Australian GP Saturday notes

Saturday

F1 practice 2:

Damon had a spin after 6 laps of practice. Rain started. Mansell quickest this morning - 1:16.8. Nigel reckons the Benetton is a better car in the wet so he doesn't want it to rain. Damon did a 1:36.2 under wet conditions. Schu used his T car this morning. F1 qualifying 2:

Barry Sheene interviewed Nige and Damon as qualifying started, and Nige did nothing but hassle Barry and punch/pinch/hit him. Weird !!!

Murray told us that the drivers for 1985 (yes it's right) at Williams have not been decided.

Schu went fastest 1:33.420. Nige did a 1:36.?. 25 mins to go. 9 drivers not come out yet. Damon did a 1:36.0 then 1:35.511. 20 mins to go.

Damon did 1:33.9 but track is drying out. Alesi just went slightly faster than Damon. 14 mins to go. Schu just did 1:33.025.

Schu,Alesi,Damon,Nige. Mika's engine gave way on Jones Straight. Katayama retired at Jones Straight aswell. 4 mins to go. Damon out to have a go. Schu back on aswell but he's already done his 12 laps. Then he came straight back in. He was testing understeer problem.

SuperKart:

Fantastic drive by 19th qualifier to win.

ATCC cars V8 race:

Huge race. 16 lap race. John Bowe(Ford) on pole with full wets. Larry Perkins in 9th with intermediates.

Lap 1: Skaife in to lead at start. Crompton spun coming onto Jones straight taking off 2 or 3 others. Bowe takes lead.

Lap 2: Skaife (2nd) spins at end of Brabham straight. Down the escape road.

Lap 4: Seton takes Richards into 2nd at Stag Corner.

Lap 5: Jones takes Gardner into 4th from 10th at Wakefield. Jones takes Richards into 3rd.

Lap 6: Richards spins off at Wakefield. Perkins takes Gardner into 4th from 9th near Wakefield.

Order: Bowe, Seton, Jones, Perkins, Gardner

Lap 7: Johnson takes Gardner for 5th near Jones Straight.

Lap 8: Perkins nose to tail with Jones. Perkins takes Jones for 3rd on Brabham Straight.

Lap 9: Perkins is sliding the car all over the place in the wet.

Lap 11: Larry 4 wheel sliding to catch Seton. Johnson T-Bones Jones as Jones turns in at hairpin. Jones falls to 7th.

Order: Bowe, Seton, Perkins, Johnson, Gardner

Lap 12: Perkins tries at hairpin but not quite. Perkins unbelievable inside pass coming down to Fosters Corner.

Lap 15: 2.1 secs between Bowe and Perkins. Bowe starts to throw car. Bowe moves to wet area to keep his tyres cool. Perkins stays in middle because only on inters. Perkins nose to tail to Fosters Corner. Goes to outside and then back in to pass Bowe at finish line with 1 lap to go. Bowe persists and retakes lead by Senna chicane.

Lap 16: Perkins puts nose inside thru Wakefield. Misses. Bowe goes to wet area again but comes back quickly to block Perkins. They touch. Side by side Bowe still in lead. Tries outside again at Fosters Corner. Bowe sticks with it and wins by 1 car length.

Finish: Bowe, Perkins, Seton, Johnson, Gardner, Jones

Sat night:

Australia has a show called Hey Hey its Saturday which did their show from Adelaide. Eddie Irvine and David Brabham appeared and raced to open some Moet. Eddie wouldn't say who he reckoned would win the WDC title. David reckoned Schu would.

Eddie Jordan appeared aswell and judged some acting.

The Hey Hey comics also did had a mock pit/tyre change with Eddie Irvines car in the pits. It was quite funny. Eddie enters pits with Wet Weathers on. The sky is bright blue.

Aussie crew are standing around. Russell uses a petrol station squiggy mop to clear his visor. Russell says there appears to be a rattle in the car (pulls out a babys rattle). The crew do a paper scissors rock game to see who has to change the tyres. Red wins. While Eddie is waiting, Plucka Duck brings out some McDonalds for him. Eddie throws the food. Plucka is not impressed. Red brings in teh spare tyre (a tractor tyre). Wilbur hears a leak in the tyre. Uses Band Aids to fix it. Leaks starts again. Ends up using entire packet. Smoke pours out from Eddies cockpit. Russell pulls out 3 pieces of burnt toast. Eddie pulls out of the pits with Russell running after him because he forgot to pick up his coupons.

Thats it. Now for the big race.

Bye

David -- David Dodds EMAIL: d.dodds@uow.edu.au Computer Systems Officer Dept. Business Systems Wollongong University of Wollongong NSW Australia 2522