What did we learn from Turkey?

We learned that young Sebastian Vettel does have a rare talent, which is growing every race. He was head and shoulders above everyone else in qualifying and the race. He is the new ‘young Schumi’.

We also ‘learned’ what many had suspected - the ‘old Schumi’ Michael Schumacher no longer has the superior skills he had before. Race craft, yes, but sheer controlled aggression, no. His driving, with cars around him, was timorous. He was no longer that towering force and the ability to act immediately to all conditions was not in evidence. He should retire. It was a brave move to return. It will be an even braver move to admit defeat and retire with dignity.

Overtaker of the race? Kamui Kobayashi without a doubt. 24th to 10th including an extra stop for collision damage. He’s got the grin, all he needs now is a scarf - he is today’s version of the Bentley Boys, racing for the enjoyment of it all. “It was a lot of fun today, I really enjoyed this race. Before the race I had promised Peter (Sauber) to score points today. It is just one point now because we lost so much time due to a puncture, which was the result of touching Sebastien Buemi when I overtook him. Otherwise I think I could have finished seventh and score more points.” You’ve got to love this guy.

Nico Rosberg is obviously a good driver as his third position after qualifying shows, and he is the only hope Mercedes have of scoring points this year (see above item regarding Michael Schumacher).

Some great dices, including McLaren’s Hamilton and Button and a monumental dice between Alonso (Ferrari) and Webber (Red Bull). Both of them deserve accolades. Some fans disagree with the DRS saying it allows for ‘artificial’ passing. Sorry, but the DRS cannot be activated until the chasing car is within one second of the lead car. If the second car can catch the lead car, ergo he is faster, and all the DRS does is make the pass possible. It is not a guaranteed pass, but ends situations like last year when Alonso spent the entire race bottled up behind the (slower) Renault of Petrov.

Way, way down at the wrong end of the grid lie HRT and they remain a joke, I am afraid. Karthikeyan shaking hands with himself for finishing. Such ambition! “I think we should be happy with the fact that today we got another finish under the belt. I got more time in the car which is important, I’ve now finished my second race out of three, so I need to get more comfortable in the car.” What does he want next? A Labrador, pipe and slippers?

After saying how well the Beeb was doing with the televised coverage, the Turkish telecast was no delight. The director could not give the viewers any continuity and it became hard to follow just what was going on, who was where and even the order of the cars. Let us hope the Spanish GP next weekend will be better. The talking heads, Brundle - Coulthard duo were excellent, but let down by the video.

The best of Italy with the best of the US?

Imagine a svelte Italian styled body draped over an 8.4 liter V10 all-American muscle car and you have the Zagato TZ3 Stradale. Built by famed Italian coachbuilder Zagato, the TZ3 Stradale is the second TZ3 model from the design and engineering house following the one-off TZ3 Corsa, revealed last year as a tribute to the Alfa Romeo TZ (Tubolare Zagato) sports cars of the 1960s.

Zagato TZ3 Stradale

The latest TZ3 also continues the celebration of Alfa Romeo’s 100th anniversary. If you want one, and who wouldn’t when it looks like the best design ever, with all the Dodge Viper power in the fabulous Zagato body, put your money down now as they are only going to build nine of them. The first is going to US Alfa Romeo and Zagato collector Eric King, while cars number two and three are destined for wealthy collectors in Japan and Europe, respectively.

The body of this TZ3 is carbon-fiber and the proportions are just right, with the long bonnet and short, hunched rear quarters. It also has a Kamm tail for aerodynamics.

The V10 Viper engine is mated to a six speed gearbox and drives the rear wheels as it happens in the Viper. The performance is simply shattering.

The Zagato design house was founded in 1919 in Milan and has applied its touch to marques including Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Abarth, Ferrari and Aston Martin. It has also built exclusive one-offs and prototypes for Ford, Jaguar, MG, Rover, Volvo, Bristol and Rolls-Royce.

Automania samples the Wedding Rolls-Royce

(The Rolls-Royce Phantom VI in which Kate Middleton and her father were driven to Westminster Abbey last Friday, was sampled by our Editor at Large, John Weinthal.)

This vehicle was a gift to the British Queen in 1978 to mark her Silver Jubilee, but before the Queen could sample the sumptuousness, John Weinthal had already tried the regal Roller.

The ‘Royal’ Weinthal

This tidbit of background provided by John might be of further interest. The donors were member companies of Britain’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the trade association for all motor manufacturers and importer companies in the UK, including accessory and commercial vehicle makers.

Donations were voluntary. The car was commissioned from Rolls-Royce whose designers worked closely with advisers from the Royal household and garage.

The high glass roof was to ensure the best possible viewing of the Queen and other occupants, rather than to accommodate her high hats!

Interesting features requested included upholstery in a pale blue West of England cloth rather than leather and the Philips cassette tapes requested were primarily of marching tunes with pipe and brass bands.

