Nigel Mansell

On This Day In #F1: 20 September

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Brought to you by TheJudge13 chronicler Carlo Carluccio – 1987: Prost takes the record Between 1950 and 1957 there were on average 8 Grand prix a year. Moving forward to the 60’s, between 1962 and 1967, the average races per annum increased to 10. From 1969 to 1973 once again the number of events held increased … Read more

The #F1 Bar Exam: 18 July 2013

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Welcome to another week of TheJudge13 Bar Exam. Last week’s question(s): Can you name the cars, drivers and the race in which the photo was taken? Can you also tell me what event during the race played a part in deciding the drivers world championship that year (bonus if you know who won it). The answer(s) I … Read more

Castrol GP Predictor Summary – Nurburgring 2013

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Brought to you by TJ13 Courtroom Reporter & Crime Analyst: Adam Macdonald. 9 down, and only 10 to go; we are almost into the second half of the season already.  Where has the time gone?  Anybody in a time warp would probably say little has changed though.  Vettel still leading the WDC and Alonso hot … Read more

The #F1 Bar Exam: 04 July 2013

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Welcome to another week of the TJ13 Bar Exam. Last week’s question(s):  can you name the Grand Prix and circuit at which the photo was taken? Can you also name the winner (and team) for this race? The answer(s) I was looking for was: the picture below was taken at the European Grand Prix of 1985, held … Read more

F1 Features: The Formula 1 Turbo Era – Part 1

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Brought to you by TJ13 Courtroom Reporter & Crime Analyst: James Parker 2014 will mark a brand-new era in Formula 1. For 24 years the sport has enjoyed a tenure of naturally aspirated engines, which produce some of the most iconic sounds in Motorsport history. But from next season onward, Formula 1 will once again flirt with … Read more

On This Day in F1: 17 May

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On this day in F1 – 17 May, brought to you by TheJudge13 chronicler BlackJack’sBriefs  1733 England passed Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum & molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions… 1890 Comic Cuts, first weekly comic paper, published in London… 1895 WG Grace scored his 100th century… 1900 … Read more

The 1984 US Grand Prix: Dallas, Texas

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This year, Formula One returns to the USA after a 5 year absence. Austin, Texas is the first purpose built circuit for the sport since F1 racing began in the country back in 1950. It’s a modern F1 design and is quite unlike the slippery, tight and twisty corners found on the street circuits in Long Beach, Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix and Dallas that hosted US Grands Prix in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s.

The last race in the state of Texas was in 1984 and is an event remembered by many not for the immaculate layout like in Austin, but it was a street circuit and these venues in the US particular presented an extraordinary challenge for the drivers, since one mistake could result in a race-ending crash. The 1984 Dallas Grand Prix provided an additional challenge on top of the already difficult winding track. The enormous heat of well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit left the track crumbling down as it was tormented by the cars.

Here’s an article I found from Marcel Schot (Netherlands) and a now defunct publication. Makes a good read.

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Austinites view F1 like a folk festival, McLaren fundamental to Formula E 2014, Who is the F1 driver chain smoker? Teams sharing garages, 204 less pit stops in 2012, HRT sale forced by bank bailout request

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Bank bailout forces HRT sale: Meanwhile, the team travels to Austin with the minimum staff to compete and avoid a financial penalty from FOM for being absent (as.com). We may well see the cars qualify, start the race and retire the cars after one lap.

thejudge13 has previously reported that HRT are using parts way beyond their sanctioned life and has a debt to repay before December 2nd or face dissolution. Thesan Capital, we believe, is a front for the Banco Popular who applied yesterday for a bailout of 2.5bn Euro’s. The terms of the bailout are that all non-profitable assets of the bank must be identified and disposed of – including HRT.

As to the story that Colin Kolles is interested in buying the team, this is fantasy by Thesan Capital. He was ‘exited’ last December when the debt from Banco Popular was assigned to Thesan Capital who on taking control issued a statement explaining Colin’s departure, “This is due to the new direction that the team has taken and the decision of the new management to move the team headquarters to Spain,” it read. (Yallf1.com)

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F1 on an Oval track

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I’ve read a number of articles over the years on this subject matter – some for and some against the idea. With the inaugural F1 race in Austin upon us, I think its worth looking once again at the issues surrounding an F1 race on an oval circuit.

Could the engines cope?

Interestingly, in some of the older debates on this matter I have just re-read, the technology of the time often had the final say. Gerhard Berger commented on this about 12 years ago when he said that the modern F1 engine could not maintain 100% revs for more than about 20 to 30 seconds.

Yet in 2005, we saw the first of the ongoing engine regulation changes from the FIA to ensure they are more reliable, last longer and reduce costs. 10 years ago – the engines were probably the biggest restrictive factor preventing F1 racing on an oval because hardly any F1 cars would’ve finished the race.

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Marlboro McLaren becomes McLaren Nicorette, COTA business plan highly optimistic, Lewis leaving was all about the money, Austin Council votes to tax COTA, New F1 film for release in Austin

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Vodafone scale down sponsorship:  It has been widely rumoured that Vodafone will be pulling out of its 6 year relationship with McLaren at the end of 2013. This has been considered to be worth as much as $75m a year, which is stratospheric compared to the fee’s most sponsors of F1 teams pay. Joe Seward has done a great article on this today, the link is at the end if this section.

The points worthy of comment are, Glaxo Smith Klien (GSK) has been extending its relationship with McLaren, and in a big announcement in the summer the announced a “ground-breaking collaboration” which will apply McLaren’s winning expertise to the needs of GSK, the aim being to help it to function more efficiently with more efficient planning processes and better modelling tools to drive faster decision-making. This includes the construction of a learning facility called the ‘McLaren GSK Centre for Applied Performance’, which is under construction at McLaren’s Headquarters in Woking.they announcedis setting up.

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