tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10543755959132832262024-03-19T18:48:30.651+10:00drivingandlifeCars, driving, touring, automotive industry, motor racing, motor industry personalities and general automotive mattersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1414125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-10019622946926073512023-06-29T18:29:00.002+10:002023-06-30T07:51:58.457+10:00DRIVING AND LIFE HAS RUN OUT OF GAS<p> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There is insufficient fuel to keep going.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Thank you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">John Crawford</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-58140737344347352992023-06-21T09:20:00.001+10:002023-06-21T09:23:22.522+10:00THE AGELESS ALONSO - by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">By now I reckon Aston Martin Chairman Lawrence Stroll reckons he’s captured a 41-year-old superman as his number one driver. So far this year, six races and six podiums.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLPvjpGbdkX_rBDr4erYhrYCZEPnGr2wC7KeJX6-J_OC-Nm1IcSSoxkf8KJsLjfD7D-Mn7Rhh5w5b86wR1Iv5h20mCJpul5VDef3N3DfIlJlhZaE1-gzV40GIx8hleH20dN3MH-dChyV9_rlHSYCoA5Ckj9MFZ6NQSuBnNppiA7Fr87awitqv1zc-M9Dy/s832/Alonso%20wet%20practice.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="832" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLPvjpGbdkX_rBDr4erYhrYCZEPnGr2wC7KeJX6-J_OC-Nm1IcSSoxkf8KJsLjfD7D-Mn7Rhh5w5b86wR1Iv5h20mCJpul5VDef3N3DfIlJlhZaE1-gzV40GIx8hleH20dN3MH-dChyV9_rlHSYCoA5Ckj9MFZ6NQSuBnNppiA7Fr87awitqv1zc-M9Dy/w640-h330/Alonso%20wet%20practice.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">In Canada he scored P2 in wet practice alongside Verstappen; then won his greatest victory this year holding on to second in front of a hard-charging Hamilton.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufCaRYjhGvGoSNBms15-w04aI6amwSZUAGim2lXI95zKxqX82XUfSrhIpbJr72X6czRrp8ey1zovUuGoW38v8Tfyhrb0nr4zrKSsFfruhACtGHfqM4FC3MMWUqop-dWF39HGK2FM7Kw4qNIECn0FdxAV4s3v-6UaOyE_asPPQ2abNdFEXRMsl7dsBCK0M/s1024/Alonso-Hamilton(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufCaRYjhGvGoSNBms15-w04aI6amwSZUAGim2lXI95zKxqX82XUfSrhIpbJr72X6czRrp8ey1zovUuGoW38v8Tfyhrb0nr4zrKSsFfruhACtGHfqM4FC3MMWUqop-dWF39HGK2FM7Kw4qNIECn0FdxAV4s3v-6UaOyE_asPPQ2abNdFEXRMsl7dsBCK0M/w640-h360/Alonso-Hamilton(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">This highly seasoned racer has brought a diverse set of racing experiences together – Formula One, Indianapolis 500, Off-road racing in events like the Dakar Rally, plus victories in the 2018 and 2019 Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans, as well as winning the 2019 Daytona 24 hours. Martin Brundle says Alonso has an uncanny knack of handling the car’s grip, and says he’s a master of putting the car on the ‘edge of adhesion’.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">He’s still keen to race, and says he sees a top position on the F1 podium this year, and I think if anyone can do it, then Fernando can, and I hope he does.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TdBFwwazoW2OLyUE6sFket4Ybpena6X0QEiBPI_VCTs5uLNXj3YBz-t45RhRaA4z6MHZPPU9zSvNz6S92AQ4j6295kgT_8VwQZPIFKSU4bFHMf958XkPnoX4iC1TbwP6z0X4SXketCek5_01MjdeWuZLsP-vL-O96beWvkDfrVkX3Qhwg3ZzqPWlyS-z/s1600/Alonso%20on%20podium.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TdBFwwazoW2OLyUE6sFket4Ybpena6X0QEiBPI_VCTs5uLNXj3YBz-t45RhRaA4z6MHZPPU9zSvNz6S92AQ4j6295kgT_8VwQZPIFKSU4bFHMf958XkPnoX4iC1TbwP6z0X4SXketCek5_01MjdeWuZLsP-vL-O96beWvkDfrVkX3Qhwg3ZzqPWlyS-z/w400-h225/Alonso%20on%20podium.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The combination of Lawrence Stroll’s determination (and money), plus the brilliant engineering and support team Stroll has gathered together in the course of 2022 and 2023, has allowed the smiling Spaniard to push the previously mid-field Aston Martin team to third place in this year’s Constructors Championship.