May 2002 - DAC Deutscher Automobil Club

May 2002
D.A.C. Website: www.deutscherautoclub.com
Jahrgang 43 Issue 05
The D.A.C. was founded 1 st of September 1958
Affiliated with CASC and ASN
Presse
May 2002
Contents
Departments
Page
From the Editor’s Desk
Membership/Minutes
This & That by Nancy Frey
Member’s Gallery
20 Years Ago (1982)
30 Years Ago (1972)
Personal Ads
Member Business Card Advertisements
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3
10
12
24
26
27
28
Articles
Ice Race Statistics
First Event Snowed Out! by Nancy Frey
Villeneuve to Stay with BAR
CART Quick Fix
VW Test Formula Car at PE
Brazilian Grand Prix
Broadcast A World Away
Ferrari-Maserati Return to US
Schumacher denies title battle over
Oldie-Käfer
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9
11
14
15
16
20
21
22
23
Announcements
CASC Bulletins.
RallyCross Announcement
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6
See the Presse in colour at http://www.deutscherautoclub.com
Cover
An Old VW Poster from the
archives of Klaus Bartels
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I promised no more Ice Racing . . . . but Klaus made me do it!! You’ll find the Ice
Race Financial Statement and some yearly statistic for comparison in this issue.
Now that the race season is underway, I’d really like to have more information from
our D.A.C. competitors. If you are competing, e-mail me, drop me a line or call me and tell
me what you’re doing. I can’t print it if I don’t know about it.
There’s been a lot happening this month in the motorsports world. This issue contains
Formula 1 race reports from Brazil and Spain, along with Trans-Am and Cart. On the home
scene, I was at Mosport last weekend for the BARC event, and I’m sure a lot of you are glad
you missed it.
This & That contains some sad news from several facets of motor racing. It appears to
be a fact of life that the older you get, more people you were acquainted with, became known
to you through seeing them at the track or watching them on TV, are leaving you behind.
If you’re reading someone else’s May Presse, it’s probably because you forgot to
renew your membership. May is the cut-off month at the D.A.C. Those who have not
renewed their membership are no longer on the Presse mailing list. So, if you haven’t paid
up, now’s the time to take care of it.
We’re aiming to have the 2002 Membership List printed in the June issue of Presse.
Make sure you’re on it!
Nancy Frey
Editor
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May 2002
Membership
No updates this month
Please send your renewals to
D.A.C. c/o Irene Ott
26 Ludgate Drive
Rexdale, Ontario, M9W 1Y3
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
No Minutes submitted this month
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CASC-OR
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May 2002
CASC Website Discussion Board
The CASC-OR discussion board is up and running and ready to use. You can connect to it by
selecting the link near the top left of the CASC-OR website.
The purpose of our discussion board is to provide our clubs and club members an online platform
to exchange information and ideas relating to motorsports. It is also a great way for potential
members to ask questions and check us out online.
There are separate discussion categories which will allow members to comment on their specific
discipline. There is also an area to promote extra activities such car shows and karting events. Our
members will appreciate the classified area when they want to sell some race cars/equipment or
aquire a particular part. You can even recommend a shop or dealer that supports motorsports. Other
categories may be added in the future.
Many members interact with other club and discipline boards and this helps to spread the good
word about motorsport in Ontario. I encourage members to sign-on to the board and check for
questions that interested newcomers might be asking. Also, watch for some online contests coming
soon!
Your comments are always welcome.
S. John Bondar
Vice President
CASC-OR
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RallyCross Announcement
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May 2002
First Event Snowed Out!
by Nancy Frey
Let’s hope that the first event at Mosport, the BARC Grand Prix of Ontario 2002, is not indicative of the
rest of Regional Racing in Ontario. As one of the premier race-organizing clubs in Ontario, BARC, as
always, had a huge number of very talented officials on hand. But the same could not be said of the
competitors they were there for. Total entries = 98. Not all of them made it to the track.
With the exception of the CSS (Nissan Sentras) all classes were down, most notably the Canadian GT
Challenge Cup. Where are all the cars?
I understood there were 12 entries in the CGTCC, but only 9 appeared on track. Since there were only 9
FVs, they raced with the other Formula cars. The faster formulas handled lapping of the slower formulas in
a very gentlemanly fashion.
Club President, Gianni Biral caused the most confusion of the day by switching from the Formula 2000
he drove last year to a sedan. To compound that, former Formula Vee driver Brent Gilkes turned up with a
Biral F2000 look-alike. Conversations I overheard had Gilkes driving Gianni’s old car. A quick discussion
with Gianni between races, confirmed that his F2000 was still for sale.
Without a published entry list (what else is new) trackman Glenn Butt really surprised everyone by
announcing that Biral was in the lead of the formula car race. Gianni himself heard this while he was still
working under his new car.
Neil Ryan challenged for the chequered flag and paid the price. After the start/finish line, he was
nudged by the race winner and crashed heavily into the concrete. It’s possible that without a miracle at Frey
Motorsports, he’s out for the season. The winner was penalized by the Stewards on the basis of eyewitness
reports. The penalty included exclusion from the BARC event and probation. However, he is lodging an
appeal. So, at the moment, he retains his win until the appeal is heard.
In his real car, Gianni had to pit for a flat tire, putting him completely out of contention, while Alan
DeWolfe was last seen under his car helping George Hachfeld repair the clutch.
And that was Saturday! Early Sunday morning, the Mosport area received about three inches of fresh
snow, followed by an hour’s power outage. A Driver’s Meeting held just after 9:00 am resulted in the day
being cancelled. It reminded me of the problem D.A.C. had at Shannonville in the wet.
