Audi has won the past 7 consecutive Drivers Titles in the American Le Mans LMP1 Category and their revolutionary R10 turbo diesel went undefeated in 2006…
Now Audi’s sole competitor over the past 3 seasons has surprisingly switched to the LMP2 category for 2007. Rob Dyson will campaign two Porsche RSR Spyders next season alongside the ex-factory team of Roger Penske…
This will make the LMP2 category extremely competitive with 4 Porsches and 3 factory backed Acura’s along with other privateer efforts. Acura powered chassis will be raced by Andretti Green, Fernandez & Highcroft…
It will be interesting to see if the LMP1 category implodes which would be a big problem for the ALMS. Will Audi be content to simply motor around as the sole LMP1 competitor? Or will Audi withdraw and simply compete at Le Mans and the DTM next year…
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Grand Prix (The Movie)
For
the past few days… (including this morning) Not for the first time, nor most
likely for the last the Speed Channel aired the movie Grand Prix…
I suppose as a true Formula 1 fan I should be chagrined to admit that I’d never watched this movie in its entirety. Although I’ve seen bits & pieces over the years, I’ve never been able to sit through the whole movie... (Especially with Speed Channel’s 4 hours, 30 minutes air time)
I did find it very entertaining to watch the first 40+ minute portion which was totally devoted to the actual making of this epic production. It included interviews with director John Frankenheimer and the movie’s leading man James Garner -being quite entertaining hearing Garner’s comments regarding the movie.
Originally the directors had cast Steve McQueen for the lead role, which he would have been amazing in, yet the meeting with McQueen went horribly wrong and McQueen stormed out. This left the door wide open for MGM’s golden boy; James Garner whom the studio wanted and forced the directors to take on.
To me there seems to be several ironies to this movie. Garner’s main nemesis in the movie is named Scott Stoddart. (Obviously no relation to Paul Stoddart) The Japanese entrepreneur that Gardner ultimately drives for is named Mr. Yomura and seems eerily painted as Mr. Honda… And in one scene Mr. Yomura tells Garner that he tried buying the Jordan-BRM team, which bears NO relation to ex-F1 boss “EJ’s” (Eddie Jordan) fledgling Privateer team.
Produced in 1966, the movie cost approx. $9 million to complete, estimated at $220 million in today’s dollars.
I suppose as a true Formula 1 fan I should be chagrined to admit that I’d never watched this movie in its entirety. Although I’ve seen bits & pieces over the years, I’ve never been able to sit through the whole movie... (Especially with Speed Channel’s 4 hours, 30 minutes air time)
I did find it very entertaining to watch the first 40+ minute portion which was totally devoted to the actual making of this epic production. It included interviews with director John Frankenheimer and the movie’s leading man James Garner -being quite entertaining hearing Garner’s comments regarding the movie.
Originally the directors had cast Steve McQueen for the lead role, which he would have been amazing in, yet the meeting with McQueen went horribly wrong and McQueen stormed out. This left the door wide open for MGM’s golden boy; James Garner whom the studio wanted and forced the directors to take on.
To me there seems to be several ironies to this movie. Garner’s main nemesis in the movie is named Scott Stoddart. (Obviously no relation to Paul Stoddart) The Japanese entrepreneur that Gardner ultimately drives for is named Mr. Yomura and seems eerily painted as Mr. Honda… And in one scene Mr. Yomura tells Garner that he tried buying the Jordan-BRM team, which bears NO relation to ex-F1 boss “EJ’s” (Eddie Jordan) fledgling Privateer team.
Produced in 1966, the movie cost approx. $9 million to complete, estimated at $220 million in today’s dollars.
It
featured many inventions in the realm of filming a race movie. Most notably a
hydrogen cannon used to shoot the race cars into the water. The cars engines
were removed and a steel sleeve welded inside. This allowed the cannon to fire
the cars in any direction.
And speaking of the cars, I had to chuckle, seeing ‘ol “Shel’s” (Carroll Shelby) mug on the screen. Shelby was approached to get the necessary cars built for the movie. Shelby called Jim Russell around 3 AM in the morning to offer Russel the project of converting 15-20 F3 chassis into replica BRM’s, Eagles, Ferrari’s, etc. This was possible since it was the very first year of the new 3.0 liter engine formula and the real F1 cars appearances were changing weekly. And yes, it's the same Russell who owns the prestigious European racing school that many top flight F1 drivers graduated from!
