The month in MOTOR SPORT

August

19: NASCAR star Ernie Irvan is critically injured after a qualifying accident at Michigan. Happily, his condition steadily improves during the following week.

20: Sunday newspaper reports hint that Michael Schumacher is considering quitting Benetton, following the post-Hockenheim allegations of irregularity in the team’s refuelling procedure. There is also growing media speculation, denied by Williams, that Nigel Mansell will be driving for the Didcot team in 1995.

20: A brace of wins at Pembrey moves Jan Magnussen closer to the British F3 title. Ivan Arias and Fabiano Beletti are fortunate to escape without injury after separate roll’ during the meeting.

20: Al Unser Jnr takes another IndyCar victory at New Hampshire. Greg Moore wins the FIL support race. Elsewhere, Gee! Bodine wins the Michigan NASCAR race.

20: Norberto Fontana wins both German F3 rounds at the Nürburgring. Jorg van Ommen is similarly successful in the feature DTM rounds. Marco Campos clinches the FVE title at the same venue, after clashing with rival Tom Coronel at the first corner. In the Far East, Steve Soper takes pole for the JTCC race at Tsukuba, but an early accident paves the way to a double victory for Masanori Sekiya’s Toyota. Soper lies third in the points table.

20: Martin Schanche wins the European Rallycross Championship round at Valkensward, Holland.

22: Lotus confirms that Philippe Adams will substitute for Alessandro Zanardi in the Belgian GP. There will also be a change at Larrousse, where Philippe Alliot will replace Olivier Beretta, who is in financial dispute with the French team.

23: Renault confirms that it will supply engines to Benetton in 1995, and that the Enstone team will have parity with Williams when it comes to specification. Benetton’s present supplier Ford says that it is currently reviewing its plans.

23: Paulo Carcasci returns to Europe after several seasons in Japan. The Brazilian tests a Nordic Lola at Snetterton, and will contest the final two rounds of the FIA F3000 series with the team.

27: Jules Bouillon scores a long overdue maiden F3000 victory, in the wet at Spa. It is the 100th running of an FIA Championship round. Gil de Ferran recovers from last to fifth, thereby moving level on points with Franck Lagorce at the head of the championship. Lagorce suffers from a mistaken mid-race stop for slicks. Erstwhile title pretender Vincenzo Sospiri suffers a broken wrist when he clouts a kerb.

27: The wet weather in Belgium guarantees that Rubens Barrichello’s (above right) provisional F1 pole time, acquired via an opportunist move on to slicks the previous day, cannot be beaten.

28: Michael Schumacher wins the Belgian GP on the road. Several hours later, the FIA issues fresh results declaring that Damon Hill has won the race; the labroc skidblock on Schumacher’s car had been found to be too thin at certain points. (See page 1042 for full details of Benetton’s various appeals and their outcomes.)

28: Lotus issues a denial to counter rumours that Tom Walkinshaw was attempting to take over the team in partnership with racing businessman Peter Hall, patron of IKS. Walkinshaw is also known to have had talks with Mercedes.

28: Tommi Mäkinen (right) wins the 1000 Lakes Rally for Ford, thereby prompting a sudden interest in his services. Francois Delecour finishes fourth on his WRC return.

28: Jean-Pierre Jarier, Bob Wollek and Jesus Pareja (Porsche 911) win the rain affected Suzuka 1000 km.

28: Johnny Cecotto takes GTCC honours at the Salzburgring.

28: Rusty Wallace is NASCAR victor at Bristol. Good news is the continuing improvement in the condition of Michigan accident victim Ernie lrvan.

29: It becomes apparent that Williams will assume responsibility for Renault’s BTCC programme in 1995. A three-year deal is eventually confirmed on September 12. Previous contractee MCT is tipped to run BMWs, while MRD is said to be on the verge of clinching a deal to prepare cars for the new Honda team.

29: Jo Winkelhock wins both BTCC races at Brands; Gabriele Tarquini’s brace of second places edges him closer to the title.

29: Ian Magnussen clinches the British F3 title, with two more wins at Silverstone. Duncan Vercoe is confirmed as Class B champion.

29: Mick Bird (Opel Corsa) is British Rallycross winner at Ty Croes.

30: Michael Schumacher’s appeal against a two-race ban, imposed after the black flag incident at Silverstone, fails at an FIA Court of Appeal. JJ Lehto will deputise at Monza and Estoril.

30: Carl Haas announces that Nigel Mansell will not be held to his IndyCar contract in 1995. At the same time, Williams confirms that the 1992 world champion will contest the final three Grands Prix of the season.

