Warwick Motorsport takes in a dose of F1 goodness (aka ear damage)
Today was the 3rd time this year that we visited Silverstone for the 3rd Day of the Formula 1 testing. The Motorsport guys left at 9.30am to get there early, but I got a call from JJ asking for a ride, cos he got left behind :( And after he followed me round during my hectic morning. We picked up Rob and we set off for Silverstone. There was a HUGE turn out, both in teams and spectators. The grandstands were open, and we got a great view of pits and the general track. You wouldn't have believed it, but it was WARM at Silverstone with virtually no wind at the pit–straight end. Obviously, behind an open airfield, it could have been snowing at Stowe for all we know.
As soon as we got there, a Renault was in the gravel trap. Walking towards the pit end, I spent a good 10mins ogling at the Silverstone school's Audi RS 4 (there's a pic of me drooling over it). We spent quite a while at Luffield - famed for being the most boring corner on the circuit, but it was just amazing to hear the V8's booming as they accelerated at insane rates out of the corner.
Then we met up with the rest of the Warwick Motorsport Posse, and they all decided to have "Burgers of Death" aka greasy fast food cooked in engine oil. As JJ says:
its all part of the cultural experience!
Siggy had spent soooo long at the circuit, he could recognise the sound of the cars based on the noises the traction control makes. Normally other people use laptops for frequency analysis…
Standing at the side of the circuit, I could only recognise Kubica, Fisi, Kovaleinen, Kimi, Montoya, Wurz, Webber, Button, Davidson, Albers, Speed, oh and Klien spent the whole afternoon chatting on the pit wall.
Well JJ will provide the wonderful pictures and I'll just provide data (cos you really wanted to know):
Unofficial Thursday times from Silverstone (from Formula1.com):
1. Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault (Michelin), 1:18.518
2. Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren (Michelin), 1:18.978
3. Heikki Kovalainen, Renault (Michelin), 1:19.103
4. Christian Klien, Red Bull (Michelin), 1:19.550
5. Rubens Barrichello, Honda (Michelin), 1:19.614
6. Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren (Michelin), 1:19.676
7. Anthony Davidson, Honda (Michelin), 1:19.760
8. David Coulthard, Red Bull (Michelin), 1:19.900
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Toro Rosso (Michelin), 1:19.980
10. Mark Webber, Williams (Bridgestone), 1:20.422
11. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber (Michelin), 1:20.930
12. Christijan Albers, Midland (Bridgestone), 1:20.987
13. Alexander Wurz, Williams (Bridgestone), 1:21.190
14. Gary Paffett, McLaren (Michelin), 1:21.888
15. Adrian Sutil, Midland (Bridgestone), 1:25.400
Oh and the Journos from F1 Racing: Matt Bishop and Peter Windsor were there doing a silly Caterham/Cosworth shoot with Wurz and Webber.
Nathaniel Ho
27 Apr 2006 17:48
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Tags: F1 General Motorsport Motorsports
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[Skip to the latest comment]Christopher Sigournay
You make it out that I'm some kind of freak… It's so damned obvious from the racket that some of them make! The Renaults you can usually just about hear the traction control on, the Honda's weren't getting much interference from traction control and then when it did cut in was moderately offensive, right up to the atrocious racket that were the McLaren's and MF1's. And you can tell the difference between an STR and any other car on the track from a mile off… Literally. A lot of people were saying that you can barely tell the difference between the STR and the V8 cars, but you really, really can. The V10's are much smoother and sweeter running, and noticeably louder. Bah for V8's in F1 I say!
27 Apr 2006, 19:41
Nathaniel Ho
OK yes there was a little difference. The V10's were smoother and ran at lower revs which sounds better than 20,000rpm whine. But they're a bit asthmatic cos they have an air restrictor.
27 Apr 2006, 19:49
Christopher Sigournay
They don't run air restrictors as far as I'm aware – they're limited by revs only…
27 Apr 2006, 20:48
Nathaniel Ho
Tut tut… You weren't paying attention at the pre–race show. Liuzzi was showing his retarded V10 with a 77mm restrictor at the entrance of the airbox.
27 Apr 2006, 20:57
Christopher Sigournay
I wasn't watching the pre–race show ;–) I've been comparing videos from this year and last year and have concluded that the STR's do sound a little slower and worse than the V8's, but not nearly so much as the icky V8's sound different from the V10's
27 Apr 2006, 21:30
Nathaniel Ho
I hate the sound of the on–boards of the V8 cars.
27 Apr 2006, 21:38
How was Montoya 6th and 14th? Different cars?
28 Apr 2006, 14:49
Nathaniel Ho
That's because one of them is Gary Paffett (coulda sworn De La Rosa or Paffet was driving most of the afternoon). Stupid ITV–f1.com website.
28 Apr 2006, 17:30
Ah right, with you now. :)
29 Apr 2006, 00:16
Nathaniel Ho
The correct answer was he came 6th, but his arse came 14th.
29 Apr 2006, 00:19
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