tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43600165746200830592024-03-14T04:13:18.922+01:00SRC InternationalThe Car and Motorsports GazetteGabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-58027631923701297232014-04-10T07:25:00.001+02:002014-04-10T07:25:05.658+02:00End of The Road HereDear Reader,<br />
<br />
I now leave to otherwise fantastic Google blogging framework for Kinja, so you can find all my posts, comments and whatnots at <a href="http://gaborvajda.kinja.com/">http://gaborvajda.kinja.com/</a><br />
<br />
See you there!Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-44115693743519516402014-03-20T06:49:00.004+01:002014-03-20T06:51:22.408+01:00Long Live GP1 - The NFSW Twin of F1 aka "Bernie's Revenge"<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">Broken down, feeling naked, leaving me unfulfilled. Promising compromise, championing mediocrity. Time and time again, what you said ain't what you mean. Even if all my bones are broken, I will drag myself back from the edge to kill the king.</em>
<br />
<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><br /></em>
The discussion over the <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the-new-sound-of-f1-1544419816" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(17, 85, 204) !important; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;">new sound of F1</a> is still looming, although it hasn't been a week since the continental circus left Melbourne. There's no reason to think, though, that people will not befriend the new experience, evidently something irreversibly disappeared from The Greatest Show On Earth.
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<img class="imageplaceholder" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/w2jjfujh33dhhssyr1un.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" /><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I tend to think that the worst type of so called race fans - NASCAR included - come from the F1 camp. Embodiment of cognitive dissonance. At one end they shout 'evolution', 'progress', 'technology', 'tradition' and 'history' at the other one they are all about 'no passing', 'boredom' and 'no sound'. Whatever the reason is, they find one to moan about.
<br />
<br />
I personally don't have a problem with the new engines. I find them fascinating and intriguing, but I do feel for those who feel like being left with some volumes of adult magazines instead of the promised lap dancing at their birthday party. There are <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/your-choice-of-single-seater-racing-when-turned-off-by-1545824467" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(17, 85, 204) !important; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;">alternatives to it</a>, but everyone loves going for the 'real thing', whatever that means.<br />
<br />
There was a time through the '70s to most of the '90s when sponsors linked to guilty pleasures were welcome in F1 with open arms, which - in turn - generated technology, which then was turned into a show.
Since it is no longer the case, the angle of the fork representing technology and show respectively is getting bigger and bigger. Combine that with a global financial crisis and you get the touchiest period to push some new regulations through, which - by principle - should favour one of the ends of the afore-mentioned fork and - again by principle - shall choose moving towards the technological tip given the environment.<br />
<br />
Can we have the show and technology at the same time?<br />
<br />
Perhaps I should rephrase that.<br />
<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><br /></em>
<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">Should</em> we have the show and technology at the same time?<br />
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Bernie opposed the turbo engines from day one they were conceived. Not because he cares about how these engines sound like personally, but he rather knows what works in showbiz and what doesn't. To make a V6 turbo interesting for the general audience? Hell of a work. To make the N/A engines attractive? Just sit back and enjoy, everybody (well, the fans) loves them. Also, here are problems surrounding these new power plants, potentially <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/how-the-2014-engine-regulations-could-tear-f1-apart-1536184790" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(17, 85, 204) !important; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;">driving the series towards a split</a>, which is not healthy when you try to maintain a business model that barely works in the first place.<br />
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All in all, F1 has to decide where it wants to head to. The fans have to make up their mind about what they prefer. There might just be a solution from the outside.<br />
<br />
Bernie is going away soon. Much later than anybody might expect perhaps, but his time is running out, no question about it. He made F1 what it is today (well, perhaps not TODAY) and potentially he is the person responsible for it still kicking around. He created the Greatest Show On Earth and if things turn sour this year, I doubt he would pass away leaving his concept of the GSOE ruined by something he doesn't care about.
Bernie owns the rights to the term <a href="https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/f1-and-gp1/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(17, 85, 204) !important; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;">GP1</a>, too. Just in case. It has been his joker card for some time now, but he keeps to it until very special occasions. Like when F1 believes it is about to split in half and so. If either the teams pushed hard to get their point across about the new engines and threatened to leave - meaning those who didn't make it - or if the fans indeed were so disappointed of how F1 turned out to be, he could fix that in a nano-second.<br />
<br />
Fixing by creating GP1 on the side.<br />
<img class="imageplaceholder" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/ph1xr9iiuy01yjj380he.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" />
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He could buy all the assets of e.g. AutoGP - currently the best sounding racing series, throw a couple of millions at it to make them louder and faster, invite sponsors to join preferably beverage and tobacco companies if he could manage to pull it off, get a few ex-F1 and whatnot stars for the hype, take the whole thing to the middle-East, take it even to <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/grand-prix-racing-has-never-been-this-close-to-the-pre-1541413262" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(17, 85, 204) !important; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;">second-tier dictatorships</a>, right into city centres with skyline to match, cut TV deals, have the local military to parade around with their fighter jets, have champagne and caviar lying around in the pit area, flood the pre-start grid with celebrities, sheiks, premiers and super-sexy grid girls, get admission tickets for the VIP sectors ludicrously expensive, the rest of them extremely cheap to fill the grand stands from day one and give drivers a free hand on the "rubbin' is racing" area of sports regulations.<br />
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Put your hand on your heart and tell me you wouldn't want to see that happening. Not instead of F1, but next to a technologically advanced, relevant, tactical F1.<br />
<br />
I would like to see that, and I'm sure Bernie dreamt up something similar. Would he let his legacy driven into the ground? I don't think so and F1 is not heading his way, but it has gone to a period where he can't bring it back any more to make it a fun pass time activity for all audiences.<br />
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Bernie, even if for just a few races, make GP1 happen. We don't care if it dies afterwards.<br />
<br />
We'd just like to see what F1 could be on the fun side.<br />
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Thanks,<br />
Everyone
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<br />
<i>This article originally appeared on <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/long-live-gp1-the-nfsw-twin-of-f1-aka-bernies-reven-1547588563">Oppositelock</a>.</i>Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-55994226078999452972014-03-06T16:34:00.000+01:002014-03-06T16:40:34.171+01:00How The 2014 Engine Regulations Could Tear F1 ApartHint: it's not the engines' fault, but do read on.<br />
<br />
F1 could possibly go through its biggest crisis since the <a href="http://jalopnik.com/5296877/so-i-woke-up-this-morning-and-f1-was-dead">near-split of the series</a> five years ago. Fingers are being pointed at the new engine rules coming into force from this year on but - unfortunately - underperforming powerplants at the reliability department are merely a symptom of an inherited disease rather than the cause of a sickness.<br />
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<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Kubica_2009_Malaysian_GP_1.jpg" height="329" width="640" /><br />
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Five years ago I was one of those fans who could write multiple compound sentences about F1 being "the pinnacle of motor sports" and "shouldn't be perverted by the global economical situation" because it is a "big boys' and big companies' game" and "go, watch NASCAR if you don't like it". But then you get slightly older and see a few things in the world and you realize that things just don't work the same way as a decade before, not even the largest businesses. You know this is happening from e.g. a World Drivers' Champion is <a href="http://jalopnik.com/is-lotus-f1-going-broke-1079503341">not getting paid</a> for his exploits or one of the most prestigious teams of the continental circus <a href="http://jalopnik.com/and-were-back-to-penis-nose-with-the-mclaren-mp4-29-1508086327">can't show off their livery</a> not even two weeks before the first race because there aren't any done deals yet.<br />
<br />
Every piece of news concerning F1's business side is about costs spiralling off and the reliability issues with the new engines on the sporting side these days with teams reporting not getting ready for the first race of the calendar. Those sorts of problems originate at the pre-season tests.<br />
<br />
Because there is just isn't any relevant testing in F1 any more, which is probably the single most revealing flaws of the cost-reduced Grand Prix world championship of our times. A fundamentally misdirected business model as dictated by the regulations. Let me explain:<br />
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To break the dominance of RBR and Sebastian Vettel, Pirelli was given the job to make quickly-fading tyres for the 2013 season to add a new variable to the chess play of strategy during a Sunday Grand Prix. The idea sounded great on paper, except the fact that no one quite knew how these new compounds worked. Not even Pirelli themselves, because they were only allowed to use a few-year-dated F1 chassis and the teams got their first in-depth experience of them by around the 20th lap into the Australian Grand Prix. Then of course the first half of the season was spent trying to figure out how these tyres really worked, which was then followed by a series of spectacular rubber explosions at the Spanish and <a href="http://jalopnik.com/british-grand-prix-full-of-drama-but-for-all-the-wrong-625091937">British GP</a>, which resulted in a reversal to the previous compounds of tyres and thus Sebastian Vettel walking the field once more as usual.<br />
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<img src="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1436/5177704943_88728950c1_o.jpg" height="425" width="640" /><br />
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Now, you can say the punctures happened because the teams went against Pirelli's advice and ran with a lower tyre-pressure and you're right. But one of the few things still making F1 great is pushing the envelope. The teams didn't really know what happened if they tried and went out with much less air in those Pirellis, they just knew they were faster doing so. And then excrement happened. Had they had proper testing opportunities, they would have known this would happen.<br />
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The greatest problem with this is not the accidents caused by it, but the variable introduced. The variable that was too tough to decipher for anyone involved, because there just wasn't enough time and opportunity. This meant that the best team performing best was not necessarily the one that did the homework best, bt the one adapting to the new circumstances the quickest. Which can be quite entertaining to an extent but it is just unfair.<br />
<br />
Imagine you're an athlete preparing for the Olympic Games. You devote your life to become a gold medal winner at the 100m sprint. All those years of hard work, all that sacrafice you make and you manage to qualify. You're there in the arena, tens of thousands of people in the stadium and billions of people in front of the TV, ten minutes to the start of the race. Then some guys come down from the Olympic Committee and each of you is given a bag. "Here you go, that's your mandated footwear" - they say with the bag revealing a pair of rubber boots. "Put these on, jog around a bit and off you go in nine." Is the guy winning here the most prepared one?<br />
The other issue with F1 is the recent trend of clamping down on everything that can cause an advantage to one car over another. Double diffuser, hot-blown diffuser, cold-blown diffuser, F-duct, double DRS, pipes coming out of the middle of the car and <a href="http://jalopnik.com/red-bull-may-have-invented-a-secret-new-hybrid-technolo-1442585020">alleged traction control system</a> to name a few of those ingenious technological advancements given the rules of recent years. The problem here is that while these solutions are really clever in their own right, they don't have the tiniest relevance to technology itself. With regulations being so tight the tiniest advantage on one car can actually make the difference between the champion winning ride and the midfielder as the rule makers spot on realized. But to make those small differences work, you have to spend millions and millions of dollars at the drawing board, in the wind tunnel, etc. And that small difference could quite be a flap half an inch shorter or slightly more angularly curved. All that money burned to make some pieces of plastic do something differently. But the REAL issue is that all these have absolutely no relevance outside of F1's tiny-tiny little world.<br />
<br />
So take the tyre-related example with this latter one and draw a conclusion:<br />
<br />
Money in F1 is spent all the wrong ways. Either on things that may or may not be working - they don't know, they can't try it; they just build it and pray it works -, or on things that cannot be translated to anything else but F1's little world at that point of time resulting in a ban or a bin.<br />
<br />
And now we're coming to 2014.<br />
<br />
Everything is new. New powerplants with no relevant testing behind them. The first major problem did not blow up by the time the season got to Europe, but on the very first day of testing and it continued on for the rest of the proving for most of the teams. They haven't even got to the paddock of the first track on calendar and F1 is in a crisis. Either they chose to put on a show that would probably result half the cars scoring DNFs either because of engine failures or fuel running out or by converting to a regularity rally with cars playing it safe, cruising around slowly, making themselves look like an after party for GP2.<br />
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No one knows what is going to happen, no one has the slightest idea how these engine would perform in a proper racing situation, because they couldn't test anything relevant. RBR had a hard time putting one lap together in Spain. Billions of dollars spent on the new technology and there isn't a bit of information that would tell anything more than a coin would in a 'heads or tails situation'. A few races like this and there's going to be a riot. And then what? They can't revert to the old engines to fix the problems of the new ones in the meantime as they did with Pirelli tyres. They would have to constantly push FIA to let them test, but then the rest of the teams won't be as forgiving.<br />
<br />
Seriously: this could blow up in someone's face big time and would create a massive trench between those who made it and those who didn't. And if the latter ones can't cut a deal with the FIA circumventing the rest of the teams, F1 could get to the edge of split as they once got five years ago with the budget-restraining ideas.<br />
So here's a thing: technology is as good as effective it is. If you've invented a fusion reactor, don't start by building one next to a metropolis. In other words, if the FIA wants to control finance in the future, it must take much harsher measures and more conservative methods.<br />
<br />
I do believe that a budget cap at this time sounds even more sensible than ever. Take your money and do whatever you want with it: you even spend it on more development or making your car reliable by testing it more.<br />
<br />
Even better: pay Dallara a big sum of cash to build a common chassis for the whole field and then the teams can buy engines and build aero bits they would like. It sort of sounds like IndyCar, but then IndyCar had to come <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/05-26-96-the-day-when-daytona-became-the-new-indianap-1530700262">back from the dead</a> at one point.<br />
Do not wait , F1, until the same happens, think wisely, measure your future.Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-59236389634662713232014-01-05T03:01:00.002+01:002014-01-05T03:08:05.262+01:00The Centre of My Hometown As a Race Course 50 Years AgoEvery gearhead loves the thought of living close to a racetrack. Not quite as close to be bothered about the noise, just a comfortable distance away to enjoy a weekend joyride from time to time. And there are street courses.<br />
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Street courses are of course just links of public roads serving as a temporary racetrack. There are some very famous ones, like in Monaco, Macau, Long Beach, Singapore, Surfer's Paradise, etc., there are <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJcq8KzjKyM">pretty awful ones</a>, and there are plenty lesser known or totally forgotten ones. <br />
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I live in a small town, featuring a large <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasz%C3%A1r_Air_Base">ex-military airbase</a> nearby that is used for drag racing, drifting and gymkhana events once a year. I had believed this was the single closest racing facility near or far until I stumbled upon a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/foepitesz">Facebook account</a> posting images of my hometown from the past among which there were ome showing motorcycles starting off, racing through the town centre in the mid-60's:<br />
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<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/s720x720/23884_208132002653774_1486424935_n.jpg?lvh=1" /><br />
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A narrow street that virtually looks nothing like it today:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.355047,17.791008&panoid=pc4jd8avD_Rw4uu7Bip24Q&cbp=13,148.89,,0,-7.73&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.355047,17.791008&panoid=pc4jd8avD_Rw4uu7Bip24Q&cbp=13,148.89,,0,-7.73&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
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I skimmed through the comments and found a description of the course that looked like this:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&output=embed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
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I'm quite familiar with these streets, but I never thought of them as a racing circuit and I tried to come up with the best and most interesting sections from a racer's point of view. I'm not a biker though, thus my ideas would not necessarily correspond with one's. Anyhow, let's see:<br />
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The field started up on the A/B spot marked on the map above, depicted on the old photo. They raced in North-West direction slightly uphill:<br />
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<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/s720x720/269573_208835402583434_1403813638_n.jpg" /><br />
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Heading to the main square (above), then through a fast left-kink the road slightly dropping.<br />
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The kink as it looks nowadays - the bikes went through the left of that block in the middle:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.356207,17.789093&panoid=QAWswBsjHslfPeyLgfQ1vQ&cbp=13,301.17,,0,-2.08&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.356207,17.789093&panoid=QAWswBsjHslfPeyLgfQ1vQ&cbp=13,301.17,,0,-2.08&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
<br />
Continuing straight towards a 90-degree right-hander:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.356374,17.787936&panoid=Y2zf-O19wAZHLE0v4X9qAw&cbp=13,273.55,,0,3.25&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.356374,17.787936&panoid=Y2zf-O19wAZHLE0v4X9qAw&cbp=13,273.55,,0,3.25&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
<br />
A short straight following the 90, then another 90 to the right, now heading uphill:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.357385,17.78495&panoid=AApqphcJeIQqWlyLCWdzIw&cbp=13,72.57,,0,-5.6&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a data-skimlinks-orig-link="" href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.357385,17.78495&panoid=AApqphcJeIQqWlyLCWdzIw&cbp=13,72.57,,0,-5.6&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
<br />
The street ends in a T-crossing with a fast 90-degree left-hander and a short straight:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.357755,17.787671&panoid=GgdXoiM8GG3WD9ue9EiIZQ&cbp=13,330.82,,0,1.96&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.357755,17.787671&panoid=GgdXoiM8GG3WD9ue9EiIZQ&cbp=13,330.82,,0,1.96&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