And I especially enjoyed Frankenheimer’s story of swaying “Il Commentore” (Enzo Ferrari) to approve of his project. As many know there haven’t been too many realistic racing movies ever made. Just think of “Daze ‘O Blunder” and Driven to begin with...
And speaking of the cars, I had to chuckle, seeing ‘ol “Shel’s” (Carroll Shelby) mug on the screen. Shelby was approached to get the necessary cars built for the movie. Shelby called Jim Russell around 3 AM in the morning to offer Russel the project of converting 15-20 F3 chassis into replica BRM’s, Eagles, Ferrari’s, etc. This was possible since it was the very first year of the new 3.0 liter engine formula and the real F1 cars appearances were changing weekly. And yes, it's the same Russell who owns the prestigious European racing school that many top flight F1 drivers graduated from!
And I especially enjoyed Frankenheimer’s story of swaying “Il Commentore” (Enzo Ferrari) to approve of his project. As many know there haven’t been too many realistic racing movies ever made. Just think of “Daze ‘O Blunder” and Driven to begin with...
At
the start Enzo told Frankenheimer that not only could he NOT use any of his
cars, he couldn’t use the name Ferrari in the movie. After shooting live
footage at Monaco, Frankenheimer called Enzo to ask him to reconsider by just
watching the 30 minutes he’d put together. Of course Enzo replied that he
didn’t have a projector, blah-blah-blah. Frankenheimer replied: Will you watch
it Yes or No? Frankenheimer chartered a plane, took movie, projector, AV aides,
etc and set it all up in Enzo’s office. According to Frankenheimer after the
film finished Enzo “bear” hugged him and said you can have anything. The
factory, the race team, the cars, anything...
Garner
revealed some interesting aspects of the actual filming. They used a GT-40 as a
chase car. And they had a TV inside the cockpit which they could monitor Garner
while driving around at speed to see how the shots looked.
They also used the GT-40 as a tow vehicle. They cut off the front of an F3 film car just in front of the windscreen and towed the chassis with driver (Actor) at 140-150mph!
Garner enjoyed bragging about the time while filming at Monte Carlo when Jochen Rindt couldn’t keep up with him. Rindt hadn’t driven the F3 chassis before. Garner meanwhile had taken private driving lessons from Bob Bondurant.
And the scenes from Monza are amazing. Actually all of the in-car footage is quite excellent, yet it’s just so intriguing to watch the little cars circulating around the Monza banking of the long discarded Oval track, and as in another Speed Channel special; The Quick and the Dead, it’s quite odd to hear our national anthem being played for the race winner. Something I’ve never heard since watching Formula 1...
They also used the GT-40 as a tow vehicle. They cut off the front of an F3 film car just in front of the windscreen and towed the chassis with driver (Actor) at 140-150mph!
Garner enjoyed bragging about the time while filming at Monte Carlo when Jochen Rindt couldn’t keep up with him. Rindt hadn’t driven the F3 chassis before. Garner meanwhile had taken private driving lessons from Bob Bondurant.
And the scenes from Monza are amazing. Actually all of the in-car footage is quite excellent, yet it’s just so intriguing to watch the little cars circulating around the Monza banking of the long discarded Oval track, and as in another Speed Channel special; The Quick and the Dead, it’s quite odd to hear our national anthem being played for the race winner. Something I’ve never heard since watching Formula 1...
