General Motor Sport Discussion

[CooCoothenoo]

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/175863/1/verstappen_arrested_charged_with_attempted_murder.html

Yup

It sounds like he tried to run her over!

Just a heads up that the Colin McRae programme is on BBC2 tonight at 10.

[Mackie The Staggie]

Managed to catch the last final 3 hours of Daytona on Motors TV last night, missing Top Gear (which according to some may be a blessing). Great finish to the GT class coming down to a mixture of playing the fuel game and running the tires of the car. Also enjoyed the commentary provided by Radio LeMans, should really start listening to their podcasts a bit more.

Also managed to catch the Racing Legends documentary on McRae which I thought was the best out of the 3. Chris Hoy was perfect as the presenter (helped by an obvious passion for the sport) and while they obviously wanted to avoid dwelling on the helicopter crash too much, I thought they handled it well.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Mackie The Staggie

[BigRubberFist]

Also managed to catch the Racing Legends documentary on McRae which I thought was the best out of the 3. Chris Hoy was perfect as the presenter (helped by an obvious passion for the sport) and while they obviously wanted to avoid dwelling on the helicopter crash too much, I thought they handled it well.

Cracking programme, and Chris Hoy's enthusiasm was pretty obvious. Some really great archive footage from early in Colin's career was the highlight for me - loved his reaction to David Gillanders throwing it into the bushes on the SRC decider...

An excellent series and hopefully the Beeb will commission a few more episodes.

[Jeek]

Does anyone know what McRae and Grist's fall out was about? seems pretty clear that he never forgave Colin for throwing away the world title with Ford

[Mackie The Staggie]

Does anyone know what McRae and Grist's fall out was about? seems pretty clear that he never forgave Colin for throwing away the world title with Ford

Colin and Nicky often had 'disagreements' but often it was resolved, as far as I know there was no real animosity between the 2. I thought Nicky's look was more of sheer, gut wrenching disappointment.

After the crash at the GB Rally, Nicky remained his co-driver for the following season until midway through the season, when after a disagrement in thoughts, Nicky left and was replaced with Derek Ringer. But after the Ford days, McRae joined forces with Grist again when Colin raced the Skoda and in the Summer X Games.

Actualy one thing I forgot to mention was Ken Block pointing out that McRae changed gear while upside down in the Summer X games flip. That was madness.

[CooCoothenoo]

I agree, the McRae programme was very good, and didn't Hoy look at ease behind the wheel of a rally car?

Onto two wheels and something to look forward to. A new documentary about the Manx Grand Prix. February 5th at 8pm on ITV4.

[Stu]

The McRae documentary was excellent - although that wasn't the 1995 Impreza Hoy was driving. The sponsor logos were yellow rather than luminous and the rear spoiler was too big. Looked more like the Scooby from the time of the first game

British F3 is as good as dead http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105307

[CooCoothenoo]

British F3 is as good as dead http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105307

That is very sad. No idea what the politics are but what a huge loss that is. Always loved British F3 and for so long it was THE proving ground for new talent. You've fair spoiled my night!

[Mr. Brightside]

I just watched the McRae program. I still absolutely love the guy and his attitude. One thing I thought of through the show was how many championships could he have won if he was like Richard Burns and made sure he finished as opposed to "if in doubt, flat out".

[Sermani]

The McRae documentary was excellent - although that wasn't the 1995 Impreza Hoy was driving. The sponsor logos were yellow rather than luminous and the rear spoiler was too big. Looked more like the Scooby from the time of the first game

The actual car used during the filming belongs to a rallyist from the North East called Ryan Champion, its an ex Auriol/Liatti works car. It was just stickered up to look like the McRae car. Once seen a display of McRaes cars at the Scootish Motorsport Show the McRae family organised at Lanark Mart 2008 , there was a Subaru there, am sure that was the real one.

Haven't seen the programme yet, but Chris Hoy must have enjoyed himself. According to his twitter feed he's going to be entering the Nicky Grist stages rally, think its in Wales june/July time.

[Stu]

The actual car used during the filming belongs to a rallyist from the North East called Ryan Champion, its an ex Auriol/Liatti works car. It was just stickered up to look like the McRae car. Once seen a display of McRaes cars at the Scootish Motorsport Show the McRae family organised at Lanark Mart 2008 , there was a Subaru there, am sure that was the real one.