<br />
This is immediately followed by yet another 90-degree right-hander in a narrow one-way street:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.358477,17.787771&panoid=QPfYuuQfo0GMkfgpT4GCXQ&cbp=13,87.67,,0,-3.16&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a data-skimlinks-orig-link="" href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.358477,17.787771&panoid=QPfYuuQfo0GMkfgpT4GCXQ&cbp=13,87.67,,0,-3.16&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
<br />
This is the fastest part of the circuit, being an arrow-straight street for 750 metres. I cannot estimate top speeds before the braking zone as the field was mixed with 250, 350 and 500ccm machines, but should have been pretty scary.<br />
<br />
The wild ride ended in a 90-degree right hander followed by a relatively short straight and another right-hander, now riding downhill on the second longest straight with a slight right and then left kink in it:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.356668,17.796948&panoid=j_A0H7a8fAppG4bmZ2Vc9Q&cbp=13,256.84,,0,8.12&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.356668,17.796948&panoid=j_A0H7a8fAppG4bmZ2Vc9Q&cbp=13,256.84,,0,8.12&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
<br />
Then we arrive to one of the most interesting and most challenging corners of the course. A sharp 90-degree left-hander steeply downhill, almost as long as the previous straight:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.356497,17.792268&panoid=_24FznVjvAWPbJPeeYtB0A&cbp=13,169.17,,0,-10.2&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.356497,17.792268&panoid=_24FznVjvAWPbJPeeYtB0A&cbp=13,169.17,,0,-10.2&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
<br />
Following 300 metres speeding downhill the course arrives in its final corner, a sharp, right-hander hairpin turn around a statue:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.354192,17.792659&panoid=JSNTo7zYe4EXetT9J9RJ_Q&cbp=13,188.2,,0,-0.62&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.354192,17.792659&panoid=JSNTo7zYe4EXetT9J9RJ_Q&cbp=13,188.2,,0,-0.62&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
<br />
Another angle of the hairpin:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.353946,17.792332&panoid=Cu7piW7kf9sRJg9dUNzMcg&cbp=13,93.19,,0,-9.14&source=embed&output=svembed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?saddr=Teleki+u.&daddr=46.3553775,17.790435+to:46.3576339,17.7867728+to:46.357147,17.7972547+to:46.356267,17.7923522+to:46.354035,17.7926842+to:Teleki+u.&hl=hu&sll=46.355629,17.79326&sspn=0.004502,0.006899&geocode=FXpQwwIdjHoPAQ%3BFbFTwwId43UPASnHD0OZ_BVoRzETg71xmY2EzA%3BFYFcwwIdlGcPASknZQtP-hVoRzEViWuI4xZmUQ%3BFZtawwIdhpAPASmNBlri_RVoRzH_aHDPVdC1KA%3BFStXwwIdYH0PASmdqPP1_BVoRzHEE5WneI4KpA%3BFXNOwwIdrH4PASm_fnMp_RVoRzHWMR9pADDDAw%3BFWJQwwIdqHoPAQ&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&ie=UTF8&ll=46.35731,17.793367&spn=0.009004,0.013797&layer=c&cbll=46.353946,17.792332&panoid=Cu7piW7kf9sRJg9dUNzMcg&cbp=13,93.19,,0,-9.14&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
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Bikes arrived from the left from behind the statue, getting around the triangular kerbing on the right, heading this way, as depicted on the old photos:<br />
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<img src="https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/s720x720/598823_208025695997738_650277552_n.jpg" /><br />
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<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/s720x720/541234_208360762630898_464718505_n.jpg" /><br />
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Getting the braking zone right for the hairpin was crucial as it was easy to run off track following the long, downhill race. No danger of crashing though as the street follows straight, but much time could be lost if not done right.<br />
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The hairpin leads to the main straight to the finish line and that is one 2.8km-lap of the Kaposvár Circuit.<br />
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The commenters to the pictures say the event took place each year in the mid-60's, except one or two occasions when the main street was renovated, then the race was moved a few blocks away to a completely square circuit:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.hu/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Kossuth+Lajos+u.&daddr=46.3650891,17.7917795+to:46.3585042,17.7934321+to:Kossuth+Lajos+u.&hl=hu&geocode=FVBhwwId7ncPAQ%3BFaF5wwIdI3sPASl3KPHrAj5oRzGflQhrW4AUlg%3BFehfwwIdmIEPASn3N8ug_hVoRzEjwK5caBMR-Q%3BFYBgwwId93cPAQ&sll=46.361886,17.792315&sspn=0.009596,0.021136&dirflg=w&mra=dpe&mrsp=2&sz=16&via=1,2&ie=UTF8&ll=46.361886,17.792315&spn=0.009596,0.021136&t=m&output=embed" width="620"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.hu/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=Kossuth+Lajos+u.&daddr=46.3650891,17.7917795+to:46.3585042,17.7934321+to:Kossuth+Lajos+u.&hl=hu&geocode=FVBhwwId7ncPAQ%3BFaF5wwIdI3sPASl3KPHrAj5oRzGflQhrW4AUlg%3BFehfwwIdmIEPASn3N8ug_hVoRzEjwK5caBMR-Q%3BFYBgwwId93cPAQ&sll=46.361886,17.792315&sspn=0.009596,0.021136&dirflg=w&mra=dpe&mrsp=2&sz=16&via=1,2&ie=UTF8&ll=46.361886,17.792315&spn=0.009596,0.021136&t=m" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Larger View</a></small><br />
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So how about you? Has your surrounding ever been a race course? Share your recollections or findings.<br />
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<i>This article appeared on <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the-centre-of-my-hometown-as-a-race-course-50-years-ago-1494723653">Oppositelock</a>, too.</i>Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-67655135798698314922013-12-01T00:18:00.002+01:002014-01-05T03:26:42.067+01:00A Few Words on Communist CarsYou paid your advance to the official national dealer. You even slipped extra bills in there to get you a bit more forward on the waiting list and to make sure you are getting the make, type and colour of car you asked for. All you have to do now is to wait for five years.<br />
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Let me put this forward: I was born and raised in a dictatorship in my early years of childhood. I type this in as a reminder upon reading <a href="http://www.euronews.com/2013/11/29/european-union-in-association-battle-with-russia-over-ukraine/">today's news</a> that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Union">Soviet Union mk2</a> has come ever closer to manifestation. But before the story could get a darker twist, let us get on a more idle level of pondering and plunge ourselves into a bit more pleasing topic: cars. Communist car, that is.<br />
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I remember clearly as day standing outside <a href="https://maps.google.hu/?ll=46.357162,17.80121&spn=0.004324,0.010568&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=46.357127,17.800805&panoid=2Qm3toW6smEn5VUb8upuOg&cbp=12,339.03,,0,-3.63">no. 77</a> at the edge of the crowd, holding my mother's hand as a six year-old, looking at a police motorcycle and the German shepherd dog sitting next to some giant-looking police officers. I had no idea at the time but I was part of history happening at large. It was October, 23rd and we were listening to speeches at the very first free commemoration of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956">Hungarian Revolution of 1956</a>, outside <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imre_Nagy">Imre Nagy</a>'s birthplace, one of the key figures - and martyr - of the revolt, marking the occasion dropping the affix "People's" from the front of "Republic of Hungary".<br />
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Although I have had vague memories of preceding times, the physical evidences of past history still surrounded us as a memento of times, and to an extent they still do - most importantly in the minds of people.<br />
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One of those evidences I grew an extensive affection to in general were cars. Cars that were represented by about ten regular makes and about fifteen types altogether, serving as the only consumer choices ranging territorially from the middle of today's Germany to the Pacific Ocean. Lada, Moskvitch, Skoda, Trabant, Wartburg, Polski, Yugo, Dacia and some oddball and rare makes and types that were either available to government officials only or types that no one ever bothered to buy, they were so bad - even by contemporary standards.<br />
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Most of these cars were badge-engineered vehicles with some further development imposed on them to withstand the cruel Eastern Bloc environment. All Lada models were based on the Fiat 124, the Polski Fiat 125 and 126 were virtually the same as their Fiat counterparts, with all the Yugo cars deriving from Fiats, too. The Dacias were just mere Renaults with even more shabby build, leaving virtually the Eastern German and Czechslovakian car industry doing relevant R&D.<br />
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There was this thing at the time, called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comecon">Comecon</a>, where Moscow virtually decided which country would produce what products, thus when these factories were established all around the Communist bloc, Hungary was left with building <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikarus_Bus">buses</a>.<br />
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What were these cars like? By almost all standards quite bad. Well, not all of them, but you didn't expect miracles sitting into one. Owning and able to afford a car was a miracle itself in the earlier years. As I put it in the preface, all these factories supported the needs of two half-continents with cars, so there were long waiting lists at the official - and national - dealers for these. It is almost impossible to imagine nowadays that people often waited seven (7!) years for such a box of excrement as a Trabant, which incidentally caused the effect used cars being evermore expensive as new cars. For one, there were almost no used cars at the time and potential buyers were pushing the prices up and up just to get a car <em>instantly</em>. If you had connections within the Party (as <br />
<del>the majority of </del>quite a few people were members of the Communist Party), you could do a streak by getting on the waiting list every 4-5 years, buying a new car and selling it off with a significant margin. Normally you would lose vast amounts of money on such a deal, but over this part of the world it was happening just the opposite way.<br />
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The indisputable champion of Communist cars was the Lada. More rugged and slightly better construction than the original Fiat 124, it was the obvious choice for those who wanted to get <em>any</em> horsepower for their money. Therefore it quickly became popular among the slowly developing racing and rallying community. It was so popular that the Soviet Union developed the Communist bloc's only worthwhile Group B rally car of it, the Lada VFTS.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Mwl_j4J5wqM" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Other sporty cars included the Skoda 130LR that went into the history book, as the <em>other</em> Group B rally car.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IXm89-ErOsE" width="640"></iframe><br />
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But the non-plus ultra sporty consumer Skoda was the 130 Rapid.<br />
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<img height="276" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/1985SkodaRapid5.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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Two-door fastback, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive. Want? Wait for this one, its predecessor, the earlier-generation 130RS:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YkAJpmfDpxU" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Although the Ford Escort was the one entitled to put out a "Mexico" edition due to winning the infamous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_London_to_Mexico_World_Cup_Rally">London-Mexico rally marathon</a>, there were a number of Moskvitch 412s in the field, most of them finishing the rally just outside the top ten.<br />
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<img height="426" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Rally_Bohemia_2012_(historic_show,_SS3_Sychrov)_-_Moskvitch_2140.JPG/1024px-Rally_Bohemia_2012_(historic_show,_SS3_Sychrov)_-_Moskvitch_2140.JPG" width="640" /><br />
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Other motorsports pedigrees included the engine, which was an aluminium copy of the BMW M10 engine - which served in many racing cars, most notably as the turbocharged powertrain of the Gordon Murray-designed Brabham F1 cars.<br />
What happens when you combine the worst of a Mini and a contemporary Saab? You get the Trabant, which - despite all the wrongdoings - turned out to be a decent rally car, where you were able to learn more about car control than anywhere else.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FTicjb-FOeI" width="853"></iframe><br />
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The truth is that people will always race whatever they will get their hands on. Never mind turbocharged V6 engines or electric formula cars. Awesomeness will always come from the drivers in the first place. Even at places and times you'd never expect.<br />
If you liked what you saw, I recommend <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/do-you-have-patience-to-watch-90-min-vintage-racing-1468343792">this post</a>, too.<br />
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This article also appeared on <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/a-few-words-on-communist-cars-1474039960">Oppositelock and Jalopnik</a>.Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-35640542508055584782013-11-21T09:10:00.001+01:002014-01-05T03:27:05.092+01:00Do You Have Patience to Watch 90-min. Vintage Racing & Gibberish?If your answer is yes, then do click, but I warn you: there are more than one Communist cars showing up in this movie.<br />
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Hungary's 1981 racing documentary, titled "Autóversenyzők" (i.e. "Race Car Drivers") is somewhat of a cult flick among motoring enthusiasts for more than one reason: it has proper racing and rallying footage from an era where there weren't cameras lying around by the hundreds to cover an event, but mostly because it features cars that are getting even rarer each day passing - even in countries of the ex-Eastern Block - that make one part of ex-Westerners go yawning, the rest of them glued to their screens. The movie is - of course - in Hungarian, but I will give you some description to all the commentary that is provided by either the narrator or the racers themselves. Okay, buckle up, nine-piece playlist.<br />
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pt 1: Airborne Ladas, some Porsche showing up, rapid pace notes, a Renult 5, a Renault R17 Gordini, post-disco rock music. Then we go and meet some actual F1 drivers, including Niki Lauda, Clay Regazzoni and Gilles Villeneuve. They speak some general words about the dangers of racing. Regazzoni is handed by a wheelchair, supporting two F1 tyres. He speaks about the joys of the "good old days" and how professional the sport has become. Then he rides off on a motorcycle.<br />
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pt 2: Meet Gilles Villeneuve, who is apparently fond of driving and drops "I know the danger is there and I can hurt myself today or tomorrow, it's all part of it. I mean, who knows? I live knowing that one day I can have a very serious accident and I can spend up to two months in a hospital with broken bones. But the bones heal and once they do, you can carry on." (1979). Then we cut to Hungary and get a brief walkthrough of Hungary's motor sport history (including more than one inaccuracies). THEN: 5-ton ZIL hauler truck rallycross race. No joke. The the narrator explicitly drops: "There is no more spectacular motor sport on Earth than rallying". Cue the Lada-fest. A rally driver talks about how simple it is to pick up rallying: "A few guys get together, put their money together, buy a crashed car, fix it up in six months." etc. etc. Ladas in opposite lock. Then we cut to some spectacular Lada touring car racing, made up of closed public roads in Austria. Driver talks about racing in a pack and the differences between factory drivers and privateers.<br />
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pt 3: Continuing the touring car race. Driver talking about the good start. Fabulous wide-lens in-car footage. "In one corner I spotted a lady in a white dress. That was my braking point for the corner. The trouble was when the lady moved closer to the corner entry in lap 8. I flew off and crashed." Staged rolling over. Meet the Formula Eastern category: formula cars with Lada engines. Then we move to hill climbing and get to see formula and sportscars with and "shark" BMWs taming the mountain.<br />
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pt 4&5: Driver expressing gratitude towards the fans and the extra positive pressure it gives. On-board sportscar racing footage. Donuts in the service park. Meet the servicemen and the engineers. More on-board BMW footage up the hill. "These cars behave on completely dry tarmac as street cars in the wet." Three-time European Hill Climb Champion talks about his fondness in racing in Hungary. Lists a bunch of F1 drivers he raced against in the past. Watch an NSU, too, and a Renault Alpine. Beautiful on-boards and then we head to rallying. "There are no two single identical moments in rallying. You just don't know what's ahead. Not even in track racing, but in rallying..." Description of pace notes "The lightest corner is a zero, which is just a kink, the sharpest is a 6." Recce, trial runs and racing. Ladas, Wartburgs, Skodas. And Attila Ferjánc's Renult 5 Gordini (most successful rally driver in Hungarian motor sport history, multiple champion, the first guy who got factory backing from a Western car manufacturer). Racing in the dirt.<br />
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pt 6: Renault R17 Gordini picking up a puncture on a close-up, tyre is shredding to pieces. Fans around camp fires in the dark. The beauty of the night. Co-drivers' accounts of their fearless drivers, calling the pace notes as "The Prayer Book". Whenever the co-driver sees the crash coming, closes the "prayer book". Lots of experts gathering around the "Bride Corner", murmuring "That's too much" whenever a car gets through, waving all around and eventually crashing out.<br />
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pt 7: My home town hero drives on a spectacular forest stage in a cheap leather jacket on an on-board shot. Co-driver talks about how he likes racing with his driver because he never loses his temper "The first time we raced, we flew off in a corner at about 150 [kph], but he never got off the throttle and brought the car back on the road flat out. If he panicked, he would have never been able to bring it back like that. At the end of the stage I told him I would never race with him again. He said 'You must be kidding, I always drive like this'." We cut to Attila Ferjánc and we learn his among the top 10 rally drivers in Europe. His co-driver talks about the procedure of rallying. Lousy sweatshirts and crashing out.<br />
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pt 8: Ferjánc co-driver, Dr. Tandari, and avid beard-grower and pipe smoker. We head to car inspection. Nothing interesting said, just footage of night rallying. Morning service park: car jacked up on a tyre, drivers sleeping in their cars. Cigarettes. Talking about the privileges of factory-backing and how they got "enemies" as such.<br />
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pt 9: Rallying in the mud and the race is over. Competitors get around the fire to tell their stories. Stories include: trying to pass a Bulgarian on the stage, him not leaving space for the driver, getting on the wrong side of the road and flying off in the corner. Then: driving up the Transfagarasan region in Romania, a bear attacked the car, licking all the windows. Then: "I was driving to the stage when we met the local bus: mountainside on the right, chasm on the left, bus in the middle. I chose the mountainside. I did a complete rollover right in front of the bus, the driver and 30 children were just glued to the window. Two Soviet guys fixed the car up in the service park. Then on the stage we realized one of the wheels was wobbly. We got out of the car, fixed the wheel, my co-driver opened up his pace notes and said 'I have no idea where we are'. We crashed out on a bridge so hard, two trucks had to pull us off the barrier." We end the film with more opposite locks.<br />
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This post also appeared on <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/do-you-have-patience-to-watch-90-min-vintage-racing-1468343792">Oppositelock</a>.Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-65577596021041395372013-11-13T14:09:00.003+01:002014-01-05T03:27:23.127+01:00Memories of the 2012 #WRC @WalesRallyGBLegends performing in a historical challenge on the land of myths. Surely, a good reason for one to plunge himself into the misty green.<br />
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It was sometime in the afternoon. Quite sunny for a change as I recall. I opened the door to let the dogs out for a snippet of fresh air, but they chose to get lazy and lie scattered on the floor - after all the big walk was due to commence a few hours later. I went outside to enjoy - much to my own surprise - the sunshine I had not valued at all before, as we had plenty of it on the continent, and Bristol, UK was short of such feature. I was pondering whether I should get my second fixture of coffee for the day when it struck me: it could be through the pipeline. I went back for the mailbox key and the notifier. I didn't hear the postman coming since we had the bell broken for a few days, but right in the nearest post office it indeed there was my two tickets to the Welsh edition of the 2012 World Rally Championship season.
