Mid season catch-up Pt2
I just thought I'd finish my update on what else is afoot in the wonderful world of motorsport.
Sportscars
Nigel Mansell will be racing at the Silverstone 100kms on the 11th September. He will once again be driving with his sons Leo and Greg. Let's hope that 'Red 5' doesn't have another crash like he had at Le Mans. Audi driver Allan McNish will be at the sharp end of things along with Andy Wallace. Ex-F1 drivers Giancarlo Fischella and Anthony Davidson will also be taking part, with the latter racing for title contenders Peugeot.
125cc
Mark Marquez is now running away with the 125cc World Championship. The 17 year old Derbi rider has won five races on the trot and not even a dislocated shoulder suffered in a practice accident at Brno could stop him from scoring a seventh place finish. Taking a leaf out of, well, a great many champions of the past, the Spaniard took the points as he had no chance of finishing at the sharp end. Definitely a rider to keep an eye on.
Nicolas Terol and Pol Espargo are playing catch-up with 'Our Bradley' Smith in perpetual fourth.
Moto2
Despite my worries, Moto2 has proved to be a very entertaining spectacle this year. In complete contrast to the MotoGP grid, the sight of all those bikes flying into the first corner gives the impression that you're going to see a real race, not a show procession of a small number of bikes. Unfortunately due to the intensive and expenditure heavy 800cc formula in MotoGP, only the big boys can play, meaning that privateers without factory connections and big current accounts can't get a place on the grid.
Tony Elias and the Gresini team are leading the championship after their win at Brno. However, they are going to have to watch themselves as the team were caught red-handed testing out of regulations at Misano. According to the rules, no team is allowed to test at a track that hasn't hosted a Grand Prix so far this season. Naughty boys!
For your viewing pleasure...
A Dutch international race from 1981 at Hengelo. The track is a good example of the road tracks that the Dutch used (and still sometimes use) at the time. Houses, trees and ditches all line the track, which despite it's flat nature (hey, it is in Holland!), looks fast and challenging. From doing a bit of research, I found out that this track is still used for the Dutch Superbike championship. Look out for the Dutch Grand Prix stars of the 70's/80's Wil Hartog, Boet Van Dulmen and 'Jumping' Jack Middelburg in the film.
Continuing our high speed Eco-battle…
As saving the planet is the subject of the day today, I've dug up another interesting story, this time about Porsche's attempts to make a hybrid car. It does sound unlikely that one of the world's most famous high performance car manufacturers has created a car that attempts to harmonise with the environment, but it's true.
The 911 GT3 R Hybrid has been built with a standard petrol engine, but with an additional electric motor which powers the front wheels. This is used as a boost for when extra power is needed, for either speed on the straights or when overtaking. When not in use, the motor is recharged by the turning of the front wheels.
Now as we all know, the Germans are very meticulous and thorough. They had to test it and where did they chose to test? Only at the Nurburgring 24 hours! This demanding event is not held on the small Grand Prix track, but on the 14 mile monster itself.
Take a look at the car in action below:
Round-up 16/06/2010
Well, lots of big races have taken place and I've had no time to do any updating of this blog, so here is a quick update instead!
F1
Book your flights to Abu Dhabi, people! This F1 season looks like it may be worth going to to yet another boring track in the desert, just to see Webber, Hamilton, Button, Alonso and Vettel fighting for the title.
Lewis Hamilton won again at Montreal on Sunday after an exciting race where tyre wear came massively to the fore. Red Bull struggled with Bridgestone's soft compound tyre, forcing their drivers to pit and lose position. In fact, team boss Christian Horner remarked that the soft option was 'made of cheese'. Michael Schumacher did himself no favours by cutting up former team mate Felipe Massa, and generally driving in a manner that the seven time world champion is not known for.
Le Mans 24 Hours
Going against predictions, Audi beat Peugeot to take the famous 24 hour endurance race. Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller took the chequered flag after a days worth of racing, that saw the two main Peugeot entries fall by the wayside with mechanical woes. The German manufacturer's cars completed a 1-2-3 of the podium with Britain's Allan McNish finishing in the third place car.
Isle of Man TT
Ian Hutchinson took a record breaking five wins in one week at the Isle of Man TT, culminating in a rain shortened Senior TT. Hutchinson took the lead from the start and kept it as other fancied riders such as last years winner John McGuinness and Connor Cummings failed to finish.
I never fail to be stunned by this event, I'll be writing an article on this event soon. So keep this site bookmarked!
What happened to the circuits?
As part of my 'Look back to 1990', I'm going to take a quick look at the venues the season used. Several tracks have long stopped being used (Paul Ricard hosted the French Grand Prix for the last time that year) and some are still on the calendar in neutered form.
In 1990 the F1 calendar looked like this:
R1: USA Grand Prix, Phoenix street circuit.
