Before the 2011 Italian Grand Prix (Gran Premio d’Italia), the BBC’s Jake Humphrey did a nice story comparing the cars and driving styles of 1964 F1 World Champion John Surtees and 2005 & 2006 F1 Champion and current Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. The comparison between the number of team members in 1964 compared to 2011 is astounding.
John Surtees Interview by Peter Windsor
The 2011 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is coming up on August 28, 2011. Peter Windsor, back working for SPEED (channel), interviewed the 1964 Formula 1 World Champion John Surtees, the winner of the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix in a Ferrari.
According to Wikipedia, John Frankenheimer used race footage from the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix in his film, Grand Prix. “The live footage shows Surtees, Bonnier, Bandini, Ligier, Clark & Gurney in action. Surtees doubles in the scene for the fictional Sarti while Bandini doubles for the fictional Barlini.”
One of my first “scratch-built” slot cars used a Dynamic Dynaflex motor mount with a brass tubing/piano wire front end and a Dubro Ferrari 312 body that was based on the Ferrari 312 F1-66.
Ayrton Senna Tribute on Top Gear
Ayrton Senna Top Gear Tribute from Music Heals on Vimeo.
Jeremy Clarkson’s tribute to Ayrton Senna gives my photograph of Senna at the 1990 Grand Prix de Monaco some perspective. (From season 15, episode 5 of the BBC’s Top Gear, original airdate 25 October 2010)
On the show, many Formula One drivers, including Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barichello, Martin Brundle, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher and Jarno Trulli regard Senna as the greatest Formula One driver.
I hope the Senna film will have wide distribution in the US soon.
Bruno Senna Cautions Against Using an iPhone While Driving
Bruno Senna, in a visceral driving demonstration in a 2010 Formula One Renault R30, advises against using your iPhone while driving, especially going through Eau Rouge at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The drive (and doughnuts) took place at the World Series by Renault last week.
World’s Top 15 Race Courses, As Seen By Google Earth
netgeek06 over at digg writes, “As we stand waiting at the starter tree of the 2009 motorsports season, we’ve let our minds wander across the infinite expanses of Google Earth, finding these shots of the world’s top 15 race courses.“
Number 7 is Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, near my house.