All in all, it was a miserable weekend out there for me. My first day as a trainee steward taught me a lot
about what goes on behind the scenes. I never realized they were so busy in that little room in the tower. I
witnessed the utmost patience on the part of the chief steward in trying to explain the Rules & Regulations to
drivers who just weren’t listening and obviously hadn’t read them.
On the other hand, my afternoon spent at Corner 3 brought back fond memories of my marshalling days.
It was freezing cold; the wind was enough to blow one off the marshal’s stand (which we didn’t have in my
day) and getting over the fence is still no piece of cake.
There was some good racing, some very good blue flagging, and a lot of dicing in just about every race.
The new Nissan series was likened to the old Honda Series (which I missed). Hearing them squealing
around Corner 3, I was wondering just how long the tires were going to last.
I’m looking forward to seeing more cars out for the next event which is the BEMC Spring Trophy
Races, May 11th and 12th . I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a warm and sunny day.
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by Nancy Frey
Congratulations to club members Alex and Shoba Bartels who had a baby girl, Alexa
Nicole, born April 8th . She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz.
D.A.C. Life Member, John Bellefleur, navigated for Judd Buchanan (MLRC) in five
2002 Yokohama/Subaru Winter Rally Events. The rallies were held between January 5th
and March 3rd in Ontario and Quebec. They finished first overall competing in a Subaru.
The News-Journal wire services report that IRL driver Eliseo Salazar was in
satisfactory condition at Methodist Hospital on Thursday, two days after surgery to repair
a torn artery in his chest. Car owner A.J. Foyt said Richie Hearn will take Salazar's place
Sunday in the Firestone Indy 225 in Nazareth, Pa. "Eliseo had a close call at Indy, but he is going to be OK," Foyt said.
"It's been tough on our team because he has become a friend, and it really shook us up. We were really looking
forward to running with him but the main thing is that he heals up and takes the time he needs to do it." The Chilean
driver, who lives in Miami, was injured in a crash Tuesday during private testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He's expected to miss the rest of the Indy Racing League season.
Grandprix.com reported that April 17th marks the end of Ferdinand Piech's term as chief executive of Volkswagen
AG. Piech, the grandson of the firm's founder Ferdinand Porsche (who also established the Porsche company), has run
the company with considerable success for the last nine years. Piech will be replaced by former BMW chief executive
Bernd Pischetsrieder. Piech started his career as a racing engineer with Porsche before moving on to head Audi and
ultimately to take over the while VW empire. The firm has steered clear of Formula 1 throughout his tenure despite his
racing roots although Audi has enjoyed considerable success in a variety of different series, notably the World Rally
Championship (at his instigation) and more recently in sports car racing.
The RaceSite.com reports that Bob Akin died late Monday night of complications from injuries suffered last
Thursday during a testing accident for a historic sports car race at Road Atlanta. Akin crashed in a 1988 Nissan GTP
ZX-Turbo during testing for the Walter Mitty Challenge. He was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital after the
accident. Akin, who won the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring in 1979 and 1986, was a standout in sports car racing in
the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) during his professional driving career. He also made six starts in
the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a best finish of fourth in 1984. He won the IMSA World Endurance Championship in
1986
Also from grandprix.com, Wolfgang Reitzle’s replacement as head of Ford's Premier Automotive Group is 41year-old American Mark Fields, who has been working at Mazda in Japan since 1998 and became its president in
December 1999 when Jac Nasser took over at the top of the Ford Motor Company. But despite his youth, Fields has
done a good job at Mazda, which failed to make any profits for most of the 1990s when it was under different
management. Ford began to take control in 1996 and the last couple of years have seen Mazda booming at a time when
other Japanese car manufacturers are having a more difficult time
The News-Journal wire services report that NASCAR team owner Jack Roush plans to return home this week, less
than two weeks after his small plane crashed into a lake in southern Alabama. Roush, 60, will undergo rehabilitation
at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday. Roush, a
Northville resident who said he doesn't remember the accident, had a head injury and broke his left leg when the twoengine plane hit a power line April 19 and flipped upside down into the lake.
Former Formula One team owner Rob Walker has died of pneumonia aged 84, according to Autosport. Walker, a
member of the Walker whisky family, established a reputation as one of the great private entrants in the golden era of
motor racing and enjoyed a fruitful partnership with driver Stirling Moss. Walker entered a private team in Formula
One between 1958 and 1968, after he had given up racing himself. His partnership with Moss was his most successful
and together they secured maiden victories for both Cooper and Lotus long before manufacturers owned factory teams.
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Villeneuve to stay with BAR
By Andrew Benson
BBC Sport Online motorsport editor in Barcelona
"But the progress the team will make starting at the
Canadian Grand Prix will be important for me.
"After that, it will be easier to think about it, but for
now I have no decision to make.
"I am concentrating on my job with BAR and I will
be back with the team next year," Villeneuve said.
Villeneuve has a contract with BAR
for next year, although he can exercise
an option to leave if he wants to. The
team has no such option on Villeneuve.
But he is paid a reputed $18m
(£12.3m) by the team, a figure he would
be extremely unlikely to receive
elsewhere.
On top of that, there are not
expected to be any options open to him
at any of the top three teams - Ferrari,
Williams and McLaren.
The only potential competitive
option might be Renault, who tried to
sign him for the 2001 season.
Money matters
But they have effectively said that his salary is far too
high.
"His salary is a huge handicap," Renault team boss
Flavio Briatore told the Journal de Montreal newspaper.
It was suggested to Villeneuve that he could yet
change his mind and decide to leave BAR.
But he said: "For sure, who knows? Maybe the team
won't have the money to pay me, and maybe the team
won't exist anymore.
