Auto & Car Blog

Archive for the 'formula' Category

F1’s secret safety car showdown

Sunday, May 27th, 2007

On Thursdays before a Formula 1 GP weekend really kicks off, Bernd Maylander, the F1 safety car driver, and Dr. Jacques Tropenat, the F1 medical car driver, check out the trackside cameras and timing equipment. Steering identical Mercedes CLK 63’s, they also check out their driving skills by seeing which one of them can set the best lap.

Bernd is a former race car driver who has been doing safety car duty since 2000. When the FIA decided to hire a professional safety car driver instead of using former F1 pilots, Bernd was plucked from the DTM series and given two years of training. Now, the hardest driving he does is when he’s called out to parade the racers around during a caution. He knows how slow it looks on TV, but he says “I have to drive 99% up to my limit. I can’t drive over my limit - that extra 1% is to make sure I’m safe. The drivers know I have to drive really hard in a much slower car, but if they push me then I know I can drive a little bit quicker. We have to play together.” He also wins the award for The Most Obvious Quote of Memorial Weekend when he says “The difference between a safety car and a F1 car is like a jumbo jet and a star fighter. To put it simply, I could never win a Grand Prix in the safety car.” That said, his only real competition is the Thursday bout with his medical colleague. Call it Fire Marshall Bill vs. McDreamy.

Thanks for the tip, Patrick!

[Source: BBC]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncategorized, car, F1, formula, safety, 1, bernd, maylander | No Comments »

Not so fast: new F1 circuits aren’t happening yet, says Tilke

Wednesday, December 31st, 1969

Filed under: Motorsports

Despite all the ongoing rumors of this country and that preparing bids for F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone, few of them are anywhere near that stage. As track designer Hermann Tilke has pointed out, many of the speculative locations lack circuits that would be ready to host grands prix.

Tilke has to his credit the designs of most of the new F1-spec race tracks around the world, including Malaysia, Bahrain, Istanbul and Shanghai.In addition to those, he’s working on Abu Dhabi’s. The overwhelming likelihood is that Tilke Engineering would be commissioned to draw up the plans for any new track if prospective organizers are serious about their F1 bids.

In an interview with British publication Autosport, Tilke said that Mexico, India, Russia, South Africa and Greece are a long way from making their Formula One dreams realities. Mexico, he says, is stalled with political problems, India and Russia are merely topics for discussion, plans for a return to South Africa are “dormant” and the Greek bid has “fizzled out.” That leaves plenty of room for progress on each front, but then again, there are a lot of countries vying for Tilke’s talents…and for Bernie’s attention.

[Source: F1i]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time