10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview - Spa (part 2 added)

[Super Tourer]

Apologies for the late posting of this. If the powers that be will stop cutting my power off and showering me with seemingly continuous thunder and lightning storms, I would get on a whole lot better!

10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview – Belgian Grand Prix– Spa-Francorchamps

29th August 2004 - 44 laps



2002 Result after 44 Laps – no race in 2003

1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 44 1:21'20.634s Grid - 1

2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 44 +1.977s Grid - 3

3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 44 +18.445s Grid - 5

4 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 44 +19.357s Grid - 6

5 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 44 +56.440s Grid - 4

6 Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 44 +1'17.370s Grid - 8

7 Mika Salo Toyota 44 1'17.809s Grid- 9

8 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 44 1'19.855s Grid -12

9 Allan McNish Toyota 43 +1 Lap Grid -13

10 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 43 +1 Lap Grid - 18

11 Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda 43 +1 Lap Grid -16

12 Olivier Panis BAR-Honda 39 Engine Grid -15

Ret Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda 38 Engine Grid -14

Ret Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth 37 Suspension Grid -11

Ret Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 37 Engine Grid- 17

Ret Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 35 Engine Grid -2

Ret Jarno Trulli Renault 35 Engine Grid - 7

Ret Anthony Davidson Minardi-Asiatech 17 Spin Grid -20

Ret Jenson Button Renault 10 Engine Grid - 10

Ret 23 Mark Webber Minardi-Asiatech 4 Gearbox 19

Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1m 47.176



2002 Race Review

By Spa’s usual standards this was a dull affair. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari gave a display of total dominance to win his 10th race of the year. Even the notoriously unpredictable Spa weather didn’t intervene in the proceedings.

Paddock mumbling’s were that the combination of re-surfacing and cars with traction control had conspired to make Eau Rouge less of a challenge than it used to be, indeed even an ‘ordinary’ driver could take it flat nowadays.

In qualifying, Michelin seemed to have a tyre advantage over Bridgestone, yet once again (as we have seen this year) Ferrari had an answer for that, their technical advantage being above their immediate rivals.

Read a race review here: http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr694.html


Recent winners

2002 – M Schumacher
2001 – M Schumacher
2000 – M Hakkinen
1999 – D Coulthard
1998 – D Hill
1997 – M Schumacher
1996 – M Schumacher
1995 – M Schumacher – Benetton
1994 – D Hill – Williams (M Schumacher won the road but was DSQ)
1993 – D Hill - Williams





Spa Flashback


2001
Michael Schumacher leads from the end of the first lap to the flag to score his 52nd race win. Burti and Irvine tangle which leads to a terrifying crash for Buri as he speared off the track and was buried into the tyre wall. TV viewers feared the worst, Martin Brundle remarking that he didn’t want to see the replay again – thankfully Burti emerged without serious injury. On the restart, Ralf Schumacher’s car was left on the grid on a jack as Williams changed the rear wings as a precaution, but the team ran out of time so Ralf started from the back.


2000.
Hakkinen won from Michael Schumacher after a supreme drive. During the race the two protagonists almost touched at Les combes whilst at very high speed, Michael was ahead and Mika made a move to pass, Schumacher moved across on him by which time Hakkinen was commited to the move, a very near huge accident was avoided by the scantest of margins. Both drivers ‘discussed’ it after the race…. Later in the race Zonta was to get a ringside seat of the Mika and Michael in action, as Hakkinen completed that memorable move by going one side of Zonta, whist Schumacher went the other, as they both lapped him – Mika coming out ahead. Classic stuff!


1999.
Coulthard wins from Hakkinen with Frentzen third in the Jordan. The result put a dent in Irvine’s championship hopes as he arrived at Spa leading Mika by two points, but finishing in 4th place did not help his cause. Damon Hill scored the last point in his F1 career witth 6th place for Jordan.


1998
Chaos reigned or rained! In a wet weather start Coulthard spun, hit the wall and speared across the track in front of the entire field. Thirteen cars were involved in one way or another. The red flag (remember that..?) was produced and the teams made their repairs, only 18 cars lined up for the restart as 4 teams lost both their cars in the original accident. Unbelievably more was to happen during the ‘new race’ Hakkinen and Schumacher made contact, Mika spun and was collected by Herbert in the Sauber – cue the safety car, both were out, but as usual Schumacher was unaffected and continued.

The rain worsened, Villenueve crashed out, Irvine spun, DC and Wurz collided…could anything else happen? Enter stage right Michael Schumacher coming to lap the beleaguered Coulthard amongst the spray and ploughed into the back of him, both retired to the pits, DC finding himself on the end of Schumacher’s rage, as the German stormed down to the McLaren pit.

As for the result? The biggest smile in Belgium belonged to one Edmund Jordan, who not only saw Hill score the teams first ever victory, but scored a 1-2 with Ralf Schumacher 2nd.



1994
Michael Schumacher is disqualified from his race win and banned for two races for having an illegal plank fitted to his car.



