Tag Archives: McLaren

Vintage races @ Laguna Seca 2011 – something for almost anybody

The thing about races, is that the people who go are generally car people. So, in addition to the races, there are lots of interesting cars: hot rods, old taxis, just nice old cars in general.

For me it is all sorts of cars, Maseratis – although there were few Maseratis this year – Ferraris – a pretty obvious choice – any little, lithe, sports racing car with a big, honk’n,  427, and Formula Jr.s. Formula Jr.s because they are such a great history lesson. Towards the end of the 50’s, Italian Formula One cars were beating everybody but drivers were being killed at an alarming rate. It was decided to start an international training car class called Formula Jr. to train the replacement drivers. Because the cars were limited to a 1.1 liter production car engine, like the FIAT 1100, Forumla Jr. was sort of Italian weighted. Some of the prettiest were the Stanguellinis which looked like miniature Maserati Formula One race cars. Except of course, the Maseratis had 2.5 liter DOHC engines and the Stanguellinis has little FIAT engines. And they were teeny-tiny.

 

But in Formula Jr. Just like Formula One, the British were changing the game.Frank Costin was designing cars based on aerodynamic lessons learned in WWII, cars like Cooper and Lotus were putting the engines behind the drivers, and – another WWII idea – disk brakes were making the British cars stop much quicker. One of my favorite British Formula Jr. cars was the Lola – as in What ever Lola wants, Lola gets – with it’s cute taperesque nose.

 

And Loti like these:

 

Soon the British took over Formula Jr., then small sports-racing cars with cars like the Lotus Eleven

then, when the Brits discovered downforce and the awesome goodness of the Chevrolet V8, we were graced with McLaren M8D  Can-Ams.

And the outstanding velocity stacks that sat on top of that awesome Chevrolet engine, now enlarged to seven liters.

Ferraris, anon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What IS it with Red Bull, anyway?

By way of confession, I have never actually drunk a Red Bull, a condition I don’t plan on changing very soon. I did have a sip a couple of years ago and didn’t much like it. I read in the L.A. Times that ordering a Red Bull and Vodka is a sure sign that you like to party and, Oh!  they also seem to have an amazing sports program. They have two Formula11 teams, one of them, was last year’s most successful Formula 1 team. This year they are so far ahead, many people including myself have quit keeping track.

But they also sponsor motorcycles and motorcycle racing, and motocross, and air races. A couple of years ago, when I went to see the Blue Angles

with my Little Brother, Edwin, I was amazed at how big the Red Bull presence was. Now they are sponsoring a race that is both extra nutty and very cool. To quote their website, Athletes race non-stop through the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea, with just a paraglider and a pair of hiking boots to help them…Fly. Hike. Conquer. The athletes can either fly with their paraglider or hike, carrying their equipment with them. The race goes on day and night, sun or snow, until the first pilot reaches goal. ,

in fact, they are sponsors of all kind of nutty races, like Red Bull Crashed Ice, a combination of ice hockey, downhill skating and boardercross! I don’t even know what bordercross is. It just seems amazing that they can sell that much sports – or whatever – drink. Not necessarily in a bad way, just amazing.

1. And speaking of Formula 1, where Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel is way out in front so as to be not very interesting except that each race has been interesting with lots of racing.  Louis Hamilton  beat Red Bull in the last race, the Grand Prix of Germany, partially because his pit stops were so fast: he drove in, they jacked up the car, removed four tires and put four new tires on, and then lowered the car and he drove off – all in 3.2 seconds.