Haven't seen the programme yet, but Chris Hoy must have enjoyed himself. According to his twitter feed he's going to be entering the Nicky Grist stages rally, think its in Wales june/July time.

There is a Subaru Impreza in McRae livery in the new Riverside Museum as you go in - you can see the luminous sponsor logos before you even get in. Think it's genuine too.

Hoy has bought some Radical/Caterham type thing to do some racing this year.

[CooCoothenoo]

Found this curiosity in a book I was reading. An early attempt at an aerofoil which Swiss engineer and driver Michael May attached to his Porsche 550 at the Nurburgring way back in 1956. Apparently the works Porsche team were so alarmed by its efficiency that they prevented him from starting the race and the idea was forgotten about.

[Mr. Brightside]

Looks like a similar car to "Little b*****d".

[CooCoothenoo]

Looks like a similar car to "Little b*****d".

Yeah, it's the same model. '50s Porsche sports cars looked fantastic.

[flyingscot]

Vintage Rosset:

Think this was the incident that prompted his Tyrrell mechanics to rearrange the letters in his name on his scooter, swapping the R with the T.

Jeeze forgot about that one. He was part of the Lola effort in 1997 when they were absolute rubbish. Had to look up his team-mate which was Sospini who beat Rosset hands down in F3000 when they were both with Super Nova.

Another couple of drivers I remember from that time are Jan Magnussen who was outpaced by Barrichello everywhere before Stewart had enough and chucked him. Also in 97 Sauber kept sharing the driving between Nicola Larini, Morbidelli and Noberto Fontana. Morbidelli was the best of the lot and the year after absolutely dominated the BTCC from memory.

I'm not on Twitter but have been told by a couple of people he's worth following.

And yes, Rosset was very underwhelming.

Aye his banter is actually good on Twitter- assuming it is him!

[CityDave]

Jeeze forgot about that one. He was part of the Lola effort in 1997 when they were absolute rubbish. Had to look up his team-mate which was Sospini who beat Rosset hands down in F3000 when they were both with Super Nova.

Another couple of drivers I remember from that time are Jan Magnussen who was outpaced by Barrichello everywhere before Stewart had enough and chucked him. Also in 97 Sauber kept sharing the driving between Nicola Larini, Morbidelli and Noberto Fontana. Morbidelli was the best of the lot and the year after absolutely dominated the BTCC from memory.

Aye his banter is actually good on Twitter- assuming it is him!

That Mastercard Lola was nothing but rubbish anyway miles slower than anything else, I don't think it ever raced.

I have a book called Unraced.... and it covers a good number of F1 cars mostly overlooked never to see a Grand Prix

list correct up to 2007-

DAMS GD-01/ Reynard (Now at DAMS, Raudin)

Dome F105 (Marco Apicella test car, now at Dome Co, Maibra)

Lola T95/30-X (Allan McNish car now with private collector)

Lola T97/30 (2 of these cars are now used in Canada at a Racing School, another is in private ownership)

Honda RC2x (All R&D cars one was destroyed, another was evolved and likely is now at the Honda R&D, Japan)

Honda RA099 (6 made, 2 for Mugen engine testing and two for Honda V10 testing all remain with Honda the other two remained as just tubs)

Toyota TF101 (3 cars all still in Toyota ownership)

McLaren MP4/18 (First two were destroyed in testing crashes by Wurz and Raikonen and another tested by De la Rosa current location unknown)

Premier 1 Grand Prix/Superfund SF-01 (Display Chassis for P1 GP and test chassis for Superfund)

also some interim cars

BMW - FW21B (test car was originally a Williams)

BAR-Honda 067 Concept Car

Williams FW27B

Jordan EJ15B-V8 (Adapted to take a Toyota V8. This was just before the Midland Group takeover)

Jan Magnussen was once one of the most highly rated future stars on his rise up the ladder, to say his F1 carrier was a dissapointment was an understatement and JYS gave him more than enough time to find his feet.

Nicola Larini started the 97 season in that Sauber, a decent driver but his time had past a few years back and struggled, Morbidelli never really regained the good form he showed at Arrows and Minardi previously, looked solid enough but his F1 career was done after that. Norberto Fontana looked out of his depth, which was dissapointing as he showed well in the Junior formulas.

[CooCoothenoo]

A few more unraced F1 projects:

Walker-Climax: Designed for legendary private entrant Rob Walker. Think two were built, originally intended for Stirling Moss to drive.

