F1 Fanatic round-up: 3/5/2010

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The Spanish Grand Prix build-up begins on F1 Fanatic today with the first in a new series of articles looking at how F1’s longest-serving tracks have changed over the years.

But first, here’s today’s round-up:

Links

Burning rubber at Spa! (Renault)

Comment of the day

Ajokay supplies our first ever video comment of the day:

Video from the new Village corner grandstand that I took earlier today:
Ajokay

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

The first San Marino Grand Prix was held on this day in 1981. The race was, of course, merely a means of having an extra round of the world championship in Italy, and the Grand Prix was held in Imola, an hour’s drive away from the principality.

F1 had made visits to Italy before. There was a non-championship race there in 1963, and another in 1979 a week after the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Imola held its first world championship round in 1980, taking the place of Monza as the home of the Italian Grand Prix for one year

Nelson Piquet won the first San Marino Grand Prix for Brabham. It and Luxembourg are the only countries to have leant their names to Grands Prix without having ever held a race within their borders (more here).

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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26 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 3/5/2010”

  1. Ned Flanders
    3rd May 2010, 0:34

    Nice video AJ! Also, and I know this isn’t F1, but here is Jorge Lorenzo’s celebration after winning at Jerez yesterday. What a legend!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VshAAM6-g8g

    Watching that and the Renault donuts video makes me so annoyed that the FIA does not allow drivers to celebrate in style after winning a race. I mean, F1 drivers aren’t aven allowed to touch their mechanics after winning a race… what a joke.

    If only we could take the best aspects of both F1 and Moto GP and put them together- it would make for one hell of a spectacle!

    1. Ned Flanders
      3rd May 2010, 0:37

      PS here’s an even better Moto GP ‘celebration’- Valentino Rossi going for a whizz on the way back to the pits!!

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2kGvzrEwc8

    2. Sush Meerkat
      3rd May 2010, 1:55

      I’ve not watched the race yet but Lorenzo’s celebration are normally sick inducing to watch.

    3. If only they would make it possible for the podium sitters to do something like this in F1.
      Or bring a separat 3 seater to the races and have them all in it doing stunts, or something.
      Now we only have the hugs and embraces in parc ferme.

  2. Whoo, COTD number 3!

    I didn’t even realise the comment box would turn that link I posted into an embedded video, so that’s a very happy accident!

    1. That was a nice comment. What was the race like?

      1. From what I could make out, the race was good. There was quite a lot of dicing through the complex, and all in all, one of the Sumo GT-R’s won, and they’re my favourites, so yay!

  3. Did anyone else see the massive crash in the second race of the latest round of F2 in Morocco. It was huge, one car hit the back of another car and did a full 360 flip before landing back on it’s wheels.

    1. Yeah I saw that too. Was actually lost for words.

    2. Makes the driving standards on Morocco’s roads look tame by comparison!

    3. HounslowBusGarage
      3rd May 2010, 9:13

      No, I didn’t. But I did try and watch the WTCC at the same track where two 11 lap races actually only contained about eight laps or racing in total and the rest was Safety Car laps.
      The Morroco track is too long, too straight, too fast and much too narrow for safe or ‘proper’ racing.

      1. The Dutch Bear
        3rd May 2010, 10:05

        You’re right there was more safety car than proper racing in Morocco. Especially race 2 of the WTCC, 10 laps of safety car and 3 laps (even less as the safety car came out halfway during the lap so there was no racing then either.) of proper racing. Don’t you agree that the organisation was a bit amateurish to say the least? I could hear the Dutch commentator say: Man, man what a bunch of amateurs!, during the ads. His microphone was probably left open which he didn’t realise.

        1. HounslowBusGarage
          3rd May 2010, 10:23

          On Eurosport we had Martin Havens and Johnny Herbert who kept up a merry chatter. But even they started to wear thin in Race 2. They quite rightly pointed out that there was little point in having car-lifting cranes at the chcanes of such a fast circuit because any accident that begins at a chicane will end up hundred metres down the next straight – where there isn’t a crane! Hence using flat bed trucks to remove cars and hence too many safety car laps. Not the best advertisement for professional motorsport, to be honest.
          And where were the spectators? Have a look at the last few seconds of the F2 crash video where the camera pans back to show the spectator terrace to the right, there’s no one there.

          1. The problem is that while Marrakech is a popular city for tourists, the track is way out in the new town, an area of little interest to tourists and miles away from the main attractions. I don’t know how well the Moroccans promote the event but if the grandstands are anything to go by, it’s not well enough.

  4. Wild crash…here’s the vid

      1. Magnificent Geoffrey
        3rd May 2010, 12:38

        That was like Ralf Schumacher in Melbourne 2002 on steroids.

      2. Wow, that was something. Lucky that car did not end up over the fence there!

  5. Will be surprised if he does not need new teeth after that landing! Track is way too narrow.
    On the subject of Imola if you have ever been to san Marino you will understand why the track is not in it. You can drive through San Marino in less than 20 min. I have been several times to Imola and I always liked it as a venue (it helps only being less than 1.5 hours from me). Can’t ever see it used again for F1. Too much work and updates needed to justify the cost. Another track now resigned to history.

    1. HounslowBusGarage
      3rd May 2010, 10:26

      Yes, by chance I saw some GT racing from the Superstars series on the TV from Imola recently, and I hardly recognised the track. It too looks desperately narrow and strangely enclosed. Even classic corners like Aqua Minerale seemed hemmed in. Maybe it was just the TV angles, though.
      Sad, but I think you’re right, Rampante.

    2. So having it IN San Marino would mean using all streches of road they have and building something to it.

      Might be nice seeing them turn around in the castle and town centre.

  6. The Dutch Bear
    3rd May 2010, 10:59

    Video from the crash with onboard from Paul Rees, the driver in front of Teixera. I can’t describe it with words, watching it is the only way.

    http://www.formulatwo.com/news/dramatic-onboard-of-teixeira-crash.aspx

  7. While we’re on the subject of bad racing crashes this weekend, did anyone see the moto2 race at jerez? someone crashed, spilled some oil, and almost half the field ended up crashing!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFwKujTZ79c

  8. If anyone’s interested, I’ve uploaded some of the *best* of my Silverstone GT1 photos to my website (so they can be kept in the highest resolution)

    http://www.alexodell.co.uk/silverstone/

  9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxBdS5cjY6g

    New abbey corner, looks fantastic. Imagine f1 cars going through there.

  10. I’ve just noticed it’s J.Danzig’s birthday today so belated birthday greetings to you!

Comments are closed.