F1 classic races - Turkey

IN A new series, I will be looking back at six classic races every weekend from the country about to stage an event in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship.  As Turkey has only held seven races before and not all of them have been classics, here is a varied selection of events from events no longer on the F1 calendar, plus two races from Turkey between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1991 – France

WINNER: Nigel Mansell (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Alain Prost (Ferrari), 3^rd: Ayrton Senna (McLaren Honda)

RICCARDO Patrese started from pole position for the first French Grand Prix to be staged on the new Magny-Cours circuit, but he made one of the worst starts of his career, and never recovered from it here.  The battle for victory was between Alain Prost, on home soil in an uncompetitive Ferrari and Nigel Mansell’s Williams.  Mansell had a slower tyre stop, but managed to catch and pass Prost twice, eventually scoring a long first overdue victory of 1991.  Ayrton Senna was a distant third, holding off a similar hard challenge from Jean Alesi, with Patrese a disappointing and lapped fifth.

1997 – Argentina

WINNER: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari), 3rd: Ralf Schumacher (Jordan Peugeot)

FORTUNE and a more competitive chassis saw Jacques Villeneuve win an absolutely barnstorming Argentine Grand Prix, but he had to work really hard all day.  His main rival for the championship in 1997, Michael Schumacher took himself out of the event on the first corner.  The German tangled with the Stewart of Rubens Barrichello, who also picked up severe damage.  Initially, it was Olivier Panis who was threatening Villeneuve, before engine trouble hit his Prost.  Eventually, the Canadian, who was battling a stomach bug all weekend, had to resist stern pressure from Eddie Irvine.  Although he chased him home hard, Irvine never really got close enough to make a sufficient overtaking attempt, and finished a close 0.9secs behind.  Jordan’s Ralf Schumacher, in only his third ever F1 outing scored a podium finish.  However, he achieved this at the cost of a fruitful relationship with his team, knocking off Giancarlo Fisichella and starting a civil war between the pair.

1999 – Austria

WINNER: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari), 2^nd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes)

AUSTRIA 1999 was David Coulthard’s worst nightmare.  Not only did the Scot run into his team-mate Mika Hakkinen on the first lap, he allowed Ferrari to score an unlikely victory.  McLaren had been a full second quicker than the opposition in qualifying, missing Michael Schumacher, who was starting his recovery from a broken leg at Silverstone a fortnight earlier.  However, Coulthard tried an ambitious lunge on Hakkinen, which ended in contact at the second corner.  The Flying Finn recovered from a spin and 21^st at the end of the opening lap, to finish an incredible third.  Coulthard sped 14 second clear at one point, but Eddie Irvine went longer on strategy, and with some blistering Schumacher-esque laps, overtook the Scot for his second win of the season and it threw the world title race wide open again.  Coulthard’s and Hakkinen’s expressions spoke volumes on the rostrum afterwards.

2005 - Bahrain

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 2nd: Jarno Trulli (Toyota), 3^rd: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes)

NEVER mind motorsport, but tennis was dangerous to Juan Pablo Montoya.  A freak accident left the Colombian with a fractured shoulder and out of the Bahrain event.  He wasn’t missed by the McLaren team, as super sub Pedro de la Rosa set fastest lap and finished a stunning fifth in an action-packed event.  It was one of the hottest races ever in history, and Michael Schumacher’s hydraulics couldn’t take the heat.  They gave up on his new Ferrari after 12 laps.  With Rubens Barrichello only 9^th after gearbox troubles, Ferrari’s gamble on saving their 2005 season with a new car had backfired spectacularly.  The path was clear for Fernando Alonso to record back-to-back victories, with Jarno Trulli’s Toyota finishing second for the second successive race.  Kimi Raikkonen earnt his first podium of the season, to highlight McLaren’s impressive pace in the desert.