Looking ahead to the 2004 race


Spa, another evocative name returns to the calendar after a tobacco induced absence last year.


Being the ‘jobes comforter’ it looks like another Ferrari/Schumacher benefit. As if their past record at Spa is not enough to go on, they turned the 2002 race into a dull affair such was the dominance they produced in a year of dominance. It looks like only a ‘freak event’ will stop Schumacher adding to his extensive list of Spa win.

However, if you are going to pick a venue for a freak event to occur Spa is a pretty good bet. Unpredictable weather, wet on one side of the track dry on the other, the likelihood of being eliminated in somebody else’s incident, all things that have caught the best of drivers out in the past, and not uncommon at Spa.


Of the others, we need to see McLaren get it right this weekend and take the fight to Ferrari again? Renault have had a better couple of weekends recently, so can we see Alonso on the podium again. Williams have been patchy recently, both scored in Hungary and Pizzonia was more impressive, can the ‘new nose’ unlock more speed on it’s 2nd outing – JPM says it makes little difference!

BAR will have put the Buttongate saga further into the back of their minds for Spa, both cars finished behind a Williams and a Renault in Hungary, they need to outscore Renault over the remaining races, to snatch 2nd in the constructors title.

I can feel the pressure starting to tell at Toyota, despite the shine that the team is attempting to place on the ‘B’ version of the car, it hasn’t been quicker, the results have been more or less the same,and switching Da Matta for Zonta hasn’t appeared to be a dramatic improvement. Mike Gascoyne has been visible in the press on the subject of Toyota’s future prospects and his culpability should they not live up to expectation. This looks to me like a team that HAS to start delivering next year and a few good results between now and then would be very welcome….

Anyway back to text, we thought Hungary was dull, we expect Spa to be different – it may be, we might see at least some action – the result – probably the same.


Part two to follow!

[Mr V]

Top work as usual ST

[Super Tourer]

Preview Part Two!


Circuit Map
http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/727.html

Note: Since the last GP held at Spa, alterations have been made to the ‘Bus Stop’ chicane, which have received mixed views as to whether it is an improvement. Many think it isn’t!


Circuit website: http://www.belgium-grandprix.be/




Live Timing
http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/727.html



Race Weekend Timetable

http://www.formula1.com/race/timetable/727.html


Friday 27 August

11:00-12:00 Friday Practice 1

14:00-15:00 Friday Practice 2




Saturday 28 August

09:00-09:45 Saturday Practice 1

10:15-11:00 Saturday Practice 2

13:00 Saturday Pre-Qualifying

14:00 Saturday Qualifying




Sunday 29 August

14:00 Race (13:00 UK time)


BST is 1 hour behind local time



UK TV Schedule

The Belgian Grand Prix on ITV1

Qualifying: Saturday 28 August, 1230-1420

Main Race: Sunday 29 August, 1210-1505

Highlights on ITV1: Sunday 29 August, 2345-0045

Highlights on ITV2: Monday 30 August, 1900-2000

http://www.itv-f1.com/TVSchedule.aspx

Please check times with your TV schedule or the motorsport press before recording this race!




Weather Outlook

Will Spa’s notorious weather come into play this weekend?

http://uk.weather.com/weather/local/...&code=code&y=6


Outlook

Friday 27th August – Showers AM – temp 19 deg C
Saturday 28th August – Showers – temp 19 deg C
Sunday 29th August – Partly Cloudy – temp 19 deg C


World Clock
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

[Super Tourer]

Championship Standings



Drivers Table


1 Michael Schumacher German Ferrari 120

2 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Ferrari 82

3 Jenson Button British BAR-Honda 65

4 Jarno Trulli Italian Renault 46

5 Fernando Alonso Spanish Renault 45

6 Juan Pablo Montoya Colombian Williams-BMW 38

7 David Coulthard British McLaren-Mercedes 19

8 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish McLaren-Mercedes 18

8= Takuma Sato Japanese BAR-Honda 18

10 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Sauber-Petronas 14

11 Ralf Schumacher German Williams-BMW 12

12 Mark Webber Australian Jaguar-Cosworth 7

13 Felipe Massa Brazilian Sauber-Petronas 5

13= Olivier Panis French Toyota 5

15 Antonio Pizzonia Brazilian Williams-BMW 4

16 Cristiano da Matta Brazilian Toyota 3

16= Nick Heidfeld German Jordan-Ford 3

18 Timo Glock German Jordan-Ford 2

19 Zsolt Baumgartner Hungarian Minardi-Cosworth 1




Constructors Table

Pos Constructor Points

1 Ferrari 202

2 Renault 91

3 BAR-Honda 83

4 Williams-BMW 54

5 McLaren-Mercedes 37

6 Sauber-Petronas 19

7 Toyota 8

8 Jaguar-Cosworth 7

9 Jordan-Ford 5

10 Minardi-Cosworth 1



10 Tenths Tyre Maker Standings


1. Michelin 280 pts
2. Bridgestone 227 pts

[Pitstop]

Job's comforter - you are!