A1GP Great Britain and Ireland on Pole in Chengdu

27 May 2013

Chengdu, China A1 Team Great Britains Danny Watts claimed pole position for tomorrows Feature race in A1GP Chengdu, China posting the fastest lap of the weekend so far, a 1m 15.325s. Adam Carroll put in a great performance to take Irelands maiden A1GP pole position for tomorrow mornings Sprint race.

In the first qualifying segment Australia was first on track to get a banker lap because half the grid opted to wait for the final few minutes of the 10-minute session to record their times. With the dusty track making it difficult to judge how hard to push, many of the teams came out on track late in the hope of getting a clear run.

Switzerlands Neel Jani went out early in the first session clocking a time of 1:15.683s, the quickest of the weekend at that point and good enough for an eventual third place on the grid. Robert Doornbos, on his debut for A1 Team Netherlands, jumped to the top of the timesheets as the seconds ticked away but his time wasnt enough to hold off the late charge from Ireland. 

As the chequered flag came out Italys Edoardo Piscopo went into the gravel due to a broken wish-bone, and caused a lengthy delay. Eventually time ran out due to a logistical problem when trying to recover the car from the gravel trap in turn ten, so the second Sprint race qualifying segment was cancelled.

Carrolls time of 1m 15.423s was therefore good enough to give the Irish squad its first ever A1GP pole position.

A1 Team Netherlands will start alongside Ireland on the front row of the grid, with reigning champions Switzerland third.

As qualifying segment three for the Feature race got underway, Indonesia was first to emerge before Marco Andretti, on his first weekend in the US car, provisionally went quickest with a time of 1m 16.557s. Brazil was next to head the grid but in the final minutes Switzerland, Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland were all gunning for the top-spot.

Danny Watts put in a fantastic lap of 1m 15.325s as the time ran out. Switzerland provisionally moved into second before being pushed down by a flying Adam Carroll whose time was only 0.031s slower than Great Britain. Filipe Albuquerque had a great final run to boost Portugal up to third, just 0.075s from Watts.

The drivers were geared up for a thrilling session as they prepared to take to the track for the final qualifying segment of the day but Frances Nicolas Prost, on an extremely quick lap, went off into the gravel bringing out the red flag.

After a short delay the session restarted, but with none of the top three improving their times and no one else going quicker the top four remained the same. Malaysia made a big improvement from 14th in the Sprint qualifying posting a 1m 15.963s, putting it sixth, behind South Africa for the Feature.

A1 Team China had a disappointing start to the weekend and will start 18th for tomorrows Sprint race after only setting a time on old tyres due to the cancellation of qualifying two. Ho-Pin Tung then made a mistake on both his runs in Feature race qualifying leaving him 17th on the grid.

After a close-fought session, Watts held onto pole position on Team GBRs first outing of the season.

I think it was nine days ago I found out that I was actually coming here, said Watts, so to be sitting here now, in pole position for the Feature race is really amazing. I think the credits got to go to the team. Theyve had four hours sleep in the last two nights, working through the night just getting the car prepared and ready for practice yesterday. Its been an amazing few days. Its a new car for the team to get used to. A new driver in the car for Team GBR and luckily the whole package has come together really nicely.

"It feels great to get Ireland's first ever pole position and to make it a double front row start is even better," said a delighted Carroll. "It's quite a bumpy circuit so it's very important to put together a really clean lap.

"We were quick in final practice but we didn't focus too much on lap times from there because we knew we would be quite a lot faster in qualifying with the new rubber. The times are so close and the drivers are of such quality that it feels great to be at the front. The new Powered by Ferrari car is extremely quick with huge levels of downforce and it has really suited the team and my driving so far."

A1 Team Netherlands Doornbos said: Its great to be here in A1GP. When Jan Lammers called me and asked if I wanted to drive for my own country, it sounded quite cool but I think the car made a big difference in me actually considering it. This years car is actually quite fast so I can use my experience. I knew there was no time for testing so I had to come straight to China and get on with it.