R2: Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos.
R3: San Marino Grand Prix, Imola.
R4: Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo.
R5: Canadian Grand Prix, Gilles Villeneuve Circuit, Montreal.
R6: Mexican Grand Prix, Mexico City.
R7: French Grand Prix, Paul Ricard circuit.
R8: British Grand Prix, Silverstone.
R9: German Grand Prix, Hockenheim.
R10: Hungarian Grand Prix, Budapest.
R11: Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Franchorchamps.
R12: Italian Grand Prix, Monza.
R13: Portuguese Grand Prix, Estoril.
R14: Spanish Grand Prix, Jerez.
R15: Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka.
R16: Australian Grand Prix, Adelaide.
It was not all good, the Phoenix street circuit was a naff 90 degree corner affair, the Budapest track was just as rubbish as it is now and despite being a decent bike circuit, Jerez was always boring for cars. However, the vast majority of the tracks were pretty decent. The demanding Adelaide street circuit is still superior to Melbourne, and Hockenheim in those days was a 210mph blast through the forests. Imola was used for the San Marino Grand Prix in it's fast and dangerous form, with the Tamburello causing one large accident a year (If only they could have moved back that wall).
My lasting memory of the 1990 season is not Senna taking Prost off the track at Suzuka, but of Nigel Mansell overtaking Gerhard Berger at 180mph around the Peralta at the Mexico City circuit. As schoolboy, I remember being enthralled by the wheel-to-wheel fight they'd been having for a few laps before, only to see Mansell trying to sell Berger a dummy down the back straight, before launching himself around the outside of the banked 180 degree corner. Pure white knuckle racing that you don't see often now. Instead, you get the rich and famous taking flights to Dubai to see cars trying to race around the Abu Dhabi track with no exciting corners or challenge. And they call it progress...
In Appreciation of Spa Francorchamps
Terrifying, daunting and very, very dangerous are just some of the words that have been used to describe Spa -Francorchamps, one of the most notorious racing circuits in the world. Situated in the forests of the Belgian Ardennes region, Spa has been feared and loved in equal measure by racing drivers throughout the years. Ask any Formula 1 or sportscar driver, any Grand Prix motorcyclist who competed there and they will probably give you stories of either heroic racing exploits or tales of sheer horror.
In it's original layout of 8.7 miles worth of closed public roads, Spa was a fearsome prospect for any competitor, no matter how talented. Consisting mainly of flat-out straights and daringly fast corners, the circuit was incredibly quick with average speeds of 160mph becoming common in the 1970's. Corners such as Eau Rouge, Blanchimont, Burnenville, Stavelot and the infamous Masta Kink are mainstays of motor-racing folk-lore. In fact, in it's original layout, Spa only had two slow corners: the famous La Source hairpin and Les Combes, a result of the circuit organisers easing many turns to increase speeds (unbelievable to think of today).
Treacherous conditions
Spa was a tough track in the dry, but when it's famous weather came into play, it took on a whole new dimension. Due to the length of the track, a driver could encounter dry conditions on one section and a cloudburst on the other (this still applies today). In 1966, Jackie Stewart had a horrendous accident at the Masta kink, after going off in terrible conditions. He found himself in a ditch, trapped in his mangled BRM, injured and soaked in fuel. If it wasn't for his team-mate Graham Hill coming to the rescue, he may not have been around to win those three world championships.
Spa also had earnt it's notorious reputation for safety, i.e. there was none. The track had little in the way of armco barriers, few marshals and was littered with ditches, stone walls and houses along it's length. During a driver change over for the 1972 Spa 24 hours, Hans Stuck shouted to his co-driver Jochen Mass, to watch out for body parts on the road. Mass thought he meant parts of a car, when in actual fact he was referring to the dismembered limbs of a marshal. In short, if you had an accident there, it was likely to be a big one. The F1 fraternity boycotted the track from 1970 onwards, but sportscar racing and Motorcycle Grand Prix's continued until the track was shortened in 1979.
A new start
The new track cut out Burnenville, Masta and Stavelot and bypassed them with a winding link road that encompassed several new challenging corners, including the fearsome Pouhon. Despite the challenging nature of the the track, the new layout was considered far safer than it's previous guise and has held the Belgian Grand Prix since 1983. Spa is probably the only one of the old style tracks that survived the neutering that so many others recieved over the last two decades. The circuit is still considered a little scary as it retains many fast corners and it's legendary changeable weather, but it is probably one of the best examples where a circuit strikes the balance of safety and challenging the driver. Unfortunately, we don't see that too often (remember the A1-Ring?).