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When my wife and I moved to the UK, we swore to ourselves we would actually be spending money on some fun, and my ticket to fun was going to a major motor sports event. As we never (or rather I) could make it big financially to go - say - to a Formula 1 race and I was much disinterested in the series at the time, it was a toss-up between the renewed World Endurance Championship and the World Rally Championship. For sure, for the limited budget we had, the better value for money would have been a free practice of #WEC - as far as number of cars seen per GBP invested in it, but not quite the challenge I would have liked to see.
I had been to rallies before - mostly local rally sprint events and eventual hill climbs, but nothing of the volume as this. Funnily enough you would know it was a world championship event because it featured World Rally Cars. No fancy stadiums, no historic tracks, no grid girls, no tracks announcers, no cameras, just some stretches of road on a hillside, spectators and the weather - what rallying is all about.
Of course one just cannot go to all stages, even if he tried hard. It is easier to choose a stage that offers the best view of the action and relative easy access - especially when you do not own a car. My choice was hence an obvious one: close to home with a good view. Something of this value:
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<div class="has-media media-640" data-textannotation-id="e38fd0d16da044d21d3de5e566a857f8" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; width: 672px; word-break: break-word;">
<span class="lightBoxWrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; position: relative;"><span class="img-border" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; position: relative;"><img alt="Memories of the 2012 #WRC @WalesRallyGB" class="transform-ku-xlarge js_annotatable-image cursor-crosshair" data-asset-url="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/1967wo1q2uwidjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg" data-chomp-id="1967wo1q2uwidjpg" height="427" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/1967wo1q2uwidjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: crosshair; display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">image courtesy by </em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/21607251@N05/8000847307/" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0093ec; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Carwyn Lloyd Jones</a></span></div>
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This is the Celtic Manor. A golfing resort in South-East Wales, just opposite Bristol across the Bristol Channel, home of the 2010 Ryder Cup. It was meant to be a short blast through the golf courses in the valley. Quite a special place for 300bhp rally cars sprinting through the otherwise calm and quiet resort with their turbochargers sucking in all the fresh air the Welsh countryside has to offer. Also, the timing was very special, too. It was on the 15th September, which marked the fifth anniversary of the passing of Scottish rally legend, Colin McRae, and this would be his de facto home world rally event.
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The main entertainment feature of the stage would be its tarmac surface on which the competitors would drive through with loose surface-spec tyres and settings - courtesy of the forest stages preceding this final one for the day. Further fun at the rally was coming from Top Gear shooting a segment with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IZO5OBcn3A" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0093ec; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kris Meeke and James May driving a Bentley through a gravel stage.</a>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IZO5OBcn3A" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0093ec; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"></a>We got to Temple Meads railway station, took the train to Newport, then on a bus to Christchurch and from there we took a walk up to the resort. From there it was another walk through the courses to arrive at a B-road crossing Celtic Manor. This was the place alright with the appearance of marshals in WRC-vests. The funny thing is, no one ever asked for our tickets. "Are you here for the rally?" "Yeah." "Got your tickets?" "Of course" as I was taking off my backpack and she stopped me "Alright, no worries. There are just people trying to sneak in, you know." That sort of conversation repeated, like, twice before, but I never got to show our tickets to anyone. Wales, a bunch of friendly people.
There were some cones, a small parking lot, a tiny lake and that beautiful, BEAUTIFUL scenery.
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I'm not much of a photographer, especially with a cheap camera, so I snapped a few shots as we were running out of light and waited patiently for the drivers come through. A siren wailing in the distance, the course car was coming up the hill.
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"Okay, here we go." A Mini was rushing straight up the stage with my camera still on my eye. Completely missed it. Went back to the parking lot, which was the end of the stage, finishing a hard left, followed by a few metres of straight and a sharp, almost 180-degree turn. Tried to take a few shots, but realized I had a bunch of guys filming and making pictures around me, so there was no need for me to add to the cloud.
And this is what I practically saw:<br />
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<span class="clear-both flex-video widescreen" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; height: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 18px 384.71875px; position: relative;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="youtube js_annotatable-image cursor-crosshair" data-chomp-id="rks9ASuwOIo" frameborder="0" height="360" id="youtube-rks9ASuwOIo" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rks9ASuwOIo?wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: crosshair; height: 384.71875px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 672px;" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitAllowFullScreen" width="640"></iframe></span><span class="image-annotation-footnote-wrapper" data-footnote-chomp-id="rks9ASuwOIo" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 18px; position: relative; width: 672px;"></span><br />
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Soft rubber screaming on tarmac, cars rolling on their also soft suspensions as some menacing Group B car on the videos, the small cars - now seemingly huge - came in as shouting dragons caressing some angry cat. DAAAAA-grrrrrrrr- DAAAA-grrrrr-DAAAAAAAA-grrrgrgrgrrr-WOOOooo-do-do-do... Tyres smoking, huge drift around the corner, black lines painted on the tarmac. After Mikko Hirvonen got through, my wife turned to me: "Dad! [She calls me dad. For the record: she's older than me.] The <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">other one</em> we've been to was a lot better than this one. She refers to the <a href="http://www.racingandwaiting.co.uk/2011/06/event-gumball-3000-drops-into-zagreb/" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0093ec; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gumball 3000 event in Zagreb, Croatia we had been to the year before</a>. "This is a while different ballgame." I explain to her. "This is actual competition, not showing off." "I see." I can tell she doesn't. "Tell you what. When I say pay maximum attention, you keep your eyes wide open, okay?" "Okay, what am I supposed to see?" "Just keep looking." Mads Ostberg passed through, and a minute later another Red Bull-liveried Citroen jumps into view. "THAT car!" I shout. The Citroen drifts through as the rest of the cars, no fancy tyre-burning, just a clean line. "What about that car?" she asked after the few seconds the car passed. "It's not the car, it's the driver." "Who was it?" "He's called <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">Sebastian Loeb</em>." I tried to put that cheesy movie-tone in my voice to emphasize the weight of my words. "Who is he?" "The guy is driving towards his ninth World Rally title, a true legend, and this is one of the last occasions anyone sees him driving in the World Rally Championship." "Why?" "He's switching to the World Touring Car Championship." "How so?" "I don't know. Maybe he simply got bored being the best in history at what he does and in need of a new challenge, possibly." "He's going to drive against Norbert Michelisz, too, in two years-time." The name of our local hero rings a bell to her. "Ah, okay..." But she isn't that interested. I keep looking at the WRC cars, Solberg, Latvala, etc., then the S2000 machines, powered by screaming, normally aspirated engines swinging into the corners with visibly less pendulum than the big World Rally brothers, followed by some local FWD cars, but my vision is blurred, my mind wanders elsewhere.
I just saw Sebastian Loeb at speed, for one of the last times in a World Rally Car at a world championship event, making absolute legend. The guy who started as a gymnast, who started off in the Junior programme in WRC at Citroen, got to be team mates with Colin McRae AND Carlos Sainz at the same time, and ultimately won NINE consecutive World Rally Championship titles and smashed the all-time record at Pikes Peak less than a year later. Eventually, Jari-Matti Latvala won that rally in Wales - only one of the few that hadn't been won by Sebastian Loeb - and I am still in awe thinking about it: Sebastian Loeb just did a drift at an arm's reach away from me, competitively.
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Brief moment, huge historical impact. A celebration of the longest living form of motor sports.<br />
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Have you bought your tickets to the nearest rallying event yet?
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<i>This post also appeared on <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/memories-of-the-2012-wrc-walesrallygb-1463561499">Oppositelock</a>.</i>
Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-82121718571945278672013-11-07T09:49:00.001+01:002014-01-05T03:27:30.651+01:00The Controversial and Glorious Beginnings of Grand Prix RacingOne might think racing, especially Formula One racing has come a long way since its beginnings, but history tells otherwise. This is the story of the events leading up to <a href="http://srcint.blogspot.hu/2013/05/grand-legacy-movie.html">the first French Grand Prix</a> - the grandfather of all F1 races and how people and politics have not changed since.<br />
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Doughnuts. Burnouts. A spinning race car. Thick treadmarks on the asphalt. A relentless scream of eight cylinders by Renault and of an international crowd just absolutely losing it. Sebastian Vettel stopped his car in the middle of the front stretch of the Buddh International Circuit in India - embraced by a massive cloud of tyre-smoke, super-stardom and four gold-pieces - being immortalized and crystallized in history as one of the all-time greats in a technical sport that happens to be one of the most popular one of all the sports around the planet. He got out of his car, threw his fists in the air as if claiming "I am the master of the Galaxy". He was, in fact, even if just for a few moments. An undisputable master of... some sort the least. He then turned back to his vehicle and bowed down in front of it - the craft of composite materials and solutions that helped him to reach the final frontiers of driverhood where only just a handful of people have gone before. As the cloud settled and the man stood tall was it clear that it was history happening. Live. History, whose pages started to fill multiple ages before, in another place. Where mankind was taking another unfamiliar, roaring step into the unknown with no professionals, just fearless daredevils with beautiful minds.<br />
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<h4>
The Locksmith from Hungary</h4>
Ferenc was all about machines. That was what he was doing for a living and that was what he was dreaming about. In fact, he was just a simple locksmith in the middle of the Great Hungarian Plains in the late 19th century. Nothing but the worst possible place and time for greatness. He was quite handy with machinery, though, and had a good eye to see through structures. His ancestors were Saxon people from Transylvania, which meant that a natural stubborness was paired with a meticulous, methodical approach to solving problems - all one needs when pondering a lot about putting theory into practice. His last name, Szisz even came from the German "süß" (i.e. 'beautiful') to further prove the point. Needless to say, he became really good with all this infernal puzzle of metallurgy. Really, really good. It was apparent that his abilities would be overgrowing the limits of its surroundings. He was working during the day and studying mechanical engineering during the night. So much talent could barely be contained within such a small community - as the town of Szeghalom -, especially with the appearance of the automobile that seemed to shrink the boundaries of the physical world and open up another universe of pistons, cylinders, gears, joints, axles and rods - a perverted dream world of an oil-dirty mind.<br />
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Coupled with his wife, Elisabeth - while still being just 27 at the turn of the century - he then left Hungary behind to seek out engineering opportunities in the West. They first travelled to Vienna and Salzburg - where it was apparent the Austrian-Hungarian empire was not on top when it came to innovation, hence going even further to Germany. Munich and Berlin was quite allright, but from there the horizon opened up to a whole different level of mechanical world. In fact, everything that happened in the world at the time was happening around Paris. And indeed, there was a more going on in France than he expected.<br />
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<h4>
The Wealthy Scotsman from New York</h4>
James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was not very much into in his father's business. As a matter of fact he was not really interested in his father either. The New York Herald was a prosperous paper - nothing to worry about it seemed - but it could deserve a bit of 'oomph' he thought. Junior - or preferably Gordon Bennett, to clearly distinguish himself from his father - was certainly into watching heroic competitions, but not much into dissecting and analysing their glory and putting them in his paper. He worked a way around that problem by simply sponsoring and making up events he liked with the help of the exposure and the wealth the Herald provided - tagging his own name to the events. It was happening all around the world. Hot air balloon competitions, polo games, airplane races, yacht races, including one of the hottest topics of the time - motor racing.<br />
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The Gordon Bennett (motor racing) Cup hence instantly gained interest. Especially due to its format - it was truly the Olympics of motorsports of the time. Each country would host an elimination race where the first two cars finishing would be granted admission to the big event with country fighting against country in an annual race with the winning nation gaining the glory to host the race the following year. The most competitive community was hands down France with all the engineering know-how and established infrastructure to motoring, hence the inagrual Gordon Bennett Cup was given to the Automobile Club of France in late 1899. Surely as the new century already being on the horizon, 1900 would seem to change the world for good.<br />
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<h4>
The Brothers in Moustaches</h4>
Louis was the brightest of them all as far as engineering capabilities concerned. And the car was just a captivating object, too much of an attraction to just let it go and continue his father's textile business. He took a few spanners and other tools, locked himself into their backyard shed and worked on his creation day and night causing a bit of headache for the people living in the neighbourhood. But when he was finished it was a work of excellence. It was a genuine motorcar with cutting-edge technology. He was so proud of his creation that he gave his own last name to it: Renault. To further improve on his success he managed to sell the car instantly. He knew there was serious business in it. So, by teaming up with his brothers, Marcel and Fernand, they established the 'Société Renault Fréres' in 1899. From there the small firm skyrocketed in just a few years. They were assembling cars in a rapid pace, coming up with new ideas all the time. Just as the company was in its process of turning from a backyard project to a multi-million success they got help from where they least expected.<br />
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<h4>
Meet The Team</h4>
Louis and Ferenc bonded instantly as the Hungarian stepped in the front door in 1901. They were about the same age and both of them had a love to engineering. Moreover Ferenc did not only prove to be an expert in mechanics, he already had several patents to sell, which the Renault company was quick to buy - such as the pneumatic engine starter or the controlled self-combusting engine. His knowledge immediately proved to be invaluable to the company and it was not until long till he was elected to be one of the chief engineers at Renault with virtually unlimited R&D possibilities granted to him. A classic win-win situation one might say. Although Louis and Ferenc were very much comfortable at the drawing board, Marcel and Fernand were good at management and marketing and they already saw the shape of things to come when it came to further amending the profile of the company. There was a serious racing scene sweeping across the continent. The Gordon Bennett Cup was the place to be if you were a car manufacturer it seemed after its second run in 1901. The competition was tough, the financial and physical risks were high, but crossing the finish line first meant immortality and serious cash indirectly. Marcel and Fernand convinced Louis to enter their cars to competitions. Louis was more careful with the approach but nevertheless it was clear for him, too, that this was the path the company must take. Louis and Marcel both chose to race for greater exposure. Louis, needing a hand when it came to quick fixing the car when needed, chose to race with Ferenc as his personal riding mechanic. By 1903 the company got to the point to produce their own engines and the time had come to join the major league of competition in a race that was advertised as one of the most thrilling and rewarding rally between Paris and Madrid.<br />
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<h4>
The Month of May</h4>
Indeed, the Paris-Madrid race of 1903 was a bit more in focus for all major manufacturers on the continent as that year's Gordon Bennett Cup was to be held in Ireland (with Britain winning the 1902 race, however since the UK has had a ban on racing on public roads, the competition had to be moved to Ireland - thus British Racing Green as the official racing colours of Britain since then - honouring Ireland for their hosting). Everyone aho thought they mattered wanted to take part in it. Marcel and Louis had to face with fierce competition. The mighty Mercedes fielded 11 cars, the Italian FIAT started the race with two living legends: Luigi Storero and Vicenzio Lancia and of course there were the rest of the French teams upping France's chances in winning. There were also a handful of Americans willing to compete, including one William K. Vanderbilt.<br />
