United States GP this weekend
Despite the total shambles that marked
the 2005 Indy Grand Prix, the Americans did host the F1
circus again, even though it needed offers of free tickets
(20,000 of them) from Michelin as some form of appeasement
last year. There are no free tickets this year, so it will
be interesting to see how many Americans will be in the
stands for this GP.
The
US GP is held at a special ‘stadium’ circuit built inside
the famous ‘Brickyard’ Indy circuit and incorporates one
straight and one corner of the American classic.
The ‘Indy’ circuit more correctly known as the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway (there is also a circuit called Indianapolis
Raceway Park) was opened in 1909 as a 2.5 mile track paved
with bricks. Each of the long straights is 3,300 feet long,
the short straights are 660 feet. Each turn is 1320 feet
long and banked at 9 degrees and 12 minutes. The track is
now surfaced with tarmac and there have been subtle changes
made to the turns to slow down cars - or to speed them up
when the Indy Racing League took over the Indianapolis 500.
The ‘Brickyard’ held its first 500 mile race in 1911 and the
Indianapolis 500 is now the world’s oldest continuously run
motor race. It is also the richest motor race and the
world’s largest single day sports spectacle.
Tony George, the president of the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, was almost single-handedly responsible for
bringing F1 racing back to the United States. The
Indianapolis Motor Speedway had to be brought up to standard
in order to host the United States Grand Prix, including a
new paddock area which would allow cars to exit from the
garage directly onto pit lane. Also, in a major concession
to the traditions of F1 racing, the 2000 USGP marked the
very first time that a race had been run in reverse
(clockwise) direction at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!
Despite the hour (I believe the race starts at midnight on
the Sunday, but check with your local TV feed) I will be at
Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR (Sukrudee) next to Nova Park
at 11 p.m., ready for the action. Join me for a beer or
three!
Honda Racing Fest at
Bira this weekend too
Jazz Racer
The second round of the Honda Jazz series
will be held at the Bira circuit this Friday (15th) and
Saturday (16th). These are ‘club-style’ fun events and the
first round was most enjoyable, with plenty of action and a
full to overflowing car park with Hondas. However, you won’t
get stoned if you appear with a Toyota!
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked about an engine. It was one of the most
enduring engine designs that came out just after WW I and
stayed in production until 1963. It was a six cylinder,
wet-liner engine of just under 2 liters and had a single
overhead camshaft.
Originally it produced a whopping 35 bhp,
but by the time it was phased out it was giving more than
100 bhp. Clue: the last car this engine went into,
eventually was given a V8. It was the AC engine that was
still around when it was dropped into the AC Ace in 1954. It
was this basic body/chassis that went to America and in its
ultimate form was the Shelby Cobra 427, complete with V8
American iron up front.
So to this week. Check out this photograph. I want to know
what car this is. Clue: It was driven by Hermann Lang.
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
What did we learn from
the Canadian GP last weekend?
Well, we learned (if we didn’t know already) that Lewis
Hamilton looks like being the next Michael Schumacher, but
with a better personality. He would not be drawn into
comparisons between himself and team mate Alonso, and in
reply to one journalist who said, “Fernando didn’t have the
best of days. At this point do you even care?” Hamilton
replied, “That’s a bit of a silly question to be honest.
He’s my teammate, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and
we’re quite good friends. At the end of the day we are a
team, we both want to finish at the front. I don’t know what
happened in his race but we need to have a look and it’s not
good for him obviously.” He also said, “The next dream is
obviously to win a Formula One world championship but at the
moment we have to be realistic again. It’s always good to
bear in mind that I’m still a rookie and this is my first
season. There are going to be some hard times. I hope that
there aren’t but it’s just bound to happen, it’s just the
way it goes in this business and there’ll be good days and
bad days. But at the moment it’s been consistent and that’s
down to the team and all the people around me. I’ve got a
very well-grounded family and I think it works perfect.” And
that’s from a 22 year old who is leading the world
championship in his first season!
Alex
Wurz - smiling for now.
We also learned that Motor Racing is (still) dangerous, but
the safety in the tubs is phenomenal. Robert Kubica
surviving a multiple roll and progressive destruction of his
BMW to the point where they swept it up with shovels and
wheel barrows. However, I do not think he should be driving
this weekend in the US GP.
