Chequered Flag Motorsport

Vote for Bridgestone e-reporter Finalist - Filip Cleeren

Although names like Nigel Roebuck and Alan Henry are instantly recognisable to serious motorsport fans, there are very few men and women who can make a living reporting on the sport we love. Bridgestone know how hard it is, and are doing their bit to help with their e-reporter competition:

In 2009, Bridgestone will give 11 finalists, chosen by an international panel of judges, the opportunity to attend a MotoGP or GP2 Series race weekend. Whilst on-event the finalists will be able to interview top riders and drivers, writing articles that will be published on the Bridgestone website.

The overall winner of this year’s e-reporter competition, chosen for their ability to represent the Bridgestone brand and demonstrate their journalistic skills, will be awarded with a laptop, plus further work experience with a reputable publication.

Last weekend, at the Monaco Grand Prix, it was Filip Cleeren’s turn to report on the GP2 series. Filip has been a long-time friend of GlobalF1.net and Chequered Flag, and a regular IndyCar writer for UpdateF1.

and we would like to take this opportunity to invite our readers to view his work here, and vote for him here. Make sure to register and log-in before voting - or your vote will not count!!

Flashback - The Decline of Motor Racing Developments (Brabham)

The early 1980s were something of a purple patch for Brabham - between 1980 and 1985 the team picked up 14 race wins and twin world championships for Nelson Piquet. The good times were not to last however, and by 1992 the team was extinct.

After a slightly less competitive season in 1985, Gordon Murray and Brabham came out of the gates with a revolutionary new design for ‘86. The Brabham BT55 was built around a specially designed BMW motor which was effectively placed on its side. This was done to allow for tighter packaging at the back of the car, to lower the centre of gravity and allow smoother air-flow to the rear-wing. With the talented Elio de Angelis joining Riccardo Patrese, it should have been a good year.

It was not. It was a disastor. While the design did achieve the desired effects, the negative by-products were abundant. The aerodynamic package delivered far too much drag, while Murray later commented that the complicated engine setup had “incurable oil surge and drain problems”. Reliability was poor, and a pair of sixth places were all the team had to show for their efforts. But worst of all, poor de Angelis was killed in a testing accident mid-season.

Gunnar spent his F1 career at Lotus (Image source: unknown - photo reproduced in the spirit of ‘fair use’).

At the end of 1986 Gordon Murray had departed for greener pastures at McLaren, leaving David North, John Baldwin and Sergio Rinland to design to the BT56. BMW had wanted to pull out of Formula 1, but Brabham team owner Bernie Ecclestone made them fulfill their contractual obligations and supply factory motors for 1987. BMW did hang around, but they would only supply the unsuccessful lay-down engine from the previous year, rather then the classic upright units. The result was another underwhelming season. Perhaps the most telling statistic is that of 32 starts, the team notched up 25 DNFs. The news off the track was not good either, for Ecclestone was starting to lose interest and money was starting to become a problem.

With BMW withdrawing for good, and no engine deal on the table, Brabham did not lodge an entry for the 1988 championship. Ecclestone elected to sell the team, which was purchased by Swiss businessman, Joachim Luhti.

The Luhti-owned Brabham returned to Formula 1 in 1989, with a tidy little car designed by Sergio Rinland and driven by Martin Brundle and Stefano Modena. The performance of the car was inconsistent, and while Brundle finished third at Monaco, on two occasions he did not make it past pre-qualifying. There was high drama when Luhti was arrested half way through the year for fraud. An attempted sale to Mike Earle and Joe Chamberlain was vetoed by Peter Windsor (who had been part of the original Luhti bid), and the team fell into the hands of the Japanese engineering firm, Middlebridge Group.

Gunnar spent his F1 career at Lotus (Image source: unknown - photo reproduced in the spirit of ‘fair use’).