Commenting on the car he continued: I couldnt even fit my TW Steel watch in because I dont have a millimetre to spare, but the car has been good. The team has been working well which we showed with fastest time in practice. Unfortunately Adam just pipped me to pole but I think the front row is good.

After two thrilling fights for pole the Chengdu International Circuit looks set to provide the scene for two equally thrilling races tomorrow.

A1GP Chairman Tony Teixeira said: I want to say a personal thank you to everyone who has made this race possible.  There has been a lot of hard work done to bring the track up to the correct standard and I think the result is amazing. We realise the people of this province went through many traumas due to the earthquake, and hope we can highlight their plight and also help by contributing to the Sichuan Earthquake Relief Fund.

Sundays Sprint race at Chengdu, China will start at11.00 local time with the 70-minute Feature race at 15:00.

Sprint Race Qualifying Results - A1GP Chengdu, China

Feature Race Qualifying Results - A1GP Chengdu, China

A1GP France Storms to Victory in Rain-Soaked Feature Race

27 May 2013

The Netherlands A1 Team France has claimed the first Feature race victory of the season in extremely wet conditions at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. From third on the grid Loc Duval put in a mature drive to take Frances 15th win. Sprint race winner Fairuz Fauzy finished second for Malaysia, losing time in the first pit stop due to a problem with the left-rear wheel. Earl Bamber put in an outstanding performance this weekend on his race debut for A1 Team New Zealand claiming third, his second podium finish of the day.

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With the rain continuing to fall the decision was made to start the Feature behind the safety car instead of the usual grid start due to the standing water around the circuit. The race ran this way for two laps before the Safety Car pulled off an and it was Sprint race winner Fairuz Fauzy who had the best view as the pack headed into Turn 1, with those behind having almost no visibility due to the spray. Charlie Kimball got caught out in the terrible wet condition spinning the USA entry at Turn 6 but continuing on track.

After a couple of attempts, France made a move on New Zealand passing Bamber cleanly down the pit straight and tuckin in front of Black Beauty as the pair headed into the first corner on lap four.

China also had a spin at Turn 2 under pressure from Ireland, who started in 15th after failing to finish the Sprint race. A lap later, Adam Carroll lost the back end of the Ireland car and aquaplaned into the gravel ending a disappointing weekend for the team after looking promising in qualifying.

Meanwhile, local hero Jeroen Bleekemolen passed Bamber for third, much to the delight of the cheering Dutch crowds.  Current A1GP champion Switzerland looked to be in trouble when Neel Jani dived into the pit lane for an unscheduled stop due to a suspected gear selection problem. Up at the front, Malaysia was building a comfortable margin in the lead, now 1.760s ahead of France, making the order Malaysia, France, Netherlands, New Zealand after lap five.

With wet weather continuing to test the drivers, lap seven brought about another incident as Italy and South Africa came together. Italy's Fabio Onidi made a mistake spinning across the kerb and Adrian Zaugg's South African car taking them both out of the race. China dropped further back down the field after being given a drive through penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag while Malaysia extended its lead over France to 2.4-seconds.

On lap eight the first pit window opened with race leader Malaysia making the first scheduled stop of the day but lost time due to a problem with the left-rear wheel. Bleekemolen also had a problem changing a wheel but eventually got back on track. Australia had a quick stop with France now leading from New Zealand and Portugal.

A1 Team Korea, making its A1GP debut this weekend, moved into the top ten, by passing Satrio Hermanto in the Indonesian car making the order now France, New Zealand, Portugal, Malaysia, USA, Lebanon, Netherlands, Australia, Monaco, Korea.

With the rain still pouring Netherlands moved up ahead of Lebanon for sixth with the pair both managing to stay on track despite getting extremely close through Turn 13.

On lap 15 France finally came in for its first pit stop and after a quick one retained the lead, as Jeroen Bleekemolen headed back into the pits for the second time, with the team looking to replace the steering wheel. He continued but had to pit later to make the change.