"But there is no reason right now to change."
Sunday, 28 April, 2002, 07:21 GMT 08:21 UK
Jacques Villeneuve has pledged to stay with the
British American Racing team next year.
The Canadian said at the Spanish Grand Prix that he
had been quoted out of context in a British newspaper
saying that there might come a time when he would say
"enough is enough" about his time at
BAR.
Villeneuve, world champion with
Williams in 1997, has endured an
unsuccessful time with BAR since
they were set up around him for a
debut in the 1999 season.
His close friend, Craig Pollock,
was ousted as team boss before the
start of this season and Villeneuve has
been widely tipped to leave BAR for
2003 as a result.
But he said he would not leave the
team at the end of this year.
"I have no reason right now to
leave the team," the Canadian said.
"When I said 'enough is enough', I was talking about
a time when I will have to make a decision about the end
of my career. I was not talking about BAR.
"Everyone expects me to leave at the end of the year,
but it makes me laugh.
"To leave here would be very complicated, and first I
would have to see if there were any interesting offers
elsewhere.
"If it is to go to a team and start again, I'm not
interested.
"If I had to make a change, it would be to win races
or that it was going very badly at BAR.
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Me mbe rs’
Photos by Gerhard Wernbacher
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Gallle ry
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CART saved by quick fix
Quick fix holds series together
By A.J. Perez
Staff Writer, Pasadena Star News
There are no guarantees that CART will be
around next year, despite all the assurances Pook has
given in the past four months.
The series' television package still is a moneylosing proposition. CART has been forced to take
over the Chicago race, there are eight fewer cars on
the circuit and sponsors are at an all-time low.
CART also is facing the downside of becoming a
public company, a rarity in professional sports. A
publicly traded corporation must file quarterly and
annual reports with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. That makes CART's financial troubles
an open book.
Team owners Carl Haas, Chip Ganassi and U.E.
"Pat" Patrick have been on a selling spree since last
November, about the time CART's stock price fell to
an all-time low 12.15. The three have either
requested to sell or actually sold about 300,000
shares, worth approximately $4 million.
Heitzler claims in one of his two pending
lawsuits that Haas and Patrick sold their holdings
before a controversial engine change the move from
turbo-charged to normally aspirated engines was
adopted to avert a potential stock loss.
While Michaelian is confident CART will be
back next year, there already might be contingency
plans in place at Long Beach.
Right after taking over for Pook last December,
Michaelian didn't rule out a return of Formula One,
the world's pre-eminent open-wheel racing series
that ran at Long Beach from 1976-83. Pook
spearheaded a shift in 1984 to CART that cost about
a fourth as much.
Formula One has two races in North America
Montreal and Indianapolis and it's unclear whether
the series would add a third. Messages left for
Formula One officials in England seeking comment
were not returned.
"F1 returning is a very distinct possibility (if
CART folds)," said Dan Gurney, open-wheel racing
Friday, April 12, 2002 - 12:39:50 AM MST
LONG BEACH -- The predicament facing the
Long Beach Grand Prix Association seemed much
larger last winter.
CART, the racing series that has run at Long
Beach since 1984, sank to its lowest level since its
inception when one of its founders, Roger Penske,
decided to defect to the Indy Racing League.
With Penske went two of CART's most dynamic
and successful drivers Gil de Ferran and Helio
Castroneves and the series' top sponsor, Marlboro.
At the same time, CART's board of directors had
just forced out its CEO and president, Joe Heitzler,
and the corporation's stock price was at its lowest
point since its initial public offering in 1999.
From many accounts, it appeared that after 2002,
CART would cease to exist. That would leave the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach which begins
today with qualifying without a series to run on its
1.968-mile temporary street course.
The two men who helped create the Long Beach
Grand Prix realized that their race's future was on
the line. Chris Pook, then the Grand Prix Association
president and CEO, and Jim Michaelian, its current
head, searched for solutions.
"Without revealing corporate strategies, we
started to talk to people and make queries all the
time to see what was out there," Michaelian said.
"You look for alternatives. You look around in
your industry at the different scenarios. Everybody
does that. That's what businesses do."
Michaelian says it appears that CART largely
thanks to his longtime friend and boss, Pook will be
around next year and likely even longer.
"We are not nearly as worried now that Chris is
running it," Michaelian said. "There was concern.
There was a general concern about what we could do
collectively to alleviate some of those concerns for
'03."
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May 2002
legend and member of the Grand Prix's original
board of directors. "Long Beach is second only to
Indy, as far as races go. They would love to come
back."
The other prominent open-wheel circuit, the Indy
Racing League, has no plans to race on anything
other than ovals, according to series spokesman Fred
Nation. When Indianapolis Motor Speedway
President Tony George created the IRL in 1996, he
did it as an alternative to CART.
George felt the high cost to run Champ Cars was
stunting the growth of open-wheel racing. The IRL
costs roughly half as much to run in than CART
because the series is run exclusively on ovals and
exclusively inside the United States.
Even if CART goes by the wayside, Nation said
the IRL wouldn't be there to pick up the slack.
"The IRL has no plans to add any road courses to
our schedule," Nation said. "We are going to be an
oval series for the foreseeable future."
Nation and others say somebody will be there to
pick up the slack should CART fold.
"Somebody will run an open-wheel race series
on a road circuit," Michaelian said. "You don't give
up Mid-Ohio, Road America, Toronto or Vancouver
because there is a lot of money there. If CART goes
away, there are still going to be cars and drivers.
"Is there any other sanctioning body that comes
along that we can align ourselves with? Do we all
join together to make it work?"