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">As I approach my 80th year, he's my F1 hero!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-17343838010726318422023-06-12T18:16:00.000+10:002023-06-12T18:16:04.562+10:00GM CONQUERS THE TYRANNY OF LE MANS by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">No taking away from Ferrari’s first victory at Le Mans in 58 years, but GM also scored big this past weekend in the Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHyvl_CK3gQt4FdTV5lig4WDUYi-LlJ3mXMsUMYTt1t4n1GPM5TVFSJ3Uex5WFZulhyCK-qYhTjDULFBKKrcuP9qsfVdG6ughagSYBsFB7w-GKlx83feeLwEj7BMC73Grz2LF5BN2Pca1nYPdYAGGgyN54gB3mZ7Pg-ZVGo10qeLmJIYCv_qdqFzj0SA/s1200/ferrari%2051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHyvl_CK3gQt4FdTV5lig4WDUYi-LlJ3mXMsUMYTt1t4n1GPM5TVFSJ3Uex5WFZulhyCK-qYhTjDULFBKKrcuP9qsfVdG6ughagSYBsFB7w-GKlx83feeLwEj7BMC73Grz2LF5BN2Pca1nYPdYAGGgyN54gB3mZ7Pg-ZVGo10qeLmJIYCv_qdqFzj0SA/w640-h360/ferrari%2051.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Toyota’s Gazoo Racing Hypercar came home in second.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUWMsgvqwipgVN8zaTnDlsi-1hJqdGUPyuc-LSm-UZq-UussqLHcgCBVLxsATqo-Bzh3Gy5rHlbMv99NB6pC2HDeWtib-n1sjmBdPoIIkE6dfRt7FgZCNKvse5RgdOgIleTgpbDEAyKZ7fHgLhxaozZaAyP4O2NCQJ4E4TA-_F6flm7zFg1DtyzxkgQ/s1068/collage-Cadillacs(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="1068" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUWMsgvqwipgVN8zaTnDlsi-1hJqdGUPyuc-LSm-UZq-UussqLHcgCBVLxsATqo-Bzh3Gy5rHlbMv99NB6pC2HDeWtib-n1sjmBdPoIIkE6dfRt7FgZCNKvse5RgdOgIleTgpbDEAyKZ7fHgLhxaozZaAyP4O2NCQJ4E4TA-_F6flm7zFg1DtyzxkgQ/w640-h218/collage-Cadillacs(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Cadillac #2 and Cadillac #3 came home third and fourth; with Corvette #33 winning the LM GTE AM class, its ninth class victory, on the centenary of the famous race.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveVzo4M64yP5R9CYc_tjCVfoqFHe9yqIku7HFwJfIe_i3T_X2bpVGM5p0_iomzx_HHIeBmpsFoK25Rkm1Qrb3FG5H8gvD9jWEMB5YLrG1xtXDBZeY3aARKQ61dUp0C9CVvyXExoxtF1fovx6YNrySxrQIz4jZZZbUa-VTr-XehjKJdOwXFxvhcChY2g/s674/Chev%20Corvette.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="674" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveVzo4M64yP5R9CYc_tjCVfoqFHe9yqIku7HFwJfIe_i3T_X2bpVGM5p0_iomzx_HHIeBmpsFoK25Rkm1Qrb3FG5H8gvD9jWEMB5YLrG1xtXDBZeY3aARKQ61dUp0C9CVvyXExoxtF1fovx6YNrySxrQIz4jZZZbUa-VTr-XehjKJdOwXFxvhcChY2g/w640-h400/Chev%20Corvette.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have to hand it to GM. Both divisions committed big resources to competition in the leading Hypercar class, and the first-ever mid-engined Corvette survived a tumultuous race, which included periods of rain and fog, to bring home the laurels for Chevrolet.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In all the years I attended Le Mans I loved hearing those big V8s thundering around the track. Another GM V8 made an appearance, and although it didn’t figure in the results the dark blue Chevrolet Camaro at least finished the race.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My friend Michael Simcoe, GM’s Executive VP of Design, emailed me from Charles de Gaulle saying that Corvette’s win was a great take away for him from the world’s toughest endurance race.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Well done Cadillac and Chevy!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-60560423779040955132023-06-09T17:39:00.000+10:002023-06-09T17:39:06.787+10:00THE JAGUAR PROMISE by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">As Jaguar heads, apparently, toward a future range of ‘exclusive’ battery electric vehicles, global Jaguar enthusiasts will be keen not only to see the whole proposition, but certainly what the mooted Jaguar 'GT sedan' will look like.