Korea had a minor spin on lap 17, just before Portugal crashed out after just taking the lead. Filipe Albuquerque had a big crash at the quick final turn resulting in the Safety Car being deployed for the first time in the race. As the field closed up, the order was France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, USA, Netherlands, Monaco and China.

After a couple of laps for the debris to be cleared the Safety Car was in and the field bunched up ready for the re-start. Korea managed to get going again after its earlier spin meaning - being guaranteed a point on its debut event due to so many retirements.

With racing back underway, Netherlands was now right on the back of USA and Australia and moved ahead of USA for sixth place when Charlie Kimball slide off line at the back of the circuit. On lap 19 Lebanon were running fourth with Daniel Morad, on his debut for the team, looking to score the teams first ever point in A1GP.

As the second pit stop window approached France held a 4.587-second lead from Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, Netherlands, USA, Monaco, China and Korea.

John Martin was pushing hard to catch Lebanon, which was made easier when Morad had a 360-degree spin gifting the position to Australian as he tried to get back up to speed. The Netherlands began dropping back as Jeroen Bleekemolen appeared to be having gear-shifting problems.

On lap 27 the pit window opened, with Loc Duval now with a 6.3-second lead over Malaysia as Fauzy came in for his second stop.  Australia and Lebanon both pitted with Lebanon retaking fifth. France made a great stop and Duval retained the lead heading into the final third of the race.

With the terrible conditions causing problems for a number of teams the race was turned into a timed event with nine-minutes remaining. On lap 31 Charlie Kimball put in a fantastic lap in the Andretti Green Racing run US car to record the fastest lap of the race with a 1m 47.115s on lap 30 but only a lap later he ended up in the gravel at Turn 5 making it a bitter-sweet end to the Californians weekend.

With the order now France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Australia, Monaco, Netherlands the clock continued to tick down but with the weather making things really tough for all the drivers there was a huge crash on the main straight. Lebanon's Daniel Morad lost control of his car, and spun into the back of China's Ho-Pin Tung. Both cars careered at speed into the tyres at Tarzan, bringing out the Safety Car for the second time.

The seventeenth car made an appearance in the closing stages of the race as Brazil came out for the final laps due to the repairs taking so long after the Sprint race crash. As the time ran out the cars were released to take the chequered flag with A1 Team France taking its first victory since last February in Australia. Malaysia and New Zealand completed the podium with Malaysia and France joint championship leaders. A1 Teams Korea and Monaco both scored on their debut much to the delight of both teams and Daniel Morad scored the first ever points for A1 Team Lebanon despite not finishing the race.

Frances Loc Duval said: The weekend was really difficult, we received the car yesterday morning and we were in the car for the first time during qualifying so everything was brand new and today it was a really, really tough race. It was hard with the safety car but at the end everything went well and the mechanics did a great job.

Malaysias Fairuz Fauzy said of his two podium results: Its been a dream start to the season for A1 Team Malaysia. We were certainly hoping to have a good performance here, and two podiums are just great. The weather conditions were treacherous today, which made it difficult for all of us, but that makes it all the more rewarding. There is something extra special when you are driving for your nation, so Im very proud of our achievements today. Its been a real team effort and Im delighted that we are leaving Zandvoort leading the championship.

New Zealands 18-year-old Earl Bamber commented on his fantastic weekend: It was always going to be a tough weekend. There is a lot more horse power from the Powered by Ferrari car and I think its just been a challenge for all the drivers to get around and finish the Feature race. Its been a fantastic weekend for me though, the team did a great job all weekend with the car, and we still managed to hold third position after a mishap with the wheel nut. It was a little bit slow to come off in the pit stop but the guys handled it well and we got back out and still finished on the podium.

We had a lot of power boosts left in the bag just in case the safety car came out later on and we could challenge for second place but we ran out of time on the clock unfortunately so thats the way it goes, we will live to fight another day.

