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So the reign of Bernie the great dictator is over ... or is it?
Bernie Ecclestone, as chief executive of Formula 1, has been deposed by the sport’s new owners, Liberty, and its powerhouse leader, Chase Carey.
Bernie is to be retitled as Chairman Emeritus an oddly disjointed title in an oddly disjointed scenario.
Chase Carey was fulsome in his praise of Bernie's achievements, if startlingly frank in his observations that it was time for the 86 year old dictator to head into exile.
He also said in recent years there had been many mistaken decisions pointing the finger of blame in Bernie's direction.
So we are promised a brave new world of F1. New ideas, new arrangements, a new concentration on on-line media as global TV audiences have been plummeting and a greater concentration on entertainment.
Given that the various teams and team bosses have all got very rich under Bernie's rule, it will interesting to see if Chase Carey can corral them into making decisions that benefit the sport rather than their own pockets, personally and corporately, which has often been where the poor decisions came from.
So let's hope the new era under someone who will probably have to become a new dictator is better than before, but pause a moment.
Let's thank Bernie for 4 decades of F1 where his mostly benign tyranny has made a small time weekend warrior sport into a globe-spanning multi-billion pound spectacular where everyone has got rich, the racing has often been spectacular and it's been safer than for many decades without the regular annual slaughter of the young heroes.
Bernie has yet to say his piece, and it wouldn't be the first time that Bernie has sold something that turned out to be ephemeral, at a price that was very real.
Graham Benge
During a conversation about tunnels the other day, which I think was started when the A303 Stonehenge project was in the news, I mentioned that the Hindhead Tunnel, south of Guildford on the A3, has made a huge difference to the village of Hindhead, and the surrounding countryside, with much of the “old A3” being returned to nature.
I then said that, somewhere, I had video of the old road during the tunnel construction work, and was surprised when I was asked to upload it for all to see!
Anyway, here it is…. Firstly the road driving south…
Then, you’ve guessed it, north…
Since then, the route of the old road has been transformed…
More about Hindhead Commons from the National Trust: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/case-study-returning-hindhead-common
A little bit of top trumps to distract from the day...
Thanks to fuelfighter.co.uk for the information.
http://www.fuelfighter.co.uk/blog/mega-machines/
The 2017 WRC campaign kicks off on Thursday on the tarmac, mud, snow and ice of Monaco and the surrounding countryside.
It is all change this year after the departure of the 2016 winning manufacturer, Volkswagen…
After 17 years away, Toyota rejoins the Championship, as does Citroen after just a year away.
M-Sport, Malcolm Wilson’s Ford team, and Hyundai, last year’s runners-up in both Championships, complete the line up with all new, lighter, bigger and more powerful cars.
The manufacturer changes have, naturally, also lead to a game of musical chairs/teams for the drivers too:
M-Sport
Toyota
Citroën
Hyundai
Yes, we might all think that with UK temperatures dipping (just a little bit) below zero our cars are rightly justified in hesitating a little in the mornings. But should this really be a worry for us?
Car manufacturers usually want to be able to sell their cars across the world, and not everywhere is as temperate as it is here.... Testing of new models from -40C to +50C isn't unusual.
Starting a Smart CDI at -29C in Novosibirsk in Russia... This driver does mention the problems with frozen ABS, ESP and stiff steering, but it does get going.
I think the best advice is, (a) take things easy, and (b) keep your batteries charged!
At time of typing this, the official dakar.com website tells me that there are only 3 days, 15 hours, and 48 minutes to go until the start of the 2017 Dakar event… which is, naturally, no-longer taking place anywhere near Dakar!
This time the event is visiting three South American countries, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina, and the route covers nearly 9000km over 12 gruelling days.
The Dakar attracts a special kind of person, and indeed, a special kind of vehicle…
For example, the 2017 MINI John Cooper Work Rally has a few tweaks that make it a little different to the models you buy at your local dealer. The 3 litre TwinPower Turbo Six-Cylinder diesel engine produces 340hp, and carries the 1952.5kg vehicle at up to 184km/h (114mph) over some of the toughest terrain and conditions that the event can muster.
To keep up to date with the 2017 Dakar, which runs from 2nd – 14th January 2017, visit/follow/etc:
With bad weather looming, and Christmas coming, it is probably a good time to politely remind all drivers about the need to keep an eye on the health of their cars... in particular, the battery.
You use the car every day to get to work... and it hasn't given you ANY problems... All MUST be fine... Well, hopefully, yes!