2006 – Turkey

NOTCH: Massa led Schumacher all the way to glory in 2006

WINNER: Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 2^nd: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 3^rd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)

THIS was the weekend when Felipe Massa really came good and went up a level in his F1 career.  Massa took pole position and his maiden Grand Prix victory in a nail-biting climax.  The start was just as chaotic, as Giancarlo Fisichella spun infront of the pack and caused mayhem.  Kimi Raikkonen, Scott Speed and Nick Heidfeld all suffered significant damage, with Raikkonen eliminated after a pitstop for checks.  As Massa led from the front, the Safety Car was deployed after Vitantonio Liuzzi spun his Toro Rosso and stalled on the exit of Turn One.  Championship rivals Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher swapped places in the pits, as Schumacher was held up, having to queue up for Massa to be serviced first.  In the dying stages, the retiring German did all he could to pass Alonso, but like at Imola in 2005, he couldn’t find a way through and had to settle for third.  As Schumacher couldn’t find a way through, Massa was allowed to win his first event in Formula One.

2010 - Turkey

RIVALRY: Began after this Red Bull collision last season

WINNER: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Jenson Button (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing Renault)

RED Bull Racing totally shot themselves in the foot last season, when under pressure from McLaren.  Mark Webber began from pole position and led the first 40 laps.  A slow pitstop dropped Lewis Hamilton behind Sebastian Vettel, but Hamilton and Jenson Button stayed right on the tails of the Red Bulls throughout.  On Lap 41, Vettel, with a higher engine setting, went to overtake Webber.  The Aussie left minimal room and Sebastian made his way past.  However, he began to deviate right before a car length’s room was given and they collided.  Vettel span into retirement, whilst Webber had to pit for a new front wing, surviving for a podium finish.  The McLaren’s of Hamilton and Button had a similar dice later, which saw the duo swap the lead.  However, they kept it clean to secure a 1-2 for the British team; Hamilton’s first win of 2010.  Although most experts thought Vettel was to blame for the Red Bull clash, the management seemed to shoulder the blame onto Webber.  This began a fractious summer for the pair and the Milton Keynes based team.

Remembering Roland

FOR the families of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, it doesn’t matter how long it has been since their tragic deaths.  It could have been one, ten or seventeen years.  However, as the 17^th anniversary approaches on their deaths – I felt I would take the opportunity to remember the forgotten man of that ghastly weekend at Imola.

     The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix will go down as the most horrific weekend in the 61-year history of Formula One racing.  Two drivers and a race spectator were killed, four pitlane mechanics were injured by a loose wheel, other fans were struck by flying debris from a startline accident and Rubens Barrichello was lucky to cheat death in a spectacular crash during Friday’s official qualifying session.  Whilst everyone understandably remembers the accident of Ayrton Senna and his legacy on the sport, it is difficult not to forget the impact Ratzenberger had on the sport – even though it was a very brief Grand Prix career.

     Roland Ratzenberger was born in Salzburg, Austria on July 4, 1960.  Although the official records show this was his date of birth, Roland claimed that he was born in 1962 – in an attempt to help further his opportunities into motorsport.  He began racing in 1983 in the German Formula Ford series and finished second in the 1985 Formula Ford festival at Brands Hatch.  A year later, his presence on the car racing scene first came to serious attention as he returned to Brands Hatch, to win the prestigious festival.  It was clear that although he never looked like one of those racing drivers who would take your breath away, Ratzenberger had some quality and it is no accident for anyone to win these kinds of junior events.  

STALLED: Roland's British F3 career halted his momentum

    Two campaigns in the British Formula 3 Championship followed, but they bought little reward.  12^th placed finishes in both championship years meant the Austrian’s career had suddenly got bogged down.  He spent time racing for BMW in the World Touring Car Championship and the British Touring Car Championship – but as the 90s dawned, Roland Ratzenberger’s dream of reaching his ultimate goal – Formula One, were all but over.

     Although it wasn’t quite what he was hoping for, Roland was still determined to continue on his quest to join the Grand Prix paddock.  He was a very popular guy in any championship he contested and was friendly with most drivers, developing close friendships with JJ Lehto and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in his junior days.  Ratzenberger seemed to have settled on a successful career in sportscar racing.  He had five cracks at the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race, finishing fifth for Toyota in 1993.  Toyota had also resigned him for the 1994 assault on the event, but sadly, he would never make that destination.  Ratzenberger also worked out a successful career in Japanese F3000, racing against the likes of Eddie Irvine and former Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve.  Again, Roland’s results were mixed, but that also was down to some of the equipment he had, rather than lack of driver skill.  A victory in the Suzuka round of the series in 1992 certainly caught the eye of some on the European circuit, especially as he still insisted that Austrian journalists should cover events that didn’t appeal to them.