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<h4>
Shattering Dreams</h4>
The race started in the small hours of May 24 with the cars speeding into the distance covered by a cloud of smoke and dirt in one minute intervals. The day looked to be a glorious spring closer and the beginning of a new era of motorsports. Quite rightly, it proved to be changing the sport forever, but not the way anyone expected. As the day ripened there were less and less cars passing through the checkpoints. By late afternoon - after collecting the information from all around the route - a horrific image started to be forming. There were news coming in about fatal accidents including competitors and spectators alike. Half the cars never reached the latest checkpoints and the field had not even reached the Spanish border yet. It was horror on wheels. Before night fell, there were eight people dead and about a 100 injured. This was to be one of the darkest days of sports. The Spanish government - hearing the news - shut its borders down in front of the competitors and the race was cancelled. The result was devastating to the whole continent and to the small community of the Renault brothers as well as Marcel was lying dead among the eight people that were killed that day.<br />
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Louis was so shocked about his brother's death he swore he would never race again. The results were equally downbeat continentally. All countries in Europe - except partly Italy - chose to voluntarily ban racing on open public roads with serious restrictions to motor cars put forward as well. The fear to falling back on horse-power for civilian use at the time was a possible outcome. The car as we know it was lingering in thin air.<br />
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<h4>
Turmoil</h4>
Despite the loss of their brother, racing was too much of a precious advertisement for the surviving Renaults to give up. Ferenc Szisz was promoted as the no.1 factory driver. The racing scene suffered a huge loss. However, despite all matters the Gordon Bennett Cup was still rolling on, but the tensions were growing high as the competition was distorted by politics. There was now a clear opposition among the European powers. Most of them were the leading forces in the world. Unknowingly, this was all a preparation to a war - where engineering was to be a crucial part of winning. Technical sports thus were thrown into the spotlight - showing off mechanical innovation was now part of enumerating technological and overall supremacy. Two thirds of all the new cars in the world was coming out of France. This caused a significant problem when competing at the Gordon Bennett Cup. The French wanted to change the rules of just enabling two cars only from each countriy. The organizers were reluctant first to cut a deal as the French were winning most of the races anyway. To make matters worse, there was now an example to circumventing the rules. Mercedes had a second production plant in Austria. This enabled them to potentionally and practically field four cars at a Cup race as two of them would be coming from Germany and two of from Austria. As the French threatened to create a breakaway race to rival the well established Cup, the organizers now had to give in and promised an adjustment to the number of cars to enter the race according to the car production volumes of each country. But it was too late. France announced in 1904 it would not participate in any further Gordon Bennett Cup following 1905 and would launch their own annual competition starting in 1906 according to their own terms and rules.<br />
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Rock Bottom and A New Hope</h4>
The 1905 Gordon Bennett elimination race in France would be held at Clermont-Ferrand, a twisty, tight circuit in the mountains. This marked the first time rookie driver Ferenc Szisz appearing at such a prestigious event with two other Renault racers. The competitors had to drive for hours and hours on the track. Szisz was second to start, ultimately finishing his laps in seven hours, 55 minutes and 47 seconds, beating the next-in-line Renault by over an hour. Although his time was quite brilliant - with only 21 minutes off the first place driver - it only rendered him to fifth place on the results, which was a spectacular finish for a practically first-timer, but it also meant Renault was out of the Gordon Bennett Cup for 1905 and the history of Gordon Bennett races in general. The result thus was bittersweet for Renault and Szisz, but a few rays of light was already shining through the disappearing clouds as a partnership with a local, Clermont-Ferrand based tyre-manufacturer was born.<br />
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<h4>
Enter Michelin</h4>
While making a racing car fast was important, making it fast did not only mean adding more horsepower to the engine, also but taking it to the finish line in the first place and avoiding breakdowns as much as possible. Given the heavy machinery on rough roads, the most common cause of breakdowns was tyre-deflation. Michelin have already been working hard on a solution that enabled quick tyre-changes. Up to that point the wheel was one complete unit - tyres included - which meant that in case of a flat tyre the driver or the riding mechanic would have to cut off the rubber of the wheel and fix the new one on the rim in a rather complicated and elaborate process - losing tremendous amounts of time. This solution was very much in focus of all manufacturers, particularly Renault. But before Renault could benefit from all this, they had other commitments on the other side of the Atlantic.<br />
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<h4>
The American Connection</h4>
William Kissam Vanderbilt II was one racing enthusiast member of the much respected Vanderbilt family. He did not quite live up to the expectations of his family as he was more interested in motor powered crafts than studying. He was driving all around Europe, breaking land speed records at Daytona Beach and survived the Paris to Madrid race. He saw what influence did the Gordon Bennett Cup had on the European automobile industry and comparing the cars found overseas he was much disappointed with the cars produced in the US up to that point. Linking pleasure and importance he sought to organize his version of the Gordon Bennett Cup in the US inviting many European manufacturers to clash with the best of America, hoping that the experience drawn from the competition would give a boost to the auto industry of the US. Long Island was the place and late 1905 was the time when Ferenc and the Renault team set a foot in the new world to win at the second Vanderbilt Cup organized.<br />
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It was of course not only Renault being present at The Great American Race from the old continent, all the established stars of Europe took a trip over the Atlantic to run away with the title - including Vicenzio Lancia, the whole Mercedes line-up and one Louis Chevrolet. Among the spectators there were some very influential people, too, e.g. Henry Ford to name one. The Americans were not too much of a competition technologically to most of the European - especially French - teams, nevertheless the US drivers fought with double the dare, surprising the Europeans. At the end Victor Hémery ran away with the cup in a Darracq, Szisz was fifth in the Renault. This was of course excellent result for the French and for the driver at his first actual international race. Renault returned home with high hopes.<br />
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<h4>
The Day It Was Not Raining at Le Mans</h4>
Upon returning to France, Michelin was done with their new invention: a detachable rim. This meant an invaluable increase in tyre-changing speed. Now it only took a couple of bolts to be loosen, replacing the rim and tightening the same bolts - all within a matter of few minutes when on track. The Automobile Club de France was busy in the meantime setting up the new compeition - simply called a Grand Prix, grand prize, as 45,000 Franch francs, equaling 13kg of gold was offered to the winning driver. An over 100km closed course was designated - titled the Cuircuit de La Sarthe - in conjunction of the Automobile Club de la Sarthe, running from just outside the town of Le Mans through Saint-Calais to La Ferté-Bernard, then returning to Le Mans. In a two-day race cars would be starting in timed intervals, run six laps on the circuit, being parked in parc fermé for the night and resart the next day at the exact hour and minute of time as the duration of covering the six laps the day before, run another six laps with the winner being the first finishing the sacond batch of laps on day two. As expected, it was dominantly the French taking part in the event.<br />
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The only technical restriction to the cars was a maximum weight limit to vehicle, driver and riding mechanic, which limited the amount of spare parts to be carried around. Taking loads of spare was vital as the cars keened on breaking down on the long circuit and pit work was forbidden, too. Everything needed to be fixed had to be accomplished by the driver and riding mechanic, out of the parts they were carrying themselves. The course was linked public roads closed off from traffic, bypassing certain parts by temporary plank roads and some parts of the surface was treated with tar, making a much mixed surface, but it was still dirt road to the most percentage. Accompanied with a heatwave (hitting 50C degrees at race weekend) the conditions were proving to put loads of strain on competitors and vehicles alike, especially on the tyres. Renault was not the only team going with Michelin's new development. But they were certainly among those few who were prepared to pull a wildcard. Ferenc realized the advantages of going hybrid. While the new Michelin rims and tyres meant fast tyre-changes, they also meant more of them as the structure of it was more fragile, which meant they had a tendency to cause a flat tyre more often as opposed to the older solution with the one-unit wheel, which had the problem of desperately slow rubber-swapping, but only a few of them. Ferenc opted to putting the old wheels on the front and the Michelins on the back. This was done because his riding mechanic was skilled in fitting new rubber on the old wheel, which could potentially prove useful in a case of multiple tyre-deflation. The tyre-change was only as fast as the slowest member to finish, thus he could still work on the Michelins while his mechanic could work lightning fast on the old one.<br />
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On June 26, 1906, just after 5 am Ferenc Szisz was the third to start (and to second one to actually be able to get off the starting line) in pursuit of the Italian star, Vicenzio Lancia. In the early hours it was only dust that caused problem, but as time went along, heat started to be one of the main issues. Even the tar started to melt on the roads, which negated close pursuit - unless the drivers behind wanted to get blinded by spraying tar. Lancia developed problems early on, causing him to back off, with Ferenc Szisz storming into the lead, finishing the cca 620-km day on top at five hours 45 minutes, causing an early rise for the next day. At quarter to six the next day the small Renault set off from the starting line. The competition on the previous day was so gruelling, that it was not until Ferenc completed two laps could the last competitor still in race start his own race. He was seemed to be invincible until the rear suspension broke not long before the end of the race. The Hungarian backed off and eased their trip to the finish line. Despite the problem, they were still over half an hour ahead of the second car, finishing the race under 12 hours, 12 minutes and seven seconds. They tackled the 1238.16km distance with a 100.8kph average speed. Instantly he became a national hero in France, gaining French citizenship, the 45,000 francs and he became the first ever racing driver in France to be awarded by the state.<br />
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<h4>
Legacy</h4>
The outcome of the Grand Prix was not that celebrated elsewhere. Most of the critical voices cited the ridiculous majority of French teams, the dominance of Michelin-equipped cars and the shabby organization compared to the earlier Gordon Bennett races. The race was nevertheless catching on. The French Grand Prix became the standard and definition of motor racing competition until World War I. Soon enough after the success of its first running, many other countries opted to host their own invitational, international motor Grands Pix. From 1925 to 1927 a World Manufacturers' Championship was established with selected events counting towards the championship. This was replaced by the European Drivers' Championship four years after the demise of the Makes' championship in 1931. As its popularity grew larger, it was planned to be expanded to a World Championship, which fell through after WWII broke out. After the war the idea was revived once again, only now the cars would run under a set of rules and restrictions, created by the sporting department of the newly formed FIA. They had plans for three classes of cars: Formula A, B and C. The first Grand Prix to field the "A" category cars took place as early as 1946 in Nice, on the Promenade des Anglais, just a stonethrow away from Monaco. By 1949 the plans for a World Championship was completed and the classes were renamed by numericals instead of the alphabetical designation, thus the FIA Formula 1 World Championship kicked off at Silverstone in 1950.<br />
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The Automobile Club de la Sarthe continued to organize races, but they were more and more disappointed with the even shorter Grand Prix racing formula, they set up the ultimate competition of touring cars by racing for 24 hours on the Circuit de la Sarthe, now to the South of Le Mans, starting in 1923. The Club later renamed itself the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO).<br />
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The Vanderbilt Cup remained the most prestigious race in the US until a certain gentleman named Carl Graham Fisher of Indiana returned to the States from Europe with the same vision to host similar grand racing events in America. Bought a land in Indiana and proposed his plans for a cutting-edge track, serving as a proving ground for car manufacturers. The facility was named the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which would later host one of the biggest racing events in the world, the Indianapolis 500. The Vanderbilt Cup was soon to be rendered to be a secondary event and kept returning in various forms. In the late 1990s and early 2000s it was CART/ChampCar's most valued winning prize.<br />
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Louis Chevrolet and Vicenzio Lancia both went and established their own car manufacturing brands. Chevrolet is the primary brand of General Motors, one of the biggest car-maker in the world. Chevrolet cars are all over the racing world to this day. Lancia as a brand remained small as a part of Fiat, but its successes in racing - especially in rallying - made it a legend.<br />
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After the Grand Prix, sales of Renault cars skyrocketed, making it one of the most influential car brands in the world. It is now partnered with Nissan and its subsidiary includes Dacia. Renault continued a prosperous career in racing, especially in Formula 1. They were the first to go ahead with turbocharging in the 70s and more F1 cars won races with Renault engines than anything else.<br />
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Ferenc (or now Francois) Szisz took part in the 1907 French Grand Prix as well, coming in second. In the 1908 race he retired, just as at the first American Grand Prix at Savannah, Georgia. He then retired from racing and Renault completely, only to be brought out of retirement by in 1914 by Fernand Charrons, one of his great rivals to compete one last time. He retired from leading position during a tyre-change when he was swiped away by a passing car. When the war broke out, he joined the French army voluntarily. Surviving the war he lived a peaceful life with his wife, outside Paris as Auffargis. He died in 1944 and he is buried at the local churchyard. The Renault Museum is responsible keeping the grave tidy. There is a Szisz Museum next to the Circuit de la Sarthe, which is part of the Renault Museum. In Hungary he has a statue at the entrance of the Hungaroring F1 racetrack. The first corner is named after him, and there is a small museum bearing his name in his birth town, Szeghalom. Its most valued exhibition piece is Fernando Alonso's Renault racing suit donated to the museum out of gratitude. An annual Szisz rallycross cup is held outside Szeghalom on a dirt track.<br />
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<i>Sources: Wikipedia, First Super Speedway</i><br />
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This article has also appeared on <a href="http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the-controversial-and-glorious-begginings-of-grand-prix-1459511983">Oppositelock</a>.Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-60967300777437827792013-05-20T16:13:00.001+02:002013-05-23T11:27:51.064+02:00Grand Legacy movieSo here the movie that I've worked on in the past weeks in my free time. Not much polished, got some errors and flaws in there, but I hope you enjoy it.<br />
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The beginning of Grand Prix racing and IndyCar:<br />
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<br />Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-4013281831287259402013-05-16T11:53:00.001+02:002013-05-16T11:53:55.098+02:00Mille Miglia 2013 - (a clumsy version of following it) LIVE #millemiglia<div style="text-align: center;">
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Twitter live feed and webcams to follow below, just to see what beautiful landscapes Mille Miglia runs through:</div>
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Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-64208214441743448762012-11-30T01:35:00.000+01:002012-11-30T01:35:37.925+01:00When The Saints Go Merging In<br />
<b>2012</b> saw some extraordinary changes in <b>motorsports</b>. Some series thought it was time to put the racing slicks up on the shelf, while others thought it was a good idea to occupy the neighbour's backyard with eventually <b>moving in under a common roof</b>. Whether it's good or bad, it is happening now with some very intriguing results. Let's see what the year of the London Olympics had up its sleeves for the motor racing fan not associated with.<br />
