The Blog of G

25 years ago today, a hero of mine died in a horrific accident. I will never forget seeing the footage of the crash on the RTE news. I refused to believe what I saw with my own eyes, I was only 8 years old, after all and I had just seen the greatest driver of his generation and my unquestioned racing hero, Gilles Villeneuve die.

Gilles was the reason that I started to follow F1, how could anyone not be drawn to a character so charismatic, so talented, so fast, so determined and so entertaining? if you haven’t seen this before then your in for a treat, if you have then why not cruise down memory lane with me for a minute or 2 and remember Gilles for what he was, pure, unfiltered Racer.

Other coverage; Grand prix, Formula 1

I think so! That’s why we’re planning a three week european tour!:D

So far on the schedule we have, Stonehenge, Dunkirk, Nurburg, Amsterdam, Wiesbaden, Innsbruck, Monza, Maranello, Monte Carlo, Cannes, Aix-en-provence, Troyes, Maastricht, Spa Francorchamps, Gouda, back to Amsterdam and then home. We intend to drive this! I think it’s about 6650km before we drive around any of the places we’re visiting. Are we mad? Ask me in October

Some of the more astute readers will have recognised that a few of these places would have significance to Formula 1 fans like myself and Elly. Yes, we are taking in not 1 but 2 Grand Prix. What’s more there the last 2 european races of the 2007 season, add to that the fact that Monza and Spa are 2 amazing circuits which have always had amazing races and your starting to get a picture of why were calling this a holiday of a lifetime!

We were at the european GP in Nurburg last year, so why are we returning? Well, were actually heading for the old Nordschleife circuit. We have managed to get a ticket for the Ring Taxi. Which if your not familiar is basically 1 Lap of the old circuit in a BMW M5 with 1 of 3 possible ex- BMW test-drivers at the wheel, a guaranteed sub 10 minute lap. Who knows I may be inspired to take my own car round and see if I can manange a sub 10 minute lap on the fiercest race circuit ever.

We’re also planning to spend a few days in Maranello, the home of Ferrari but also the birthplace of the performance car, where the legend that is Italian Sports cars was born. Were hoping to do a tour of the various manufacturer’s one of the days this covers Ferrari, Lambourghini,
Pagani and more.

For now, I think that’s enough details but don’t worry, I will be talking more about this as we get more details tied down.

Before the F1 new season gets underway it’s worth mentioning that there has been a few last minute changes to the rules, thankfully Grandprix.com has it covered, I think the new tyre rule might backfire (why save the softer tyre?) but we’ll all know after Saturday night/sunday morning’s race.

Over on ITV-F1 they’re talking about Kimi being outpaced by Massa in testing, that could get interesting.

Meanwhile it was announced recently that David Richards and some buddies have bought Aston Martin. Why anyone would want to sell that brand I don’t know but I’m very curious to see what will happen there.

Other things that have caught my eye recently were the report that Melbourne was considering a night race. That would certainly make things interesting for the stewards! And that Bernie seems to think that the points system needs a bit of a change, I’m inclined to agree with his thinking, but I’d love to here what other’s have to say.

It’s been a while since I had an F1 post, but then the off season is never terribly interesting there is always some rumour or other, not a huge amount of news and the odd award. So here’s a quick round up.

First off the pre-season rumours of Silverstone’s demise from the calendar are back, (did they ever go away?) this time in some sort of weird Grand Prix swap with the French??? and shure lets fire in the threat of Donnington for good measure

David Richards is a busy man, what with running prodrive, Aston Martin’s racing program, getting his Formula 1 team on it’s feet and now, apparently, he’s trying to buy Aston Martin? hmmm here’s a thought Aston Martin F1 Vantage 2008.

Over in Ferrari land, well they are not missing Michael or both there drivers would like us to believe. It’s only fair to wonder is the ould fella is maybe over staying his welcome but then who could blame him, it’s Ferrari for gods sake Still it must be nice to know the books are all good, they look good in testing and Massa is picking up the Bandini Trophy in recognition of his impressive performances for Ferrari last season. Well deserved if you ask me. It’s not all perfect though, their recent TV commercial shoot went a bit pear shaped in Australia, hopefully though it’ll be the only bad luck for Ferrari down under in 2007.

Roll on March 18th

Last weekend, I woke early on Sunday morning a bit like a Kid on Christmas day, excited full of anticipation for what the day would bring. As we know at this point It wasn’t the best day for Ferrari in Suzuka. Michael’s championship hopes all but gone, he even said him self he didn’t want to win it like that, meaning Alonso not finishing in the last race. The constructors championship doesn’t look good for them either 9 point’s adrift but as we head into the last race of the season, the last race of an era even, I’m looking forward to what I hope will be a memorable climax of a phenomenal championship and career.

Anyway back to Suzuka, The pre-race coverage on ITV contained something very rare. They managed to grab an interview on race day, no less, with one of the most formidable men in F1, the evil genius behind the Ferrari conspiracy, Mr. Jean Todt. You can read it here.

I thought this was particularly interesting in reference to Felippe Masa. I can’t remember the last time I heard any team principle be so up front about there “second driver” and my hat goes off to him for not only standing up for his driver but also the way he slapped down the implied Ferrari conspiracy that Ted Kravitz was looking for confirmation on.

Congratulations Jean, I hope Felippe always has this much support from you