfits, to mouth off the details. These were
under the control of a choreographer, no less, who was there
on the first morning putting them through their twirls and
door opening routines. Considering that GM have some great
concept cars that could attract the crowds (such as the new
Camaro concept) and it would cost peanuts to get one or two
over for the show, throwing money at dolly birds and
choreographers is a waste.
Bentley Flying
Spur.
GM were not the only ones like this. Old
rivals Ford had Samba dancers, would you believe! What for?
And a rally car equipped with a Sony Playstation program (or
a dummy, I didn’t look too close) which was lost in their
hordes of Ford Ranger pick-ups. They even made a Ranger the
center of a display - a Ranger that can be seen at any Ford
dealer, any day of the week. Another opportunity to promote
the brand lost again.
Even Ssanyong, purveyor of the decidedly Ssick looking
vehicles, tried harder, with a Rexton up at 45 degrees with
rotating wheels. At least they tried, even if the Ssanyongs
are incredibly ugly.
Just across the hallway from Ssanyong was Subaru. Another
manufacturer which needs to sack its styling department. The
‘koala nose’ vehicles are just so wrong. There is a new
Subaru out this week in the US, I believe, but it will be a
long time before we see them here.
I would say that Jaguar, another of Ford Motor Company’s
marques on the chopping block must be getting rather
desperate. When you look back at why Jaguar came to such
prominence 50 years ago, it was because Jaguars were up to
the minute in styling, had great performance and were
cheaper than the rest. The “new” zero percent S-Type has
retro styling, only adequate performance and is expensive at
5 million baht. The XJ6 was even worse at 7.3 million baht.
Talk about losing the magic formula! And Zero percent won’t
save them either.
Honda Jazz One Make
Race Saturday 21 April
Having dried out from Songkran, the new Honda
Jazz One Make Race kicks off at the Bira Circuit on Highway
36 on Saturday April 21. I had the opportunity to drive one
of these in full-race trim at Bira, and these cars should
provide some close racing and biff and bash action from the
novice drivers accepted into the series. A great stepping
stone into the exciting world of motor sport.
Honda
Jazz racer
In actual fact, I came away from the Bira circuit full of
praise for Mr Honda’s new baby racer. It stopped well, the
gearbox was sweet and never once did I feel I might have
gone from second to fifth, instead of third. The gate was
very positive in feel. The ratios were well spaced and it
felt a very ‘complete’ race car. Small details were well
done, with non-slip pedals, a substantial roll cage and good
three inch belts and a brace for the left foot while
cornering. At 699,000 baht it is really great value.
Unfortunately, the series organizers have decreed that only
novice drivers can compete in this One-Make race, and
despite my entreaties, they would not even entertain my
running a car, even starting from the back of the grid and
for no points either. We obviously need another category for
old semi-retired racers, forget these youngsters!
