Preview: Malaysian Grand Prix

Where: Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
Dates: 21, 22, 23 March 2008
Track: Sepang International Circuit
Laps: 56 required
Length: 5.543 km
Record: 1:34.223 Juan Pablo Montoya (2004)

The Malaysian Grand Prix should be extremely interesting due to the heat and humidity making it over 60 degrees in the cockpit - something very few of us could bear. It’s my prediction that it means we’ll see more incidents toward the end of the days’ racing. Sepang features fifteen turns altogether, several of which are pulling in excess of 3G’s of force - again, this is something that should keep the racing really interesting to watch.

A number of the turns allow for high gearing (a couple of which will allow the driver to stay in seventh gear), so expect some roaring performances into/out of these particular turns. Both Friday practices have now been completed (2-3.30am and 6-7.30am respectively) and the Saturday practice begins at 3am for one hour. Qualifying is at 6am and the race begins at 7am on Sunday.

So what’s happened so far? Well, the first practice saw a range of incidents. Not least was the apparently compromised Red Bull RB4 car that David Coulthard was driving. It looked to be a promising lap, but part way round, after running on a curb; Coulthard suffered what appears to be a track rod failure. This led to a request by the race stewards for the detailed technical report of the incident.

Of course, we want the sport to be as safe and fair as possible - but no one would predict mechanical problems of this nature, or they wouldn’t be happening in the first place. Either way, it would be a genuine upset if stewards decide that the car does not meet requirements, as they have the capacity to enforce a ‘no race’ exclusion on the Red Bull vehicle. The incident has left Coulthard missing second practice and placing him 16th on the grid.

Practice one held some interesting (and expected in the same instance) results. Ferrari set the pace for the whole morning, with both Massa and Raikkonen driving their cars particularly hard. Moving on to who I would like to personally see take the victory (I’m not biased at all!), the McLaren team started off well, not too far off the Ferrari team. Hamilton managed to steal pole in the second practice session with a blistering lap time of 1 minute 35.055 seconds - extremely quick and not a mile off the current record, even considering the to-the-wire F1 times.

Unfortunately for the other team I’m interested in - Super Aguri - things didn’t go half so well. Takuma Sato had overheating problems with his car, whilst Anthony Davidson just can’t seem to ring out exactly what he wants from his race machine. He couldn’t better his second practice time of 1 minute 39.021 seconds.

You can see the times here for the second practice session, which currently places Lewis Hamilton in pole position. Remember though, there’s another practice session and qualifying to go, though everything is looking good so far for the young English driver.

Based on the practice times table, it’s very clear that Ferrari is burning off to an excellent season start - something that is down to both driving skill and engineering. I’d never rule out Button in the Honda however - the amount of laps he is intent on driving shows is concentration and commitment. Overall, I think Malaysia could well be one of the highlights of this year’s F1 season. Mark my words; this is going to be a big one!

I’m undertaking a new project very soon - the restoration of a Mazda MX-5.  ‘Restoration?’  You might be thinking.  Well, I’m looking at, ideally, a model for around £1,000 with a removable hard top, rather than a soft cover.  No doubt it’ll be an import, or Eunos as they’re also known in the UK.  Almost certainly not a Limited Edition ‘Arctic’ as they go for more.  Will it have galactic mileage?  Will it be right hand drive?  Is it the coupe?  Is it a soft-top?

You can see from the questions above that when you’re considering a used MX-5 there is a range of options.  One of the reasons for this is that it is one of the best selling sports two-seaters of all time, with more than three quarters of a million sold globally and three generations (or main body variants).  The nippy little vehicle has also scratched up more than 150 awards in its’ time.

So why do I want one?  Well where else can you get a rear wheel drive, proper sporty, two-seater convertible?  Well unless you get a ‘galactic’ mileage vintage oddsmobile, the answer is absolutely nowhere at all.  The car is popular for a very good reason.