Whatever happens, Michaelian says there likely
will be some warning.
"I think we will get a little more lead time (than
just a couple months)," Michaelian said. "The
handwriting would have been on the wall already."
The Grand Prix's contract with title sponsor
Toyota runs through 2005. The race's contract with
the city runs through 2010.
VW test Formula car at PE
Posted on Wednesday, April 10, 2002 - 18:39
Super Wheels News
Volkswagen's test driver, Dieter Depping gave the
2002 Formula Volkswagen car its first tentative steps as
he set the Aldo Scribante circuit
alight with probably the fastest
lap time ever.
The mid-engined single-seater
lapped the circuit in just over 58
seconds, a full second quicker
than the fastest recorded time
here. That record belongs to the
Wesbank V8 of Gary Formato
who set a time of 59.437 seconds
in March 2000.
Featuring a 2.0 litre 190bhp
(135kW) 4-cylinder engine,
assisted by a 5-speed sequential
gearbox, the Formula Volkswagen
is in the same league as the
United States of America’s Formula 3, but has the latesttechnology 8-valve engine.
The team of German engineers are here on a twoweek testing session as Port Elizabeth offers ideal
conditions before the start of the European season
towards the end of next month. Dieter Depping twice
drove the Volkswagen W12 Coupe at Nardo, Italy last
year and earlier this year in runs
that saw all existing speed and
distance records being broken in a
26-hour blitz. The W12 first
averaged just over 295km/h
around the 12,5 km-long circuit
last year, and then came back in
February to average over 322,89
km/h.
The Volkswagen team has
brought two cars for comparative
tests. "One is the 2001 car and the
other one is the 2002 version. It is
important to know how much
improvement we have managed to
secure out of the new car,
especially that it now features a new monocoque," said
team leader Zack Georgiou.
The Formula Volkswagen Challenger will be on display at Aldo
Scribante on Saturday when Formula Vee and Formula GTI, both of
which have a strong Volkswagen heritage, will be in action.
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Brazilian Grand Prix Race Report
from www.Grandprix.com
Michael's Brazilian con job...
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER had the new Ferrari
F2002 in Brazil and the World Champion used it to the
full, having lulled the opposition into a false sense of
security in qualifying. The victory was in part due to the
new car; in part to the latest tires from Bridgestone and in
part due to Schumacher's brilliance. It helped that
Michael's biggest rival Juan Pablo Montoya, the pole
position man, disappeared into the pits at the end of the
first lap after another clash between the two men. The big
surprise was that no-one thought that the Bridgestone
runners could do only one stop. But Michael did. It was
not easy because he had to nurse the tires along but once
he was ahead there was no stopping him. Ralf
Schumacher closed up in the middle of the race and at the
end but Michael had him under control. In fact he was
playing with him.
Qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix was a story of
tires. The temperatures were high — higher even than in
Malaysia two weeks earlier — and this meant that
Michelin had the advantage — or so it seemed.
Interlagos is a circuit which is tough on tires and so a
much harder compound of rubber is required. For
Bridgestone there was the additional problem of having
to supply tires for two different Ferraris: the older F2001
chassis and the single F2002 which was taken to Brazil
for Michael Schumacher to race.
Michelin is also a much stronger challenger than it was
in Brazil last year.
"Things have moved on enormously in the past 12
months," said Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier. "Remember
last year's Brazilian GP was only our third event back in
F1 and we were still trying to work out how to deal with
grooved tires."
Not so in 2002. Michelin is on the attack and
Bridgestone is not having an easy time of it. In Australia
the unexpectedly low temperatures favored the
Bridgestones but in Malaysia and Brazil the Michelin
were the tires to have. And there was not much argument
about it. Michael Schumacher managed to scramble the
new F2002 onto the front row of the grid but he was the
only Bridgestone car in the top six.
"We need to work harder to improve," said
Bridgestone's technical manager Hisao Suganuma.
The battle for pole position was always going to be a
battle between the two Williams men although Michael
Schumacher's virtuoso skills mean that there is always he
possibility of a little magic. David Coulthard and Kimi
Raikkonen were there or thereabouts but at the moment
the team is not quite convincing enough as a frontrunner.
The chassis looks good; the drivers are good; the tires are
good; but there is something missing. Horsepower.
When one starts to mention horsepower figures one
makes enemies and so it is best to say very simply that
the Mercedes-Benz V10 engine appears to be lacking
about eight percent of the power that the BMW engines
are kicking out. Having said that Interlagos is one of the
tracks where horsepower is not the deciding factor. There
are the fast blasts up and down but the middle sector is all
about handling, tires and drivers rather than about
screaming horses. This may explain why the McLarens
were looking a bit better.
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The Williams-BMWs are good chassis but one gets the
impression that they could be more efficie nt and one is
left with the impression that while the Ferrari package is
the best compromise of all the elements, the best
combination to combat the red cars would be a McLarenBMW!
Getting every element together at the same time is the
secret of success in F1 and one must congratulate Ferrari
on doing that at the moment. The fact that the Ferrari was
as close to the Williams-BMWs as they were was
testament to the package that Ross Brawn and his crew
have produced. The F2002 is needed now and the rival of
one of the cars in Interlagos made things a little more
interesting, although the machinations over the tire
supply did rather spoil the whole thing. The question of
Ferrari wheel rims was really not that exciting so long as
the number of tires used was not abused. There were
rules which were open to interpretation but it was not
really worth the fuss that was made.
In the end Michael Schumacher split the two WilliamsBMWs, which was a very good effort. The new F2002 is
better than the old one — even if the reliability is still a
worry.