Friday, December 22, 2006
Santa Stops in Indy
T’was almost the night before Christmas and there were only hours to go… The traffic in, out and around the shopping malls was horrific, the grocery stores were flaying away while trying to keep up with grumpy shoppers demands and everybody was in a hurry to get somewhere…
Not sure if I’ve been naughty or nice this year and I definitely haven’t made a list for Santa to check twice… I’m pretty sure that I won’t get the Ferrari F430 I ask for every year, but I do know that Santa’s been extra busy preparing for his upcoming ‘round the world jaunt…
On Wednesday, Santa’s elves’ dropped off the first 10 production Panoz DP-01’s at Champ Cars Indianapolis headquarters. There members of the 10 teams committed to competing in the 2007 season gathered to pick up there shiny new “toys…”
The teams proceeded to collect their unpainted chassis, load them into awaiting transporters and haul them back to there workshops “just-in-time” to return home before Christmas…
The teams will be given a brief respite to enjoy the holidays,
have some eggnog and see what else Santa brings them before going back to work. The teams will immediately strip down their new “steeds” in order to prepare them for the upcoming seasons first test…
Champ Cars first official test session for the teams and their shiny new DP-01’s is January 23-25, 2007 at Sebring…
Not sure if I’ve been naughty or nice this year and I definitely haven’t made a list for Santa to check twice… I’m pretty sure that I won’t get the Ferrari F430 I ask for every year, but I do know that Santa’s been extra busy preparing for his upcoming ‘round the world jaunt…
On Wednesday, Santa’s elves’ dropped off the first 10 production Panoz DP-01’s at Champ Cars Indianapolis headquarters. There members of the 10 teams committed to competing in the 2007 season gathered to pick up there shiny new “toys…”
The teams proceeded to collect their unpainted chassis, load them into awaiting transporters and haul them back to there workshops “just-in-time” to return home before Christmas…
The teams will be given a brief respite to enjoy the holidays,
have some eggnog and see what else Santa brings them before going back to work. The teams will immediately strip down their new “steeds” in order to prepare them for the upcoming seasons first test…
Champ Cars first official test session for the teams and their shiny new DP-01’s is January 23-25, 2007 at Sebring…
McLaren’s newest Golden Boy
So just what is all the buzz about over McLaren’s newest recruit? No, I’m not talking about two time reigning Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso…
Lewis Hamilton first met Ron Dennis when he was 10 years old. Hamilton had just won a karting title and was in search of Dennis’s autograph. Three years later at age 13, Hamilton became the youngest ever to sign a F1 developmental contract with McLaren…
Now nine years later and fresh off of winning the GP 2 Championship, Dennis was ready to cash in on his investment. It is rumoured that McLaren Mercedes spent $5 million on Hamilton’s grooming for an F1 drive. At age 21, the young Briton will face stiff competition for “Rookie of the Year” honors in F1 against Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen…
And shame on the Media, Formula 1 and Bernie Ecclestone for exploiting Hamilton’s racial bloodlines… Although I know nothing about the young Brit, he seems very level headed from The Speed Report interview I watched last week. While the stupid Media is already calling him the Tiger Woods of F1, I liked how Hamilton didn’t say anything at all about the subject…
For the record the very first African American to drive a F1 chassis was Willy T. Ribbs in 1985 for Brabham; owned by Mr. Ecclestone (once a promoter, always a promoter) Hamilton will become the very first Black to race in F1 in 2007…
Lewis Hamilton first met Ron Dennis when he was 10 years old. Hamilton had just won a karting title and was in search of Dennis’s autograph. Three years later at age 13, Hamilton became the youngest ever to sign a F1 developmental contract with McLaren…
Now nine years later and fresh off of winning the GP 2 Championship, Dennis was ready to cash in on his investment. It is rumoured that McLaren Mercedes spent $5 million on Hamilton’s grooming for an F1 drive. At age 21, the young Briton will face stiff competition for “Rookie of the Year” honors in F1 against Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen…
And shame on the Media, Formula 1 and Bernie Ecclestone for exploiting Hamilton’s racial bloodlines… Although I know nothing about the young Brit, he seems very level headed from The Speed Report interview I watched last week. While the stupid Media is already calling him the Tiger Woods of F1, I liked how Hamilton didn’t say anything at all about the subject…
For the record the very first African American to drive a F1 chassis was Willy T. Ribbs in 1985 for Brabham; owned by Mr. Ecclestone (once a promoter, always a promoter) Hamilton will become the very first Black to race in F1 in 2007…
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Forsythe Finishes Testing
The Forsythe team concluded its winter testing last week also at Houston’s MSR race track. Forsythe rand three more potential drivers as it seeks to find a partner for Paul Tracy in 2007. Taking part in the test was the reigning Champ Car Atlantics Champion Simon Pagenaud who’s flush with his $2 million winner’s check. Former Indy Pro Series driver Jay Howard and Adam Carroll who previously tested for RuSPORT…
Digging Road America
Road America is set to begin work on a major facility improvement. Road America will demolish the Bill Mitchell paddock bridge and replace it with a new underground tunnel. The tunnel will feature two vehicle lanes with separate pedestrian walkways…
New Champ Car Rules for 2007
Champ Cars has made a host of rule changes for the upcoming season. The two biggest changes are the implementation of standing starts where possible and allowing unlimited use of tires issued for the race weekend…
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