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Whoever thought the <b>credit crunch</b> was all bad was either an estate agent, a CEO of a major company, some millions of average citizens, or an F1 fan. It all started with the <b><i>IRL/ChampCar merge</i></b> back in 2008. While the unification had nothing to do with the credit crunch, as it happened almost a year before that, it set the template for the year of thin calves to come, and outlined some of the DOs and DON'Ts to be considered, which were thrown out of the window in this example. Rewinding the clock, <b>IndyCar</b> split to CART and the Indy Racing League back in the mid-'90s with CART having all the teams, all the <i>media coverage, all the know-how and sponsorship</i>, leaving the IRL with some souped-up go-karts, a calendar with about four dates among which, though, one was the <b><i>Indianapolis 500</i></b>. I am sure all of you played those car card games where you have a single car that is unbeatable by almost any parameter (older packs: usually a Ferrari of some sort, newer ones: a Veyron) and you can turn around the game and win from only having three cards left with this Joker in hand. Well, the Indy 500 is something very similar. <b>CART</b> (later ChampCar) was very impressive, fast and exciting, but it <i>lacked the</i><i> heart the clumsy IRL had</i>. This, combined with the lack of interest caused by the split with <i>fans wandering off to NASCAR</i>, <b>ChampCar</b> had to bow out as neither the teams, the manufacturers or the <i>sponsors slowly realised it was a series of lost values and drifted to the one that still had some</i>. Thus, ChampCar went out of business, and all of the assets were acquired by IRL with the promise to appeal to the fans of both series.<br />
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Unfortunately they got it all wrong. The first time at least.<br />
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They took the worst of two worlds and boiled it down in a tub to make a mash no one was particularly in favour of. The one-make cars that were designed to go fast around ovals while being raced mostly on street circuits was not something that went through without major question marks, but - cutting to the chase - the now unified <b>IndyCar</b> <b>heard those criticisms</b> and added some more ovals eventually, encouraged manufacturers to take part, new chassis developed with parts to be self-developed later on. It all seems to be recalling the glory days of Indy racing. But it is too late, <b>the damage was done</b>, after almost 20 years. <b>NASCAR is king</b> in the US.<br />
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So out of all this, what the <b>ALMS</b> and <b>GrandAm</b> have to learn? Before I would get into that, let's sum up another similar, although potentially lot more successful story.<br />
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The <b>Intercontinental Rally Challenge</b> was conceived by <b><i>EuroSport</i></b> as a <b><i>made-for-TV alternative to the WRC</i></b>. It all seemed to be working, however, there were a few problems. Apart from the fact that it <i>wasn't really intercontinental</i>. Nor it came with a too prestigious title at the end of the year. Still, the <i>exposure it granted</i> was enough to attract teams and make a spectacle. However, as an old, forgotten brother in the closet, there hang the FIA <b>European Rally Championship</b>, challenged for the same spot. So the question was rather obvious: <i>why shouldn't the privileges of media pass on to the series that had the history, making a unified European challenge</i>. And this is exactly what happened. Or at least what should be happening from 2013.<br />
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Cutting back to <b>American sportscar racing</b> - there is a bad example and a rater positive example to follow here: <b><i>how to incorporate the best of both worlds without all the setbacks</i></b>.<br />
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Givens are: <i>one series that baldly embraces its European ancestry</i>, and another one - sanctioned by the country's largest body, owning the biggest motoring spectacle, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - creating something of their own and recalling some of the atmosphere of the <i>Carrera Panamericana</i> ,where European sportscars were put alongside American stock cars for an epic challenge through Northern Mexico, all these manifested in the <b><i>Daytona Prototype</i></b> cars running at the Daytona road course.<br />
This time the situation is a lot more complicated: <b>how to keep those values at a balance?</b> What to throw out and what to keep?<br />
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Especially that <b><i>NASCAR is going to be the sanctioning body</i></b>, it's easy to assume with a told-you-so attitude that it would go down as the longer, slower and uncut version of NASCAR, however this seems not to be the case. They are even <i>crowd sourcing a name</i> for the new series.<br />
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Push comes to shove, some things have to be eliminated. Tracks, teams, even categories. The single biggest question is that whether <b>DPs</b> (top GrandAm category) or <b>LMP2s</b> (same for ALMS) should go. It has already been decided that the GT class would come from ALMS, which would strongly suggest that DPs take the top step, ditching P2s. Or maybe not. Just think about it: <b><i>the link missing between full-blown prototypes</i></b> (as P1s) <b><i>and GTs</i></b> are the cars with <b>production-DNA</b>. Which are the P2s and DPs (with production-derived engine blocks). In that order. Why not have P2s AND DPs, with DPs renamed "P3"s, or P2s as "SP"s as in "<i>Sebring Prototype</i>". Of course FIA and ACO would have a say or two about this, but it would be the logical step to do as their power output, technology and rice would suggest. Or taking the matter even one step further, DPs have a slight stock car DNA with their <i>attempted mimicry of actual production cars</i>, even they are very subtle touches as the headlight-decals or some vague attempt to resemble the <b><i>basic silhouette</i></b> of the "donor" car.<br />
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There is something <b><i>primarily engaging</i></b> with racing cars that - at least in part - look like production models. That is partly why NASCAR is successful ("everyday" cars running around 200mph, "I have one of those"), that is why the <b>V8 Supercars</b>, <b>DTM</b> or the <b>SuperGT</b> evokes some sort of instinctively tribal phenomenon.<br />
Funnily enough, <b><i>DTM and SuperGT</i></b> announced the <i>unification of their specifications</i>, which creates an almost WWII-grandeur alliance in motorsports, the "<i>Axis of Silhouette</i>". Did I mention that Daytona Prototypes are welcome in the GT300 category in SuperGT? Did someone just say there's an <i>intercontinental thread of stock cars, sport prototypes and silhouette touring cars</i>, making perhaps one, worldwide-spread, unified series somewhere down the line? If this is not destined for epic greatness or miserable failure, I don't know what could touch this anyway. Talking about credit crunch and necessity: <i>creativity cannot be bought.</i><br />
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There are marriages in times of need where romance is left outside the building with surviving being the keyword. These never go down without bitterness (as no marriage does), but that doesn't mean there can't be really extraordinary children out of them.Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-71425337479183247742012-08-02T21:12:00.005+02:002012-08-02T21:15:15.799+02:00Motorsports vs. The #OlympicsThere has been an ongoing debate since the establishment of the <b>modern Olympics</b> whether <b>motor racing</b> should be included (as the two institutions started at the same time). Pro-arguers claim that <i>race drivers are true athletes</i>, nay-sayers will tell you that there is a reduced <i>human element</i> in motor racing and the overall performance of the combination of man and machine can be <i>50-50% the best</i>, with the machine balancing constantly on the heavier side. Both of them are seemingly right, but let's look at the issue in detail.<br />
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Let's use simple logic here. Parallels are being thrown around from sleighing through sailing to equestrian sports that use some sort of tool (or animal) to compete. At the end of the day it always comes down to the <b>difference between the sports(wo)men</b>, and their ability to be superior over their opponents, which includes <i>the sense for choosing the right tool to be successful</i>. Of course, the "right tool" is not necessarily the "better tool", but more like the "suitable one" (let's suppose everyone uses pro-tools, not going against sticks broken off a hedge). Thus one kind of bow for example is not better over another one, it may just be more suitable for the person using it. On the other hand, there are more complicated tools, such as a bobsleigh or a sailing boat, which could easily make much difference, thus the IOC took a simple move: <b>standardize</b> them. <i>No unfair advantage over other competitors.</i></div>
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In the same way, there should be <b>standard, equal motor vehicles used at an Olympic challenge</b> if considered, which makes the debate on the ratio between man and machine irrelevant due to everyone sharing the same percentage, thus making the <b>competition mano a mano</b>.</div>
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Now this all seems fine, but I can already hear you complaining that <b>motor vehicles</b> are <i>WAY</i> too <b>complicated "tools"</b>, so a failure of one component could be the judge between winning or losing. Quite right, I shall add, but <b>what about horses?</b> When an equestrian hits the field in the pentathlon for example, there is an <i>unpredictable percentage of performance credited to the horse</i>. For one reason, there are no two identical horses (until they decide to clone them) and for another one, <i>a horse can have a bad day too</i>, so to speak. So if a horse does not feel like hurdling in the finals and stops in front of the first gate, that is indeed a problem cannot be solved. In the same way, a failure of a component in a motor vehicle is one of those unpredictable factors cannot be foreseen, making the <b>horsepowers no less eligible at the Olympics than horses.</b></div>
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By following simple logic <b>there seems to be no way why motorsports could not qualify as Olympic sports</b>, the problem is rather different.</div>
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The real question is, <b>what sort of motorsport</b> should head to the Olympics? Because the world of motorsports is about as varied as the universe of sports in general, <i>motor-powered competitions could in fact have their own Olympics (and they actually have)</i>. But let's stick to the topic and suppose one could delegate one motorsport to the Olympics, what would it be.</div>
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Many would instantly say "Well, of course <i>F1</i> should be the part of the Olympics, because it's the king of motorsports, blah-blah-blah...". It would almost seem reasonable, but there are multiple problems here: 1. "King of motorsports" is decided upon personal preference, it does not have anything to do with the amount of money involved or viewers' figures; 2. See problem above on equal cars, but an A1GP-sort of event would still seem reasonable; 3. Why open-wheel single seaters? 4. Why circuit racing, why not (insert any sort of motoring competition here)?; but most importantly 5. Why four wheels, why not two (three, etc.)?</div>
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Let's start with one of the most obvious problems: the <b>sort of racing</b>. Keeping in mind that <b>the vehicle is just a tool, the competition could be bent and likened to any other Olympic sports</b>. Cutting to the chase, I believe a <b>time trial</b> would be most appropriate over head-to-head racing, because it is the purest form of competition: who is fastest? The question is whether you look at motor racing as the 100-meter sprint or wrestling. As a matter of fact, <i>head-to-head racing cannot be looked at as pure wrestling</i>, because all the wrestling would happen during running. Yes, it includes a more complex driving technique but if someone is put into a gravel trap by someone else, there is no repeat, no second try, that position is lost forever - due to the fault of someone else. A time trial on the other hand eliminates all these problems and concentrates on pure speed. While <b>wrestling cannot be conducted by any other means, motorsports can be</b>. Whether it is conducted on a circuit or a point-to-point stage, it is almost irrelevant, but a circuit in a stadium is of course more comfortable for attendance and a lot more easier to broadcast.</div>
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<b>The vehicles</b>. <i>Heavy compromise</i>. Universally <b>motorcycle and car racing</b> are the two most popular and most practiced motorsports, at least at the beginning these two could be delegated. The vehicles themselves could be easily picked, just take a look at the "<b>Race of Champions</b>" - which is by the way a de facto Olympics of car competition. 3-4 types of vehicles used through the whole event, so drivers from different backgrounds ave a mixed experience, somewhat equalizing the chances. There is only one problem with this one, and the whole issue in general: <b>Environment</b>. The <b>spirit of the Olympics</b> (uniting people, peace, unity over differences, etc.) includes protecting our environment, thus rubber- and petrol-burning cars going sideways are definitely not the right message the IOC would want to get through. It should <i>showcase new technology, sending the right message, so what else than some <b>electric cars and motorcycles</b>?</i> Moreover, <b>something designed specifically for the Olympics</b>, not based on any other existing models, further emphasizing the challenge between drivers.</div>
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It all seems reasonable in my mind: a RoC-type of event where <b>drivers are representing nations</b>, with vehicles sending out the desired message correlating the spirit of challenge and the future.</div>
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If this is too much at once, the idea could be scaled down a lot: because if equestrian challenge is part of <b>pentathlon</b>, sure, <b>driving</b> could be part of it, too (which would make it... *gulp* sexathlon?). A short circuit/special stage/hill climb as part of this already complicated challenge could be a starting point for sure.</div>
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But this is all just speculation and playing mind-games. Why not just go for the obvious? How about an <b>Athens to Other City Hosting The Olympics endurance rally</b>? Like the legendary <i>Peking to Paris, London to Mexico, London to Sydney, Liége-Sofia-Liége, Paris-Dakar</i> rallies. Virtually <b>following the route of the Olympic flame</b>, instead of a sprint session, it would be the marathon for cars, trucks and motorcycles. A <b>road rally with special stages</b> here and there. A rally where <b>all sorts of drivers from all sorts of backgrounds could jump in and be competitive immediately.</b></div>
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Can you imagine that? <b>Athens to London? Athens to Rio de Janeiro?</b> Winning an Olympic gold medal at the end? I think everyone can...</div>Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-25549968319839976972012-07-27T14:04:00.002+02:002012-07-27T18:43:03.743+02:00The Tempest - How #F1 May Have Less European Races But More Countries InvolvedBlack clouds are forming over the <b>European F1 map</b>. Voices of lack of finance are echoing from all corners of the continent. Some even fear that <i>the <span style="background-color: white;">circus leave</span>s the 'old world'</i> for good and sets foot in the Middle- and Far-East where (seemingly) unlimited money is. Is it so and if yes, what can be done about it?<br />
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Weather is the ultimate scriptwriter of motorsports. Just think the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix and you'll get the picture. But there are more subtle appearances of its influence. Think the British Grand Prix this year. No, not the parking lot Odyssey, but Murray Walker during Qualifying. While the torrential rain was in a sense very much British, it was also very much British to let Murray Walker speak. And of course, what else he could talk about but "<i>F1 coming home</i>". Fortunately he never forgot to mention that <a href="http://srcint.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/ferenc%20szisz">the actual home of Grand Prix racing is France</a>, which is sadly not on the F1 calendar anymore. Take that and the news that the Nürburgring in Germany might close for good with Hockenheim being unable to host F1 from year-to-year alone.<br />
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This could mean that <b>F1 could miss a consistent German GP</b>. Lack of consistency means here that the event could be converted into bi-annual event.<br />
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In further not-so-news <b>the Belgian GP could be off the calendar as well</b>, as it has been hung on the verge of vanishing. I am not taking the time and the will to collect all the reasons why these events are wavering towards the exit (nevertheless they are deeply rooted in financing, what else), but what is almost certain that <b>we can expect less European F1 races in the future</b>. So for now let us be progressive and see where this could lead us.<br />
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Currently there are <i>eight European rounds out of the twenty</i>: Spain, Monaco, Europe, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Belgium and Italy. Quite a lot considering it is a World Championship, even when the proportions showed further European dominance in the past. Obviously Bernie Ecclestone likes consistency, little resistance and profitable events, thus it would all seem reasonable to move away from Europe to Asia, where there is less control over advertising, politics has less influence on the events, and there is money. Lots of it. But of course <b>F1 would and could not break away from its European roots that radically</b>, so how could you cut races in Europe while maintaining consistency and keep all the countries interested in hosting F1 races?<br />
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The recipe may be embedded in what the Germans invented a few years back. With neither the <span style="background-color: white;">Hockenheimring or </span>the Nürburgring was being able have an F1 race every year, they collectively decided to be the <i>host of the German Grand Prix alternatively</i>, making it a consistent round on the calendar, but with the duty shared.<br />
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This is something that may be applied to the whole continent in the near future. The already-saturated 20-race calendar will unlikely to be able to pick up further (European) events, but <b>countries could come to an agreement to team up and rotate the calendar</b> by matching up events.<br />
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The <b>French Grand Prix is said to make a comeback</b>. Clearly they could only do so by dodging some other round out of the calendar. Most likely the Belgian GP, which is one fan-favourite but dying on its own anyway. So why not just have a French GP one year and a Belgian the next? Same for the Russian GP. Concerning the geography and the market, the Hungarian GP is an equivalent, which is a firm competitor, being backed by the government, but not the pinnacle of F1 racing. Thus see example above.<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">If we are thinking this through, we could easily find <b>European events to match up</b>, e.g.:</span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: white;">Belgium - France/Germany</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Hungary - Russia/Bulgaria</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Spain - Portugal/Italy</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Great Britain - France/Germany (ha ha!)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Monaco</span></li>
