Remembering Roland Ratzenberger
30/4/1994, Roland Ratzenberger dies.
I first met Roland Ratzenberger back in 1982, I was racing in Formula Ford 2000 and he was working as a mechanic for German gentlemen drivers to finance his own first steps in Formula Ford 1600 in Austria. I was happy to learn that he’d won the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in 1986 and got a BMW factory touring car drive as a result. But trying to finance a season in British F3 failed, so Roland accepted to race in Japan as a well paid professional in Formula Nippon and sports car racing. With the support of Barbara Behlau, a Monaco-based sports manager, Ratzenberger was able to sign a deal with the new Simtek team at the start of 1994, hoping to raise money to complete the season as he went along. We had a chat in Interlagos about how that whole deal had come about and I couldn’t believe the story that got him the drive. He didn’t qualify for the Brazilian GP with the brand new chassis that hadn’t even seen a propore roll-out, but managed to get onto the grid of the Pacific GP at Aida. We last spoke on Saturday morning in the Imola paddock, he was cool, perhaps a bit more serious than usual. A couple of hours later I was among those assisting Roland being placed in a rescue helicopter. Little did we know, while ingeniously hoping for a positive outcome of the horrifying high speed crash he had suffered in practice for the San Marino Grand Prix, that our friend had left us upon impact at the Villeneuve bend.
Born: 4th of July 1962 in Salzburg, Austria;
Died: 30th of April 1994 at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.
Remembering Kurt Kuhnke
30/04/1910, Kurt Kuhnke is born in Stettin.
A pre and post war motorcycle racer, Kurt moved into car racing and rose through Formula 3, Formula Junior and Formula 2 before finally having a go at Formula 1. After lacking success with Wolfgang Seidel’s Lotus 18 at some non-Championship rounds, he bought a 2nd hand Lotus in mid 1962, lightly modified it fitting a Borgward engine in its back and rebadged it BKL, the initials standing for Borgward Kuhnke Lotus. But again Kurt struggled with engine problems. His single World Championship Formula 1 entry was at the 1963 German Grand Prix where he failed to qualify by a considerable margin. He retired from driving and subsequently entered two BKL Lotus cars in the 1964 Solitude Grand Prix for Maring and German helicopter pilot Joachim Diel, the latter getting involved in a seven car pile-up in wet-weather. Maring, however, managed to finish 10th and last, four laps down on the leader – the only occasion on which one of Kuhnke’s cars finished a Formula 1 race.
Born: 30th of April 1910 in Stettin, then Germany, now Poland;
Died: 8th of February 1969 in Braunschweig, Germany, aged 58.
Remembering Ferrucio Lamborghini
28/4/1916, Ferruccio Lamborghini is born in Renazzo di Cento, Italy.
A wealthy tractor manufacturer in the 40s, Lamborghini once owned a Ferrari. He soon noticed that some of the clutch components were the same as the ones he used on his tractors. He approached Enzo Ferrari with his criticism, and Ferrari, brushing him off as a simple tractor manufacturer, refused to listen. Lamborghini then vowed revenge and setup his own rival sports car manufacturer nearby the Ferrari factory. His first car, the Lamborghini 350GT, was superior in every respect that Lamborghini had criticised in his own Ferrari. His third model, the Miura, was a ground-breaking and legendary car in the mould of Ferrari’s 250 GTO and 365 GTB/4 Daytona.
The crest of the company, a bull, was taken from Lamborghini’s zodiac sign, Taurus. The Miura was named after a trainer of fighting bulls, Don Eduardo Miura. The famous Countach was named after a local Italian colloquialism, after someone saw the design and exclamed: “Countach!”, pronounced “koon-touch”. Ferrucio Lamborghini had already sold the company when the marque entered Formula 1 in 1989 as an engine supplier and competed in 80 Grands Prix. Even Lamborghini branded F1 cars were entered in the 1991 World Championship, but never scored any points and the team withdrew after just one season.
Born: 28th of April 1916, in Renazzo di Cento, Ferrara, Italy.
Died: 20th of February 1993 in Perugia, Italy, aged 76.
Remembering Mike and Michele
While the weekend had interesting GT and single-seater motor sport to offer in Europe and NASCAR action at the Nashville Superspeedway, it was actually time to remember two drivers that we lost in the past.
The younger ones cannot remember Mike Hailwood in action, as he retired at the end of the 1970s from two successful careers, one on two wheels, one on four wheels. Sadly he died – together with his young daughter – 30 years ago in consequence of a road accident. Yet he was a one of a kind racer, his story sure is worthwhile reading.
Michel Alboreto was a different kind of man and a different kind of driver, the likeable Italian went on to win races well in to his forties and deserves our admiration the same way. We remember these two great drivers in this issue, besides giving you an insight into Red Bull’s technical advantages – but also short-comings – in Formula 1 and bring you all the racing action of the weekend.