The very final words on what has been a hard but rewarding first weekend of Season Four for A1GP World Cup of Motorsport came from Chairman, Tony Teixeira: I have always loved the Dutch and I do so even more after this weekend.  We had our dramas getting here, but I never doubted we would make it and want to say a big thank you to everyone who made this possible.  The weather was dreadful, but this did not stop the fans coming to see the races in their tens of thousands with the patriotic orange clearly visible in the packed grandstands. All the teams have been working day and night to put on the show and they did us proud today.

Feature race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team USA set the fastest lap (1m47.115s) of the Feature race with a speed of 155.5 kph on lap 30.

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

Next race: A1GP Chengdu, China, 7-9 November 2008.

A1GP Malaysia Take First Victory in New Season

27 May 2013

The Netherlands A1 Team Malaysia has won the first race of the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. In a rain-soaked Sprint race, Fairuz Fauzy came from fourth on the grid to take the teams first victory since Season Two, which was 27 races ago. After initially taking the lead from The Netherlands, Earl Bamber put in a great drive on his race debut for A1 Team New Zealand to take second place with Loic Duval storming through from 11th on the grid to take the final podium position for A1 Team France. Pole-sitter Jeroen Bleekemolen struggled in the extremely tricky conditions finishing fourth as the red flag came out to end the race.

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 In a thrilling start to the new season, the drama began before the cars even crossed the start line after doing two laps behind the Safety Car due to the atrocious conditions. On an extremely wet track, Ireland spun in the final corner with Monacos Clivio Piccione running into him, so putting the pair out the race before it had even started. As the new Powered by Ferrari cars came down the pit straight for the rolling start, the action behind gave the front row duo of the Netherlands and New Zealand a comfortable gap as they came across the start line for the first time.

Lebanons Daniel Morad ran wide in the first corner, narrowly avoiding USAs Charlie Kimball, as both drivers made their race debut for their respective nations. A lap later, Koreas Jin Woo Hwang collided with John Martin at the first corner while making an ambitious move down the inside of the Australia car which left both in the gravel and Korea out the race and with a fine and a drop to the back of the grid for race two for causing an avoidable accident and trying to overtake under a yellow flag.

Malaysia and Switzerland battled it out for third with Neel Jani getting ahead of Fauzy on lap four. From 16th on the grid, and having only done a few laps this weekend, Chinas Ho Pin Tung was putting in a stunning drive to challenge Italy for seventh by lap five. China claimed the position taking the inside line through turn 11 and began chasing down South Africa.

Out at the front the race was really on with new-comer Bamber pushing the Netherlands for the lead. On lap seven the 18-year-old made a great move trying to go around the outside of Bleekemolen through the chicane. The Netherlands ran off the circuit while trying to defend the position but with a better run out the corner Bamber grabbed the lead.

As the rain continued to fall, Malaysia were flying, re-taking third from Switzerland before passing local hero Bleekemolen for second. Fauzy then set about closing the gap to New Zealand who was still in the lead. France moved up to fourth as Loic Duval took advantage of a mistake from Switzerland.

At the start of lap nine the order at the front was now New Zealand, Malaysia, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, China, South Africa and Italy.

Fauzy, whose car was working really well in the wet conditions, was right on the gearbox of Bamber and on lap nine made his move, snatching the lead through turn eleven. Meanwhile, France stole the final podium position from Netherlands.

Chinas tremendous charge came to an end on lap ten when the back end got away from Ho Pin Tung and he spun coming out of the final corner, crashing out of fifth. With Brazil also crashing the red flag was brought out taking the final race classification back to the end of lap 10.

Race winner, A1 Team Malaysias Fairuz Fauzy said: I am so happy to take this win. It was very difficult on the track today and made even more challenging with the lack of experience we have with this new car, but we have worked really hard as a team and now we have a fantastic win. We start from pole position for the next race as well, so I hope we can have more success, but if the weather stays like this it will be another huge challenge for everyone. Im looking forward to it!

A1 Team New Zealands Earl Bamber said: Its pretty atrocious conditions this morning. We got a good start and then managed to get past the Netherlands. He (Bleekemolen) got on some oil which made him have a slow exit so I got down the outside into the chicane and then as he out-braked himself he ran wide and I managed to get in front. It was a good pass, but pretty close. We held the lead for quite a while but then Fairuz was just a little bit quicker and got past me on the infield. I think second is good and hopefully we can make some changes for this afternoon and see what happens with the weather.

