A distant idyll?
Matters of moment
Do you recall our closing remark in last month’s editorial? Our desire to see the FIA implementing clear, even-handed government across the board?
Our hope was that all of those in the sport, professionals and amateurs, would be able to prepare for the season ahead without having their minds clouded by uncertainty.
As this is written, that seems to be a distant idyll.
The evidence?
Look at the reaction of principal F1 players in this month’s Delirium Tremens. They see plenty of scope for confusion in the months ahead, as there remain several loopholes to be exploited
Or consider the fury of Formula 3000 team managers (see page 142). They know where they stand on technical matters. Their worry is that there’s little point having well defined regulations when the inadequacy of their calendar and a complete absence of promotion make it almost impossible to raise the budget to compete, and therefore compromises their ability to function as a business.
Top-level international rallying still awaits rubber-stamping of rules that will guarantee long-term stability, and there is even confusion about how best to police the new, supposedly more cost-effective ‘Formula 2’ division that will form the basis of the British Rally Championship from 1995. While everyone wants to see manufacturers like Ford commit to the new rules, not everyone will be happy to see the advent of traction control and other hi-tech gadgets that accompany the Escort RS2000 which is currently being developed in compliance with the F2 regulations as they stand.
We don’t doubt that the FIA knows what it wants from international motorsport. However, it has yet to communicate its intentions with sufficient clarity to prove as much. S A
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The month in motorsport – December – cont’d.
17: Lola ‘s first Euro-spec T94/50 is shaken down by Gil de Ferran at Silverstone. In Japan, the car has already created a stir when Heinz-Harald Frentzen recorded the fastest-ever F3000 lap at Suzuka. The car is taken straight to Nogaro, but the following week’s testing proves inconclusive. Running possibilities are restricted by the weather, and then a stray nut finds its way into the engine bay and creates mechanical mayhem.
17: Andy Wallace laps Donington Park in the Chrysler Patriot (below), a Reynard-built, gas turbine-powered racer built to IMSA’s WSC regulations. Chrysler says it is contemplating a return to full-time racing to learn more about combining high performance, low emissions and fuel efficiency.
17: Toyota confirms that it will enter IndyCar racing in 1995.
19: The Philippe Streiff-inspired Elf Masters, a charity kart meeting in Paris’s Stade de Bercy, reaches a successful conclusion. Amongst the F1 drivers taking part are Alain Prost (shown below), Ayrton Senna, Johnny Herbert, Erik Comas, Andrea de Cesaris, Damon Hill, Pier-Luigi Martini and Jean-Marc Gounon, while a host of promising young Frenchmen from lower down the motor racing ladder also appear. Herbert, de Cesaris and F3 racer Guillaume Gomez win Saturday’s main race; Prost, F3000 star Franck Lagorce and Le Mans winner Eric Helary star on Sunday.
19: Peugeot’s A4 F1 engine runs on the test bench at Velizy.
22: Kelvin Burt creates a good impression when he tests for Tyrrell in streaming wet conditions at Silverstone.