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHmkur7uV6vbieES9LOwFwmJ83n5qI8uU5UqmiS0EvRj8XeKjKYTDJvAi4dll-4OXqGMOyWB-CW-T3HaAhhq4D8gxbj3-4ivognSbl_HmisbZuVAut7itRlI5mIoTEixcWP5kLhc74l45Frm74iTEUGmEBnwHRnumdp78wn19MByJHQ9b1CS-NYOQaw/s2816/jag%20sketch%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="2816" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHmkur7uV6vbieES9LOwFwmJ83n5qI8uU5UqmiS0EvRj8XeKjKYTDJvAi4dll-4OXqGMOyWB-CW-T3HaAhhq4D8gxbj3-4ivognSbl_HmisbZuVAut7itRlI5mIoTEixcWP5kLhc74l45Frm74iTEUGmEBnwHRnumdp78wn19MByJHQ9b1CS-NYOQaw/w640-h244/jag%20sketch%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">At this stage, it’s a case of “Who knows?” because that secret lies deep inside Design Chief Gerry McGovern’s brain.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, there were some encouraging words this past month from JLR’s new CEO, Adrian Mardell. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Apparently Mr. Mardell joined Jaguar more than three decades ago, when the star of the range was the venerable 1981 XJ6.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBLoFRotiUVf1SBZ_Bzzx6mnnl24_OJkwh6wIqUxJf-cZ4pPVaCvJby9DMNk-YzR0MpJ8x3M9ZryqMn95bROEl1x2V_Baz-HbDPcseJP9oL8F8grMRoFsWOhDyTV2274m1jRm7awbTpQfw-tcGr-jCqL0QhO97B6WAP8aktlWASc8h-MEUsFnAFMuDw/s1000/1981%20Jaguar%20XJ6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1000" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBLoFRotiUVf1SBZ_Bzzx6mnnl24_OJkwh6wIqUxJf-cZ4pPVaCvJby9DMNk-YzR0MpJ8x3M9ZryqMn95bROEl1x2V_Baz-HbDPcseJP9oL8F8grMRoFsWOhDyTV2274m1jRm7awbTpQfw-tcGr-jCqL0QhO97B6WAP8aktlWASc8h-MEUsFnAFMuDw/w640-h456/1981%20Jaguar%20XJ6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHq_z_G0sGRuTfsWqNEn66P20_XELtaawIfFwPL-tfDzmZIzgOGXc3Cp2p6XV79cg_OroliKHTpoXXLHSdqHbZTlh4ZSYcl2VSVR_HoyeVkyS5sRw4D3mpVoGMfx0OTTe08GefF8BHrcQxMjStKeRoxr_bVoL32hH-JLeYK5Dsv6UxQr6wSrtEo09Q3A/s185/Adrian%20Mardell(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="111" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHq_z_G0sGRuTfsWqNEn66P20_XELtaawIfFwPL-tfDzmZIzgOGXc3Cp2p6XV79cg_OroliKHTpoXXLHSdqHbZTlh4ZSYcl2VSVR_HoyeVkyS5sRw4D3mpVoGMfx0OTTe08GefF8BHrcQxMjStKeRoxr_bVoL32hH-JLeYK5Dsv6UxQr6wSrtEo09Q3A/s1600/Adrian%20Mardell(2).jpg" width="111" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">He has been quoted as saying: “<span style="color: #373737;">This was something that’s “very personal” and “unfinished business” for him, having originally joined Jaguar 32 years ago.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #373737;">“The Jaguar of 32 years ago is where we’re going back to and the right place for us to be." Wow!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #373737;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Mardell acknowledged that JLR had been “quiet” over the past couple of years as it battled several key global challenges faced by the whole industry, most notably semiconductor chip supply.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #373737;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, presumably with the supply chains freeing up, and JLR making bucket loads of cash from its three SUV ranges the go-ahead for the new Jaguars has now been granted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #373737;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The future for the marque, at this stage, may be foggy, but at least it sounds like <u>a car</u> with a Jaguar badge (and hopefully, the Leaper) will emerge from Gaydon in the next three years!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #373737;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I can hardly wait!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="color: #373737;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">JOHN CRAWFORD</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-82500790546589076312023-06-09T13:54:00.001+10:002023-06-09T13:58:56.482+10:00REFUTING ROWAN by Simon Evans<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I didn’t think it would take long for the EV proponents and sympathisers to emerge from the closet after The Guardian published Rowan’s article on his disillusionment with electric cars.