Much was made of the fact that Alex Wurz came third, and how
that will save him at Williams F1. Don’t even think about
it. He got his third through a combination of factors over
which our Alex had no control. Four Safety Car episodes,
drive through penalties for Alonso and Rosberg for refueling
while the Safety Car was on track, black flags for Massa and
Fisichella for leaving the pits against the red light (they
must have thought they were in Thailand) and innumerable
DNFs for all sorts of reasons, including mechanical
breakdowns and accidents. Most of those drivers would have
finished in front of Alex. When he qualifies around 10 grid
spots behind his team mate, his time at Williams F1 is
limited.
Attaku Sato was magnificent, totally eclipsing the Honda
team and then picking off Ralf Schumacher and Alonso.
Masterful drive from the usually excitable Japanese driver.
Afterwards, Sato said, “This was absolutely the most
beautiful day in my racing career and is an amazing result.”
It certainly was, Taku, and I’ll bet the karaoke bars got a
belting that night in Montreal.
We also learned that the Safety Car could completely ruin a
hoped for podium, with Mark Webber in the Red Bull going
from 2nd to 14th when he came out after refueling, to find
all the cars bunched up behind the pace car, and he had to
tag on to the end.
Finally we learned that Alonso is not all that good a loser.
There was nothing wrong with his car, he in fact set the
fastest lap of the race, saying, “I think this was a strange
race with the Safety Car being deployed so many times which
worked to Lewis’ advantage today and my disadvantage. I had
to push as hard as possible because I was stuck in the
middle of the field and when you push to the maximum you
sometimes go off track but at that stage there was nothing
to lose.” Those are not the words of a world champion (or
the actions).
The Eco cars are coming
After years of apparent lack of direction, or motivation,
the word is out that the Finance Ministry has finally agreed
on the excise tax for Eco cars. This was the first stumbling
block for the manufacturers, who quite correctly said they
were not going to just start producing Eco cars without
knowing whether they could sell them at an attractive price.
Remember that one reason that pick-ups are so popular is the
excise tax on a pick-up has been less than that on a
passenger car.
The figure for Eco cars has finally been set at 17 percent,
but there are many more specifications that have to be
followed before the manufacturers get the green light.
In brief, the engine size is capped at 1,300 cc (petrol) or
1,400 cc (diesel). Fuel consumption has to be no more than
five liters of fuel for 100 km, and comply with Euro 4
pollution standards, emitting no more than 120 gm Co2 per
km. And (there’s always an “and” isn’t there) the vehicle
has to also meet the European standards on crash safety. All
in all, these are tough specifications for any manufacturer,
as the smaller the car, the harder it is to pass crash
testing.
It is expected that with the drop in excise, these Eco cars
will retail at least less than B. 500,000. At that sort of
money, there’s not much in it for the automakers, so they
really want to sell these in large numbers. If they sell
them in large enough numbers in Thailand, this can only be
at the expense of their own current sales of pick-ups and
small cars (like the Chevrolet Aveo, for example). So the
answer has to be the export market.
Which brings up the next problem. Can Thailand sell enough
Eco cars overseas? Especially when the labor costs in China
and India are much less, and both of these countries have
budget cars already in production which could sell at less
than B. 500,000, right now.
The local manufacturers Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Suzuki
are said to be already in talks with the government, through
the Board of Investment (BoI), but this is another
government department not known for thinking on its feet and
making quick decisions. And since the government will be
changing within six months, there is no incentive to do
anything in the interim.
Lexus Cash anyone?
Lexus has got itself rather hot under the collar,
following opening of a website in the US. Called Lexus Cash
(www.lexuscash.com and please be over 18), it is a site that
offers “Free Tours”, which is more than Toyota’s Lexus does.
They are also offering a three day trial for $5, which is
also cheaper than Lexus outlets. Perhaps this is a new
marketing ploy from Toyota, but I doubt it, as they are
currently suing the lovely Lexus Cash saying that she “uses
the marque Lexus in an unwholesome and unsavoury context”.
So don’t go picking up young ladies in your Lexus, heading
for the closest lover’s lookout. You have been warned.
Toyota will not stand for it.
