Category Archives: Motorsports

What we’re watching – C’était un Rendezvous

snapshot
I thought today I’d dedicate a few lines to my favourite short film of all-time, Claude Lelouche‘s 1976 high-speed masterpiece, C’était un Rendezvous. The film is only 8 minutes and 38 seconds long, but if you love cars like I love cars, it’s one for the best films out there.
The premise of the film is simple. A camera is mounted to the front of a car and the audience is given a front row, drivers point of view as an unknown man takes to the streets of Paris just before dawn, and drives fast (and I mean really fast), through the city streets just as Paris is beginning to stir, to finally reach a street in Montmartre where we find a lovely blond woman waiting for him. Hence the title, “It was a date.” Of course what makes the film exciting isn’t the plot, it’s watching the streets of Paris whiz by at breakneck speed as the anonymous driver handles the car beautifully through every dangerous curve he encounters. It’s 8 and a half minutes of adrenaline, screaming engine, squealing tires, great driving, and beautiful scenery. Here’s a clip, showing the last 2 minutes of the film…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAg9fg_523k

After seeing this movie for the first time, I had all the questions one would expect. Who was driving that car?! What kind of a car was it? Did they block the streets or did they really just go for it, outlaw style? Now we know all of the answers. Continue reading →

Formula 1 Backgrounder: Spa Francorchamps

The most technically advanced motor racing series in the world returns to action after its 4 week summer layoff for Round 11 at one of the classics of the calendar, Spa-Francorchamps. The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa dates back to the inception of F1 in 1950, although for several years in the 1970s and 80s the race was held primarily at the Zolder track, infamous for the death of Gilles Villeneuve during qualifying in 1982. But Spa has its own deadly history to be sure. Originally an open road circuit, Spa used to encompass a blistering 14k tour through several Ardennes villages and was considered, along with the original Nürbergring, the ultimate test of a driver’s skill, not only because of the high speeds but also the unpredictable weather. But as cars became faster and faster and particularly prior to the advent of downforce, the risk factor for such a long country road course with houses, ditches, telephone poles and trees only yards from the edge of the road became extremely perilous and fatalities and serious shunts piled up.

New and Old Spa Circuits Overlaid

New and Old Spa Circuits Overlaid

Eventually in 1983, after many years of disuse by F1, the Spa track was shortened to the 7k circuit we see today. Although most of the real life hazards have been removed, the circuit is still one of the fastest and is considered a supreme test of driver skill, as it always has been, particularly the narrow uphill charge out of Eau Rouge. When you see overtaking there, you know that a driver has nerves of steel because the consequence for failure can still be quite severe. Simply have a look at this terrible crash by a very fortunate Ricardo Zonta in 1999 to see what happens when things go awry at Spa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWFZWpbjO44

You can see the practice times for the first two Friday sessions at Spa at FormulaOne.com.

 

 

Looks like a good time–Monterey Festival

Here’s a fine article in the New York Times on the auto-related festivities at Monterey and Pebble Beach this year. I have never been–I missed out when my in-laws moved away from the area before I could attend–but I hear good things. And really, since some of these events do not require big money tickets, how can you beat the history…and the cars?

Alfa-Romeo 8C (pic sourced from http://autoworldnotes.blogspot.com)

Alfa-Romeo 8C (pic sourced from autoworldnotes.blogspot.com)

Some excerpts:

Monterey’s Festival, Rich in Tradition

The birth of this country’s classic-car Olympics took place at Pebble Beach, Calif., on the scenic Monterey Peninsula, in the simpler, quieter time of November 1950.

Genesis, in this instance, was a small sports-car meeting, advertised as “European road races,” that took place on a 1.8-mile makeshift circuit in the Del Monte Forest, admission $1. More or less as an afterthought, a car show, given the French title of concours d’élégance to maintain the European theme, attracted 32 entries, most of them new models owned by Forest residents, was added. Admission was free.

A college dropout from Santa Monica with ambitions to be a racing driver won the main event in a Jaguar XK120, despite an uncooperative clutch. In later years he would win at Pebble again and also win the concours’ Best of Show award with a 1931 Pierce-Arrow that he and his brother had restored. The erstwhile student was Phil Hill, who would ascend to the title of World Driving Champion in 1961.

Most of the action happens during the third week of this month, with the climax being the 63rd Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance, which can lay claim to being the world’s most important, on Sunday, Aug. 18. Over the years, activity has spread from the Del Monte Forest to 16 locations in the Monterey area, including Carmel’s main thoroughfare, Ocean Avenue, where more than 200 cars are expected at the seventh annual Concours on the Avenue on Aug. 13.

Shall we pack our bags?

 

 

The state of play in Indycar

Championship leader Helio Castroneves

Heading into the race at Mid-Ohio this afternoon, it’s been a very topsy-turvey season in the Izod Indycar championship, America’s premier open wheel series. Not only is perennial championship contender (and bridesmaid) Will Power lying 10th after 13 rounds but his employer, the mighty Team Penske, has only one win. If it’s any consolation (and it won’t be to Power), that lone Penske win was by Helio Castroneves at the Firestone 550 at the big oval in Texas in round 8. Despite that paltry victory total, it’s the 3-time Indy 500 winner who tops the driver’s standings with 425 points due to excellent consistency if not outright speed.

Hot on the Brazilian’s heels is Kiwi Scott Dixon with 396 points for the Ganassi team, Penske’s arch-rival. Dixon is smoking hot having won the last 3 races in a row (yes, you read that right): Indycar’s return to Pocono’s “Tricky Traingle” on July 7th and then the 2-day double header in Toronto the following weekend. You’ve got to like Dixon’s chances of cruising by Castroneves in the overall today, having won the Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio four out of the last six seasons. It’s hard to imagine one driver being so dominant at a course as technical as this one but Dixie is definitely the real deal and I like his chances for another win today. In fact, I also like him to finish up the season as overall champion.

Contender Scott Dixon has a lot to smile about lately

Other notables:  Continue reading →

Motorsport Books — Cars at Speed by Robert Daley

Arguably one of the greatest books ever written on auto racing, Robert Daley’s “Cars at Speed” covers the Golden Age of the early to mid 20th century’s grand road races and nascent Formula One scene.

As a correspondent for the New York Times, Daley covered Grand Prix racing in Europe and around the world from 1958 to 1964 and the book was published in 1961, right at the crossover period between front and rear engined Grand Prix machines.  Along with Carroll Shelby, Daley is largely credited with helping to introduce the thrills of twisty circuit and street racing to the broader United States’ public, which previously only had interest in Indianapolis 500 and stock car-style events.

In “Cars at Speed”, Daley recounts the death defying years before seat belts, fire suits or big money, when men raced for glory and their own strange need to live on the edge and when drivers and spectators died with brutal regularity.  In this book, you’ll find stories of Phil Hill & Dan Gurney, Jean Behra and Juan Manuel Fangio, Alfonso de Portago & Stirling Moss and many others.  You’ll find tales from the Targa Florio, the Mille Miglia and Le Mans.  In this book, you may learn more about the history of road racing than you thought you knew and discover a lifelong passion for motorsports and admiration for the men who take the risks.  That’s how it worked out for me, anyway.

In a style heavily indebted to Hemingway, Daley’s wry, brutally honest tales are both funny and horrifying.  And always but always exciting and immensely enjoyable.  Along with his slightly later, larger photo-centric book “The Cruel Sport”, “Cars at Speed” may go in and out of print but belongs in every racing enthusiast’s library, casual or fanatical.

You can get nearly new copies through used book dealers on Amazon starting at around $4. Not a bad price for a lifetime of enjoyment.