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The possibilities are of course much greater than that, but all of them seem to be a reasonable choice. By 'reasonable' of course I mean after I dodged all the rotten tomatoes and death threats from Italian, Spanish, Hungarian and British fans. Of course, there are are tracks that can afford F1 every year and willing to do so (they could bid for the European GP when being "off-season"), but may have to sacrifice their permanent status to a relay run.<br />
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Otherwise, <b>the FIA must do something about countries left without F1</b>, don't they?<br />
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Well, <b>step in Formula Two</b>. The series that have been recently revived by the FIA, seemingly unnecessarily due to the existence of GP2, GP3 (which are support events to F1 races in Europe) and other, strong single-seater series, such as the World Series by Renault (in multiple categories), Auto GP, various national and international F3 series, etc. <span style="background-color: white;">Thus it would be a great opportunity for the </span>FIA<span style="background-color: white;"> to promote their very own junior single-</span>seater<span style="background-color: white;"> championship in these countries during "off-F1 season", accompanied by further, European series. This would not generate an empty spot on the calendar of the venues (not that they would not be able to fill it on their own, but at least they would be granted a fixture by the </span>FIA<span style="background-color: white;">), cut costs, improve variety, and the audience could further get to know more young drivers, who might be seen in F1 the next year.</span><br />
This is of course just from the mind of a European who wants to see more European F1 races, but aware of the cost and the reality of it. In my mind <b><i>we could have more countries involved with less races on the calendar, while reinforcing that junior series are worth watching</i></b>, not just when they come in a package.<br />
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What do you think?Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-49605812006845850652012-06-24T04:08:00.000+02:002012-06-24T04:08:41.974+02:00The Struggle Within - FIA World Championships On The Verge Of CollapseIn medias res: <b>FIA is fighting (or rather witnessing) a war with its own 'children'</b>. <b><i>F1 and WRC.</i></b> One is <i>forced to make decisions</i> for its own benefit, but it might come with a price it cannot afford and gears up for war instead, while the other one just <i>wants to be seen</i> and not overlooked in favor of its step-sibling, not wanting to be stabbed in the back or vanish altogether. Whatever happens, it might change the future of motorsports for decades.<br />
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Perhaps needless to say that the <b>root of the problems in both cases is finance</b>, although from very different perspectives.</div>
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<b>V6 turbo engines in F1</b> should be effective from 2014. To cut a long story short, teams don't like the idea because <i>engines would cost more to buy</i> (initially at least), thus they want the current engines to be in charge for as long as possible, because they are cheap and got to the point where they are bulletproof due to their perfected multi-year designs. Let's admit: there hasn't been too many engine failures in recent years. But the <b>world of motorsports stepped to a way new level in the meantime</b> with the added <b>'green' factor</b>. And while F1 has jumped on the bandwagon with the <i>KERS</i> system, it just draws more attention to the elephant in the room: the engines have been the same for a long time.</div>
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When a couple of years ago <b>engine development was frozen</b>, it was the right thing to do for cost-effective reasons and with the added rev-limiting reliability was strengthened that enabled multi-race usage, too - another <b>cost-cutting feature</b>. It all seemed to be going well when the recession hit big time leaving F1 in 2009 with works teams leaving or about to leave and classic races threatened with dropout. To give a nudge and a twist to the knife in the open wound, <b>FIA announced even more restrictions</b> in budget and an equalizing <b>two-tier concept</b> between the 'big' and the 'small' teams in their new Concorde Agreement proposal. This of course enraged the <i>Formula One Team Association</i> enough to quickly announce a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prix_World_Championship">breakaway rival series to F1</a>, where works team were free to throw around and burn money according to their good will, getting rid of all the 'green' stuff, in front of audiences that were witnesses of decades Grand Prix tradition but deprived of F1 in recent years or with no GP tradition at all, but simply being new markets. Ultimately a compromised settlement between FIA and FOTA was made until 2012.</div>
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On a personal note, in retrospective, I would have liked to see the Grand Prix World Championship happening. Although it all seemed a disaster at the time, it would have correlated with the <i>tradition of pre-war Grand Prix racing</i> more - the Golden Age of its kind - with all the national works teams and the classic events.</div>
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Well, we arrived to 2012, the time for the <b>new Concorde Agreement</b> - mostly centered around the aforementioned V6 turbo engines. And surprise-surprise: the fulminated <i>Flavio Briatore</i> is rumored to be working on a <a href="http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/f1-and-gp1/">GP1 series</a> taking effect in the near future. Powered by the current, normally aspirated V8s.</div>
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This time it seems <b>more of a reality</b> because, frankly, all the tools are given, and this time it wouldn't do a favor to the biggest teams, but the smaller ones who would not be able to afford the new V6 engines. Delaying or postponing the new engines in F1 wouldn't be a wise choice as the manufacturers already spent a budget of the GDP of a small, third-world country each, thus giving the plan the red card would make <i>them </i>leave for good surely.</div>
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So what could the FIA do to save the cabbage and feed the goat at the same time?</div>
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A <b>'slow' introduction</b> of V6 turbo engines would be an acceptable alternative <i>á la Toro Rosso in 2006</i>, where the newfound team was left without the then-new V8 powerplant on the ruins of Minardi and was forced to use V10s from the previous year, although with serious restrictions on revs. A similar transition could be achieved in a year or two in the current situation, but <i>those who shall choose the V8 <b>should not be part of the Constructors' Championship</b></i> - if FIA really wants to push the new engines.</div>
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Whatever the solution might be, a <b>two-tier system seems inevitable</b> or face two separate series.</div>
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As far as <b>WRC</b> is concerned, the situation is quite the opposite. Or very much similar - depending on which side you take on the looking glass. WRC <b>has to face extinction</b>. In the 80s it was competing with F1 in popularity and was the <i>only World Championship sanctioned by the FIA beside the open-wheel series during most of the 90s</i>. Now it has two works team with Ford about to leave allegedly and initially <a href="http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100334">no rallies signing up</a> for the 2013 calendar due to an extra 80,000 GBP to be paid by each event's organizers.</div>
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In the meantime, the <b>Intercontinental Rally Challenge</b> is lavishing in works teams and televised, classic rallies despite its almost exclusively European range of territory. During its short history it saw events as the Tour de Corse, the Sanremo Rally, the Targa Florio, the Safari Rally, the Circuit of Ireland and at one point even the Monte Carlo Rally! This and works teams as Honda, Peugeot, M-Sport (de facto Ford), Renault, Skoda and Subaru <b>makes one wonder why isn't this series called the World Rally Championship</b>.</div>
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Where did it go all wrong and how IRC become such a massive success in such a short time? Parts of the answer has already been detailed as above, but the presence of works teams had to be settled first. <b>What have IRC had that WRC doesn't?</b></div>
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The answer might lie in two <b>crucial errors made by the FIA</b> on behalf of WRC: <b>granting media</b> (i.e. TV) exposure and introducing the <b>rotating calendar</b>. In other words: it had a convincing live appearance all around the world, but on the downside one could never expect if one's favorite event would return the next year. Combine this with the relatively hard access to it by the masses. Put it simply: a WRC run completely new to the calendar capable of giving the jizz almost exclusively to the locals only due to hard to find it on TV. As opposed to IRC that simply picked up events familiar even to non-motorsports enthusiasts and were left out of the WRC calendar, with having granted first-class coverage on EuroSport. The <b>different approaches</b> resulted in the strange phenomenon in 2009 and 2010 where WRC was left without the Monte Carlo Rally while IRC had the Col de Turini televised live on EuroSport.</div>
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And maybe there's a third reason: <i>FIA being at IRC as a sanctioning body only</i>, not peeking over their shoulders all the time. Nevertheless, this sandbox war happens in its own backyard. Such as the alleged F1 vs. GP1 battle.</div>
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What is the FIA doing? Perhaps <b>five world championships is just too much</b>, never mind that F1 - the most popular motorsport and one of the most viewed sports in general all around the world - is one of them? And where could all this lead in the future?</div>
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(Un)fortunately, motorsports have been there already.<b> IndyCar</b> is one prime example. When the <i>Indy Racing League</i> dissected from IndyCar, it took the <i>Indy 500</i> with it and nothing more. It promised <i>low-cost, but competitive racing</i>, truer to <b>American traditions</b> and having one race from the "Triple Crown of Motor Sports". The other half, CART/ChampCar seemed altogether strong and somewhat unbeatable: engines and chassis from different manufacturers, not one-make series as the rival one. But something happened down the line. People started watching <i>NASCAR </i>and even in the decreasing TV figures IRL started slowly coming up and finally beating ChampCar. Also, <i>Team Penske</i> and <i>Ganassi Racing</i> decided to do their own take and go to the Indy 500 anyway later with more and more <i>teams leaving ChampCar</i> in favor of IRL, manufacturers leaving the dying series altogether. The double bankruptcy of the series' owner didn't help either and led to the merge of the two series creating once again a unified IndyCar Series.</div>
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What were the crucial <b>downfalls of the ChampCar series</b> that are relevant to our current case with F1 and WRC beside finance?</div>
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Briefly: <b>disrespecting traditions</b>.</div>
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ChampCar couldn't be further from the American tradition. It virtually had no input from the USA as far as the cars were concerned. One could order chassis from British manufacturers and engines from Toyota, Honda, Mercedes or Cosworth. that sounds more like an F1 assembly rather than an all-American showdown. And then the races. The US developed an open-wheel racing tradition on oval tracks and ChampCar managed to put out a calendar with zero oval races on it in its final year. And for the same reason, European and South-American drivers dominated the championship for over a decade, which didn't help to build the American image either - turning more viewers to NASCAR.</div>
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But <b>it's all back now</b>, with a completely new car, various engine manufacturers and a growing demand to more oval tracks, as they are providing immense amount of spectacle.</div>
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Same way with <b>WRC and IRC: a merger of the two series</b> seems inevitable if FIA doesn't want to lose WRC's credibility and time is running out: the more they hesitate, the more races will sign up for <b>IRC - the current torch-carrier of traditional events and teams</b>. WRC will lose to IRC at some point, the question is when.</div>
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As far as F1 and GP1 is concerned: it is a lot harder mountain to climb, but <b>Bernie burned enough bridges</b> to worth revisiting many of the events that were rejected by F1 long ago or <b>discovering new places</b> to race (not necessarily with the most up-to-date venues). This and a <i>well-known, easily accessible format to racing and regulations</i> could make even the big teams think and would be essentially a no-brainer for the rest of the field to switch. The question is whether Briatore would be able to convince such heavy weapon machinery akin to Ferrari to "join the dark side".</div>
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For the final word in the matter is: <b>where Ferrari goes, de facto Formula 1 will there be</b>.</div>
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<b>FIA</b>, it is now your turn: <b>WEC</b> has just been reborn. <b>WTCC</b> is overshadowed by one works team. <b>GT1WC</b> is dying. <b>WRC</b> is about to lose out to a rival series. <b>F1</b> is seduced by easy money.</div>
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<i>You were looking so much forward to reinvent everything at the same time that <b>you were fooled</b> by simplicity and old wisdom.</i></div>
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Pick up the fight, go!</div>
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</div>Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-9622081583727632782012-04-20T22:03:00.001+02:002012-04-20T22:03:34.723+02:00Project "Grand Legacy" - a film on the birth of #F1"Grand Legacy" is my little project. Aimed to tell the story of Renault and Ferenc Szisz and their fabulous win at the first French Grand Prix in 1906 - the grandfather of all contemporary F1 races.<br />
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Also, it would give an insight to the races preceding the event: the 1905 Gordon Bennett Cup and the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup.<br />
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All this presented with contemporary F1, IndyCar and other images from various racing series.<br />
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Two work-in-progress videos from the middle of the film, showing the Vanderbilt Cup of 1905 with the images of the 1996 US 500 - where the Vanderbilt Cup was revived for the first time.<br />
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Please leave comments, and keep in mind that this is all work-in-progress, like I said, so creative advises are very much welcome.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nixyFIaw4JE" width="640"></iframe>Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-25514628017380849702012-03-02T07:43:00.000+01:002012-03-02T07:43:15.537+01:00How McLaren Is Killing The Supercar<br />
While not long ago <a href="http://srcint.blogspot.com/2011/02/top-101-supercars-ever-made.html">I put the McLaren F1 as the best supercar ever made</a>, their latest venture, the <b>MP4-12C</b> - named after their <i>1997 F1</i> car, is somewhat of a letdown. Moreover, I dare to say, McLaren is down the road to <b>kill the content behind the term 'supercar'</b>.<br />
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I have never owned a supercar. I have never driven one. I barely see one on the roads. And that is exactly I am entitled to make a judgement here.<br />
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The reason behind the McLaren roadcar-bashing is mainly the materials used in the car. <b>Supercars</b> are not made of steel, aluminium, carbon-fibre, magnesium, different alloys - contrary to the popular belief - but <b>dreams</b>. Cloudy, candy floss images where <i>cars are war horses and roads are deadly dungeons</i>. And within these dreams the McLaren MP4-12C fits in as well as a minister of equal opportunities in a street riot.<br />
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Yes, the McLaren is fast, faster than almost everything else put out lately, <i>it is equipped with a grand mixture of technological advancements</i> with groundbreaking "green" figures. And as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mKB-8WUB5k">Chris Harris pointed out</a>, the car is easy to live with, it can <b>behave as an ordinary car</b> in ordinary, everyday situations.<br />
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<i>And that exactly my problem is.</i><br />
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Because yes, it works properly in all situations and it is quick indeed, it is a <b>perfect street, road and track car</b>, where every engineered part is subordinated to performance and usability, ditching styling as something old-school, but that compromise comes with a price.<br />
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There is no other way of putting the problem but with the words of Hungarian motoring journalist <a href="http://srcint.blogspot.com/2011/04/days-worth-living-for.html">Gabor Bazso</a> (aka Nino Karotta) who - in his pursuit of designing and building his own <i>Datsun 260Z trackday car</i> - contemplated over the design of the car's new, flared wheelarches:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I am unable to envision the curve of the rear wheelarches upon aerodynamic basis. This is not the sort of motorsport where every single air-molecule is forced to take a different route around the body. This should be left to Adrian Newey. Only in good looks I am interested in. ... I don't care whether those air-molecules fly by slowly or quickly, I just want them to have an erection while doing so."</blockquote>
In other words, <b>the McLaren is just not inspiring enough</b>. Or at all. I can't imagine the person who's dreaming about the McLaren, although he should be the sort of person who's browsing and comparing torque figures in his spare time, rather than Playboy centerfolds.<br />
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The other thing is the <b>handling</b>, and this is the most crucial part. There is <i>nothing wrong with a well-designed chassis and great balance</i>. It's the <b>abundance of electronics</b>. In fact, McLaren decided to put Michael Schumacher's brain in the car. It is like if Schuey himself was sitting in the passanger seat with extra pedals for him as in driving instructors' cars. He greets you with a big smile and says: <i>"Today, we are going to go fast."</i> So you're putting your foot on the pedal, hitting an A-road, while Schuey not saying anything. <i>He will however dance his way through on his own pedals</i>, breaking when needed, accelerating when needed. And out of every corner he is putting a big smile on his face with a <i>"Well done!"</i> look in his eyes, thinking <i>"Mein Gott!"</i> in the meantime.<br />