BIG BREAK: Roland's pursuit of his F1 dream came true in 1994

     In 1994, Roland Ratzenberger’s dream of racing in Formula One finally came to fruition.  He held off competition from the experienced veteran Andrea de Cesaris to become the second driver at Nick Wirth’s newly set-up Simtek Racing Team.  Ratzenberger was initially signed on a five-race deal, as the team were always going to be looking for sources of financing, despite a powerful sponsorship with MTV.  He would join the Australian David Brabham, who had one season of F1 experience and was son of three-time world champion in the 50s and 60s, Sir Jack Brabham.

     It didn’t get off to a rosy start, as perhaps struggling through nerves and an old-spec Ford engine; he failed to qualify for the season opener in Brazil.  Three weeks later, he went to the TI Aida circuit in Japan, which would stage the Pacific Grand Prix.  Ratzenberger was the only driver to have raced on the circuit before, a real help with his Formula Nippon experience.  Although he qualified slowest, he made it onto the grid and also finished the race, albeit in 11^th place and five laps adrift of the race winner, Michael Schumacher.

     At Imola, the third race of the season, he looked set to qualify again, especially as Barrichello was out of the event after his crash and Paul Belmondo being absolutely inadequate in a Pacific Ilmor.  It even actually looked like he might be edging closer to his team-mate Brabham on genuine pace.  On Saturday 30 April 1994, Roland Ratzenberger went off the road at the Acque Minerali chicane.  Rather than choose the safer option of pitting to get the front wings checked, Ratzenberger went immediately for another qualifying attempt.  As he flew through the flat-out Tamburello kink, the aerodynamic forces weakened the front wing and it broke on the approach to the flat-out Villeneuve curve.  With no brakes and no front downforce, he had no chance.  Ratzenberger ploughed into the concrete wall flat-out at nearly 200mph.  The wreck of his Simtek Ford halted in the middle of the Tosa hairpin and from the lack of flailing movement in the cockpit; Ratzenberger was clearly in big trouble.  The Italian marshals crowded around his car instantly, which highlighted the general, concern, especially when the wreckage was surveyed.  Roland was taken to the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, but was pronounced deal on arrival at the hospital.  His death was the first fatality in the sport since Elio de Angelis was killed in testing at Paul Ricard in 1986 and the first demise at the meeting for twelve years; Riccardo Paletti the last unlucky man in Canada 1982. 

     Formula One was sent into shock.  Ratzenberger’s death bought about the reformation of the GDPA (Grand Prix Drivers Association).  Brabham and the Simtek team bravely decided to continue.  Ratzenberger’s good friend Irvine took his place in the Toyota squad at Le Mans that summer, and finished in second place.    

ROLAND RATZENBERGER (July 4 1960 - April 30 1994)

     For many, it will be the death of Ayrton Senna that is remembered and rightly so, for his impact and genius on the sport.  However, Roland Ratzenberger is the forgotten man on F1’s nightmare weekend of all-time.  He was full of determination, humour and desire to achieve his dream.  At least he got the chance to make the grid and race before his tragic accident.  His death was a grave loss to Formula One, Austria and of course, his loving family. 

Seventeen years on, he will never be forgotten!  RIP Roland.

ROLAND RATZENBERGER (July 4 1960 – April 30 1994)

£113 Million Result for UK EuroMillions Winner

THERE was a British winner of the EuroMillions jackpot on Friday night, bagging a massive £113million in the process.  However, Camelot has revealed that the identity of the winning ticket is yet to be revealed.

If the winner can be found, it will the biggest win for any UK individual since the lottery format came into existence back in November 1994.  The winning numbers on Friday were 9, 30, 35, 39 and 46 with the two lucky stars being 6 and 8.  It is still unclear also where the winner lives, or whether it is an individual or syndicate victory.

Nine European countries play the EuroMillions draw, which has been around since March 2004.  The UK winner was the only ticket to match all seven numbers from across those countries that participated.  Until Friday’s win, the most that anyone had won the EuroMillions jackpot was £84million earlier in this year.

EuroMillions is now played in Luxembourg, Austria, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Switzerland as well as in the UK.  Since June last year, ten people have scooped the EuroMillions top prize.