Enjoy the read!
For a free download of P1Mag issue no.13 please click HERE
#F3 – Christodoulou is the Oulton Park hero
After Brazilian Lucas Foresti won the first of three races of the second round for the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Oulton Park, Riki Christodoulou became the only British winner of the season so far, the 22-year-old Midlander the first race on Sunday. Championship leader Felipe Nasr secured his championship lead in winning race three of the weekend.
#F3 – Stanaway scores F3 Cup double
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richie Stanaway won both races of the 2011 German ATS Formula 3 Cup opening round at Oschersleben, the F3 rookie form New-Zealand and reigning ADAC Formula Masters champion taking an early lead in the championship standings.
#GT Masters – Stuck brothers win race two
Ferdinand and Johannes Stuck won the second race of the 2011 ADAC GT Masters opening round at Oschersleben, Germany, with their Reiter Lamborghini Gallardo LP600plus.
#GT Masters – Margharitis/Lunardi win race one
Alexandros Margharitis (GR) and Dino Lunardi (F) won the openning race of the 2011 German GT Masters at the wheel of the LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 from pole position. Diego Alessi (I) and Daniel Keilwitz (D) in a Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3 beat the Abt Sportsline Audi R8 LMS of Christer Jöns (D)/ Jens Klingmann (D) and Luca Ludwig (D)/ Christopher Mies (D) for second place.
#WTCC – Tarquini fends off Chevy trio
Gabriele Tarquini did what he could in the second race of the Zolder round to translate the advantage of the pole position into a race win, even clashing with Rob Huff. The Italian managed to stay ahead of Alain Menu to the flag, with Taigo Monteiro taking third from Darryll O’Young. Rob Huff finished 6th behind SEAT driver Michel Nykjær.
#WTCC – Huff heads Chevy 1-2-3
In a tumultuous race, interrupted by several caution laps behind the Safety Car after multiple crashes, Rob Huff managed a lights-to-flag win in the first race of the Zolder round ahead of team-mates Alain Menu and Yvan Muller. Gabriele Tarquini finished fourth ahead of Tiago Monteiro, Kristian Poulsen and Norbert Michelisz.
#WTCC – Huff wins from pole heads Chevy 1-2-3
In a tumultuous race, interrupted by several caution laps behind the Safety Car after multiple crashes, Rob Huff managed a lights-to-flag win in the first race of the Zolder round ahead of team-mates Alain Menu and Yvan Muller. Gabriele Tarquini finished fourth ahead of Tiago Monteiro, Kristian Poulsen and Norbert Michelisz.
Remembering Walt Faulkner
22/04/1956, Walt Faulkner dies.
Walt Faulkner competed mainly in midget dirt track racing and then NASCAR races. In 1950, her became the first ever rookie to score pole position at the Indy 500 and as this was also the year of inauguration of the Formula 1 World Championship of which it would be part of for the next decade, Faulkner figures prominently in F1 stats. Besides being listed as a pole-setter, he also appears as scoring one point as the result of finishing 5th in the 1955 edition, but only being eligible of half the points as he had shared the car with Bill Homeier. Walt Faulkner was killed in an accident on his first qualfying lap for a USAC stock car race in California.
Born: 16th of February 1920 in Tell, USA.
Died: 22nd of April 1956 in Vallejo, USA, aged 36.
A whopping 125 pages – and for FREE !
It was the busiest motor sport weekend of the season so far, with racing and rallying events taking place all over the globe and in different time zones, it was a testing time for a lean operation like ours. Would we work our way through the avalanche of information – and in time? Well, we did our best.
Still we decided not to shortcut anything, you will find 125 pages of motor sport coverage in this issue, including those service pages at the far end of the mag. Read all about Lewis Hamilton crackingebastian Vettel’s winning streak, about young Sébastien Ogier taking yet another WRC win, about Mike Conway coming good and taking his first ChampCar win on his comeback year after a dreadful accident in the 2010 Indy 500 plus so much more, including the season opening races of Formula Renault 3.5 and 2.0, as well as the new Blancpain Endurance Series and the Renault Megane Trophy plus so much more.
For a free download of P1Mag issue no.12 please click HERE
#F1 – Want to work in Formula One?
P1Mag takes the next step and opens up its appointments section for as well as manufacturers of competition vehicles, race and rally teams as well as suppliers to the motorsport industry. And the first job on offer .
#IndyCar – Conway scores maiden win in Long Beach
In a frantic finish to the Grand Prix of Long Beach Mike Conway took the lead with 14 laps to go from long time leader Ryan Briscoe to score the first IndyCar win of his career, coming back from his devastating crash at the 2010 Indy 500. Dario Franchitti finished third ahead of the top rookie James Hinchcliffe and Alex Tagliani.
