The Car Guide

Archive for September, 2009

Formula One: From Humble Beginnings To Billion Dollar Business

The first Formula One world championship race took place at Silverstone race track in Britain in 1950 and was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina who only just managed to defeat his Argentine team mate Juan Manual Fangio. However Fangio won the championship five times over the next ten years earning him the title of grand master of Formula One from many motor sport enthusiasts.

During this initial period Formula One was almost entirely dominated by teams run by car manufacturers including Ferrari and Mercedes Benz. However over the next 20 years the sport of Formula One changed dramatically with the introduction of not only engineering innovations such as fuel injection and aluminium chassis but also instances of sponsorship in the sport the first being when Lotus painted Imperial Tobacco livery on their cars in 1968. Lotus was also the first team to introduce ground effect aerodynamics that helped the cars increase their cornering speeds by providing tremendous down force.

Significant business decisions were made during the 1970s when a man by the name of Bernie Ecclestone rearranged the way Formula Ones commercial rights were managed. Ecclestone gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors Association following his purchase of the Brabham team in 1971 before becoming the president of the association in 1978.

Ecclestone began offering Formula One as a package to circuit owners they could either take or leave when previously the circuit owners negotiated with the teams individually and controlled the teams income. In return for this package almost all circuit owners had to surrender trackside advertising thus beginning the big money business of Formula One sponsorship that has seen tobacco companies car credit and consumer finance companies and oil companies among numerous corporate sponsors all spending millions of pounds to have their names and logos on the cars and alongside the racetrack.

Technological advancements continued to be made throughout the late 70s and 80s including the introduction and subsequent banning of turbocharged engines. Perhaps one of the more significant developments were electronic driver aids with the first active suspension system being used by Lotus in 1982 followed by a progression to semiautomatic gearboxes and traction control. Despite complaints that new technologies were determining the outcome of races more than the drivers skill a move to ban the new electronic aids proved fruitless as it was discovered that a ban on such aids was hard to police.

The teams of McLaren and Williams dominated throughout the 80s and into the 90s with the rivalry between F1 legends Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost capturing fans’ attention all over the world until Prosts retirement in 1993. Sennas death during the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 also made Formula One authorities look more closely at driver safety standards a move which has ensured no further driver fatalities in the sport since that day.

The dawn of the new millennium was also a new dawn for Formula One as Michael Schumacher a skilful German driver began his dominance of the sport eventually winning an unprecedented five consecutive driver championships with his team Ferrari picking up six constructers championships. During this time racing authorities made a number of changes to the rules regarding the qualifying format for races the points scoring system and more besides. These changes were designed to increase safety and combat the spiralling cost of Formula One.

But despite worryingly low viewing figures for racing seasons in the early 2000s the future of the sport looks bright with Bernie Ecclestone organising a number of races in new countries expanding Formula One into new areas of the globe and attracting new teams and drivers all looking to pit their wits against the big boys of the sport.

About the writer:  Andrew Regan is an online freelance author from Scotland. He is a keen rugby player and enjoys travelling.

Formula Bmw Usa San Jose Grand Prix Preview

As Formula BMW USA joins the Champ Car World Series for two consecutive race weekends the San Jose Grand Prix will host the 9th and 10th rounds of the 2007 Formula BMW USA Championship on July 27 29. Seventeen young drivers entered the race with a 1.5mile 7turn Redback Raceway. Reports say it will provide quite a contrast to the rolling 4.0mile 15turn Road America circuit where Rounds 11 and 12 will be held on August 9 12.

Part of the BMW 325e parts making company; the Formula BMW USA Championship passed the midst of the season at Lime Rock Park on July 6 7. Round 8 marked the 50th Formula BMW USA race since the series started in 2004.

So far three young men have stood on the top step of the podium. They are also atop the overall point standings. Daniel Morad Eurointernational one race winner last year on his way to the Rookie Championship has earned five more victories this year making him the driver with the most career Formula BMW USA wins and a 77point leader. Sophomore driver Sebastian Saavedra Eurointernational who had an advance win in Round 7 at Lime Rock Park placed second in overall points. Rookie Esteban Gutierrez Autotecnica after two 17th place finishes at Lime Rock may have fallen five points behind Saavedra but the 15year old still leads the Rookie standings. Gutierrez is a holder of a record six straight poles in Rounds 1 through 6.