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So, as we all know, The Guardian is ‘big on balance’ (Ha, ha!), so it has produced an op-ed piece by some wanker called Simon Evans, who has attempted to refute Rowan’s claims using ‘facts’. Apparently, Evans belongs to a group called CARBON BRIEF which is an EV lobby group in the UK, and anything coming from him is likely to be laced with pro-EV statements, and could likely be taken with a pinch of salt.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOxjK_1CHAJFueQ9W9ZHmQVowfN2lgNjhSJltTuZAediOlw1SBAE-jWORUBysUFh8oZDaXoWX5l1kjVhrUyjZ_LNTCcqTit5eFfYFUl-DXasFGw1Cbn6m4r_7-BhUfeVC-TXcZxvFBJd2wFiw3IytmEFfsL9ySL_N5bxGsSsLQ0vXED4m1bylN_uFLQ/s727/Refuting%20Rowan.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="596" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOxjK_1CHAJFueQ9W9ZHmQVowfN2lgNjhSJltTuZAediOlw1SBAE-jWORUBysUFh8oZDaXoWX5l1kjVhrUyjZ_LNTCcqTit5eFfYFUl-DXasFGw1Cbn6m4r_7-BhUfeVC-TXcZxvFBJd2wFiw3IytmEFfsL9ySL_N5bxGsSsLQ0vXED4m1bylN_uFLQ/w524-h640/Refuting%20Rowan.png" width="524" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It reminds of the incidents when Australian newspapers publish an ‘Electric Vehicle Supplement’ which is usually full of ads for EVs, and either edited by or promoted by the head of the EV council of Australia. Precious little balance there either.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I’m perfectly content to be accused of being a negative noddy against EVs, I don’t care. I am simply trying to point out that EVs are not THE silver bullet, just one step along the way to reducing emissions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Oh, and don’t forget the elephant in the room, and that is the huge carbon footprint accompanying the manufacture of electric vehicles and their batteries. The EV apologists haven’t yet worked out how to refute those FACTS.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Rowan’s right – keep your old petrol car, and save some money.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">JOHN CRAWFORD</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-80146144404801791982023-06-08T12:01:00.000+10:002023-06-08T12:01:07.570+10:00EV POLLUTION, MORE REALITY THAN RISK by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As if to underscore the opposing forces of Yin and Yang, and the premise that for every action, there’s a reaction – or more colloquially: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” – comes a new study conducted by a team from The Wall Street Journal about the barriers for some carmakers on the production of electric vehicles.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many in our societies falsely believe that the EV is the ‘silver bullet’ to drastically reducing vehicle emissions. If you are an Australian EV owner, then you can only re-charge your EV from an electricity grid powered by coal-fired power stations. Zero emissions? Nope!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And, you can forget about the argument that we are phasing out coal-fired generation in favour of electricity from renewables. In Australia, renewables cannot replace or even begin to supplement electricity supply from carbon-intense generation, or substitute coal-fired generators to maintain base load and consequently a stable electricity grid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because of the makeup of the combination of rare earth metals, plus lithium and other substances (cobalt, lithium, nickel, copper, etc) necessary for the manufacture of EVs, this makes EVs very expensive to purchase.