- Minardi is at the
far end of the pit lane, between BAR and Toyota, but anyone expecting a
soup and sandwiches operation will be disappointed. Minardi may be F1
minnows, but everything is relative, and two sizeable hospitality units
sit side by side to cater for VIP guests.
The private practice session is about to start, so I head for the
pit garage. Wilson is standing in a corner looking nothing like a racing
driver. His gaunt face and slender girth exaggerates his infamous
height and gangly posture. In another corner, Jos Verstappen has the
look of a man who's competed in 101 Grands Prix. After a difficult debut
season alongside Michael Schumacher at Benetton in '94, he's spent the
past decade trying to re-establish his reputation in cars at the wrong
end of the grid.
A little after 9 a.m., Wilson and Verstappen explode out of the pit
lane and begin trading blows in the 1.25s, while Alonso's Renault
circulates in 1.21. This sets the scene for a weekend in which Minardi
will never get within 3 sec. of the ultimate pace. How, I wonder out
loud, does the team maintain its morale?
John Walton, Minardi's Race Director, offers an explanation: "You
have to believe in what you're trying to achieve," he says. "As long as
you don't set your goals too high, then you can achieve them. To finish
the race is a good result for us. To get into the top eight [and score a
point] would be fantastic."
It's a view echoed by Minardi owner Paul Stoddart, who took over
the team in 2000. He makes little eye contact and lacks the ebullient
charisma of BAR boss David Richards, but beneath the rugged, unkempt
exterior there's a frank and disarmingly blunt man. "Our budget is 6% of
at least four other teams [around $30m]," he explains. "But we still
deliver a consistent performance within 97% to 98% of the best teams. If
there was a championship for best value per dollar spent, we would win
it."
In the first qualifying session, there's more frustration as Wilson
breaks down. "As I went over the bump at the end of the pit lane,
everything just stopped," he explains. A subsequent investigation
reveals that the ignition switch had tripped, shutting down the car.
Verstappen is 18th, 1.1 sec. behind Firman's Jordan.
A day later, the ignition is repaired and Wilson qualifies ahead of
his teammate. "It was a good, clean lap," he says matter-of-factly.
I'm slightly taken aback by how highly the Minardi team rates the Brit.
Alex Varanava is Wilson's race engineer and the man who talks him
through the race. Over the past couple of years he's performed an
identical role for Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. There is surely
nobody better placed to judge the potential of F1's bright young things
"It remains to be seen whether he can be as quick as Alonso," he
says, "but he'll certainly be as quick as Mark [Webber] because he's
able to adapt during a race. He's also very switched on, and that show's
in his starts. It's not luck that he's made up so many places in the
first couple of laps."
It's fascinating to hear the team discuss this prodigious triplet.
Webber, apparently, was a consummate pro and a very analytical driver.
"Alonso was a bit like a naughty schoolboy," says Graham Jones,
Minardi's communications director. "If there was a problem, he just
found a way of driving around it." Wilson, they suggest, is something of
a halfway house.
Stoddart is proud of Minardi's reputation as a fame academy. "Eddie
Jordan and I account for half the grid," he says. "And there's nothing
wrong with that." He also makes no secret of the fact that he uses the
driver market to finance the team. "We always takes drivers on a
medium-term contract so we have an asset to move or to sell. We're then
able to bring the next driver on."
The hysteria surrounding Wilson must be difficult for Verstappen,
who leads 6 to 5 in qualifying. He's crotchety, irritable and curt. "I
had to do this [drive for Minardi] because there was no other drive
available. If you can do a few good things, you can probably do another
couple of years in Formula One." Has he, I wonder, considered sports
cars or the U.S.? "I want to race in Formula One," he declares in a
manner that warrants no further discussion.
Sunday. There is a quickening of tempo as the cars leave for the
grid at 12:30 p.m. I take up a position next to the T-car to watch the
action on a tiny TV monitor. Watching a grand prix from the pit lane is a
strange, almost surreal experience. The on-screen action seems to
belong to a different time and place to the cars screaming past outside.
It's also fascinating to watch the mechanics' reactions. All, bar
two of them, are Italian, and they applaud wildly as Barrichello passes
Raikkonen to take the checkered flag. To some extent at least, Minardi
is still a wannabe Ferrari. The race is a classic, despite the
interruption caused when a deranged man runs onto the track. But with
just three retirements, the Minardis finished 16th and 15th, ahead only
of Heidfeld's struggling Sauber.
Wilson had a refuelling problem at his first pit stop, which left
him behind Verstappen. "It's a shame we couldn't have had a better start
and got more stuck in," he explains at the end of the race. "The fuel
problem was frustrating, but this first year's all about learning."
I ask him about the nutter on the track. "I thought it was a BAR
front wing at first," he continues, "then I realized it was a bloke
running towards me. He wants sorting out, but it was amusing to watch
the marshals trying to tackle him on the big screen."
Verstappen is unhappy. "There's not much we can do," he says. "We
can't challenge for anything, so the only competition we have is between
ourselves." Stoddart, by contrast, is more upbeat. "We got both cars
home and we're ahead of one of the Sauber's and close to the Jordans, so
I'm more than happy," he declares.
As a racing fan, it's difficult not to feel drawn to Minardi. While
other, flashier outfits have come and gone, the team has survived,
fuelled by a mix of passion, willpower and sheer bloodymindedness.
They're a welcome dose of reality in the mad, mad world of Formula One.
Later on the Monday, I called Paul Stoddart at his Italian office.
"I gave you so many hints about the move," he says with a laugh, "but I
wasn't going to tell you until the money dropped this morning." He's
genuinely pleased for Wilson: "There's going to be a great atmosphere at
Jaguar, but people shouldn't expect too much too soon. Wait until
Indianapolis, and from then on he'll be positively dangerous."