Third placed Loic Duval driving for A1 Team France said: Its very difficult to see anything but Im really happy. We received the car yesterday, but just ran in the qualifying session so to finish on the podium today its great for us. Everything is possible for this afternoon so I am confident now. We lost a lot of laps yesterday morning, so this morning we had the chance for an extra test. We managed to work on the car and I think its been quite fair with the amount of laps everybody has had.

Jeroen Bleekmolen was disappointed not to be on the podium in front of his home crowd: When you start from pole you want to win the race, so it didnt go to plan. The first few laps were alright but then I lost a lot of grip and people passed me on the outside, inside and everywhere so we need to find more grip and hopefully we can do better the second race. Its really great to see the fans and even with this weather they are still here enjoying it so I hope I can give them a good result this afternoon.

With this afternoons Feature race grid determined by the Sprint finishing order, Malaysia is in pole position to aim for a double victory in the opening weekend of the new season.

Sprint race results

Fastest lap: A1 Team France set the fastest lap (1m45.939s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 157.2 kph on lap six.

2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings

GOODWOOD REVIVAL 2008

27 May 2013

  After a wet and dismal summer the Sun Gods once again smiled on Lord March and for three glorious days in mid September bathed the Goodwood circuit under warm clear blue skies. The spectacular weather was then equaled by the sensational racing, and when combined with some stunning machinery, some of the greatest names in the sports history and the usual jaw-dropping air display, the world’s premier fancy dress race meeting was, as always, a resounding success. Three days of pure, unadulterated, absolute pleasure. And so thought the over 120,000 fans who attended. I guess there was probably someone who was disappointed (there is always one miserable git) but if there was, no-one noticed. Big Brother is ignoring you………

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   You may feel a bit self conscious when you get dressed up in your outlandish 1940s-60s outfit for the early morning trek to the circuit but within ten minutes of arriving you realize that most other people have gone to even greater lengths and that your outfit is rather conservative. The only people that look totally out of place are those who couldn’t be bothered and their jeans and baseball caps stand out like a tall white pointy hat at an ANC rally. Everyone from Lord March to the drivers, pit crew, press, marshals, catering and attendance staff, club members and most of the general admission fans get right into the spirit of the event and dress in period clothes. I imagine most of the outfits cost vastly more than the entry tickets and that the animal lib nutters hate this place as there is plenty of fur on display. It was, after all, the height of fashion back then. Just watching the crowd and what they are wearing is half the fun.

  Well not quite half. But the rest of what is going on is a bit of sensory overload. It’s a bit like stepping from a sensory deprivation tank and into a KISS concert. There is just something always happening everywhere. Quite apart from the incredible on-track action you have to try and take in the World War Two air display (which this year showcased Spitfires, Mustangs, Corsairs, Hurricanes, Curtis Hawks and Lancaster bombers), the vast array of WW2 military vehicles which are used to shuttle the staff and press about, the equally vast array of other period cars and bikes, the fun-fair and market stalls, the multitude of actors playing the parts of spivs selling dodgy watches, St Trinian’s school girls, communist spies (he was particularly amusing), Dad’s Army, Laurel and Hardy, the road maintenance crew, Mods and Rockers. Add to this little lot several jazz bands, the “Earls Court Motor Show”, the Shell Woad Corner showroom which this year featured Porsches, the Spirit of Aviation aircraft display and just a wander through the paddock and your brain is about to just give up. What starts out on Friday morning as “Oh wow, look at those Spitfires” becomes “Oh, just another Spitfire display” by Sunday afternoon because you are still trying to take in everything else you missed while watching in open mouthed astonishment those aerobatics and the furious racing earlier in the weekend. 