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The country making the cheapest and most affordable EVs right now is China – simply because it has vast reserves of all the minerals, elements and rare earth metals required for the manufacture of EVs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqS_VUlQsTxjNBr-7bHxxBDhPTCyS2iKfv9O99ugYLJ1467ActYb9EHftlqwknQFKPnKi1eg0HJYIGeRymsLNYAER-10Qwj71OFKIQx-UcWPei6qkUw1YHXe6XlQjZPDv4R37Qw7Fb9CdBHGsDDhSzSGVwcLSS9g0SEb3779fVx5_Mqz8RKhnKEZbs3w/s1024/collage-Chinese%20EVs(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqS_VUlQsTxjNBr-7bHxxBDhPTCyS2iKfv9O99ugYLJ1467ActYb9EHftlqwknQFKPnKi1eg0HJYIGeRymsLNYAER-10Qwj71OFKIQx-UcWPei6qkUw1YHXe6XlQjZPDv4R37Qw7Fb9CdBHGsDDhSzSGVwcLSS9g0SEb3779fVx5_Mqz8RKhnKEZbs3w/s16000/collage-Chinese%20EVs(2).jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This has forced conventional carmakers which are trying to add EVs to their vehicle ranges, to search out alternatives to some of these precious metals – and the search is not going well.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Whilst the race is on to find alternatives, there is another consideration which EV owners are not taking into account, and that is the total degradation of the landscape after the mining and extraction of these substances. More on this later.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The WSJ cites this latest challenge for EV makers as the ‘Nickel Pickle’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Quote:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“To make batteries for EVs companies need to mine and refine vast quantities of nickel, but the process of getting the nickel out of the ground and refining it is particularly environmentally unfriendly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Indonesia has the world’s largest nickel reserves, and although it’s close to the surface and relatively inexpensive to mine, the nickel can only be found in large swathes of forests, so vast rainforests must be cleared.</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7UoT9o_Gw2Jn1uMzqxpWG5teoJpVsRf1jacO4MLzEcNkBn6v_abCYT_awRzGqsKJ3MwSlQE1rstVKjTLA8qNxffHp_KVC50vV7CKj4wUtoD60QX8k4fSbCiiEku5i3Jhxpc0rFPOAPyBsMfc3cS58Yv7GH-B-v8ifaz65WLUJqGLnA6hjm-PzLVQiw/s2560/Nickel%20mining_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="2560" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7UoT9o_Gw2Jn1uMzqxpWG5teoJpVsRf1jacO4MLzEcNkBn6v_abCYT_awRzGqsKJ3MwSlQE1rstVKjTLA8qNxffHp_KVC50vV7CKj4wUtoD60QX8k4fSbCiiEku5i3Jhxpc0rFPOAPyBsMfc3cS58Yv7GH-B-v8ifaz65WLUJqGLnA6hjm-PzLVQiw/w640-h426/Nickel%20mining_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></i></div><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></i></p>Then the refining process demands a highly carbon-intensive process involving extreme heat and high pressure which leaves behind a toxic waste ‘slurry’ which is very difficult to dispose of.</span></span></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilR5tnCoJ2fVMaq6jlcJ07jcSE2ZzlZwV-NlRAJcChbx2oXJb8hC4SekzJiDn2CbwwShq-Ib1VH9b8pRGU0kiPAGTKNA3iN5eH5GZJhZU_wX0WjjEIL5wZwhRhxKGFnthLqoz0sEzP1U1ZHG9yDWMcTU9dl_6ILX6w_nElq5ADsbaN_9-ElBUoSQSnEw/s862/Nickel%20slurry.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="862" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilR5tnCoJ2fVMaq6jlcJ07jcSE2ZzlZwV-NlRAJcChbx2oXJb8hC4SekzJiDn2CbwwShq-Ib1VH9b8pRGU0kiPAGTKNA3iN5eH5GZJhZU_wX0WjjEIL5wZwhRhxKGFnthLqoz0sEzP1U1ZHG9yDWMcTU9dl_6ILX6w_nElq5ADsbaN_9-ElBUoSQSnEw/w640-h426/Nickel%20slurry.webp" width="640" /></a></span></i></div><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">One Indonesian miner received approval to expand operations into an area three times the size of New York’s Central Park.