Monaco GP this weekend

Monaco

The Grand Prix to be seen at is this weekend (as opposed to a Grand Prix to see motor racing at). It is not the GP to go to, unless watching B List ‘super-stars’ is your idea of fun. This may, of course be just jealousy on my part, not even making the C List… The harbor will be bollard to bollard expensive yachts and the villa car parks will have all the Lambos, Ferraris and Maseratis you would ever wish for. If you go for the atmosphere, then this is the GP for you. If you go for GP racing, forget it and go to Spa.

Whatever, it is not the circuit to encourage passing, despite the fact that the cars rarely get fast enough to create turbulence, let alone ‘dirty air’.

The most critical part of this Grand Prix will happen on the Saturday. And that’s qualifying. He who is on pole, has a greater than 75 percent chance of winning. So who will be on P1? Vettel in the Red Bull has been pulling rabbits out of the hat at the last second, though Webber, Hamilton or even Alonso could surprise. However, I am putting my money on Webber again. He knows the circuit, has no fear and has superb car control. They will fuel him light to give him every chance. The Qualifying is at 7 p.m. on the Saturday 28 May, with the race at 7 p.m. on Sunday 29.

I will be watching from my perch in front of the big screen at Jameson’s Irish Pub, Soi AR, going there at 6 p.m. for a roast dinner and a beer before the race at 7 p.m. Why don’t you join me?

Nürburgring’s 24-hour race

Porsche 997GT3 R

One of the most manic races in the European calendar is the Nürburgring 24-hour race. Peter Dumbreck will be driving the Falken new Porsche 997GT3 R at this year’s Nürburgring 24-hour race.

In an exclusive interview, Dumbreck commented on the race, and the Falken Porsche he will be driving. “Nürburgring is a more much relaxed and fun event than Le Mans.

The atmosphere is much more friendly and the fans in the forest are night seem to have a good time. From the racing side, our car should be right at the sharp end of the grid so me dealing with traffic is very different to my recent races in the GT2 Spyker. At Le Mans, the prototypes can be double our speed and you are constantly wary of them whereas at Nürburgring, it’s the (Renault) Clios and older cars that we have to thread our way by. With around 200 cars on track, it can be busy and nowadays with many factory cars the pace is hot so we have to be on it from the start.

“I think it is more of a family event too and it’s great they have kept the atmosphere as it has grown. They are also keeping things fair between the professional teams and the amateurs too. For instance, we all have to queue for pump fuel which is dispensed at similar rate to a regular petrol station. So we can be queuing there but it means there is less rush for putting belts on and getting settled in the car.”

What are your impressions after driving the car? “Very driver friendly and predictable. The rear is very stable even over some of the jumps. I looked down at Flugplatz to see we are doing over 200 km/h, that’s quick enough through there and the car feels good. The ABS is also really good; it’s subtle and really inspires confidence. For less experienced drivers it enables you to go harder into the corner, something that’s important in the Porsche. You can flat shift with the sequential box too, with an auto blip on downshifts, it all helps and prevents risks of locking the rears or miss-shifting.”

The ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race at the Nürburgring has been held on the around 25 km long combination of the Nordschleife and Grand-Prix track since 1970. The route length makes a field of more than two hundred vehicles possible, which are driven by up to around 700 drivers, who take the wheel in shifts. Due to the large starting field and more than 200,000 fans along the track, the race is regarded by some as the largest motor sports event in the world. In 2011, it will be held from the 23rd to 26th June.

Thailand Rally cross 2011

Rallycross action

R.1 17 May 2011 at Bira Cross Circuit Pattaya
R.2 14 Aug 2011 at Bira Cross Circuit Pattaya
R.3 13 Nov 2011 at Bira Cross Circuit Pattaya
R.4 8 Jan2012 at Bira Cross Circuit Pattaya

Classes: Pro Rallycross Open, Pro Rallycross 2 fwd Open not over 2,000 CC., Pro Truck Open (4wd), Pro Truck Commonrail, Car 2 fwd Open B-C and Rookie not over 2,000 CC, Pro Truck Open (2wd), Car 2 rwd Open, Car 2 rwd Open B-C, Car 2 rwd Rookie, Truck Rookie Open.

For more information contact Auto Racing call (02) 691 - 3933 website: www.thailand rally.com, e-mail: udomsak@thailandrally .com or [email protected]

Electrifying performance for RAC Future Car Challenge

With little over a month since the announcement of the second RAC Future Car Challenge taking place on Saturday November 5 this year, the opening list of vehicles is growing in this competition for low-energy vehicles.