If you haven’t been in a small two-seater sports car with the roof down, I’d recommend that you give it a go.  Go to your local dealership or car supermarket and test-drive one, even if you’ve no intention of buying.  It’s like being in control of an over-sized go cart, in a way that’s incredibly fulfilling to drive.  It’s an experience (no doubt due to the wind in your hair and the low driving position) that’s enjoyable even at reasonable (legal) speeds.

How I envisage the project
Of course the first part of the project is understanding exactly what I’m going to be buying, beyond of course a second car in the shape of a Mazda MX-5.  At the price I’m looking at, it won’t be a brand new motor by any means.  It’ll be in the either 1.6 (reactive but not sprightly) or the 1.8 litre variety, which has a little more oomph to it.

I wouldn’t be surprised (or really that bothered) if it had more than 100,000 on the clock.  I’ve heard of many Mazda vehicles going beyond 250,000 - these things are built to last.  However, I won’t take my chances so I’ll have a home service with new sparks, air filter, oil change and general checks.  Of course, the main thing to look at when buying any car is the panels - if the engine is okay and the panels are too then you should be sound.

The next part of the project will be development of the battle plan.  If you’re unfamiliar with the MSA, then you’re probably not into motor racing.  I’ll tell you a bit more about my motoring club in another article, but I’m going to get my MSA license (not sure which class yet) later this year.  When I have this, the car will start to see more modifications in the form of a sports exhaust and sports cams and valves.  This could be an increase of up to 35 BHP.  I thoroughly intend to spank it around a track a short time after that.

Whilst I’m sure I’m not the next Lewis Hamilton (have you tried concentrating that hard for that long?) I can’t wait to get a few laps done on the track, or even cruise around the coast with the top down.  One thing I can’t change however is the British weather - so if you are thinking of following a similar plan, make sure to check that the roof doesn’t leak!  I’ll follow this post up when I purchase the thing (some time after the Scottish Motorshow in case I broker a deal for something else whilst I’m there), but in the meantime the planning contines - as well as the heartfelt recommendation to give a soft-top a go.

Lewis Hamilton, the Great British hopeful who missed out on becoming one of F1’s youngest ever champions by an incredible one point last year has managed to clinch pole position for this year’s Grand Prix in Australia. This is the seventh pole of his F1 career and should provide an excellent start for the young driver.

Hamilton’s McLaren team mate Heikki Kovalainen (a Finn who previously drove for Renault F1 in 2007) will feature in row two of the grid alongside Felipe Massa - the now Ferrari driver. This should be quite useful for tactical plays between the team-mates, always useful for the early races.

Kimi Raikkonen (not my favourite driver, but someone I have a lot of respect for the skill of unlike Fernando Alonso, who is now the driver for Renault and places at 12th place) has placed all the way down the field to 16th after he came to halt in the pit lane during the qualifier.

Due to the new F1 rule set (something I’ll cover in another post), Raikkonen was not allowed to participate in the second session even if his car was ready to go, due to the help he received from mechanics in the pit lane.

So, how does the grid line up for the first race of the season overall? Well here are the times from every qualifying racer:

Times
01. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.714
02. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:26.869
03. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.079
04. Massa Ferrari 1:27.178
05. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:27.236
06. Trulli Toyota 1:28.527
07. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:28.687
08. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:29.041
09. Glock Toyota 1:29.593
10. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari No time
11. Barrichello Honda 1:26.173
12. Alonso Renault 1:26.188
13. Button Honda 1:26.259
14. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:26.413
15. Webber Red Bull-Renault No times
16. Raikkonen Ferrari No time
17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:27.207
18. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.446
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:27.859
20. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:28.208
21. Piquet Renault 1:28.330
22. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:29.059

Of course, I’d love to see Lewis Hamilton take the win. He seems to be a genuinely nice guy and if his performance on Top Gear is anything to go by, he’s even faster than the mighty Stig. As Anthony Davidson has been on television I’d love to see him win a point in the Super Aguri-Honda car - he’s been claimed to be one of the better drivers on the grid and only a weaker car has slowed him down. I can’t wait to see the season start - it’s sure to be a very strong one this year.