gp weekend

[Joseph Rae]

Sounds like a fun weekend, And how about the first turn. I Cannot
believe that they did not restart the race. To Me it looked like
Barrichello cut Ralf off at the turn and he had nowhere to go. I'm glad
no one got hurt. I turned off the race once M. Shumacher finally got
around jaun pablo and got upto a 19 second lead.

On a side note, Speedvision.. Er speed channel did a atrocious job of
announcing, and coverage of the race. The announcer not knowing what he
was talking about, cutting to instant replay right after the incidents,
and cutting to instant replay for every little tire lockup.

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-admin at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-admin at audifans.com] On
Behalf Of Dave Eaton
Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 12:14 PM
To: 'Quattro List'
Cc: 'urq-list'
Subject: gp weekend


with all the talk of vw using skoda to enter f1, i have just returned
from the aussie gp. the highlight of which, apart from meeting jackie
stewart, and rubbing shoulders with michael schumacher, eddie jordan,
jean todt, jack brabham and stirling moss (all in the immediate tables
around where we were in the gp ball), was the chance to tour the jaguar
pit while they were preparing for the race sunday.

the guys were stripping the radiators off one engine in the engine area
of the pits, and it was interesting to see how small and well packaged
the engine was.  the guy pulling the exhaust manifold off the cosworth
was using 1/4 drive tools, apparently all the fasteners require no more
than 1/4 sockets.  the radiators themselves were surprisingly big, and
obviously mounted at a very oblique angle to the air-flow.

had a good look at pedro's car, the diffuser is a complex device,
gearbox very small, electronics everywhere, and little concession to
access for the front suspension.  the aero work around the front
suspension was simply breathtaking in the quality of the carbon
fittings.  brakes small, as you'd expect, funny seeing only 28mm or
close on the front discs, with a diameter suitable for a 13" wheel.

the other impression was of electronics.  these were everywhere.  of the
total pits area, at least 60% would be devoted to electronics, with
banks of monitors (at this point looking at traces from the mornings
warm-up), and then other sections, more screened off, where guys were
pouring over laptops and looking at race-day strategies.

the few examples of mechanical fabrications which i saw were not of
aero-space grade, they looked better than that, beautifully built.

the guys in the pits were very nervous of cameras, and insisted that my
photos were from the front of the pits, looking in (slightly ironic
given the fact that i'm not sure the rest of the paddock is desperate to
learn jaguar's secrets).  nevertheless, the guys were very tolerant of
strangers, and happy to accommodate the "kid-in-a-candy-store" kiwi.  a
real highlight, and pleasing to see eddie get a 4th, with not an oil
puddle in sight....

dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q