   Despite that, however, it is the racing that most people are really there for. There are a few that just come to be “seen”. There are a few thousand that don’t care about the cars and just set up opposite the Warbird display to watch the air-show. But none of that would be there without the racing. And what racing it was. Yet another fantastic collection of 2 and 4 wheeled and 2 legged greats gathered for the party. Of the human variety in attendance where Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Derek Bell, Tony Brooks, Martin Brundle, John Whitmore, Jean-Marc Gounon, Marc Surer, Jochen Mass, Jackie Oliver, Richard Attwood, Emanuele Pirro, Bobby Rahal, Henri Pescarolo, Vern Schuppan, Brian Redman, David Hobbs, Desire’ Wilson, Rauno Aaltonen, John Fitzpatrick, Arturo Merzario, David Piper, Wayne Gardner, Freddie Spencer, Jeremy McWilliams and Niall MacKenzie to name just a few (dozen). But as always, the cars are the stars with the great drivers the icing on the cake. From pre-war ERA, Alfa Romeo and Maserati Grand Prix cars to Le Mans Ferraris and Ford GT40s it is a drool inducing mix. On hand, for the first time in many years, was a BRM P30 with it’s screaming 1.5 litre supercharged V16 engine. I watched with breathless anticipation as they fired her up and gave her a few good revs… Roar…. howl… scream…whoomp… (whoomp?????).   Whoomp was definitely a wrong sound. The huge ball of flame coming out the left hand side of the engine didn’t look quite right either. Although they patched it up and it ran slowly later on, missing out on that noise was probably the one big disappointment of the weekend. Still, it was true to it’s history and at least this time no-one threw pennies at it 

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   Getting the action started was the Goodwood Trophy for Pre-1951 Grand Prix cars which saw a 1-2-3 finish for ERA with Ludovic Lindsay winning in the ex-Prince Bira ERA R5B “Remus”. The field included 5 former Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Tipo Bs along with the later Alfa 308 & 312 models, a brace of Maseratis including one 4CLT-48 “San Remo” and one very slow, but wonderful sounding 1950 8CLT, a handful of Altas and a Bugatti Type 34. I would have gone just for that. Simon Frost won the 500cc Formula 3 Earl of March Trophy before Carlos Monteverde pulled off possibly the most popular win of the weekend, taking out the Madgwick Cup in his Ferrari 206SP Dino after ten years of trying. 

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  Arguably the best race of the weekend this year was the Sussex Trophy for pre-1960 sports cars. Barrie Williams led early in the Tojeiro-Jaguar but was passed by Jamie McIntyre in his Knobbly-Lister Chevrolet. McIntyre then had a “moment” at Woodcote corner and dropped back to third place behind Williams and Mark hales in the Costin bodied Lister-Jaguar. Within a couple of laps though McIntyre had his testicles back in place and in one sweeping movement passed both Hales and Williams through Fordwater corner to regain a lead which he would not lose. He didn’t have it all his own way though and won by just over half a second from Hales followed by Williams and Gounon in a Ferrari 196S Dino in fourth place. 

    For eight laps the Chichester Cup for Formula Junior cars was an absolute blinder with no less than eight cars disputing the lead. Unfortunately it all came unglued on lap eight when Emanuele Benedini in his Brabham BT6 lost it big time on the exit of Woodcote and plowed into Mark Woodhouse’s Lotus 22 and laying a huge oil slick through the chicane. The race would finish behind the safety car with Michael Hibberd leading through a Lotus 1-2-3 from Martin Walford and Joaquin Folch.

   To close out Saturdays racing the Freddie March Memorial Trophy was for only the second time run into the evening. As a race it was as tedious as they come with Emanuele Pirro and Stuart Graham winning by over two laps in the Austin Healy 100S, but as a spectacle it was breath-taking with the setting sun blazing bright red behind the trees at the back of the circuit. The sight of all those Aston Martin DB3s, C-Type Jaguars and Ferrari 750 Monzas blasting by with headlights ablaze to that backdrop was worth the price of admission alone. 