Lotus-Honda (1963ish): Deal was signed and then cancelled by Chapman.

DB (1951ish): Used two 750cc engines, front and rear.

Tiga (1970s): Name came from ex-drivers Tim Schenken and Howden Ganley. Ganley built the car himself!

Arno (1973): Dutch F1 team

Ginetta-BRM (late 1960s)

Dhainault-Hart (1993)

BMW S192 (1991): Became the infamous Andrea Moda!

There were two Williams six-wheelers tested in the early 1980s, FW07D and FW08D (I think)

In 1985 there was a story about an Audi F1 car with a 5 cylinder turbo. Don't know any more.

Trebron (1993): Designer's name Norbert backwards. Remember seeing a pic and thinking it looked like something from 1983, not 1993.

There was quite a serious looking Portuguese project in the 1970s.

GLAS: Mexican national team, 1980s. Think they raised several million and then the accountant ran off with the money! Car designed by Ferrari legend Mauro Forghieri

Bravo (early 1990s?): Spanish team.with Jordi Gene (Marc's brother).

There was a Chevron F1 car being built that I think was stopped after owner Derek Bennett's death in the late 1970s. Sure I have a pic somewhere.

There are loads more. I've got quite a few pics of obscure cars if anyone wants to see specific ones.

Edited January 31, 2013 by CooCoothenoo

[CooCoothenoo]

Jan Magnussen was once one of the most highly rated future stars on his rise up the ladder, to say his F1 carrier was a dissapointment was an understatement and JYS gave him more than enough time to find his feet.

Nicola Larini started the 97 season in that Sauber, a decent driver but his time had past a few years back and struggled, Morbidelli never really regained the good form he showed at Arrows and Minardi previously, looked solid enough but his F1 career was done after that. Norberto Fontana looked out of his depth, which was dissapointing as he showed well in the Junior formulas.

Magnussen just didn't seem to take F1 seriously enough, after breaking all the records in F3. I seem to recall he didn't even give up smoking!

I liked Larini and Morbidelli. Think Larini's best result was second in a Ferrari? Unfortunately it was at Imola in 1994 so was somewhat overshadowed.

Another Italian I rated was Ivan Capelli. Had some great drives for Leyton House and then his career was ruined by 1992's dog of a Ferrari.

[CityDave]

Magnussen just didn't seem to take F1 seriously enough, after breaking all the records in F3. I seem to recall he didn't even give up smoking!

I liked Larini and Morbidelli. Think Larini's best result was second in a Ferrari? Unfortunately it was at Imola in 1994 so was somewhat overshadowed.

Another Italian I rated was Ivan Capelli. Had some great drives for Leyton House and then his career was ruined by 1992's dog of a Ferrari.

Capelli was an excellent driver unfortunately never recovered from that, Eddie Jordan had two F1 regulars retire their careers on him in 1993.

I remember back in 1985 when Ken Tyrrell had a choice between Capelli and Phillipe Strieff going into season 1986 for who would drive his second car he went for Streiff because he believed the Frenchman was stronger mentally. And this seemed to be true at times with the Leyton House a very sensitive and complicated car to set up during seasons 89, 90 and 91 and didn't take to bumpy circuits hence why they were so of the pace in Mexico one race then fastest at Paul Ricard. Capelli did let his head go down at times where as his more conservative team mate Mauricio Gugelmin just got his head down and got on with it. But when Capelli had the car dialed in he was very fast. I also heard that Capelli was a bit of a prankster and if during quiet times along the pits you had to watch your back with him around.

Gugelmin also got his head down and got on with it at Jordan with the underpowered Yamaha, where as another highly rated very fast but sensitive driver Stefano Modena didn't (another driver tipped for big things but disappointed).

Edited February 1, 2013 by CityDave

[CooCoothenoo]

Gugelmin also got his head down and got on with it at Jordan with the underpowered Yamaha, where as another highly rated very fast but sensitive driver Stefano Modena didn't (another driver tipped for big things but disappointed).

Modena was a very peculiar case. I recall him being ridiculously superstitious. Gloves inside out, having to use a certain side of the garage, not sleeping in a hotel room with his feet facing the door?! I'm sure there were more. Didn't he retire from his first race because he was tired? He was undoubtedly talented. I think his first test was for Benetton and he was immediately on the pace, and Monaco seemed to suit him.