Really, it was never going to a success. The Middlebridge Group had borrowed heavily from Landhurst Leasing to fund their take-over, and with hardly any sponsorship, the debt was always going to catch up. By 1990 Brabham were almost failing to qualify more often then not, and a solitary fifth place for Modena was the only points-paying result of the year. With Yamaha engines in place, 1991 was a bit better, but scoring three points was not going to arrest their demise.

The team could not afford to build a new car for 1992, and so Brabham wheeled out the old BT60 again, fitted with Judd engines (Yamaha had left to power Jordan). Eric van de Poele and lady-racer Giovanni Amati were hired to do the driving. Amati was clearly not there for her talent. Her Formula 3000 performances had been miserable and it was obvious she was only there to attract sponsorship and help pay the bills. However, her sponsors never paid up, and after failing to qualify three times in a row, there was no reason to keep her and she was replaced by Damon Hill. Van de Poele and Hill were both talented drivers, but they fared little better, only making the grid three times.

Mediocre driver, underpowered engine, old chassis, corrupt team (Image source: unknown - photo reproduced in the spirit of ‘fair use’).

However, while all this was going on, the director of Landhurst, Ted Ball, had been taking corrupt cash payments from the Middlebridge Group to keep the money flowing in and keep Brabham afloat. To raise the money required, Ball and David Ashworth, Landhurst’s finance director, doctored the company accounts and defrauded banks into lending money. In August, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm uncovered the corruption - there was a $75m black hole in the accounts. Landhurst went into receivership, and Brabham closed their doors forever. The Serious Fraud Office investigated the collapse, and in 1997 Ball and Ashworth were jailed on corruption charges.

Brabham’s last race was the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix. Damon Hill came home in 11th, four laps down. Less then a decade before they had been world champions.

Site Updates - May 10, 2009

A new feature article has been posted. Written by regular CFM contributor, ForzaMinardi, The Trofeo Lorenzo Bandini looks over the history of the award of the same name. To access this great article, click here.

Don’t forget, with the Spanish Grand Prix on this weekend, there is plenty of lively debate over at the GlobalF1 Discussion Forums.

Flashback - Gunnar Nilsson

Sebastian Vettel’s victory in Shangai on Sunday terminates his membership in the Formula 1 “one hit wonders club“ - for drivers with a single victory to their name. Vettel was lucky to get a chance to build on his victory at Monza last year. There are 31 drivers stuck with a solitary victory. Sadly, many of these men never got a chance to add to their CVs before their careers were cut short by tragedy.

 
Gunnar spent his F1 career at Lotus (Image source: unknown - photo reproduced in the spirit of ‘fair use’).

One such driver is Swede Gunnar Nilsson. His solitary victory came at the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. Mario Andretti was the clear number one driver at Team Lotus that season, but Nilsson had shown some potential in his time at Lotus, bagging a pair of podiums the season before.

Nilsson had started third on a wet Zolder track, and profited when Andretti (pole) and John Watson in the Alfa (2nd on the grid) crashed out on the first lap. Nilsson found himself in second after Jody Schekter had scythed into the lead amongst the chaos.

Nilsson’s chances looked over when a stuck wheel nut relegated him to eighth, but he excelled in the wet, passing Ronnie Peterson, Jacques Laffite and Vittorio Brambilla. A pitstop for Scheckter and a race-ending spin by Jochen Mass made Nilsson’s job a little easier, and on lap 50 he passed race-leader Lauda on his way to a stunning maiden Grand Prix victory.

A frail Nilsson (rear) walks behid Ronnie Petersen’s coffin (Image source: Ronnie Petersen Official - photo reproduced in the spirit of ‘fair use’).

Sadly, for Gunnar, that would be it. There would be no second victory. The rest of 1977 was not kind, and there was only a 4th at Dijon and a 3rd at Silverstone to celebrate. Towards the end of the year, he started to struggle. Nonetheless, he signed with the new Arrows squad for 1978.