Stoner gifts Rossi Czech Victory
Casey Stoner did his chances of retaining his MotoGP World Championship no good at all, after crashing out of Sunday's Czech Grand Prix. The Australian was in the lead by a second from Rossi, when he skidded off into the gravel on lap six. The Ducati was too badly damaged for him to carry on, leaving Rossi to cruise to victory, giving himself a fifty point lead ahead of Stoner.
As for the remaining two podium places, Spain's Tony Elias and the Italian veteran Loris Capirossi came second and third respectively. Anthony West surely saved his MotoGP career by coming home in fifth and this seasons serial underachiever Marco Melandri salvaged some face for Ducati by finishing seventh.
Tyres played a major role with Michelin proving to be very uncompetitive at Brno. The re-surface appeared to knock those supplied by the French manufacturer right out of contention, including Pedrosa, Edwards and Toseland. All three managed to finish at the back of the field. In fact, at one point there was some tlak of the Michelin shod teams refusing to race. Sounds like a US Grand Prix I watched once...
With six races left to go and all the challengers slowly dropping out of the picture, the Doctor could have a clear run to the title. However, before we make any rash statements, lets wait until the fat lady breaks into song eh?
Other news
Peugeot took a one-two at the Nurburgring 100kms, with the car of Stephanie Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy leading home team mates Marc Gene and Nicholas Minassian. The Audi sportscar could not compete with the diesel powered French prototype and could only manage third and fourth. Nothing to be ashamed of at all, but are we seeing a tip in the balance of power in the Le Mans series?
Audi dominate Le Mans
German car giants Audi won the Le Mans 24 hours race on Sunday with Scotland's Allan McNish taking his second victory in the historic race. McNish was partnered by Italy's Rinaldo Cappello and Denmarks Tom Kristiensen. This is Kristiensen's record eighth victory in the event.
Audi's R10 diesel powered Sports car beat off the Peugeot of Jacques Villeneuve to claim first place on the podium for the fifth time. Any hopes of Villeneuve claiming the 'Triple crown' of motorsport will have to wait another day, Kristiensen took first position on lap 234 whilst the French-Canadian was refueling in the pits.
From that point on, it wasn't all plain sailing for the lead Audi car, as some Minassion mounted a serious challenge in the Peugeot, chiping away at the lead built up by Kristiensen. However the drivers of the leading car kept their heads and held a four minute lead to the flag.
A second Peugeot, driven by Montagny, Zonta and Klien came in third to take the final step on the podium.
Right, it's a good weekend for motorsport coming up, with the final F1 French Grand Prix to be held at Magny Cours, plus the MotoGP British Grand Prix at Donnington for you all to enjoy. Will Toseland get on the podium? Will Hamilton get confused at the start with those pesky red lights?
Le Mans latest
I thought I'd write a little extra on Le Mans as I got confused and wrote the preview a week early. It gives me the opportunity to write a little update. Despite looking the favourites from the outset, the Audi sports cars have had to make way for Peugeot as they claimed the top three places on the grid for tomorrows race. Stephane Sarrazin took pole with a record lap of 3 mins 18.513 seconds, making him pole sitter for the second year running. Franck Montagny posted the second fastest time with Nicolas Minassian in third. Whether or not they will 'keep it up' in the race is another matter entirely.
Of course, the race is so long that grid position is not as important as in, say, a Grand Prix. Many retirements and accidents can happen over the 24 hours, so anything could happen. Fatigue can cause retirements just as much as mechanical failure, as the circuit is fast and very demanding. Plus, racing in the dark can present many challenges of it's own as other cars, roadside objects and creatures (!) are not as visible at night. Unlike the MotoGP night races, this track isn't floodlit away from the start/finish straight.
Enjoy!
Le Mans 24hr preview
Next weekend one of motorsport's most famous races takes place: the 24 hours of Le Mans. Some Americans (those without passports) would argue that the Indy 500 is in fact the worlds greatest race, but they would, wouldn't they? This is a country who call their national sporting competitions a 'World Series' without asking any other nation if they want to play. Indy undoubtedly one of the greatest motoring events in the world, but has got stiff competition in the form of the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans, The Isle of Man TT and the Monte Carlo Rally, so let's not get into a pointless listing exercise.
Right, back to Le Mans. There is currently only one manufacturer name associated with success at Le Mans and that is Audi. Audi's cars have dominated the event for much of this decade, becoming a demonstration run for German engineering and efficiency. Winning the event is good news for the manufacturer in more ways than one, as the victor of the race will be seen to have the most reliable and best performing car, so don't be surprised if Audi have a range of new cars on show.
However a new challenger has arrived in the saloon, ready to take his place at the bar (cue Ennio Morricone) in the form of Peugeot. Surprisingly, the Citroen is on a winning streak in the Le Mans sportscar endurance series, winning at Barcelona, Spa and Monza. I won't be taken aback if they are leading during the last hour on Sunday.
Enjoy!