In my recent post about Number 38, I promised more of Roy Jacobson’s accounts of motor racing at grass roots level. Well it’s time to deliver – here’s how to take an old M.G. and challenge the big boys.

Just An Old M.G…

The Australian Grand Prix was held over the weekend but it was also the 12 hours race at Sebring. I had an experience there that may be entertaining.

In the early 1970s I began racing an M.G. TD, a Mark 2, which the company had offered in 1953 as the competition option. Larger carburetors, 4 extra dampers and a lower rear axle ratio – hardly competitive options. Over time I learned to drive and developed the car to a high degree and became bold enough to enter it in a “curtain raiser” race just prior to the Sebring
12 hours race of 1977.

Long sentences are not necessary; just imagine a 1,400 mile drive in an old bread van, towing the M.G. on a trailer, no reservations, a room I found in Lake Worth – I had to chase the chameleons out first. At entrant registration came word that an IMSA competition license was necessary and that cost about all the cash I had – I had not even entered the circuit yet!

Practice went well but the competition looked rather intimidating; have a look at the photo – that’s a 1959 Lister-Chevrolet, 5.3 liter V-8. Final practice confirmed we were ready but Sebring is a long way around, 5.3 miles in those days. It can get lonely out there and the IMSA folks must have realized this during my practice for they sent out a few modern cars to do “exhibition laps”.

Half way down the long straight, topping 100mph, a glance in the mirror – NOTHING – but as I reached the 90 degree right hander I felt the ground shaking. John Greenwood’s Corvette was passing me! On another lap a Porsche 908 passed me doing 170+. That car didn’t make noise but you could hear the air displacement as it ‘whistled’ past.

The race went better than expected; that monster Lister-Chevrolet lost a wheel in turn one, others expired from the flat out running, but the M.G. never failed me and I remember some cheering as I managed to pass a single car, a 6 cylinder Mustang which I had harried for 10 laps or so.

With a 15th place finish in my logbook and a time sheet, the M.G. loaded on the trailer, some sandwiches and a Thermos of orange juice presented by a friend’s wife, I headed north in the bread van. Many, many hours later, freezing cold, late at night, north of New York City, the van’s fuel tank ran dry. I had to drain the M.G. tank to feed the van for the final 100 miles!

Not really F1 is it? But come back next week for another adventure.

Number 38

There has been a lot of talk of who will be the quickest rookie this year, with Hamilton and Kovalainen emerging as the most likely candidates (a fair bet, since they’re in the quickest cars) and Adrian Sutil getting the occasional mention. Kubica gets honorary rookie status in view of his late addition to the ranks last year, as does Anthony Davidson since he had so few races and those so long ago.

But poor old Alexander Wurz never gets a look-in. Of course, with 53 GPs under his belt, he’s no rookie, but his race as stand-in for Montoya at Imola in 2005 was his only GP in seven years. That’s almost long enough to include him with the other newbies.

Alex’s curse has been that he’s the best test driver out there – hence his years of testing with McLaren and Williams. His racing reputation was severely mauled by his last year with Benetton when his teammate, Fisichella, proved quicker. So Alex is regarded as a known quantity, quick occasionally but inconsistent.

But I wonder. Part of his problem has been his height – on occasion he has had difficulty fitting into the car and this must surely make driving a bit more awkward. Look how Mark Webber has been griping about the Red Bull RB3 pinching his rear end.

Even so, Alex managed a third place in that lone race in 2005 – not bad for a guy making his comeback after a long break. There is just a chance that he might show up his young sidekick, Nico Rosberg, in the other Williams. And, if the Williams proves as quick in the races as it has been in testing, we could see Wurz appearing much closer to the front than anyone expects.

It is not that I am expecting any miracles from Alex this season; more that I hope he can get in there and mix things up even more than they are at present. F1 really needs a championship fought out between several drivers and the more wild cards added to the deck, the more likely it is that that will happen.

So I wish Alex the best of luck – may he puncture more than a few over-inflated egos this year. And let us see that great, beaming, goofy smile again as he tots up the points.

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned Number 38 and his comments on the F1-Fanatic site. Since then, #38 and I have been in correspondence and it turns out he is actually Roy Jacobson, a man with long experience of motor racing and the occasional brush with F1. Roy is 62 years old now and still races his kart locally in Virginia – you can’t keep a good man down!

In talking with Roy about his experiences, it occurred to me that readers would be interested too and so I will be posting a few of his stories in these final few days before the season commences in Australia. Here’s a taster from early on in our correspondence:

Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix of 1983

“I had entered an M.G. powered car called a Lester-MG and was assigned to a class filled with Lotus XIs, Lolas, Porsches and Ferraris.

“In practice, I qualified well but was gridded last as the stewards didn’t know what a Lester was and didn’t expect much performance.

“Just prior to the race someone asked if I was in the right class – after all the entire field, about 20 cars, had alloy, overhead cam engines and the M.G. engine was just a ‘push-rod , lump of iron’. I replied, ‘That’s why I’m starting from scratch, don’t want to embarrass anyone.’

“In the race, I went from last to 6th. No champagne, no trophy, no ribbon but I always get a time sheet! It was a personal victory.”

Roy Jacobson

Against that sort of competition, a victory indeed. Roy’s exploits range from kart racing, amateur events driving his MG TD and hillclimbs to racing in F1 GP support events and even helping out in the Lotus pit for the 1979 US GP at Watkins Glen. Through his eyes we can glimpse not only the history of motor sport going back almost fifty years but also get a feel for the vast sweep of motor racing that goes on every year, unrecorded, unsung, and yet the scene for deeds every bit as heroic as those we see in F1.

Good old Kimi has been keeping the tabloid journalists in copy – F1-Live has the story of his latest adventures in a karaoke bar. Not only was he singing, apparently, but also (shock, horror) he autographed a bottle of Koskenkorva Viina (some form of Finnish booze). No doubt he was drowning his sorrow at everyone saying that Massa will beat him at Ferrari.

It’s all a fuss about nothing, of course. What does it matter if he relaxes in a rather robust way as long as his performances in racing continue at as high a level as they have been in the past? The fact is that Kimi is not worried about Massa’s testing form and is looking forward to the races – he knows that racing is the spur that brings the best from himself and that he’ll produce the goods when it matters. I have no doubt that he will beat Massa comprehensively in the coming season.

What remains to be seen is how well he will settle in the team. In previous posts I have wondered about this but this morning it occurred to me that he resembles another guy who once drove for Ferrari – Gilles Villeneuve. He has that same speed and cavalier approach to the sport that made Gilles so good to watch. Gilles also had his wild moments, all forgiven by the adoring tifosi because they knew he would always give of his best and never give up.

That was why Gilles became the darling of Ferrari and the fans – and Kimi could do the same if he has a few good races at the beginning of the season. Then will all the speculation about Massa cease.

The story does highlight the fact that there is a dearth of interesting news in F1 in these last few days before the Australian GP however. About the most exciting thing has been the expected announcement that Bridgestone will mark the different types of tires so that we can tell which each car is on – which is hardly earth-shattering news.

And that is why this article in Grand Prix dot com made me smile. If I may quote:

In terms of real news, there is currently very little and as we do not believe in manufacturing news stories we are keeping quiet for a few more days.

Now that is honest journalism!