The first entries received for the 2011 event includes a line-up of EV sports cars from Radical, Tesla, Delta, Vortex and Vince Nemesis, many of whom we have never seen.

The Radical SRZero supercar EV entry is from Imperial College London. In 2010 they drove the all-electric Radical from Alaska, down the Pan-American Highway, finishing at Ushuaia in Argentina, the world’s most southerly city, passing through 14 countries in 140 days. The team used the journey to demonstrate that electric vehicles have outstanding performance and that they are a viable low-carbon alternative to combustion engine vehicles.

The Tesla Roadster is one that is well-known as the first production electric sports car as well as being one of the fastest, but it has a close competitor in the shape of the Vince Nemesis.

British built Vince benefits from a similar lightweight structure to the Tesla but uses a different cell and motor arrangement for an equally-impressive turn of speed - 270 kph makes it possibly the world’s fastest electric vehicle.

Their rival comes in the shape of the Delta E4 Electric Coupe which has a high-tech carbon fiber design with impressive performance on electric power: not only is it capable of over 320 kays on a single charge but can also carry four people and accelerate to 100 km/h in less than five seconds - all with zero tailpipe emissions.

Although these confirmed entries are electric, the RAC Future Car Challenge is also open to hybrid, hydrogen and low-emission internal combustion engine cars and light-commercial vehicles. Last year’s entry list included one-off prototypes and future production vehicles from Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan, Vauxhall, BMW, Skoda and Volkswagen, as well as current production cars offering the highest levels of efficiency regardless of their powertrain.

What did we learn from the Spanish Grand prix?

Well we learned that Alonso’s Ferrari had the start of the century from fourth on the grid. If I were a scrutineer I would be looking for where Ferrari had hidden the jet engine, and forget about its illegal rear wing!

Boy Vunder Vettel in the Red Bull really did have to work for his win, and all credit to him. He had Hamilton (McLaren) up his exhaust pipe for the last 20 laps and was never pressured into making a mistake. He will retain his world championship crown.

We also saw that despite all the predictions of doom and gloom, and ‘retire now’ calls (including mine) for Michael Schumacher, he confused us all by coming home sixth in the Mercedes and comfortably in front of his team mate Nico Rosberg. Rosberg complained that his radio was faulty, and I sympathize with him, I have the same problem with the Daihatsu …(joke)!

After the success of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) in Turkey, it turned out to be a dismal flop in Spain. Catalunya is well known for its processional racing and it was hoped that this would be reversed by the DRS. I did not see anyone manage to use it successfully, as the area of the track where the DRS could be used was too short. With all the facilities and expertise in the FIA, surely they could get that right? However, knowing the history of the FIA in its regulations, it does not surprise me one bit.

One of the drives of the day was that of Heidfeld (Renault) who started stone motherless last and ended up eighth. His mate Petrov has improved to the extent that he is no longer running in the demolition derbies but this time had to bow to Heidfeld.

Di Resta (Poppadum Team India) continues to impress. Beating his experienced team mate Adrian Sutil once again. The fresh-faced young Scot has a great future ahead of him and will undoubtedly be snapped up by one of the top teams.

Four drivers were called in front of the stewards for not slowing down when a yellow flag was displayed. These were Hamilton and Button (McLarens), Webber (Red Bull) and Algywhatsit (Toro Rosso). Hamilton’s explanation deserves to be included in a book of Murray Walkerisms - “We all abide by the rules, and we slow down for the yellow flags, but you have to do that without losing any time.” Er, yes, Lewis!

Poor showings in the race by Webber once again, despite a brilliant qualifying run. This will be his last season in the Red Bull camp. Another poor showing by Massa (Ferrari) as well, and despite Ferrari saying that Massa has a contract to the end of 2012, remember how they got rid of Raikkonen and his contract?

Monaco this weekend. I expect another brilliant qualifying by Webber, but a better result by Vettel.

Autotrivia Quiz

New quiz car.

Last week’s quiz car.

Last week, hoping to confound the ‘Googlers’ I asked what was this car which was a trendsetter then, and still is today.

Parts of it’s concept are in the Mitsubishi i-Miev, and that’s all the clues you are getting.

Some of you are just getting too good! It was the 1902 Lohner-Porsche with its in-wheel motors (as used by the i-Miev) and hybrid power.

So to this week. I want to know what is this car and what is its year?

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