"We wanted to be on pole," said Ferrari technical
director Ross Brawn. "but it is impossible to be dominant
at every track. I am not too despondent about it."
Ferrari's challenge was blunted somewhat by Rubens
Barrichello being given a penalty for driving through a
red light at the end of the pitlane on Saturday morning.
This meant that Rubens had to drop his best qualifying
time. As things turned out it did not cost him a position as
his second best lap was only a fraction slower than his
disallowed time. But either way, this left him down in
eighth place on the grid — a big disappointment for the
local hero. The only other Bridgestone runner in the top
10 was Nick Heidfeld who made it to ninth place.
Michelin thus had the cars which lined up first, third,
fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and 10th. "We're in good
shape," said Dupasquier.
The rest of the story was more or less what one would
expect to see with the Michelin men at an advantage.
Renault Sport continues to claw its way forward with
Jenson Button just a hint of a second slower than Jarno
Trulli. The Toyotas were doing well again with Mika
Salo 10th but Allan McNish was down in 16th after
running over a curb. The Jaguars looked better (for a
change) with Pedro de la Rosa 11th and Eddie Irvine 13th
.
As qualifying sessions go it was not a bad one but
there was none of the high drama that one gets from a
classic session. Hopefully as the year goes on we will see
more and more excitement.
"There are going to be other circuits which suit us,"
Michael Schumacher said. "That's the way it is going to
happen this year. It is going to be up and down between
the circuits."
It looked however on Saturday night that the only way
Ferrari could hope for a win on Sunday would be if the
rains came — and there was no sign of that happening.
SUNDAY morning was beautiful. Hot and sunny and
the perfect weather to go motor racing. In the paddock
the wiseacres of
F1 nodded and with sweaty brows concluded that this
was "Michelin weather" and that Ferrari was going to
have a real struggle to beat the Williams-BMWs.
The warm-up was a lively affair thanks to Enrique
Bernoldi who did not show an enormous amount of
intelligence when he stuffed his Arrows (big time) into
the wall at the bottom of the hill at Turn 2. He was going
too quickly and dropped the ball. The car was seriously
smashed up and provided a spectacular sight as it flamed
gently thanks to fractured bits and pieces.
The crash occurred right by the Medical Car and there
was a very frightening moment when this went to help
out Bernoldi. As the driver Alex Ribeiro opened the door
of the rescue car, it was hit by Nick Heidfeld's Sauber
which had nowhere to go. A split second later and
Ribeiro would have been climbing out and would
probably have been killed.
The mess was cleared up and the crowds gathered and
still we all talked about Michelin and how Michael
Schumacher was going to have to stop twice. We
wondered if any of the Bridgestone men would go for
three stops.
The story of the race was not so much one of careful
psychological games and tactics but rather of the first lap
clash between Schumacher and Montoya because if
Montoya had been there and stayed ahead all of Ferrari's
clever plans would probably not have worked. But one
way or the other Montoya was taken out of the action
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May 2002
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again. This time he was not willing to sit back and be
polite. He had had enough.
"In the last race we came side by side into Turn One
and his front wing got engaged with my car and they
gave ME a penalty," he raved. "Now he has chopped in
front of me and taken my front wing off. The minimum
they should do is a drive-through penalty.
"The FIA is amazing. They don't have any consistency.
It's always the same thing. It's Michael and they don't do
anything."
He stomped away in a huff and will probably come to
regret those words for two reasons.
One is that the collision was not as clear-cut as Juan
Pablo seemed to think. Perhaps when he has seen it on
television that will become a little more clear. Top F1
drivers do not generally suffer from a failure to judge
distances and so the incident was a bit strange and one
might surmise from it that Michael Schumacher might
have lifted off but there was nothing much to back up that
theory. Even members of the Williams team said quietly
after the race that Montoya looked to have just made a
mistake.
But the biggest mistake was the outburst after the race.
Not because he will have upset the FIA (which he will
have done) but rather because by ranting and raging he
has shown Michael Schumacher that he is susceptible to
pressure. He is not the Ice Man that everyone thought he
was. And that means that in the psychological battle that
exists between the top men, Montoya is at a
disadvantage. He is quicker than Ralf Schumacher now
but in the races he is not bring home the points enough to
be a serious title contender. Ralf is doing that. The
Williams-BMW drivers should have the advantage given
the prodigious power of the BMW engines but Ferrari's
new car is obviously good; the tires are being developed
for Ferrari and Michael Schumacher is driving better than
ever.
The battles will ebb and flow as he season goes on but
Interlagos proved that one should never make
assumptions.
Once Montoya was gone Michael was playing games.
He let Rubens Barrichello through into the lead. The
Brazilian was on a two-stop strategy and so had a big
weight advantage but Michael knew that Rubens was not
really a threat and that his primary objective must be to
preserve his tires which he did cleverly. Barrichello went
out soon afterwards because of an hydraulic failure,
having convinced everyone that he was on a three-stop
strategy.
And then, as the laps rolled on, people began to realize
that Michael was going for a one-stop race. It was a
lovely strategy and a great piece of race car driving.
Perhaps Ralf Schumacher could have pushed harder in
the early laps if he had guessed what was happening but
it looked as though Michael was on a two stop strategy
and Ralf was content to be where he was. But it was too
good to be true. At the pit stop the Williams men gave
Ralf's front wing a couple of tweaks and the car was
better in the second stint, but again Michael was playing
with his brother. He was not fading when Ralf came
chasing up behind him. He was simply saving his tires.
As soon as Ralf looked like being a threat, Michael
kicked again, just to show his little brother who is the
boss. Ralf must have known but he stayed there hoping
that Michael would make a bad mistake — which of
course he did not do.