But it was not to be. There was a reason Gunnar had been struggling for performance. He had cancer. He had begun to suffer from back pain, headaches and hair loss. Not realising something sinister was at play, Gunnar blamed an ill-fitting helmet. By the time he saw a doctor (apparently on the advice of Mario Andretti), it was too late. At first, he was optimistic about racing in 1978, but soon the cancer took hold and he had to abandon his seat at Arrows before the year began.

Two things stand out from his last year of life.  Firstly, his efforts at launching the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Treatment Campaign. Secondly, his attendance at the funeral of countrymen Ronnie Petersen in September. Just five weeks before his death, Gunnar was gravely ill but walked behind Ronnie’s coffin.

Gunnar Nilsson lived until October 20, 1978. A bright chapter in Swedish motorsport was over as quickly as it had begun.

Flashback - 1994 Australian FAI IndyCar Grand Prix

The Gold Coast Indy produced its fair share of drama in its 19-year history. Who can forget the drama of the closing laps in 1995, the championship fight in 1999, or the massive accident in 2002? Arguably the strangest Gold Coast Indy, however, was the 1994 edition, which finished early … in the dark.

The ‘94 race was the first round of the new PPG Indy Car World Series, and there were many unanswered questions. Would Nigel Mansell be able to defend his title? Would the new Reynard chassis be any good? How would Michael Andretti fare in his return to the series after a horror foray into Formula 1? And how would Michael’s father, Mario, go in his farewell season?

Dobson and Matsushita were caught up in the mess caused by Zampredi.

In qualifying, Mansell secured pole position, ahead of Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Adrian Fernandez. A little further back, a young French-Canadian driver qualified an impressive 8th for his first race. The driver? A guy called Jacques Villeneuve.

The drivers were faced with wet and changeable weather on Sunday, and the race start was delayed. Unfortunantely the first attempt to start the race had to be aborted after a ridiculous accident on the formation lap. Back marker Alessandro Zampedri had bumped into Raul Boesel at the last corner, triggering a five car pileup.

By the time the race started for real, it was already approaching 4 o’clock. But, the racing gods had more carnage up their sleeves, and it didn’t take long for the safety car to make an appearance. There had been another pile-up, this time at turn 1. Again, the culprit was Zampedri, who again drove into the side of Boesel, who in turn hit Mario Andretti. As the concertina effect took hold, Domic Dobson crashed into the back of Hiro Matsushita, while Davy Jones found himself boxed in. Elsewhere, Paul Tracy and Bobby Rahal hit the barrier - Tracy was able to continue but it was game over for Rahal. Somewhere, while all that was happening, Andretti had slithered past Mansell into the lead, where he would remain until the Chequered Flag.

The trip to Australia was not particularly rewarding for Mansell.

The race was punctuated by a number of notable incidents. Robbie Gordon had a big crash on lap 16 and retired. Three laps later Mark Smith and Zampedri came together in a bizarre crash, ending both their races. Incidentally it was Zampedri’s third crash of the day. For his own sake it was probably good that his race was over …

Soon after, light rain began to fall, making for challenging conditions which got the better of Mansell, who spun out of contention. He would finish in 9th. Michael Andretti’s day was almost over when he hit the wall and collected a tyre-stack. However, luck was on his side, and he was able to continue.

The rain-delay, aborted start, changing weather, and full-course yellows had soaked up hours of time, and by lap 50, it was getting dark. Real dark. So dark that the street lights were on, and camera flashes were illuminating the race-track. It was simply too dangerous to continue. Five laps later the Chequered Flag was displayed.

Michael Andretti took the win, ahead of Fittipaldi. Mario Andretti was third, having started 19th, while Jimmy Vasser and Stefan Johansson completed the top five.

Flashback - Hans Heyer’s Only Grand Prix “Start”

With the ultra-professionalism of Formula 1 today, combined with under-subscribed grids, and the abolition of the 107% rule, drivers don’t have to “qualify” to make the grid. Indeed, the last man not to qualify for a Grand Prix was Alex Yoong, who sat on the sidelines at Hockenheim in 2002 after his best qualifying lap was five seconds off the pace.