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Honestly, <b>are you still dreaming of a car your mother can drive</b>, too?<br />
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And what is it that it slices through city traffic easily? Who ever wanted a practical supercar? I know, it's the <b>Honda NSX</b> that started the whole trend, but the whole sexepil of that car at the time was going against the trends and putting handling before power, while retaining a reasonably sized boot. The MP4-12C does that too. And some more. And again, more, until the point it overkills it. In fact, killing it. Not just committing suicide, but endangering the species of supercars. Because if it's a <b>practical supercar</b> you want, why not start your search at the other end of the scale and look for <b>high-performance saloons</b>? No, a <b>BMW M5</b> won't go as fast around the corner as the McLaren, but it has four seats, a big boot, tremendous amount of power, and <b>a huge smile-factor</b>.<br />
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<b>So what does McLaren do?</b><br />
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McLaren is making speed <i>accessible</i>. It's making it <i>commonplace</i>. It's just putting more numbers at the bottom right corner of the speedometer. <b>It's making the supercar friendly.</b><br />
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<b>McLaren is now turning James Hunt into Lewis Hamilton.</b><br />
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It is your choice to decide whether you'd have a beer with James or talking of suspensions with Lewis.<br />Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-6999130387348363062012-02-18T13:56:00.000+01:002012-02-18T14:13:39.539+01:00My Crush On FWD Four-Door Saloons<br />
<i>"So what is this thing with you and <b>front wheel-drive four-door saloons</b>?"</i> asked <i>Tiff Needell</i> almost pinning me against the wall at this party at a Goodwood lounge. I had a waverly look at him as my goatie hairs gently pulsed under his cider-flavoured breath and threw an arm towards <i>Chris Harris</i> to help me out. <i>"Well..."</i> I started with a croaking voice and an uncomfortable look in my eyes, trying to kill time until Chris was willing to come over. <i>"The thing is with these cars is that they are not BMWs... or Astons...or Mercs, *ahem* but something that... you know... you can buy... for real."</i> That didn't seem to convince Tiff and I was ready to threw new arguments into our Pythonesque conversation, but just as I opened my mouth, he indulged himself into a monologue concerning the new BMW M5, rear-wheel drive, chassis setup, and all those sorts of things while spilling cider on his shoes and the floor. Luckily enough, Harris finally came around with a pint of Löwenbrau in his hand, listened to Tiff's tech-talk and just as the grey-haired presenter stopped for a minute, he dropped the final words to end the conversation. <i>"The sandwiches are really good, you should try them."</i> and with that, he passed his beer over to me and made his way over the loo.<br />
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Of yourse, you wouldn't read any of this if I didn't try to come up with a point to start this post, attempting to put words into famous road-testers' mouth upon why I love front-wheel drive saloons. Because there is no real argument in this topic, there are no pros or cons, just personal affection, <b>my personal crush on these cars</b> without a single logical piece of objective explanation.<br />
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<i>Or is there one?</i> Let's find out.<br />
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Personally, I never owned a four-door saloon, but I really feel I should. And to get to the point, <b>four-door saloons are one of the most impractical practical cars as of 2012</b>, yet <i>one of the most sold ones</i> around the world.<br />
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With the massive spread of hatchbacks, <b>saloons got stuck</b> as something obsolete <b>between the hatchback and the estate category</b>. Because, first of all, <b><i>why would you want a saloon?</i></b><br />
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You would say it's the big <b>boot space</b>, for example. But no, it is not that much bigger as the car itself is compared an ordinary hatchback, but it is the same length as its estate counterpart that has virtually endless amount of boot space. You then could say there's enough room for your family to sit in the car, with <b>comfortable legroom</b> at the back seats, but again, it loses the point contrary to the estate, which has the same amount of legroom, plus the afore-mentioned boot space. Then you could mention the <b>price</b> that is slightly lower than of an estate, but when it comes to fitting the dog or the childrens' small bicycles in the car, your regular interior cleaning bill comes quickly into even terms with the price difference between the two.<br />
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So again, why would you buy a saloon?<br />
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Well, the simple answer is because <b>they look great</b>. Of course I'm not talking about saloons that were converted from hatchbacks, but proper, ground-up saloons - <b>limousines</b> if you like. They just have this <i>sinister look on the street</i>, especially in dark colours, preferably dark blue, grey or black. With some chrome trimming here and there, they really look like <b>something of class</b> compared to the rest of the usual cars on the roads.<br />
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Now the real <b>petrolhead</b> could say <i>"Yes, you got a point there, but why front-wheel drive? It is the worst thing ever happened to the car, closely followed by large cupholders and automatic transmission."</i><br />
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First things first, <i>cupholders are great</i> when you are stuck in a traffic jam, and <i>automatic transmission</i> is just wonderful when... you are stuck in a traffic jam. But they really don't have much to do with actual driving, so let's get back to our original point. <b>Front-wheel drive</b> does have <b>practical advantages over RWD</b>, especially with saloons and estates - meaning of course the <i>prop-shaft and the rear axle</i> occupying valuable room from the backseats and the boot in an FR-layout car - but let's not cite this fact here when I just proved superiority of saloons over everything else by means of single affection, but the other, most important practical argument is <b>FWD's price</b>. Because, as you may noticed, we live in a world where RWD is now the toy of higher-class manufacturers, meaning of course BMW and Mercedes in the first place being the cheapest of these. Looking back, perhaps the <i>Ford Sierra</i> and the <i>Opel Omega/Vauxhall Carlton</i> were the <i>last affordable FR-layout cars</i> and that piece of the market is simply missing now.<br />
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Yes, <b>RWD is more fun</b>, yes, enjoyable to drive, but even when you have the money to buy and maintain a BMW or a Mercedes, you cannot avoid the terms "hoon" and "posh" tagged onto you, respectively.<br />
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Also, this <b>doesn't mean FWD four-door saloons should be boring</b>. Let's just take motorsports pedigree. <i>Touring car racing</i> loves FWD saloons. Maybe not as much as hatchbacks, but still, they still can be good use in a contact-motorsport like <b>BTCC</b>. And if you just look at the podium at the end of each <b>WTCC</b> race, you'll notice that it is covered with one factory team with four-door saloons from race to race. Germany of course is the European heaven of RWD, so if you look at <b>DTM</b>, two out of three saloons represented are RWD with <i>Audi</i> still being 4WD or FWD, with the actual, purpose-built racecars all being RWD of course. Or just have a look at <b>NASCAR</b>. The most widely viewed motorsport right after F1. Its top series, the <i>Sprint Cup</i> features four four-door saloons, out of which three are front-wheel drive in real life with the <i>Dodge Charger</i> basically being a plain muscle car with two further doors attached, rather than a high-performance saloon. Of course, <b>none of these make the actual cars more exciting</b>, but their sheer layout and balance make them capable to perform probably the most spectacular motoring guilty pleasure on Earth, the <i>"arab drift</i>".<br />
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But <b>this is not the purpose of a FWD four-door saloon</b>. The point of the whole car should be to give you a sort of <b>down-to-earth class</b> - or rather <i>dignity</i> - <b>for good money</b>, without the negative preconceptions attached to the luxurious RWD counterparts. It should tell other people, you are an <i>ordinary person with a sinister life</i>. You have a proper house you worked for, a proper car you earned and you just simply have the right to drive a slightly big car that is not a 100% workhorse as an estate would be.<br />
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In other words, <b>a front-wheel drive four-door saloon makes you feel and look like a capital-letter CITIZEN</b>, as all of us want to be. And for a strange reason, <i>that is my crush</i>.<br />
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Well, Tiff seems to have fallen asleep, I should give him a ride home in this <i>Peugeot 605</i>.Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-74603842858082151192012-02-05T12:19:00.000+01:002012-02-18T14:03:27.197+01:00N/A N/A - The Death of Non-Turbo Engines<br />
While less than a year ago I was <a href="http://srcint.blogspot.com/2011/01/tyrannosaurus-lag.html">melting in awe</a> of the mightiness of the <b>classic turbocharged engine</b>, <i>opinions took an opposie lock</i> during the time elapsed and bounced off the Wall of Champions. But it's not the turbo's fault. Let me explain.<br />
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I'm still in love with the epic turbo-lag caused by a small engine - gigantic turbocharger combination. Only <b>turbo has become too much commonplace</b> in the sense that its original purpose has been confiscated and replaced by a green toe-thumb tag. In fact, I was the first one to jump from the armchair and throw hands in the air when it was announced officially that <i>turbocharged V6 engines</i> would replace the current naturally aspirated V8s in <i>Formula 1</i> from <i>2014</i> while questioning the rationality behind the year - why not 2013?<br />
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FIA has tried everything to simplify the super-complicated aerodynamics of recent <b>F1 cars</b>, with a brief initial success only. Ultimately they figured out - shock! - that when a whole field of cars were and have been running with engines developed years ago - forbidding any further improvement on them - while restricting the revs they would operate at, then teams would find every other possible ways to get to the top of the grid, which ultimately resulted e.g. in tricky engine mappings, but most of the time exploiting aerodynamic loopholes with additional, flexible wings slowly reappearing on the cars with mysterious air ducts tunnelling through the body, making a few extra kph advantage on the straights. <b>FIA ultimately threw in the towel</b> and voted for a new engine formula resembling one from the 80s, so everyone would start tinkering with the powerplants, building the aerodynamics from the ground up.<br />
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They said it was <b>going with the times</b>. Turbocharging was now not only the means <i>to keep power up but also a way to lower emission rates in F1</i>.<br />
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I'm sorry. <b><i>In F1?</i></b><br />
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As a matter of fact, <i>since when turbocharging has been considered to be a <b>greener way</b> to move around?</i><br />
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While I do know and accept the math behind it, I still find myself in a bit of controversy, a twisted cognitive dissonance. This was the point where I pulled a hipster act to proclaim the now commonplace <b>turbocharged engine 'uncool'</b>.<br />
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The whole issue just hit me when I started thinking about <b>diesel engines</b> and I found myself unable to come up with one single, non-turbocharged engine that still is in production and is put into cars. I managed to get aid from Twitter, creating some minor buzz someone even dedicating the hashtag <i>#lastnonturbodiesel</i> to the matter. The final solution came down to one single model, the <b>VW Caddy</b> - not a frequent sight on the roads, by the way. But when we move the topic to petrol-powered cars, things do not get so much different.<br />
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In the past years, attention to environment avareness in the whole motoring industry pulled a high gear and turned everything upside down. <b>MPG became the new MPH</b> and devotion spent on <b>CO2 emission rates</b> in catalogues even surpassed luggage space size info.<br />
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As far as <b>turbocharging</b> is considered, it <b>is now the temporary savior of the petrol engine</b> <i>while not yet trespassing the 'hybrid' territory</i>. <i>Ford</i> managed to reinvent hot water naming their latest powerplant family <i>'EcoBoost'</i>, which basically represents engines of various layouts losing two cylinders and an added turbo.<br />
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Yes, <b>downsized turbo engines perform better</b> as far as <b>economical</b> and <b>environmental factors</b> concerned. <i>But from a petrolhead's point of view turbo is becoming more and more out of plac</i>e.<br />
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I have to give it to Clarkson this time, who just raised the issue in <i>Top Gear</i> driving the <b>Lamborghini Aventador,</b> showing favouritism to be the naturally aspirated V12 over his co-presenters turbocharged engines. Marginal, but intriguing case: <b>why supercars need turbocharged engines?</b> I mean, does any supercar owner <b>care</b> about economy and MPG figures over overall performance? If someone does, I imagine the person taking the bus or the bicycle to work, or some sort of hybrid car to show off awareness. I cannot imagine a heated argument between owners over CO2 emission rates and frequency of filling up, but rather crispiness of acceleration and reaction times, as Tiff Needell pointed out in <i>Fifth Gear</i>.<br />
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Unfortunately the problem does not stop here. Manufacturers of <b>normal, everyday cars</b> are being <i>forced</i> (see what I did there?) to go for turbocharging for economical reason. while it sounds appealing, as a side effect, even <i>the smallest hatchbacks are becoming <b>mechanically over-complicated.</b></i><br />
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Does one need a car for everyday quick running up and down in the town with something <b>relatively so fragile</b>?<br />
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Just a few grams of CO2 per kilometre gained making something reliable... <b>not so reliable</b>, <i>from a tool to an e-device with a booting ceremony</i>.<br />
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In my mind it's all wrong from a practical point of view and from a petrolhead's perspective as well. My brother, who happens to own a <i>Lancia Delta HF Turbo,</i> said he had been dreaming of getting a turbocharged car for long years while it was inaccessible in everyday rides. Now he has one, <b>times have moved on in the meantime</b> and became just <i>an old hatchback to some extent, regardless of its mighty pedigree.</i><br />
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As a conclusion we may add that <b>the high-performance naturally aspirated engine is the new cool</b>, <i>the 2010s answer to the 1980s turbo-invasion</i>.<br />
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The spirit of <b>Enzo Ferrari</b> once again rules.Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-20281029552015025072011-12-04T03:12:00.001+01:002012-06-02T09:54:34.489+02:00On An Island - The Ultimate Motorsports Legend Fights Its Way Back To Worldwide Establishment<i>A blowhorn from the past. A travel through ages, sanctioning bodies and generations. The nostalgic and cathartic remembrance of heroic figures in the midnight hour illuminated by fireworks of celebration.</i><br />
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In brief, <b>the Targa Florio is back</b> as a <i>world championship</i> event... in <i><strike>WRC</strike> IRC</i>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Yes, it's not really THAT Targa Florio what you might think of when searching for images on Google for potential wallpapers, but <i>in spirit it still is</i>. Somewhat adjusted to present ages. Evolution for survival. For an explanation, let's turn back the clock several decades and sit back letting the arid breeze of history curl through our minds.<br />
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The <b>Targa Florio</b> endurance race has probably been the <b>among the most important races in European motorsports history</b> including the very <a href="http://srcint.blogspot.com/2011/05/hungarian-grand-prix-drivers.html">first French Grand Prix in 1906</a> (which later spawned many other Grand Prix races throughout Europe and the world only to be concluded in the <i>Formula 1 World Championship</i> in 1950). As a matter of fact, the Targa Florio set off a month before the first proto-F1 race and five years before the first <i>Monte Carlo Rally</i>.<br />
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The circuit - appearing in different configurations of open, <b>Sicilian public roads</b> linked together - has been one of the most brutal challenges for driver and car endurance alike. Conceived by <b>Vicenzo Florio</b>, it was intended to be the Southern Italian editon of his already established, but later defunct <i>Coppa Florio</i> (the spiritual ancestor of the <i>Mille Miglia</i>).<br />
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Tight, curvy mountain passages are the Targa's key challenges that made the Monte, the Sanremo and many other rally events famous to this day. To describe the event, imagine the above mentioned French GP run at Monte with added extreme heat and you get close to the challenge the Targa had to offer.<br />
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Of course, this was largely depending on the <b>actual layout of the course</b>. Over the decades, the Targa has emerged in various shapes and forms. In some occasions in the late '30s it was nothing more than a sprint race for Grand Prix cars on a barely 6km-long closed circuit. On the other end of the scale, the late '40s saw a 1080km-long course stretching over the whole island. Among the many versions, probably the most well-known variant is the 72km-long "<b>Piccolo Circuit</b>" that had become the "classic" targa for many racefans.<br />