We Hear...
* Champion Motorsport's New Florida
Facility: Champion Motorsport, subsidiary of Champion Motors, the
world's largest Porsche dealer since 1989, will open a new 22,000 sq-ft
showroom, service and design facility in Pompano Beach, Fla., in
November 2003. Designed by architect Neil R. Duputy, the new structure
features the same "starnet" design construction in its central
cylindrical section as the Epcot Center in Orlando.
The 2-acre site will include 2,780 sq ft of corporate offices, a
2,270 sq-ft showroom for vehicle and product displays, a lifestyle
boutique complete with a European-themed cafe, a styling and design
studio, and an 8,000 sq-ft auto service area. Parts and accessories will
be housed in more than 8,900 sq ft of dedicated storage space. For
additional info, log on to www.champion-motors.com.
* 12 Countries in Less than a Day-and a World Record: This past
summer journalist Simon Heptinstall and photographer Adrian Sherratt set
out to achieve most countries visited by car in a day in a BMW 745i.
And they succeeded; their epic journey took them through a
record-breaking 12 countries in just 19 hours 40 minutes.
Beginning in Folkestone the pair drove their BMW 745i through
France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy and Slovenia before finally ending their
journey in Croatia. And although they covered a massive 1,145 miles,
their record-breaking journey still left them with more than four hours
to spare, according to the summer edition of BMW Magazine.
* MINI Motion Shoe
by MINI and PUMA: Good news for feet. MINI has hooked up with sports
shoe company PUMA to create an innovative driving shoe called MINI
Motion. MINI Motion consists of two shoes in one - a light inner shoe
and a sturdy outer shoe. The heavier outer shoe is recommended for town
driving where regular gear changing can create pressure points on the
driver's feet. The light inner shoe with its protective rubber sole is
better suited to long-distance driving offering greater flexibility and
comfort. Only 2,000 pairs of MINI Motion shoes will be made.
* Caterham Slices Even More Time Off World Record: After nearly
half a century of continuous production, the Caterham Seven British
two-seater sports car continues to re-write the record books.
The Surrey-based firm's flagship Superlight R500 road car has
broken its own world record for speeding from a standing start to 100
mph and then braking back to 0 again in a time of just 11.25 sec.
This compares to its 11.44 sec. performance in 2002, and the
previous best time of 11.5 sec. set by the 750,000 McLaren F1 LM sports
car in 1999. The hand-built Superlight R500, which boasts 500 bhp per
ton, costs just 36,200.
In the record breaking run, which requires perfect gear change and
weather conditions, Colin Chapman's legendary design sped to 60 mph in
3.47 sec. (.03 slower than last year), got up to 100 mph in a stunning
7.26 sec. (0.5 quicker than previously) and then came to an abrupt halt
in less than 4 sec. later.
The record was set during Autocar magazine's annual review of some
of the world's quickest cars at the Bruntingthorpe airfield,
Leicestershire.
* Fat Chance: Overweight Drivers at Risk:
Overweight motorists are more than twice as likely to be killed or
seriously injured in road accidents than lighter people, according to
international research reviewed by the RAC Foundation for Motoring.
A study in Seattle, Wash., of 26,000 people involved in car crashes
found that heavier people were far more at risk. People weighing
between 200 and 262 lb are almost 2 1/2 times more likely to die than
people weighing less than 132 lb.
The study found that it was not just a question of weight but of
obesity as it looked at body mass index (BMI)-a measure that relates
weight to height. People with a BMI of 35 to 39 (over 30 is obese) are
more than twice as likely to die in a crash compared with people with
BMIs of about 20.
The RAC Foundation for Motoring is an independent body established to protect and promote the interests of UK motorists.
Sharing much of the C4S bodywork, the GT3 is distinguished by a
deep lip spoiler, three-way-adjustable rear wing, side sills and air
vents optimized for brake cooling. The body shares some panels with the
C4 but is reinforced to be 25% stiffer. Cd is 0.30, same as the standard
Carrera, but the GT3 experiences zero lift.
2004 Audi A6
The
next generation Audi A6 will be an all-new car, scheduled for launch in
spring 2004.Despite the tape-disguise at the front- and rear ends, it
appears the new A6 will not adapt the dramatic styling of the Nuvolari
concept car, but instead will be more moderate in looks with a narrower
and less steep front end.
The four-door sedan will be the first of the new model range to
come on the market, the Audi Avant wagon will follow a half a year later
and, according to rumors, a coupe based on the A6 will show up sometime
in 2005.
The new model will be available (in Europe) with a wide choice of
engines, including a 150-bhp 2.0-liter four cylinder; a 240-bhp 3.0
liter V6; 2.0-, 2.5- and 3.0-liter diesels and a 335-bhp 4.2-liter.
The standard version will be available as a front-drive model; the more powerful versions will have quattro all-wheel drive.
2005 Porsche Boxster Coupe
Here's
a look at Porsche's all-new Boxster Coupe doing a few quick laps at the
Nrburgring. The new coupe will come on the market in 2005, in addition
to the roadster, which will feature an all-new front end with new
headlights and a new rear end.
The prototype is cleverly disguised and can easily be mistaken for a
997 Turbo; however, the small triangular rear side windows are taped
shut, indicating it is not. The Boxster Coupe will have three large air
intakes in the front skirt and wider fenders and track. Porsche is
likely to make 17-in. wheels standard at last, with 18s as an option.
Powering the standard version is a 240-bhp 2.7-liter engine; for
the S-version possibly 270 to 280 bhp and an estimated top speed of 250
km/h. Another powerplant is rumored to be a 3.4-liter engine delivering
300 bhp.