#NASCAR – Johnson win at Talladega by 2/1000s
In a wild, three-wide, six-car finish at Talladega Superspeedway, Jimmie Johnson nipped Clint Bowyer by a record-tying .002 seconds to win Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
With a push from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson surged past Bowyer about six inches from the finish line. The finish tied Ricky Craven’s victory over Kurt Busch at Darlington in 2003 for the closest since the introduction of electronic timing and scoring in 1993.
The victory was Johnson’s first of the season and the 54th of his career. Jeff Gordon ran third and Earnhardt was fourth.
Full report in P1Mag’s issue no. 12
#F1 – Hamilton breaks Vettel’s winning streak
In the most thrilling finale of the season so far Lewis Hamilton overtook Sebastian Vettel with four laps to go to take the win in the Chinese Grand Prix. Mark Webber showed another late charge to first take Nico Rosberg’s fourth place and swiftly closing up to Jenson Button to clinch the final podium position on the penultimate lap.
Full report in P1Mag’s issue no. 12
#ALMS – Aston Martin win at Long Beach
Aston Martin Racing won the American Le Mans Series round at Long Beach as Lucas Luhr made an opening-lap pass on polesitter Chris Dyson. The Lola-Aston Martin coupe sped away to the overall victory with Klaus Graf, leading the Mazda-powered Lola by more than a minute before a full-course caution brought the race to a close behind the safety car. Joey Hand and Dirk Müller won the GT class for BMW ahead of the No. 4 Corvette hands of Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen, who set a new GT race lap record of 1:20.552. Third place went to the hard-charging Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia driven by Toni Vilander and Jaime Melo.
#WRC – Ogier wins Jordanian thriller
Sebastien Ogier has won the Jordan Rally by two tenths of a second from Jari-Matti Latvala, the narrowest victory margin in the history of the World Rally Championship – beating the previous record of 0.3s when Marcus Gronholm pipped Sebastien Loeb on the 2007 Rally New Zealand. Today’s win is Ogier’s second consecutive victory in the 2011 World Rally Championship, and the first time a driver has taken a maximum score from a rally this year – with 25 points for the overall win plus three bonus points for leading the Power Stage.
The full report in P1Mag’s issue no. 12.
#IRC – Hänninen scores asphalt win
The thrilling battle for first place on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés has ended in victory for Juho Hänninen and Škoda Motorsport. Jan Kopecký was fastest through the final stage but lost out on victory to his Finnish team-mate by 1.5s.
Vettel unbeaten
Sebastian Vettel scored his third pole position of the season in Shanghai, setting the fastest lap ever seen around the Shanghai International Circuit. McLaren rivals Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton took P2 and P3 respectively. Nico Rosberg pulled a rabbit out of the hat with an excellent fourth place, comfortably displacing Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Jaime Alguersuari, rookie Paul di Resta, Sébastien Buemi and Vitaly Petrov completed the top 10.
A weekend of supremacy – all in issue no.11
Be it Sebastian Vettel dominating the Malaysian Grand Prix in the same irresistible style he’d shown in Australia a fortnight ago, being the Lamborghini drivers Markus Winkelhock and Marc Basseng ruling the GT1 rost at the World Championship round at Zolder throughout or Will Power being the fastest man all over the weekend at Barber Motorsport Park, or Marcello Hahn / Allam Khodair as well as Negrão Sr. and Jr. perform near excellence in the Brazilian GT Championship, or one Victor Garcia does the same in Indy Lights or Tristan Vaultier in the Star Mazda Series race.
We at P1Mag highly esteem such highly professional performances. That’s why we do our best to bring you ALL of these stories, because that’s what racing is also about.
To download P1Mag’s issue no. 11 click HERE
Remembering Robert O’Brien
10/2/1987, Robert O’Brien dies.
O’Brien was a sports car racer from the US who made a few racing appearances in Europe via Belgian contacts. He toured around Europe with a Cadillac pulling a Frazer-Nash racer around on a trailer, but rumours also suggested that O’Brien was actually a CIA man on a mission. However, in 1952 he borrowed Johnny Claes’ Simca-Gordini T15, somehow got an entry for the Belgian Grand Prix and qualified for the last spot on the grid at Spa-Francorchamps, almost 1 and a half minute slower than pole sette Alberto Ascari. He finshed in 14th place, 6 laps down on race winner Ascari. After he left racing, he concentrated on his business ventures which included paticipations in car dealerships and spares retailing in both his home state New Jersey and in New York.
Born: 11th of April 1908 in Lyndhurst, USA;
Died: 10th of February 1987, Hackensack, USA, aged 80.
#Indy Cars – Power’s total dominance
Will Power showed an impeccable performance leading every single lap of the Honda GRand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsport Park from pole position to the chequered flag, beating the Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti to the flag. You will find a full race report on the second round of the IndyCar Series in P1Mag’s issue no. 11, out on Tuesday.
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