But, from the 1970s to early 1990s, when privateers and over-subscribed entry-lists were common-place, it could be a real effort to make the grid. At one point, so many drivers were entering races that the FIA had to introduce pre-qualifying, to trim the field down to a more managable 30 cars for proper qualifying. Of course, failing to qualify meant a Sunday spent spectating. That was the idea, anyway. One sneaky driver decided not qualifying wouldn’t stop him from competing in his home Grand Prix …

Hans Heyer was a German touring car gun who won the 1974 European Touring Car Championship and a trio of Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft titles. Tin-tops were Heyer’s game, but a lack of open-wheel experience didn’t stop ATS F1 boss, Gunter Schmid, from entering a second car for him at the 1977 German Grand Prix.

Unfortunantely, the car (a year-old Penske chassis) wasn’t great, and despite Heyer’s intimate knowledge of Hockenheim, his lack of experience in F1 meant qualifying was always going to be a hard-task. In the end, he was 27th quickest, and with only 24 drivers allowed to start, that was that.

Or so you’d think. Heyer was a bit of a character (he was famous for wearing a tirolerhut hat), and cheekily decided he would race anyway. Why not? The race start was chaotic - first the lights failed, then when the race did start, Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni collided. This diversion was the perfect cover for Heyer to drive his ATS out of the pitlane and join the race.

The German marshalls must have been wise to Heyer’s participation in the race - after-all, the crowd certainly knew about it. But the marshalls apparently turned a blind-eye to it, for no black flag was displayed. It all came to nought for Heyer anyway, when his car broke down on the ninth lap with gear linkage problems. After the race he was disqualified, but it was probably worth it, after-all, it was his only drive in F1, and an illegal start probably beats DNQing in your only effort.

Of course, is this happened today, there would be bans, fines, and likely criminal proceedings. That said, the thought of Yuji Ide sneaking onto the grid at Suzuka is scintillating!

Flashback - Bologna Trofeo Indoor Formula One

Here’s a quick Formula 1 trivia question: when was the last time Lotus won a Formula One race? Formula 1 history buffs will usually reply with Senna’s victory at the 1987 United States Grand Prix. And, they’re right. That was the last time a Lotus won a FIA-sanctioned Grand Prix.

However, Lotus did win an F1 event 5 years later, when Johnny Herbert took a Lotus 107-Judd to victory at the Trofeo Indoor Formula One event at the Bologna Motor Show.

Trofeo Indoor Formula One (also known as the Bologna Sprints) were non-championship Formula 1 events that were held at the Bologna Motor Show between 1988 and 1996. Despite the “indoor” title, the competition was held on a short, twisty, outdoors circuit. Lap-times were about a minute, with an average speed of about 90km/h. Generally, around half a dozen cars were entered, often by little Italian teams like Coloni, Minardi and Osella. The entry list was divided into pairs, and each pair would race head-to-head, starting at opposite ends of the circuit. The winner would advance to the next round, and the loser would be eliminated until only the victor was still standing.

 
The Trofeo was held deep into the Italian winter. Temperatures hovered just above zero, and drizzle was not uncommon, as this photo of JJ Lehto at the 1992 event shows.

The first event was held in 1988, featuring a pair of Minardis (for Pierluigi Martini and Luis Perez Sala), and one car each from EuroBrun (Fabrizio Barbazza), Osella (Nicola Larini) and BMS Dallara (Alex Caffi). Completing the half-dozen was a solitary example of the appalling FIRST 188 chassis, driven by Gabriele Tarquini, who lapped five seconds off the pace. In the end, Perez Sala took the victory, after Caffi crashed in the final.

The following two-years saw seven entries each, with Perez Sala winning an all Minardi final in 1989, and Gianni Morbidelli taking a hat-track for Minardi the following year. Tarquini took the first non-Minardi win in 1991, taking a Fondmetal to the top of the podium. Herbert took Lotus’s last F1 victory the following year, in a field that included a number of talents including Alex Zanardi, Christian Fittipaldi, Michele Alboreto and JJ Lehto. Rubens Barrichello won for Jordan in 1993, before the event took a break in 1994.