"People thought we were doing one thing with the
strategy," said Ferrari's Ross Brawn modestly. "We did
another. I was pleased with that. It was a tough race but it
all fell into place. Michael drove the whole race
beautifully."
Indeed so.
It was a tour de force. And great theatre but as the
teams packed up on Sunday night a message had been
delivered to Ferrari's rivals and in the psychological war
that exists in F1 these days, it will be a tough blow for the
likes of Williams and McLaren to take.
Or to put it another way: Michael wins when he is
supposed to win but he also wins when he is not
supposed to win and none of the others come even close
to that kind of brilliance.
For the rest of it there was little of outstanding note.
Apart from Michael Schumacher the race was completely
dominated by the Michelin runners. The two Renaults
went off the line as they used to do last year when they
were using a clever starting system which was later
banned by the FIA. It seems that they have found some
other tweak to allow the drivers to make amazing starts.
The first couple of hundred meters saw the McLarens
swallowed up and they spent the first half of the race
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Presse
May 2002
trying to get ahead of the Renault boys. McLaren showed
its usual professionalism in getting both Coulthard and
Raikkonen out ahead of the two Renaults but then it was
all spoiled at the end when Raikkonen suffered a wheel
hub failure. More points were wasted on reliability issues.
The good news was that the McLarens were lapping
quickly when not stuck behind the Renaults and that
means that the team is getting back to a position in which
it can challenge for wins.
"You tend to see the true colors of the car in qualifying
and it tends not to be such a big difference in the race,"
said David. "So I felt that we were going to be a little bit
closer but I don't think we're quite there yet, we have got
a bit of work to do. We obviously have not taken as big a
step forward as the other cars during the winter. We
know this car is a quicker car than last year's car when we
did the back-to-back tests, but we just haven't taken a big
enough step."
The super-starting systems of the Renaults meant that
the cars looked particularly good for the first part of the
race but the laps times showed that once the McLarens
were ahead the Renaults could not handle the pace set by
the big teams up front. Trulli deserved better than the
engine failure that was his reward. At the time he was
running fifth.
According to the Renault team, Trulli reported that he
was "gutted" — an unusual expression from an Italian.
Trulli's misfortune was Button's gain and he also took
advantage of the demise of Raikkonen to finish the day in
fourth place, fighting off Montoya. The three points
meant that Jenson is now fourth in the World
Championship — ahead of both McLaren drivers.
The last point went to Mika Salo of Toyota. It was the
Finn's second point in three races and once again there
was an element of inheritance involved. But when all is
said and done, the only thing that matters is that there are
points in the bag. How they came about is not the issue.
The Toyota is a reliable car and while it may not be
World Championship-winning stuff it is a hell of a good
platform from which to start a serious assault on the big
teams in the years ahead. Allan McNish dropped out of
contention after trouble on the first lap and then charged
back until spinning off in the middle of the race as the
car's handling deteriorated.
"It is just fantastic," said team boss Ove Andersson,
"but we still have a lot of work to do before we can score
points without the benefit of retirements ahead of us."
The two Jaguars came home seventh and eighth with
Irvine ahead of de la Rosa. This was not bad at all given
the recent performance of the team and a sign that the
team is beginning to come to grips with some of the
issues faced. The car still looks a bit tatty but only
because there have been too many quick fixes to the
problems involved. Time is needed and that, of course, is
what is in short supply.
Ninth place went in the end to Takuma Sato in the
Jordan. The team lost Fisichella early on with an engine
failure but he had no chance anyway as he had to pit at
the end of the first lap having hit wreckage from the
Montoya-Schumacher incident. Sato drove a steady race
but admitted that by the end he was suffering from sore
neck muscles.
Villeneuve was classified 10th although he did not
finish. The car simply stopped running. At the time
Jacques was running in eighth place. Olivier Panis had a
gearbox failure at one third distance. "We thought we had
solved the reliability problems," he said.
Mark Webber's Minardi came home 11th after what he
reckoned was a good race despite problems with a fuelmetering unit. This meant that the computers kept saying
that the fuel tanks were empty when they were not. This
caused Webber to stop once more than was needed. In
addition his pitstop after a collision with Massa was
chaotic and lost the Australian a minute. Alex Yoong
made it to the finish in 13th place, the two Minardis being
split by Raikkonen's McLaren, which was classified 12th.
Sauber lost both cars: Heidfeld with a brake problem
and Massa in the collision with Webber. The only other
team to fail to finish a car was Arrows. The cars both
suffered from rear trackrod failures and the team decided
it was best not to tempt fate too much.
And that was that.
As a piece of theatre, the 2002 Brazilian GP will be
remembered as a magnificent con job. Ferrari duped
everyone and Michael Schumacher showed (just in case
we forget) that he is far and away the best driver in
Formula 1.
Magnificent.
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May 2002
Presse
Broadcast a World Away
By Robin Miller
from cart.com
Watching the Bridgestone Potenza 500 live on Friday
night in Indianapolis from Terry Lingner's production
studio turned out to be more surreal than surprising.
Because I got to listen to the unedited, unscripted and
sometimes unprintable play-by-play of the race by the
SPEED Channel's Bob Varsha, Tommy Kendall and
Scott Pruett.
That trio didn't travel to Japan. Instead, they observed
the third stop of the FedEx Championship Series from
Lingner's studio and then called the race Saturday
afternoon as it aired nationally.
With Pruett on the phone to a helper at Twin Ring
Motegi for all 201 laps, Kendall making notes, Varsha
asking questions of his analysts and Lingner (who
produces all 20 CART shows) bouncing from his control
room to confer with his talent, it made for an interesting
evening.