I may be one of the few ‘commoners’ to have ridden in that seat before Miss Middleton. As PR Manager for SMMT in 1978 I arranged for Autocar Magazine to drive it briefly for an exclusive photo-shoot prior to its handover to Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.

I am sure I broke more than a few rules both by riding in the car and being photographed in it. It’s a long while ago - may I be forgiven. My chauffeur was Autocar editor Ray Hutton - still one of Britain’s leading motoring journalists.

And just by the way, the unique Bentley in which the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh rode from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey was a gift to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. It was made by Bentley after the company’s takeover by the German VW Group.

(Thank you John, and we hope there are no men in suits from MI6 knocking on your door after this gets published.)

Asian rally stars in Australian this weekend

A record entry of 96 cars, including 16 from overseas, is set to make the International Rally of Queensland on the Sunshine Coast on 13-15 May the biggest championship rally spectacle in Australia for many years.

Karamjit Singh

Cars and drivers representing 10 countries, from Australia to Britain and China, will tackle two days and two nights of special-stage competition between Caloundra, 100 kilometers north of Brisbane, and the Mary Valley forests in the Gympie-Cooloola region.

Seeded entry lists published at the weekend include Australia’s most successful international driver Chris Atkinson, two-time FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion Katsuhiko Taguchi of Japan, British Rally Champions Alister McRae and Mark Higgins, Indian Rally Champion Guarav Gill, Indonesian Champion Rifat Sungkar and the current leader of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship, Sunshine Coast local Ryan Smart.

An undoubted star will be Asia’s most successful rally driver, Karamjit Singh of Malaysia, winner of the Production World Rally Championship, three Asia Pacific titles, his own country’s championship 10 times and the Thai championship, among other titles.

Spectators will see some of the fastest rally drivers from around the world and the best cars, like the works Proton Satria Neo S2000s from Malaysia and Group N Mitsubishi Evolutions run by teams from Japan, Australia, China, India and Indonesia.

Anyone for a copy Bentley?

The Chinese have done it again! This time it is a company called Hawtai Motor Group, which, as well as making the copy baby Bentley (just look at the nose), has just purchased a significant chunk of the tottering SAAB company in Trollhattan in Sweden. (SAAB, made by the trolls perhaps? Maybe that’s where they went wrong?)

Baby Bentley?

Having been cast off by GM, then taken up by the Dutch group Spyker, which was only a very short term fix, SAAB Automobile has now inked a strategic partnership with the Chinese motor company Hawtai Motor Group that will not only help the struggling Swedish company revive production at its stalled home factory but also get the brand into manufacturing in the huge Chinese market. The production had stalled because SAAB could not afford to pay its suppliers.

Hawtai has agreed to buy a stake of up to 29.9 percent in SAAB parent company Spyker Cars NV in return for the rights to build and distribute Saab vehicles under joint-ventures in China, as well as share technology.

The Saab-Hawtai tie-up was announced in Beijing by Saab chairman Victor Muller and Hawtai vice-president Richard Zhang.

Announcing the deal, Muller said, “The partnership with Hawtai allows SAAB Automobile on the one hand to continue executing its business plan since we secured the required mid-term financing subject to meeting certain conditions, whilst on the other hand it allows Saab Automobile to enter the Chinese car market and establish a technology partnership with a strong Chinese manufacturer.”

In other promising news for SAAB, former major shareholder in Spyker, Russian bank owner Vladimir Antonov, has been given clearance to invest in SAAB from Sweden’s National Debt Office after previously being disallowed following claims he was connected with Russian mafia.

SAAB’s latest partner, Hawtai Motor - a partner of Hyundai in China until last year - is best known for its SUVs based on Santa Fe and Terracan platforms, both of which are still sold under those names in China.

With capacity for 350,000 vehicles a year at two plants, Hawtai is one of China’s smaller motor manufacturers, but it is backed by the large Hawtai Group industrial conglomerate that has interests in a wide range of industries, including paper, chemicals, electricity, forestry and logistics.

Founded just 11 years ago, Beijing-based Hawtai Motor recently launched a new large luxury sedan, the B11, joining its mid-sized sedan, the B21. Both are powered by a choice of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.

While Hawtai has been sourcing petrol engines from Mitsubishi and fellow Chinese motor company SAIC, it claims to be Asia’s leading clean-diesel engine producer under the OED sub-brand.

As well, Hawai makes ZF-based, old-tech five-speed manual and four-speed transmissions at its factories. A six-speed auto is said to be in development.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked what standard production vehicle had performance figures of 39 seconds for zero to 100 km/h? Hint: production started in 1953 and it weighed 1220 kg. It was the Mercedes-Benz 180 D. Certainly no fireball!

Quiz bike

So to this week. For something completely different, who made this motorcycle?

For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].