Go Force India

Talking of Jaguar, any motor sport aficionado immediately remembers that Jaguar is the only car that has won the ‘Le Mans’ 6 times! Le Mans is a 24 hours race and most motor sport enthusiasts, pundits will tell you that Le Mans is THE most grueling in Motor sport. So every one was shocked a bit at least Ford put up Jaguar and even Land Rover brands up for sale. And as was rumored since some time now, Jaguar and Land Rover brands were to be sold to Tata Motors. The deal was officially confirmed by both sides yesterday on 26th March. Yesterday, Ford officially announced it’s agreement to sell the brands to Tata Motors for aproximately 2.3billion$. Tata Motors can now boast of a range from as low as Rs 1 Lakh (approx 2500$) to 50 times that price at much more than hundred thousand$.

The irony of this is getting chuckles everywhere. India is now the second largest source of foreign investment in UK. And a company from England’s former colony has come to the aid of the ailing Jaguar & Land Rover brands which are seen as icons of British Luxury. To give you an idea of how iconic these brands are, the last time Tony Blair pulled out of 10 Downing street, he did so in a Jaguar and higher up the British Aristocracy, her majesty, the Queen of England Queen Elizabeth II herself uses a Land Rover to drive around the gardens in Windsor Castle.

Then, Jaguar has also competed 4 times in Formula1 championships. Though it’s performance was dismal in F1 with zero wins, zero pole positions, two podiums, a handful of points. In November of 2004, Ford finally sold of the Jaguar Racing to the energy drink giant, Red Bull and the team has since then be christened Red Bull Racing team. What I can’t help but wonder is: Will we see another Formula1 team in years to come by owned by an Indian? Will Tata motors ever reintroduce the Jaguar brand in F1 or even in other motorsports or better yet, will we see Tata F1 in the not so distant future? Only time will tell…

Anyway, as for the business angle, many blame Ford for the mess Jaguar is in now and a change of ownership is being viewed with optimism every where. Tata now can count itself amongst companies such as Daimler & Toyota who also have a full range portfolio. The jury seems to be divided on whether this is strength or a liability.

The ever positive and optimistic visionary business man - Ratan Tata had this to say:

Toyota created Lexus, Nissan has Infinity. No one is saying, ‘How can BMW handle the Mini?’ But they’ve made a huge success of it. So why is it impossible?

It’s no secret that Kimi - the current world champion has a very thick skin; he’s not called Iceman for nothing! After a disastrous weekend for him and Ferrari both, he’s   disappointed of course but already focusing on the next round and raring to go. The Iceman had this to say:

No use to cry. I really do not have that much to say about the first race weekend. The best thing is, it’s all behind us. We had difficulties at the beginning and we could not operate according to our plans at all.
Obviously, it was a disappointing start to the season for all of us in the team. At the end of the day, it does not matter what happened on Friday, what happened on Saturday, or what happened on Sunday, while we couldn’t finish the race in any case. There is no use to cry afterwards. It does not change anything anymore. The result is   more –> (The rest is on a nice MSN Space page dedicated to Kimi Raikkonen by a Evenstar Saima who’s a journalism student from UK. Anyway, the space is pretty cool, check it out.) 

You rrrrock Kimi!!! And you proved it in the next race itself in this case, the Malaysian Grand-Prix. You back and win races, it silences everyone… 

The round II of the F1 2008 season - The Malaysian GP is almost upon us! As in any race it starts from the coming Friday. The Friday sessions can perhaps be missed. But I don’t want to miss the Malaysian Grandprix Qualifiers & the race itself on Sunday at any cost. That is because the Sepang circuit in Malaysia is an awesome circuit for car racing, it promises to be a cracker this weekend just as it was in the Australian GP just gone by.

Get acquainted with the track and let Michael Schumacher show you how best to go around the Sepang circuit. Here’s a lap across the Sepang Ciruit of Malaysia onboard with Michael Schumacher. This is the run that got him the pole position for the 2004 Malaysian GP, to find out more on the circuit check out my earlier post about  Sepang Circuit [opens in new window/tab] Because of the long straights, we get to listen to the sweet sweet sound of Ferrari engines all the more. The rest is best done by Michael Schumacher - the best F1 champ ever:

While normally the time gap between most F1 GP’s is two weeks, the Malaysian GP is scheduled for Friday March 21’st this week itself. So, not much time for the teams to do their testing etc etc, instead they have to pack their bags and head for Malaysia for the Race on the famous Sepang Circuit. The teams  also have to get their cars in shape aerodynamically for the Sepang Circuit before the qualifiers begin on Saturday. So our boys in Force India have their work cut out for them after both their cars going off within 10 laps of the Melbourne GP :) The Malaysian GP with it’s combinations of Long Straights and tight corners is any drivers dream race track. Notice especially the two very long straights in the middle of the track, that is where the Grandstands are. (Seating arrangements for the audience.) So, the fans get to see cars zipping past at speeds above 300 KPH’s and then brake almost to a halt for the tight hairpin turns 01 and 10. (by f1 standards, know that these cars are normally able to take hair pins at more than 60-70 KPH and they take normal bends like 02, 03 and 04 at quite a bit more than 100KPH (Awesome na!?)

 A  hairpin is a corner in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to not carry in a lot of speed and turn almost 180º to continue on the road. Note that the two long long straights next to the grandstands are more than a kilometer wide! This is one of the tracks in the F1 Season that is the most demanding on Engines, they have to just go full throttle for about 3-4 km’s through out the track each lap for around 60 laps. That’s no duck walk even for the F1 car engines with all of their high tech cutting edge engineering.

The long straights leading in to tight corners is a classic overtaking opportunity. The car behind can break later by fractions of seconds later thus gaining in on the car ahead, then try and force itself on to the racing line and the car in front off of the Racing Line*. (Of course the car behind should have the pace, stability, grip and downforce to be able to break later or to put it in other words, carry more speed in to a corner than another car.)

*In motorsport, the racing lineis the fastest path a vehicle can take through a specific corner, series of corners, or track. It is an accepted fact that the shortest difference between two points is a straight line. The trick is to be able to take this straight line through the corner at the highest possible speed. If   you are carring to much speed, you won’t make the turn and go off, meanwhile slowing down more than necessary costs you time as well. Also note that the highest possible speed a car can carry through a corner is of course decided by how well it’s aerodynamics are functioning, tyres, wing setup, engine horse power etc. (Image source: www.drivingfast.net)

 So, now that you understand this, you should also be able to grasp why everyone has high expectations from Malaysian GP. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won the Malaysian GP last year. But after seeing the pace of McLaren’s BMW’s, Ferrari’s themselves and Renault as well (Don’t forget Alonso was able to snatch a 4th position in Australian GP), the chances of Massa doing it again are slim. This time my money is on Hamilton. 

I am writing the second time here today just to say that I wish I was in Europe right now or more specifically Stoneleigh Park, Coventry. That is where Race Retro’s premier Motorsport  History of Europe show is being held. (Which does go back quite a long way.)The show is being held starting tomorrow 14th March up until 16th March. If you do not know about the Race Retro show then watch the google video to get a good idead of what it’s all about.

 The fun thing is that the guys who assemble there need’nt worry about missing the first race of the F1 season as well, live shows will be screened indoors as well outdoors so that the drunk and fun crowd can go berserk together during every important moment during the race. What a grand way to celebrate passion for motor racing!!!