The best part of the night was Tony Kanaan and Paul
Tracy battling wheel-to-wheel for the lead during the first
70 laps and the reaction it brought from a longtime
Champ Car warrior.
Pruett, who won one of CART's most exciting 500milers when he passed Al Unser Jr. on the last corner at
Michigan in 1995, couldn't contain his enthusiasm when
Tracy and Kanaan swept through the first two turns
inches apart on Lap 58.
“That's awesome stuff,” yelled Pruett, who competed
in the first two Motegi events in 1998 and 1999. “It's fast
and smooth right there and you're wide open.
“You've got a Reynard/Honda and a Lola/Honda and
they look pretty damn equal right now.”
Kendall and Tracy share a free-spirited outlook on
life and the ex-Trans Am and IMSA champion applauded
the Canadian's charge.
“P.T. is hauling ass. He and that Lola are going to be
real compatible on ovals this year,” predicted Kendall,
who longed to run CART but never got the opportunity.
As the race unfolded, Pruett and Kendall would see
something on the screen and then ask their long distance
runner to pass the information along to their SPEED
Channel mates, Derek Daly and Calvin Fish, who were
covering the pits.
With CART's new mandatory pit stop rules (exceed
the window and face a drive-through penalty), it appeared
that Team KOOL Green might have left Tracy out one
lap too long (like Player's/Forsythe Racing did with
Patrick Carpentier at Monterrey, Mexico) and everyone
in the room groaned. But, it turned out the monitor was
off by one lap, so there was no penalty and the KanaanTracy duel resumed.
Although they watched the race from Indianapolis,
CART’s TV broadcasters Bob Varsha, Tommy
Kendall and Scott Pruett conveyed the excitement
and drama of Motegi
However, it ended a few laps later when Tracy's
right-front wheel bearing seized and put him on the
sidelines. Kendall had warned of a potential problem
during SPEED Channel's coverage of Motegi practice on
Thursday.
When Bruno Junqueira and Kanaan swapped the lead
on consecutive laps with nice slingshots going into Turn
3, Pruett explained to Varsha how that was about the only
sure passing opportunity unless you could outwork
somebody high in Turn 1.
As Townsend Bell bounced off the wall exciting
Turn 4 on Lap 112, Kendall and Pruett wondered if the
rookie had caused any suspension damage because it was
a lot more than whitewalling the tires.
Kanaan lost power on Lap 121 and, for the most part,
Honda lost hope of winning its home-track race for the
first time because Dario Franchitti was a lap behind the
leaders and Fernandez Racing was being plagued by a
myriad of mechanical problems and way off the pace.
20
Presse
May 2002
When Bell, running third, blasted the wall in Turn 3,
Kendall grimaced at the replay. “He almost turned right
trying to save it,” he said. “A big no-no on ovals.”
As pit strategies and problems took their toll, Alex
Tagliani and Junqueira were the only two on the lead lap
by Lap 140.
The only remaining drama centered around Tagliani,
in front during the long caution to clean up Bell's
accident. Junqueira and everyone else pitted but Player's
kept its driver on the track. Pruett and Kendall were
slack-jawed that he wasn't pitting. Their correct logic was
that Tags might have to make his final stop a green-flag
pit stop and, if there was another yellow during the last
30 laps, he would lose out big-time because Bruno would
be able to pit for his final stop under yellow.
Another caution on Lap 158 to retrieve Shinji
Nakano's right-rear tire still didn't bring Tagliani into the
pits. When he finally stopped on Lap 167, the track was
green and he lost two laps to leader Junqueira.
“This won't matter if the race goes green the rest of
the way because Bruno still has one stop left and Tags
will get his two laps back,” said Kendall, whose prophecy
was right on the money.
Junqueira scored his second CART win and first-ever
oval triumph by 12.282 seconds over Tags–the only cars
on the lead lap.
“You just don't know how big this is for Toyota and
how much this hurts Honda,” said Pruett, who earned
Toyota's initial CART pole at Fontana, Calif. in 1999.
As the victory celebration took place on the silent
screen, Varsha was asked how he would call such a
bizarre race?
“That's why I have these two brilliant analysts,” he
laughed. “I'll let them explain it.
Ferrari-Maserati return to the US
from cartracing.com
There has been a great deal of rumor that the Italian car company Maserati will construct an all-new
normally aspirated engine for CART and this rumor gained momentum over the last week as Maserati
returned to the United States after an absence of eleven years.
Over the course of the next two years, North
America will account for forty percent of production,
becoming the Italian marque´s most important
market.
Maserati had their latest road cars on display
yesterday outside the New York Stock Exchange.
Stuart Robinson, President and CEO of FerrariMaserati North America and Paolo Vannini,
President and CEO of Fiat USA symbolically closed
the Wall Street institution taking the opportunity to
outline plans for the Trident marque on the other side
of the ocean.
Having been taken over by Ferrari in 1997, Maserati created in 2001 a new head office in New Jersey
and set up a network which already boasts thirty dealers in the United States. US sales for 2002 are predicted
to be around 1200, from a global production figure of 3500, a quota which will be met during the year with
the introduction of a second assembly line.
It now remains to be seen how Maserati will promote their luxury cars, but the smart money is still on a
CART deal.
21
May 2002
Presse
Schumacher denies title battle is over
Williams drivers are still a threat, says Ferrari ace
from Autosport Online
Spanish Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher
both teams had the same cars there and it was a very
has played down talk that his fifth world
close battle.
championship is as good as won, despite his
"We will face stiff challenges as the season goes
dominant performance at the
on and it is important to win races
Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday.
like this when you think you should
With team-mate Rubens
have an advantage."