Behind these three are Maxime Pelletier HBR Motorsport Team USA Alexander Rossi Team Apex Racing USA and Steven Guerrero HBR Motorsport Team USA standing fourth fifth and sixth respectively.

Series graduates also continue to shine as they climb the motorsport ladder. The San Jose Grand Prix will seem to be a reunion as many graduates compete in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship. Taking the overall pole Robert Wickens 2006 Formula BMW USA Champion finished second in the opening round of the Champ Car Atlantic season at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and won in just his fourth start in Portland. Eight more Formula BMW USA graduates are racing in Atlantics this year: James Hinchcliffe 04 Kevin Lacroix 05 Matt Lee 06 Tom Sutherland 04 05 Simona De Silvestro 06 Frankie Muniz 06 Adrien Herberts 05 06 and David Garza 06.

Among the first group of Formula BMW USA Junior scholarship winners Graham Rahal became the first Formula BMW USA graduate to earn a fulltime drive in the Champ Car World Series with his start at Las Vegas this year. He became the youngest ever to reach a Champ Car World Series podium with his secondplace finish in the Grand Prix of Houston just this April.

Round 10 qualifying will be held on Saturday at 11:50 12:20 p.m.

The Round 9 race will be held on Saturday at 3:20 4:05 p.m. and on Sunday just shortly after a 15minute morning warmup at 8:00 a.m. the Round 10 race will begin at 9:55 a.m.

About the writer:  Hailey Kerr is a Business Administration graduate. She is currently part of a business consulting firm in Massachusetts. Hailey loves to write and enjoys doing her favorite hobby during her free time cooking French cuisines.

Ford Not In Discussion To Sell Volvo

The United States Big Three have been experiencing the lowest points in their history as Japanese carmakers continue their rise in the United States auto market. Ford General Motors and Chrysler have already announced and implemented workforce reduction as part of their turnaround plans. In the case of Dearborn Michigan based Ford Motor Company selling off a brand is seen as a short term solution to their financial woes.

Earlier this year Ford sold the British luxury car brand Aston Martin to a consortium led by racing champion David Richards. The money generated from the sale of the prestigious brand served as a boost for the financial status of the car manufacturer.

After the sale of the famed brand there have been speculations that Ford will be putting another British brand on the auction block this time the Jaguar. Ford however denied that they are planning to sell the struggling luxury car brand.

More recently it was the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo which is being speculated to be the next to go after Aston Martin. It was rumored that German car giant BMW AG requested for the full financial status of Volvo Cars from a Swiss bank who is taking care of the financial aspects of Volvos operation under Fords Premiere Auto Group.

This speculation though was recently denied by Ford with spokesman John Gardiner saying Ford is not in discussions with BMW or any other carmaker regarding interest in the Volvo Car Corp. The speculation surrounding the sale of Volvo became stronger when it was reported in newspapers in London and Sweden that BMW is talking with Ford concerning the sale of the safetyfirst oriented car manufacturer.

Another development in the auto industry which fanned the flames of speculation concerning the sale of Volvo is the fact that DaimlerChrysler recently sold its ailing American arm in the form of the Chrysler Group to Cerberus an investment firm.

Meanwhile FoMoCo pushes on with its restructuring plans to return the company to profitability after posting their biggest loss in their long history last year. Ford announced recently that they have closed down their Canadian engine casting plant. The closing down of the plant is in connection with Fords plan to eliminate engine casting as part of their business. Other manufacturing facilities like the ones building Ford body parts will be continuing their operations. The said Canadian plant produced cylinder block castings for Fords 4.2liter V6 engines and crankshafts for various engines used by Ford on their different auto models. These engines are the 4.2liter 5.4liter V8 3.0liter V6 4.6 liter V8 and the 2.3liter engines.

The said Canadian plant employed approximately 450 persons as well as creating other jobs outside the facilitys operations. Aside from the Canadian casting plant Ford also announced that they will be closing down another casting plant near Cleveland. The Ford Motor Company announced further that they are looking for independent auto parts manufacturers to supply them with the engine castings. This step will ensure that they can focus more on manufacturing of more important auto components such as engines and gearboxes.

About the writer:  Anthony Fontanelle is a 35yearold automotive.buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.