Jackie Pretorius has died
31st of March - Jacobus Pretorius, better known as Jackie Pretorius, has died as a conquence from injuries sustained three weeks ago during an assault at his home in Glen Austin near Johannesburg. His wife Shirley died as a result of her injuries in a similar assault assault some years ago.
My heart goes out to family and friends in these difficult moments.
An additional hommage has been placed in the 31st of March post in honour of Jackie.
Tuesday,
31st of March – This is not a Formula 1 car, of course, but its history is quite an interesting one and realted to F1 in more than one way. Do you know what the deal is?
Monday,
30th of March – Unfortunately there only seem to exist black and white shots from this driver at the wheel of a McLaren. Tell me all about it.
Sunday,
29th of March – After nearly 55 years, BrawnGP enters the record books as only the 2nd team in Formula 1 history to place two cars on the front row of the grid and score a 1-2 in its debut race with Jenson Button taking a start-finish win ahead of Rubens Barrichello in the 2009 Australian Grand Prix with their Mercedes-powered Brawn BGP 001. Last time a team managed a similar feat, the driver pairing was no other than Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling… driving Mercedes cars.
Saturday,
28th of March - Jenson Button leads a sensational BrawnGP 1-2 in the qualifying session for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix on the team’s debut. Which other teams managed a similar feat on their debut in the Formula 1 World Championship?
Friday,
27th of March – Could it be that the Williams team is on the way to score a pole position in the 2009 season opener in Melbourne? Nico Rosberg sure showed encouraging pace in free practice. But will he be able to repeat that on Saturday, will he manage pole position for his 54th Grand Prix start? Which leave us to the question of how many attempts it took his dad Keke Rosberg until he managed his first ever pole position in a GP?
Thursday,
26th of March – It’s impossible not to think of this terrible sight when you hear the name Martin Donnelly, who’s thankfully in a position to celebrate his 45th birthday today despite this massive crash in Jerez. Actually, he probably commemorates the day he survived this brutal impact as his 2nd birthday. Which would be on what day…?
STEPHAN HEMMERS
STEPHAN HEMMERS
Nationality : german
Date of birth : march 25, 1971
Main fields of activity : chassis
aug 1990-sep 2000 : design-draftsman, mechanical design > Hopmann
oct 2000-jun 2002 : design-draftsman, chassis engineering > Toyota (F1)
jul 2002-jun 2005 : design engineer composite, chassis engineering > Toyota (F1)
jul 2005-apr 2008 : senior design engineer (composite), chassis engineering > Toyota (F1)
may 2008-2009 : senior project engineer (composite), wings & crashstructures, chassis engineering > Toyota (F1)
Wednesday,
25th of March – Well, if this one doesn’t puzzle you guys, I’ll give up. Of course it’s Jackie Stewart getting a lift back to the pits here. But what’s the location, which year and who’s driving?
Tuesday,
24th of March - Sometimes I get the impression, you guys out there are either too good, or my quizzes are too simple. So let’s try this one for size. Man and machine will do, the year would be nice. Asking for the track, given you got only a white line as a reference, would perhaps be asking for too much…
Monday,
23rd of March – Guessing the drive is peanuts. but do you know where and when this shot was taken and what machine he’s driving?
Sunday,
22nd of March – 35 YEARS AGO:Peter Revson is killed in a violent accident at the wheel of a Shadow DN 3 during testing at the Kyalami circuit prior to the 3rd round of the 1974 World Championship, the South African Grand Prix. He’d just switched to Don Nichols’s team after very successful years with McLaren, the picture showing Peter at the wheel of one of their dominant CanAm racers. Actually, do you know what was Peter Revson’s great accomplishment in this Canadian-American racing series?
Frank Coppuck
Frank Coppuck Born in Guildford, Surrey, on 21 March 1958,
Frank is a B.Sc graduate in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering and the son of former F1 designer Gordon Coppuck, having read at Kingston, London. He is also full member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
From 1979 until 1985 he worked at British Aerospace in Weybridge on aircraft wing design and composites engineering, developing the valuable experience which would become so crucial to his later career as a top Formula One designer.
His motor racing career began in 1985 when he joined the FORCE Lola Formula One team, based in Colnbrook near Heathrow, where he was responsible for overall monocoque design and structural testing. Then, in 1986, he moved to the Tyrrell Racing Organisation in Ockham, Surrey, where he worked for three years and was responsible for all composite design. Taking to the tracks, he acted as team race engineer as well, and was one of Tyrrell’s key technical staff throughout this period.
Between 1989 and 1991 Frank held the position of Chief Designer at Team Lotus in Norfolk, but in 1992 he opted for a year away from Formula One when he joined Dick Simon Racing for the PPG Indycar Series in the USA. Later that season he returned to the UK, working for two years as Technical Director at TOM’S GB, working primarily on the design of the TOM’S Formula One car.