The event returned in 1995, with three Minardi M195s taking on three FG01s constructed by the new Forti team. It was a Minardi walkover, with Giancarlo Fisichella winning from Luca Badoer and Pierluigi Martini in a Minardi 1-2-3.

The tight layout left little room for error.

The very last race took place in 1996, and featured arguably the strongest entry list in the history of the event, with two Benettons, two Minardis, and two Ligiers. In the end, Giancarlo Fisichella took his second consecutive win, ahead of Giancarlo Lavaggi in a Minardi. Tarso Marques (Minardi) and Jarno Trulli (Benetton) tied for third.

In 1997, the event switched to Formula 3000, and that was that. Trofeo Indoor Formula One was no more. Also no more were non-Championship Formula 1 races - the Trofeos were the last ever staged.

Flashback - Malaysian Grand Prix 2001 - The Tropical Storm

Welcome to a brand new series at Chequered Flag Motorsport - Flashbacks. Flashbacks will be posted - blog style - on the front page and look back at forgotten moments from the history of motorsport. The inaugural Flashback looks back at the torrential downpour that hit the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix.

To boost European television audiences, the recent Australian and Malaysian GPs started at the later local time of 5pm. Despite a few grumbles from drivers about shadows on the track at Albert Park, the Australian race ran without a hitch. The same couldn’t be said for last weekend’s Malaysian GP, however. The action in Sepang lasted just 33-laps before the red flag appeared - with rain too heavy and skies too dark to continue.

An evening race in tropical Malaysia in March had “bad idea” written all over it. March in Malaysia is monsoon season, and it storms - frequently. The 2001 race had shown Formula 1 exactly what a torrential downpour in Malaysia is like. Torrential rain in the evening was never going to  provide an environment conducive to motorsport, and it was foolish to try the idea.

But back to 2001. In a dry qualifying session, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello locked out the front-row for Ferrari, ahead of Ralf Schumacher’s Williams and Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren.  Jarno Trulli was an impressive 5th for Jordan alongside Montoya in the other Williams. Interestingly, at the back of the grid, Tarso Marques outqualified his future World Champion team-mate, Fernando Alonso, althought its worth noting the Spaniard had engine troubles.

As the grid formed on race-day, the track was damp, but it wasn’t raining, and dry-tyres were the order of the day. Only Jaguar’s Luciano Burti gambled on wets.

Bizarrely, the race start had to be aborted when Giancarlo Fisichella somehow missed his grid-position, and ended up parked across the grid.

After a second warm-up lap, the race did get away, but not without further drama, with Ralf Schumacher spinning his Williams at the first corner. Thankfully, nobody collected him, and Michael Schumacher led the field away from Barrichello and Trulli.

By lap three, it was starting to rain. To make matters worse, Olivier Panis’s Honda motor denoted in spectacular style, dumping oil at Turn 6. When race-leaders Schumacher and Barrichello arrived at the scene, they hit the oily, watery mix and slid off the road, prompting a fit of excitement from ITV’s Murray Walker.

The rain became torrential, conditions near-unmanageable, and the safety car was called to neutralise proceedings. During the downpour, four drivers had spun out and retired, and at least 11 had left the track, including Jarno Trulli who spun out while briefly leading.

Amidst the flurry of pitstops for wet-weather tyres, Ferrari took a risk and fitted intermediate tyres. It looked like a bad idea, given how wet it was, and they were in 10th and 11th when the safety car left the track, with Coulthard leading.

As it turned out, intermediate tyres were the right choice, with the torrential rain leaving as quickly as it arrived. By the time the Chequered Flag dropped it was business as usual, Michael Schumacher winning from Barrichello, ahead of Coulthard, Heinz-Harold Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. Jos Verstappen in the Orange Arrows starred, but in the days of only the top-six drivers scoring points, he finished a pointless seventh.