Barrichello retiring before the start,
But BMW motorsport boss
Schumacher was unchallenged at
Gerhard Berger made it clear that he
the Barcelona track. He pulled
believes the Williams drivers now
away at around a second a lap from
have no chance of taking the crown.
Ralf Schumacher and eventually
Montoya lies 21 points behind
ran out a comfortable winner, 35
Schumacher, with Ralf a further
seconds ahead of Juan Pablo
three behind.
Schumacher celebrates his
Montoya's Williams-BMW.
fourth win in five races
"Forget the drivers'
The Colombian was not able
championship, there is no chance,"
to offer any challenge to the Ferrari and the measure
said Berger. "I think we have an outside chance in
of Schumacher's superiority could be judged by a
the constructors' championship, but not a real
fastest race lap that was fully 1.38s faster than
chance." Williams is only seven points behind
anything Montoya could manage in the race.
Ferrari in the title chase.
But when he was asked if he thought the
Schumacher raced the T-car in Spain after
championship was effectively over after just five
experiencing a hydraulic problem in the race
races, Schumacher said: "You can't say that. We
morning warm-up. He even had time to back off in
were almost a second clear in qualifying and this is
the closing stages to watch the fifth-place battle
one of the circuits where we expected to have an
between Felipe Massa and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
advantage. But Brazil was only two races ago and
"It was quite interesting, actually," Michael grinned..
"Women drivers"
Driving to town this morning on the Interstate, I looked over to my
left and there was a women in her brand new car doing sixty five miles per
hour with her face up to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner. I
looked away for a couple of seconds and when I looked back she was
halfway over in my lane, still working on that D---- makeup !!!
It scared me so bad I dropped my electric shaver, which knocked
the donut out of my other hand. In all of the confusion of trying to
straighten out the car using my knees against the steering wheel, it
knocked my cell phone away from my ear which fell into the coffee between my legs and DISCONNECTED
AN IMPORTANT CALL !!!!
DAMN WOMEN DRIVERS
22
Presse
May 2002
23
May 2002
Presse
20 Years Ago
1982
24
Presse
May 2002
Another Blonde Joke
A nice looking blonde was driving and got caught in a really bad hailstorm.
Her car was covered with dents, so the next day she took it to a repair shop. The
shop owner, seeing she was a blonde, decided he would have a little fun. He told
her just to go home and blow into the tailpipe really hard, and all the dents would
pop out.
So, the blonde goes home, gets down on her hands and knees and starts
blowing into the tailpipe. Nothing happened. She blows a little harder and still
nothing happens. Just then, her roommate, another blonde, arrives home and
observes her for a moment, and then asks, "What are you doing? " The first blonde
explains.
Her roommate, rolling her eyes, looks at her, and says, "HELLOOOOOOO...you need to roll up the windows
first."
25
May 2002
Presse
30 Years Ago
26
1972
Presse
May 2002
Personal Ads
72 Datsun 240Z. Blue $48,000.00 Cdn
3L. engine – injected, Nissan racing transmission. Firehawk G.T.
Champion, 2x National Run-Off Champion, 4x overall Ontario
Champion, CGTCC 1998 2nd GT2, 1999 1st GT2. French engine
and transmission – READY TO RACE – some spare parts available
upon request.
86 944 Rothman’s Porsche. Red $14,000.00 Cdn.
Only 18,000 km. Rothman’s series history. Original owner. No accidents.
76 SC911 Porsche .. Pearl Whitei – 29,000 km $46,000.00 Cdn Ex
Heimrath car. $11,000.00 paint job. 3.3L turbo 935 cylinder heads,
inside boost control, bias brake adjustment, dual master cylinders.
roll cage, wide body and wing, leather interior, BBS Wheels &
Bilstein shocks, white gauges, very fast street car.
97 GMC 3500 GSL TD Black 99,000 km $26,000 Cdn
Air conditioning, tinted glass, leather seats, CD player, aluminum wheels, towling package, 5th wheel,
extended cab, never winter driven.
CONTACT Ahmad
(905) 762-1980 (905) 762-0335 (fax) or Karl (905) 986-1997
FOR SALE: - 1991 Nissan NX2000 Race Car. Race
Ready & Proven, Championship Car. Stillen headers
& Fuel pressure regulator, Bilstein shocks, Custom
coil over suspension, Jim Wolfe computer re-worked.
12 rims & lots of extras. $8,000 OBO. D.416-4981375 Ev.905-831-3806"
FOR SALE: - 4 Blizzak snow Tires, 195x65 R15, like new, $ 300.00 Contact Hank 905 479-2352
or 416 347-2342 eMail [email protected]
27
May 2002
Presse
FOR SALE: - I've just bought myself a new race car, a 1978 Xpit F4. As a result I have a 15 year
collection of formula stuff that I have been moving around that needs to move on to a new home.
At present, I have my 1969 Altona that I raced 3 years ago, complete but needs going over. I have
3 project cars completely disassembled in need of restoring There are 2 1967 Chinooks, ex Brian
Dix and ex Barry Web. Both need some frame repairs. I also have a 1971 Kelly, ex John Harding.
With these three cars comes body molds for the Chinooks, engines one race complete, other race
short blocks, some stock blocks together and seized, 6 in all, 3 transmissions, some wheels vintage
and current F1200 spec and boxes of odds and ends. Contact Mike Nilson (613) 728-9707 eMail
[email protected]
1977 Mercedes-Benz 6.9 litre Limited production,
1798 only made. Auto, air, sunroof, dark grey.
Mechanically perfect, runs smooth, new tires.
156,355 mi $6,000.00 or best offer.
(905) 278-8288
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