What next?

Red · 3 Jun 2000, 18:13 (Ref:1921)

We've seen all: Button hits birds (I pluralized...), Jacques a fox, Giancarlo a cat, Mika uses handkerchiefs (one may ask why on earth he saluted the audience in Interlagos with his helmet ON?), jaguars (no-no, not Stewarts) reported on track in Sepang last year, advertising signs fall upon Jean, and many many more.

Or did we?

Former F1 driver Alex Ribeiro got the day off to a flying start by crashing the FIA Medical Car at Tabac just before free practice began(Daily F1 News

So, what next?

[This message has been edited by Red (edited 03 June 2000).]

Liz · 3 Jun 2000, 18:29 (Ref:1922)

I predict the Safety Car goes into the bay.

RIKB · 3 Jun 2000, 18:33 (Ref:1923)

I remember reading in Sid Watkins' autobiography that they use professional racing drivers to avoid this kind of thing!

Was he racing against the course car perhaps?

TimD · 3 Jun 2000, 18:38 (Ref:1924)

I recall a Toyota Celica pace car smashing into a tyre barrier at Long Beach when it was trying to lead a field of Indycars through some oil.

I think the guilty party was Johnny Rutherford.

And of course there was the Renault course car which was being hot-dogged round the Monaco circuit, and rammed Taki Inoue's Arrows, leaving it inverted in the middle of the track.

My memory says Jean Ragnotti. Am I right?

Later that year, poor Taki was also knocked over by a Tatra T613 medical car at the Hungaroring, which goes to show that you don't need a professional racing driver conducting your course car in order to make a complete porridge of things.

Gerard · 4 Jun 2000, 23:08 (Ref:1925)

Well the next thing already happened at the Monaco GP.
Just after the second start the red flags were shown.
It took a while to figure out why.
Then they discovered the computer who deals with the lights turned the red lights on all by itself.
It must have been a computer virus.
Or aliens.
I think it's aliens.

Liz · 4 Jun 2000, 23:41 (Ref:1926)

Definitely aliens.

That is also why Mika McLaren was so preoccupied today that he could not get past Mika Sauber. Those red lights were a signal from his people. But he could not make out what they were saying because the noise from that Sauber was so loud, so he had to back up where it was quieter so he could find out what they wanted. (Next time he gets on the podium he will let us all know.)