When TOM’S announced that it would shelve its Formula One plans, Keith Wiggins approached Frank with a view to him joining Pacific Grand Prix as Chief Designer. With full agreement from TOM’S, Frank and fellow design Peter Elleray were able to move to Pacific in September, and commence design on the dramatic new Pacific-Ford PR02 along with gearbox design Peter Weston and Chief Aerodynamicist Dave Watson.
The car was launched to the world’s media on February 23rd, 1995, and despite testing only briefly prior to be shipped to Brazil for the opening round of the World Championship, the all-new design finished 9th on its debut in the hands of Andrea Montermini – a fitting tribute to the world of Frank Coppuck and his design team.”
Saturday,
21st of March - Today Ayrton Senna would be commemorating his 49th birthday and what better way to honour the late triple World Champion with this shot from his record breaking 6th win at Monaco, the 5th in a row at the principality. Two records that are most likely to last eternally.
Friday,
20th of March - Today is the 6th anniversary of the passing of engineer Giulio Alfieri, the man who designed the most enduring Formula 1 car ever: The Maserati 250F. Its debut came in the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix where Juan Manuel Fangio took a win right on the first outing of this remarkable machine. 280 race entries in the Formula 1 World Campionshipstand in the books. Who was the last drive to win a Grand Prix at the wheel of an 250F and when did this car take part in a World Championship round for the last time?
Thursday,
19th of March - Just enjoying the sight of one of the most exclusive supercars ever built. What that’s got to do with Formula 1? You tell me.
Wednesday,
18th of March – The only hint you will get is: No, this is not a shot from the 1980s and, yes, It makes sense to show this picture today nonetheless. So guessing the driver is probably not as hard as guessing the venue.
MIKE KRACK
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MIKE KRACK
Nationality : luxemburger
Date of birth : march 18, 1972
Main fields of activity : chassis
1998-2000 : test engineer in the prototype department > BMW
2001-2003 : data analysis engineer > Sauber (F1)
2004-2005 : track engineer > Sauber (F1)
2006-2008 : head of vehicle dynamics, head of race engineering > BMW-Sauber (F1)
2009 : chief engineer > Kolles and Heinz Union (F3)
Pat Fry
Pat Fry (born March 17, 1964) is a Chief Engineer of the McLaren Formula One team.
Pat Fry was born in Shepperton, Surrey, UK. After attempting several engineering courses, he became an apprentice at Thorn EMI in 1981. While at Thorn EMI, he completed a day-release course in electronics at the City of London Polytechnic. He moved onto Thorn’s missile programmes, before deciding to leave the company in 1987 to pursue a career in motorsport.
Fry had an interest in building suspension systems for motorbikes in his spare time and joined the Benetton Formula One team’s research and development department at Witney who at the time were working on active suspension systems.[1] He moved to the test team, and then to the teams Godalming research and development department. He returned to the test team in 1991, before being made Martin Brundle’s race engineer in 1992.
In 1993, former Benetton colleague Giorgio Ascanelli persuaded Fry to join him at McLaren. His initial position was to work on active suspension systems, and run the McLaren test team, but active suspension systems were banned by the sports governing body before the start of the 1994 season and so Fry moved to an engineering position in the race team.[2] After a season as Mika Häkkinen’s race engineer in 1995, he returned to the McLaren test team in 1996 despite rumours linking him with a move to Ferrari.[3] He renewed his contract with McLaren in 1997 to became David Coulthard’s race engineer, a role he held for four years. He moved to a tactical coordinating role in 2001, overseeing both the team’s race cars.[4][5] In 2002 he was promoted to the role of Chief Engineer of Race Development, and was responsible for the MP4-20 and MP4-22 chassis. As of 2008, he is working on the MP4-24, McLaren’s planned entry for the 2009 Formula One season.[6]
[edit] Personal life
On April 20, 2002, Fry married Kate Habershon, a food editor and stylist who had worked in motorsport catering.[7]
Tuesday,
17th of March – I got the impression, the past quizzes were far too simple. Those here you go: Driver, car, ENTRANT and venue, please. Enjoy 
Monday,
16th of March – Now that seems odd, doesn’t it? Driver, car and venue are being asked. Have fun.
Sunday,
15th of March – The 1981 USA-West Grand Prix in Long Beach, here a scene in the first lap, held a surprise ins store for everyone. One was off the track, the other one was on the track. Know what I mean?
Saturday,
14th of March – Christian Fittipaldi scores a 4th place finish in the 1993 South African Grand Prix, which in itself was remarkable for being his best result to date. Yet, for the tiny Minardi team it was a special moment in the team’s history. What would that be?
Friday,
13th of March – Now that we’ve established in yesterday’s post that Enzo Osella was the last engineer to field a Formula 1 team under his own name, one might as well ask who was the first race car builder to do so. John Cooper? Not quite Alfieri Maserati and his brothers had an engineering background, as did Amedee Gordini. And they all had cars lined up on the grid of the first ever Formula 1 World Championship round, the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. John Cooper would only show up for the 2nd round at Monaco.
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