However, it is worth remembering that not using the car as much, and perhaps making several much shorter journeys, the car's battery will not get recharged as much as on longer trips. This means that, come that first day back at work when you're running late and it is cold and raining outside, the battery might not be up to getting the car started. In fact, on the first day back in 2016 over 7000 people called the AA with that very problem.
There are, of course, things that you can do to try to avoid these issues:
If you have two cars, but have only used one over the holidays, it might be worth having that set of jump leads handy... and remember to look up how to use them safely! UKMotorTalk's Winter Driving Tips
Photo: Paul Ripke
So Nico has retired…
… a very unusual move for a new and not yet crowned world champion, but not unique.
Nico’s statement left no doubt that he has now achieved the goal that had pushed him on, and led him and his family to make significant sacrifices to get to the top. Having reached that peak, it's enough.
I laud his honourable decision and I'm not that surprised by it having met him two or three times. He always struck me as a real gentleman, and his devotion to his wife and family were very evident in those manic post-race minutes.
Photo: Paul Ripke
Photo: Paul Ripke
We all at UKMT wish him well and are convinced he will go on to do something else in motor sport, even if his driving days are over.
His observations on Lewis’ superiority are telling and confirm the common view that Lewis is the better racer even if he lacks some of Nico’s finer sensibilities.
So who now will pitch for that seat?
Pascal Wehrlein perhaps if Mercedes want a German driver?
Young lion or old hand?
Perhaps even a Spanish driver? A certain Senor Alonso could jump at it and reuniting Fernando and Lewis would make an amazing driver pairing, just ask Stirling Moss who his two favourite drivers are! It would be his dream team. Another Fangio and Moss era for the Silver Arrows?
Graham Benge
Looking back to 2010, we gathered some good advice from our technical chaps regarding the more modern quirks that winter turns up…..
We catch up with our technical chaps to see if they have any thoughts about driving in the current snow and ice..... and here's what they said!
Auto Transmissions:- Some have a Snow button function, in short the Autobox ECU forces the box to shift-up to a higher gear and will not allow a low gear like 1st or second to be selected when the "Snow Button" is pressed. The philosophy being that if you gradually move off by tickling the throttle in a high gear there will be less chance of wheel spinning and losing traction, more importantly you will begin to move forward slowly and safely.
ESP:- If your transmission does not have this function or you may have a manual transmission the "Traction Control" function of your ABS/ESP should kick in. What is this then..................modern vehicles have a number of ways of providing you with traction control "Wheel spin prevention in low traction conditions" How do you know it's working, when traction control kicks in the ESP light will flash on the dash board, you can press the throttle as hard as you want the system reduces engine power. There are many ways by which the transmission, ABS and engine ECU's prevent wheel spin, the most common are:- Cutting the fuel delivery to the injectors, ABS braking the wheels or a combination of these in very quick succession.
Diesel engines:- Modern HDI (High Pressure Direct injection) still have heater plugs but rarely use them due to their high combustion efficiency and ability to start in cold conditions. In recent years manufacturers have removed the heater plug light from the dash board therefore in very cold conditions like we are currently experiencing you will need the heater plugs but will not necessarily have an indication on the dashboard of their run or heat duration. Advice is with HDi engines in very cold weather switch on ignition for a few seconds before cranking the engine to allow heater plugs to run a cycle.
Old Diesel engines Direct or Indirect injection:- Will all have heater plugs and a dash light to indicate their run cycle, when the weather is very cold let them run for three cycles, i.e switch on ignition, let the plugs run a cycle, watch light on dash go out then repeat another two times. Do not use ether type sprays into the induction system, they wash critical oil off the piston rings for first time start and rapidly increase cylinder bore wear. This is like pouring salt in wound, the engine is already a poor starter due to piston ring & bore wear, diesel engines rely on the heat generated on the compression stroke to start. Spraying these ether aid starters into the induction system accelerates the wear process, which is why motorists say that an old diesel engine becomes addicted to these ether spray starting aids.
Graham Benge takes us through a quick list of checks we should ALL be doing before driving this winter.
Following the changes to the 2017 F1 calendar this week, Goodwood have today announced that the dates for next year’s Festival of Speed will now be:
Thursday 29th June to Sunday 2nd July
If you’ve already bought your tickets, don’t panic, they will still be valid without you having to make any changes.
For more information visit https://www.goodwood.com/flagship-events/festival-of-speed/