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  Patrick Blakeney-Edwards kicked off Sunday’s action with a comfortable win in the Fordwater Trophy driving a Frazer Nash Sebring before Jochen Mass gave everyone a nasty fright by rolling the Lancia D50 in the Richmond and Gordon Trophy. Mass was enjoying a spirited battle with Barrie Baxter’s Tec Mec but entered the chicane on lap seven miles to fast, clipped the chicane wall and spun backwards into the barriers. Instead of just sliding along the barrier the Lancia bounced back out from the tyre wall and it’s right rear wheel dug into the turf and slowly rolled, pinning Jochen under the car. Baxter to his great credit stopped immediately and ran back to assist the marshals and drag Jochen free. Thankfully Jochen suffered only minor cuts and bruises from what appeared to be a very nasty accident. Once again the race ended behind the safety car with Rob Jolly taking the win in his Cooper T45 from Folch (Lotus 16) and John Harper in a Cooper T51.

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   Aussie two wheeled world champ Wayne Gardner again displayed his class and totally dominated the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy while the two part St Mary’s Trophy for touring cars was won by John Fitzpatrick and John Young in an Austin A95 Westminster.The first part of the race on Saturday ended spectacularly when Tony Jardine in an Austin A35 got it all wrong at the chicane and pushed Fitzpatrick into the chicane wall. Fitz’s A95 then rolled onto its right side and slid across the track taking both itself and Jardine into the tyre barriers. Amazingly these two cars would still fight out the win on Sunday with John Young taking the honours in the battered A95 from Rea Davis in the “guilty” A35. Andy Rouse and Shaun Rainford took third in the Volvo PV544S ahead of Anthony Reid and Justin Law in a Mk1 Jaguar.

   In the main event, the one-hour RAC TT Celebration, Ferrari finally took a win at the Revival. Peter Hardman and Bobby Verdon-Roe in the glorious Ferrari 330LMB took the flag just over two seconds ahead of Law and Reid who teamed up again, this time in a Lister-Jaguar coupe. The battle prior to the driver-change pit stops was as good as you are likely to see with six drivers dicing for the lead. Law led early but was passed by Hardman on lap eight while Adrian Newey (E-Type Jaguar), Gounon (Ferrari 250GTO), Bellm (Shelby Cobra Daytona) and Pirro (E-Type Jaguar) were scrapping like mad just behind them. Once the driver changes were completed the race settled down to a straight fight between Verdon-Roe and Reid and after a brief safety car period the Ferrari held off Reid’s challenge for the final seven laps to take the win.

   The Glover Trophy also saw a fine stoush for the lead with the Brabhams of James King (BT7) and Duncan Dayton (BT11) trying to find a way past Simon Hadfield’s Lotus 21. They made it into the lead at half distance as Hadfield was slowed with a deflating left rear tyre  but Dayton had to pull out with just two laps to run with engine problems. This left King to take the win from Hadfield and Frank Sytner (Lotus24) who had had a spirited scrap with Brian Redman in a BRM P578. 

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     Hadfield did get a win though in the final race of the weekend, the Whitsun Trophy, in his Lola T70 Spyder. With a huge field that included seven Ford GT40s and six Lola T70s there was, as usual, drama a-plenty. Sytner (Lola T70) led from the start but Hadfield had taken the lead by the time they got to Woodcote. Further back Bellm had spun his GT40 at St Mary’s giving the closely following Jon Minshaw (Lola T70) a very nasty fright. Also on lap one Pier Enrico Tonetti’s Huffaker-Genie Chevrolet went bang in a big way laying a huge oil slick through St Mary’s. This unpleasant surprise was first discovered by Hadfield who had a big twitch and Sytner who lost the Lola. They were followed by the very expensive sight of three spinning GT40s (Shaun Lynn, John Hugenholtz and Joaquin Folch). All managed to rejoin but then Howard Spooner, in David Piper’s Ferrari 250LM began laying a new line of oil around the circuit. He thoughtfully continued to do this for two laps before pitting. Out came the safety car and when racing resumed Hadfield was leading from Chris Jolly (Cooper T61 Chevrolet) and Roger Wills (McLaren M1B Chevrolet) who had started down in 20th place. Jolly couldn’t hold onto his place though and both Wills and Bellm got by. On a very slippery track Wills closed to within 7/10ths of Hadfield’s Lola when the flag dropped. 