30: TVR announces plans to run at Le Mans in 1995, with a Techspeed-run Cerbera.

September

1: A meeting between the FIA and the ACO clears the air between the two parties, and opens up possibilities that a World Sportscar Championship will be resurrected in 1996.

4: Victory in Vancouver brings Al Unser Jnr ever closer to the CART title. Andre Ribeiro wins the FIL support, closing on series leader Steve Robertson in the process.

4: Andrew Gilbert-Scott takes another Japanese F3000 win at Fuji, reducing Marco Apicella’s series lead to just a point.

4: There are touring car wins for Alain Cudini (France), Stefano Modena (on his DTM debut) and Antonio Tamburini (Italy) F3 laurels go to Jörg Müller (Germany), Christophe Tinseau (France), Gianluca Paglicci and Luca Riccitelli (Italy).

4: Bill Elliott takes NASCAR victory at Darlington; Ernie Irvan’s medical condition continues to improve.

4: Popular club racing stalwart George ‘Welly’ Potter perishes in a road accident. Potter was best remembered for a series of lurid Capris and Lotus Esprits in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

4: Kenneth Hansen takes ERC spoils in Norway.

5: Larrousse announces that Yannick Dalmas will partner Erik Comas at Monza.

5: McLaren is summoned to an FIA hearing, to face charges that it used an automatic upchange facility in the San Marino GP at Imola.

5: Japanese drivers Toshio Suzuki and Aguri Suzuki are tipped to contest the final two GPs of the season, for Pacific and Larrousse respectively.

5: Kelvin Burt signs for Ford to contest the 1995 BTCC. The deal coincides with rumours that Jordan, for whom Burt acts as F1 tester, could get a works Ford engine deal in 1995.

5: Touring car veteran Andy Rouse says he will retire at the end of the season; he will keep his hand in by assisting with Ford’s test programme, however.

5: Over 50 cars are expected to contest the FIA Touring Car World Cup at Donington. The complexity of the entry requirements means that there is no guaranteed spot for BTCC champion-elect Gabriele Tarquini. Robb Gravett, however, will drive for Ford, even though he has been out of a BTCC drive all season. A third Renault entry will be handled by David Leslie.

5: Mitsubishi confirms that Tommi Mäkinen will be driving a Lancer on the forthcoming Sanremo Rally.

7: An FIA hearing clears Benetton of any irregularity after the Hockenheim pit fire, but rejects the team’s appeal against Michael Schumacher’s Spa exclusion. McLaren is also cleared of any impropriety at Imola; the FIA says that the problem lay in a difference of rule interpretation.

7: Tyrrell re-signs Ukyo Katayama.

8: The 1995 BTCC calendar is released, featuring 25 races at 13 meetings. Informed rumours place Tim Harvey at BMW in 1995, while Alain Menu should stay at Renault, ditto Patrick Watts at Peugeot.

9: Renault says it will not contest the 1995 British Rally Championship, though the RACMSA remains confident that the new ‘F2’ regulations will succeed. Several manufacturers, including Ford, VW, Peugeot, Nissan and Vauxhall, attend an official press day, though not all are able to commit to programmes.

10: For the first time since his Monaco accident, Karl Wendlinger attends a Grand Prix.

11: Damon Hill wins the restarted Italian GP. Michael Schumacher is conspicuous by his absence from Monza; it is quickly rumoured that his services will be available to the highest bidder in 1995, such is his discontent with Benetton.

11: In the wake of the Italian GP, runner-up Gerhard Berger slams the Monza circuit authorities in the wake of his hefty shunt during the warm-up. He had been treated in the run-off area while the session continued. . .

11: Jacques Villeneuve takes his first IndyCar win, at Elkhart Lake. Second place finally ensures that Al Unser Jnr will be champion in his first season with Penske.

11: Tim Harvey (Renault) and Gabriele Tarquini (Alfa) take BTCC wins at Silverstone; Tarquini clinches the title.

11: Terry Labonte is the latest NASCAR winner, at Richmond.

11: Victory at Spa gives Johnny Cecotto a one-point lead in the GTCC.

11: Japanese F3 champion Michael Krumm wins again, at Sugo.

11: Jan Magnussen wins the Thruxton F3 race.

12: The tabloid press picks up on rumours that Nigel Mansell is buying a stake in an F1 team, thought to be Lotus. The latter’s Peter Collins swiftly issues a strenuous denial. At the same time, Collins reports that Team Lotus has petitioned the High Court for an Administration Order, to protect its commercial interests in the short term (see Delirium Tremens).

12: WRC leader Didier Auriol is linked with Subaru.