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While the race produced many local heroes and emerged many Italian car manufacturers to the top of the racing scene, all fame went to <b>Bugatti</b> and its "35" model, winning the Targa in five consecutive years in the '20s that was somewhat imitated by the just-not-yet purpose-built Grand Prix car <b>Alfa Romeo 8C</b> 2300 Monza and the Maserati 6CM with three wins mutually through the '30s.<br />
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Unfortunately, as with every race in Europe, WWII put a temporary end to racing. By 1948 when racing resumed, the dividing line between racing car types had already become quite clear as opposed to the practice of earlier decades where the difference between a sportscar and a Grand Prix car would be virtually the fenders being attached or not. Now the Targa was an <b>all-sportscar event</b> and was heading into new heights.<br />
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In 1955 the race was incorporated to the <b>World Sportscar Championship</b>, being the second Italian event on calendar after the <i>Mille Miglia</i> and among the many others to follow in later years.<br />
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Let's make a small experiment here: close your eyes and think of the <i>Le Mans</i> movie with Steve McQueen. Think of the Gulf Porsche and the archrival Ferrari. Think of the rain drooling down the Mulsanne straight. Now, think of the cars screaming down the infinite stretch through curtains of water. Your guts are trembling from the sheer volume and presence. Now, open a new chapter and think of the same cars again. Think of sunshine. Think of shadows thrown on the road by flat rooftops. Think of the cars screaming through a village street with the terrifying noise bouncing back from housewalls. Think of grandparents watching the car flying by just a metre away from the doorstep they are standing on. And of course, think of the serpentine-like roads with a chasm on one side and a wall on the other. <i>That's the Targa Florio during its most glorious days.</i><br />
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As sportscars took a giant leap and entered their immense power-chasing period, racetracks around the world were packed with spectators and such endurance events saw many vicious fights all over these venues. But public roads seemed narrower every year and demanded increasing focus. Inevitably, fatal accidents to competitors and spectators put an end to an era in the same manner Mille Miglia was discontinued in its traditional form 16 years earlier in 1953.<br />
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<b>The last "real" Targa Florio was run in 1973</b> as a World Sportscar Championship event (or World Championship for Makes as it was called then), but was continued as a domestic event until 1977 when open road racing was dropped completely and converted into a <b>rallying event</b> for the Italian championship on the same roads.<br />
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Now, Wikipedia might tell you that the <b>Targa Florio Rally</b> is not to be confused with Targa Florio "plain", but in truth is that apart from chopping up the historic course(s) to special stages not much difference happened. On the contrary, the cars have become more appaling by the end of Group 4 and the dawn of Group B. Winners of the Targa Florio were now all Italian asphalt-grinders: Lancia Stratos, 037, Delta S4, Ferrari 308GTB, Fiat 131 Abarth. The Targa was now more exciting than ever with all these fire-breathing monsters competing on sprint segments.<br />
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Coinciding with the ban of Group B cars on FIA sanctioned events, the Targa Florio has been incorporated to the European Rally Championship and has been part of it since. Until now.<br />
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The <b><strike>18th of October</strike> 14th of June, 2012</b> will mark the kickoff of the first Targa Florio as a World Championship race (sort of) since 1973 after a staggering 39 years of hiatus, but at the same time it will be the 96th Targa and the 106th anniversary run. The Indianapolis 500, the Monte Carlo Rally and the <a href="http://srcint.blogspot.com/search/label/pikes%20peak">Pikes Peak International Hillclimb</a> are those truly great events that can live up to such tradition as the Targa Florio.<br />
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In an age, when auto racing is flourishing but compromised by political correctness, the sheer fact that a race with such a long history exists and survived the maladies of decades but turned up on international scene once again, evolved, is a story of an epic win.<br />
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I wish there were more events like that raising the history and tradition of automoblie racing.<br />
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<i>I'm looking at you, Mille Miglia...</i><br />
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<b><i>*NOTE: The author wished to bespoke on competitive events. Yet historic racing is very much present at both Targa Florio and Mille Miglia, they are friendly, but very respectable tourings rather than challenges.*</i></b>Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-24548218210450726552011-10-17T20:49:00.002+02:002011-10-17T20:49:37.136+02:00Iguazú, a fall - in memory of #DanWheldonWhen someone leaves the room, a void's created. Some voids are temporary, some voids are permanent. And there are some voids that are painful. This is yet another fall of a great one.<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F13993755">
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Fingers are pointed somewhere, trying to find someone to blame. It may be driver XY, it may be Las Vegas Speedway, it may be IndyCar or it may be consumer culture in general.<br />
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"This shouldn't happen."<br />
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It will happen again. Sooner or later.<br />
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Other people give up hoping that the inevitable shouldn't occur. Some of them sign up for a possible death, knowing or not wanting to think about the possible outcome.<br />
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That's how life goes.<br />
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Eventually, every drop of water will fall the same place. Smaller or big ones alike.<br />
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Rest in Peace, Dan! You were a vitalizing drop of water..Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-74908155311954655572011-09-24T21:00:00.000+02:002011-09-24T21:00:16.394+02:00Working Class Hero<br />
So this is it... where I am now. The working class man in England. You'd might be thinking my motoring interests do not reach beyond the boundaries of cars that are good enough for commuting only and you'd be right. In fact, I'd fall for a car that's reliable, takes me from A to B, that is a workhorse, a proper car in other words - for me, the working class man.<br />
When you're enclosed in a space along with a bunch of Polish and Brazilian people among millions of eggs and a production line, you do not think about cars. Jaguars do not drift thgough your imagination sideways, nor Veyrons run flat out close to half of the speed of sound. You only think of a pint of beer to put you to rest and the scent of fresh air as you leave the premises of the factory. You do not care about the dent on the car's door, nor the dust on the floor carpet.<br />
You want one thing only. To get your will established, to get to the next workplace and enjoy the ride while you're at it.<br />
Your mind picks up a different approach about the whole sensation of driving, no matter what your car is. The B-road becomes a road course, the roundabout the Karussell, the indifferent humming of the l4 engine is replaced by heavy metal music on your laughable stereo, crystallizing a grin on your face as if you were commanding a V8.<br />
With a left-hand drive car driving on the left, the proximity of the trees combined with the mild velocity you pass them transforms reality to warp speed.<br />
You're wearing a different licence plate of a country anyone's hardly heard of, getting looks at the red light as if you were a madman tearing up your car to pieces just to put yourself to the wrong seat, blasting into the undisturbed, civilized world with all your shabbiness and still make things work.<br />
You used your car to get here and stay for good, only to defy the rules of commodity that is represented by proper, sub-five-year cars in the streets.<br />
The Escort.<br />
The one with American origin, given birth in England, tossed to Germany, shipped to Hungary and now being returned to the place where it was concieved in the first place.<br />
The underdog.<br />
That's me in the traffic.<br />
That's me at the red light.<br />
That's me in the car park by the warehouse.<br />
That's me when not paying enough attention at one point and almost causing an accident.<br />
That's me through A4.<br />
That's us, me and my car - the working class and the hero.<br />
Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-68491878852447244082011-08-28T20:00:00.000+02:002011-09-07T20:30:28.788+02:00Light Years Away<br />
What do you do when you have run out of funds, hope of a better future and patience? You set your car's nose England-bound.<br />
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It all started over two years ago when talks started between my wife and I that we sould join all those people who in wish to grab fortune's better end set themselves to Western and Northern Europe. There were initiatives taken and withdrawn when finally tensions within our broader family and lack of funds lead to concrete decisions and conclusions at the end of last year and the whole procedure of moving started taking shape.<br />
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The setting looked like so: me, my wife, two dogs and all that one could fill in a Ford Escort. Printed Google Maps directions, over three tanks of fuel and 1,200 miles to cover from Kaposvar, Hungary to Keynsham, UK.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F4941385">
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The car as said abve was a 1998 Ford Escort CLX. 1,4-litre CHV petrol engine, 5-door hatchback with the highest trim level of the time including electric windows, rear spoiler, etc. It was almost new when we bought it three years ago with 45,000 kms on the odometer (no, it was REALLY that much, no cheating) and was in excellent condition. Sadly we haven't been as good owners of it as the previous ones. The rear right door suffered a scratch and a dent, and the rear bumper gained a cavity due to a close encounter with a trailer while reversing - and we didn't have time to fix those yet. There were two hubcaps missing as one was stolen and another was lost.<br />
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Despite that, mechanically it was still in a prime condition as we are talking about a 65,000-km car pre-trip.<br />
A big check-up was necessary before the trip as I didn't want to break down in the middle of the Autobahn. This included some mending and fixing. First of all, a new cam belt was crucial to be installed. Eventhough the old one was on low mileage, it was already 13 years old and when you speak about rubber, you say aging. Along that a new water pump was installed and the oil was changed along with the oil filter and the air filter. Brakes were still fine, although they have to be changed soon. Piston sealing replacement finished off the procedure and it was done in one afternoon for less than 200 GBP-worth of Hungarian Forints.<br />
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That said, we set off on the national day of Hungary, 20th August at half past 9 at night to catch our ferry in Calais at 3:20AM on the 22nd. Most of the trip in Hungary was spent on B-roads with cautiously as I didn't want to hit any wild animals during the night. Shortly after midnight we managed to reach the border. Before entering Austria, we stopped at the last MOL petrol station to take a leak and stretch ourselves, while the dogs could get a drink. Moving on to Austria was like entering a whole different universe of roads. The main road on which we were heading to the motorway was like a motorway in Hungary altogether. It was pitch dark, and I was still maintaining an appr. 90km/h speed as I got used to it already. I was enjoying the ride as we rolled on and on and on. In Austria, it was perfectly clear which road to take to Germany from the first moment on. Passed through truck-stops and byroad night clubs the world narrowed down only to the stretch of road we were riding on. My wife was reading the itinerary but she showed the sing of tiredness already. At the last fork we had to take, I missed the exit, eventhough it was painted clearly on the ashpalt. No matter what I stepped on the brakes hard, the tyres were screaming and came to a full stop, putting it reverse and pulling back to the right direction while another car was passing us. It was ugly, it was completely breaking the law, but I don't say it was unethical.<br />
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I mean: do you want to spend the rest of your fuel tank and time spending to find the right direction when you got a route map only?<br />
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Then came the most unnerving bit: entering Germany and riding through it. There were about 100kms to cover in Austria before entering Germany and that meant an over 700km part without changing directions. We crossed the boarder South from Passau and there was an option to hand over the steering wheel to my wife. I didn't want to. Iwas thrilled to drive through Europe. I wanted to complete the marathon alone. I was wide awake even when we stopped at a service station over 100 kms after we passed the border. First time filling the car. Stretched our legs, ate something and off we went. It was a bright, sunny morning, but that didn't reveal much of Germany. I did find out though that Bavavaria really is the territory of BMWs as stated in the name. Met the most dominating Beemer owners of the Autobahn out there. I expected the road flooded with Porsches but not even one showed up even in Stuttgart area. Road up and down, narrowing here and there as construction works marked the A3 all the way through. In the meanwhile it started raining heavily but we were just eating up the miles. At Köln we changed to the route that was virtually heading straight to Calais. Passing closely to the Nürburgring we entered Belgium. I didn't really noticed where was that magical border but it was made clear by the lightposts as it was noted out that Belgian motorways are lit all the way through. I can confirm that, really, eventhough it was a bright sunny day. Passing by the Spa-Francorchamps track we were heading to the Bruxelles ring that was completely jammed, as one lane was shut due to construction works and another one was blocked by a broken down car. I was still driving, but Icould sense the fatigue. Thank God to the traffic jam, it pushed up my blood pressure as much as I could feel just about normal for the rest of the trip.<br />
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We entered the last but one leg late afternoon as we were heading to Calais, up to the seaside and riding along it. My wife missed one exit to mention intime so that put some nerve into me but we got back on track quickly.<br />
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France, finally. I was so happy about it but I was still short of the realisation what I was to go through there. Exit 47, that's what we were looking for. We still had time. There were about 8 hours until the ferry's departure. We stood in the line and I was expecting trouble already. To tell the truth, I would have been surprised if everything went well. Of course it was the British authority and our dogs. Don't want to go into details but that "nuance" cost 24 hours staying overnight and a visiting a local, Dr. House-like vet, summing up to 175 Euros. Did I say I was happy? No, because I wasn't.<br />
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After being completely desperate we finally got on our ferry at 0:20AM on the 23rd and heading for the Isles, hitting the coast at the cliffs of Dover.<br />
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I was preparing myself to driving on the left clearly, but it was a different experience to get used to mph instead to kph. By experiance and simple calculations it has always been simple to know that 30mph was 50kph, 50mph was 80 kph and 60 mph was 100kph. Fortunately we haven't met any other measures really except for 40mph, which is around 65kph as I had to calculate it first I encountered it.<br />
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So we finally arrived to Keynsham at around 8AM with a sleep included in the meantime and that was it. 1,200 miles without a problem. I have driven through a kerb in Calais I simply just didn't notice, it was out of sight - didn't manage to take a closer look, but hopefully the floorpan won't rust away soon. Despite that, there weren't any problems really. The Escort just worked fine and fulfilled the puropse it was named after.<br />
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But the best bit was still to come. A few days ago we were invited by a Hungarian couple in Melksham for a gather-up. The area I was driving through was very much like Somogy county where we are from, except the buildings and speed limits with more sense. Where the 40 mark was put out, that would have been 40 in Hungary too, only in kph. On the way back it was already dark, and Google Maps supported another route instead of what we came in. It was raining, and it was a forest road, and I was riding a Ford Escort, on the left side of the road, and with the steering wheel on the left trees were just flying by at my window. My wife was reading the route map: "500 ahead to next intersection then turn left and go another 1.7 kms..."<br />
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Was I thinking RAC Rally of Wales? Yeah, I was. Hello, United Kingdom, I'm here!Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-7614490856310910692011-08-05T07:52:00.003+02:002011-08-05T07:54:22.968+02:00An introduction to #NASCAR<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.racingandwaiting.co.uk/2011/08/feature-an-introduction-to-nascar/"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ibd6TkWSk4/TjuE6meoEkI/AAAAAAAAAQI/VdkZ4y0uy_c/s1600/intro_nascar.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-77223132370839795612011-07-30T06:40:00.005+02:002011-07-30T14:12:00.087+02:00@Jalopnik:"Budapest's secret Grand Prix street circuit"<b><i>I'm credited in this story.</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://jalopnik.com/5825586/budapests-secret-grand-prix-street-circuit"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G_M1O3GWaRg/TjOK0ISFUvI/AAAAAAAAAQE/UH7-rOMDxYw/s1600/jalopnik_budapest_grand_prix.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360016574620083059.post-31607851149846176802011-07-17T17:14:00.003+02:002011-07-17T17:14:36.571+02:00#motorspurts #topgear, 3rd edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://motorspurts.blogspot.com/2011/07/rant-on-topgear-3rd-edition.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6k2lodpnsw4/TiL8P4JKvOI/AAAAAAAAAQA/wVoOqESevMI/s1600/ms_tg3.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Gabor Vajdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881706458838610918noreply@blogger.com0