  So ended another superb Revival meeting. For three glorious days we could suspend reality and take that “Magical Step Back in Time” but as we walked out of the gates on Sunday evening, the real world awaited. I have just 362 days to figure out a way of actually making a profit out of next years Revival 

Sam Snape 

26-9-08 

F1-ITALIAN GRAND PRIX

27 May 2013

  Here’s a headline you’d never thought you’d see. MINARDI WINS ITALIAN GRAND PRIX. Well almost, Sebastien Vettel in the Toro Rosso totally dominated the race winning from pole position and never looking like being threatened. He not only became the first winner for Red Bull/Toro Rosso/Minardi but was also the youngest Grand Prix winner and the first winner in a customer Ferrari engined car. It was also the first Italian team to win a Grand Prix since Juan Manuel Fangio’s last great win for Maserati at the Nurburgring in 1957.

  The Toro Rosso team which was created from the purchase of the old Minardi squad by Red Bull, staffed mainly by ex-Minardi crew, based at the old Minardi factory at Faenza, had never finished higher than fourth and hadn’t had a car on the front row of the grid since Pheonix in 1990. In a stunning wet weather drive he took the lead from the start and pulled away from Kovalainen’s McLaren at close to 2 seconds per lap. He only lost the lead during the first series of pit stops, but once they were completed he was never seriously challenged. A stunning win for a nice young kid. Still possibly the best yarn about Vettel is when he was given his first F1 test with Williams four years ago at the tender age of 17, he had to give his school head-master a note excusing him from class so he could take part in the test. “Dear sir, want a day off school to test drive a Grand Prix Williams” Just too bizarre. Not just a great result for Seb but also a brilliant reward for all those long suffering Toro Rosso/Minardi team members who have spent more time on the last row of the grid than the front.

  Trying his damned-est to take the attention away from Vettel was Lewis Hamilton. Unfortunately this was not in a good way. His antics were reminiscent of Schumacher and Senna at their very cheating worst. If he didn’t deserve to be penalised at Spa he should have bloody well been disqualified and given a lengthy suspension for his disgraceful behaviour at Monza. His first stunt, which could almost be forgiven due to the heavy spray, was to run Timo Glock off onto the grass in the run up to the Curva Grande. This is dangerous enough in the dry but in the wet is almost murderous. Glock was extremely lucky not to have a BIG accident. He then put a severe swerve on Alonso when he had already passed him leading into the first chicane and finally swerved into Mark Webber when the Australian had the temerity to try to pass. Webber had been closing the gap by over a second per lap, got a great run onto the McLaren’s tail coming out of the Parabolica and surged down the outside into the first chicane. Hamilton took the inside line to defend his position and then swerved to the outside and straight into the side of Webber’s Red Bull. Webber tried to back out but his front wheel still rode up over the rear wheel of the McLaren pitching the front of the Red Bull into the air. Twenty odd years ago this was the sort of incident that killed Gilles Villeneuve at Zolder at shattered Didier Pironi’s legs at Hockenhiem. At least they were just accidents with no malice intended by either Jochen Mass nor Alain Prost (the guys they ran into).

 Last week I bitched about the FIA coming down too hard on a good dice, but this week I am blasting them for not giving a penalty when it is warranted. Lewis did nothing wrong at Spa but this was just plain old thuggery and Hamilton (not to mention the other three) is very lucky that no-one ended up in a hospital or a morgue. This sort of behaviour might be accepted from a school-yard bully, but in a sport where a mistake can kill you should be ruthlessly stamped out. Hamilton should have been disqualified and given at least a one race ban. If I were Max, we wouldn’t see Lewis again until next year. Utterly disgraceful behaviour of this type should never be tolerated on a race track.

Sam Snape

15-9-2008