</span></span></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbK0_Xs6F_GRmXKnTzgysFEGFn1SBcVjP8CyIYZoqOFbPdDOgKM-bbWNpx4U9xqsyD304O0HcvqOMTJo0Gns8g8oJexIfaDdHRUXgjRGtVJkciXtWN0JHO4bTlugiFJGnT7yNYcX04ybQqbB0oXzpIKZ7uHoHjYG3ROKuCNaMA6heU8IUApxGtlprVA/s1208/Nickel%20mining_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1208" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbK0_Xs6F_GRmXKnTzgysFEGFn1SBcVjP8CyIYZoqOFbPdDOgKM-bbWNpx4U9xqsyD304O0HcvqOMTJo0Gns8g8oJexIfaDdHRUXgjRGtVJkciXtWN0JHO4bTlugiFJGnT7yNYcX04ybQqbB0oXzpIKZ7uHoHjYG3ROKuCNaMA6heU8IUApxGtlprVA/w640-h362/Nickel%20mining_3.jpg" width="640" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The mine’s Australian owner, reported that the forest clearing caused greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 56,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of driving 12,000 conventional cars for a year – based on calculations by the WSJ.”</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In April last year a report from Tesla said that EVs caused more emissions during the manufacturing phase than conventional vehicles, due to the process of extracting and refining minerals.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUmodfwc7ZoLZqWPWqrDfI2uVaDuxeUznzfizBSU0w9DSffZjbvjxw_vXvjo2VKJPE3sMA1wPtV8tI1oGbG1yyyA8QyIZu76Laxtq5YHnXKpGMRLXanYKyeINPfryo9_3HlmDdX3-hs4gruNVebb7SvZnCC6W0n2WxIm6HIsBhlhNg3dqc5cHANc6EA/s4592/Tesla%20manufacture_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2584" data-original-width="4592" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUmodfwc7ZoLZqWPWqrDfI2uVaDuxeUznzfizBSU0w9DSffZjbvjxw_vXvjo2VKJPE3sMA1wPtV8tI1oGbG1yyyA8QyIZu76Laxtq5YHnXKpGMRLXanYKyeINPfryo9_3HlmDdX3-hs4gruNVebb7SvZnCC6W0n2WxIm6HIsBhlhNg3dqc5cHANc6EA/w640-h360/Tesla%20manufacture_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Tesla manufacture</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tesla added that nickel was responsible for more than a third of all carbon emissions generated from making common EV battery cells.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The push to extract more nickel has also created pressing new environmental concerns. The refining process involves dousing nickel ore in sulphuric acid and heating it to more than 200C at enormous pressures.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYef5mef6ODImBJdK_n9d4SGcU_kljui4ClU354N5ezmN1708qLQFt7ZFkkcssdAeR5nIsXnXJGmxmQ8fgG13wtNSEOQe9JagWbUcA5AcM5pt9cKiHNEDIcGfHQbBJXkNV-sNWVY2F1SblCMAW-ZForSnM5D6X4t74oDU_FH3wQU-rrV7P5kW7r78z4g/s1438/Chinese%20nickel%20refinery.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1438" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYef5mef6ODImBJdK_n9d4SGcU_kljui4ClU354N5ezmN1708qLQFt7ZFkkcssdAeR5nIsXnXJGmxmQ8fgG13wtNSEOQe9JagWbUcA5AcM5pt9cKiHNEDIcGfHQbBJXkNV-sNWVY2F1SblCMAW-ZForSnM5D6X4t74oDU_FH3wQU-rrV7P5kW7r78z4g/w640-h364/Chinese%20nickel%20refinery.webp" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition, companies face questions about how to get rid of the waste. It’s difficult to safely sequester in tropical countries because of frequent earthquakes and heavy rains which destabilise the soil, causing waste dams to collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A 2018 Indonesian law allowed companies to obtain permits to discard mineral waste into the ocean! However, as yet, this has not happened, due to pressure from environmentalists.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the other side of the world in the Atacama ‘triangle’ in South America, the recovery of lithium ion from a lithium-rich slurry which sits in ponds on the surfaces, leaves the landscape completely degraded and unusable for any other purpose whatsoever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFrHJ77xn_0X6bLy3sMYbYULLt-Jepc7mZtXk9fh4gPuUOEt6DZ4rpO4UY07D3kE-d5RRanr4pNuNztBk-oeTcVSRMcbkmpibW5DEOvE-mun4oW03bQd1k-Xi0suQl8wavVgo90E77HTrV8DjeZJP9fKYhsJK6kUFNZKA8iyRHsZPlUEvqP2QGJqg2g/s864/Atacama%20mine.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="864" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFrHJ77xn_0X6bLy3sMYbYULLt-Jepc7mZtXk9fh4gPuUOEt6DZ4rpO4UY07D3kE-d5RRanr4pNuNztBk-oeTcVSRMcbkmpibW5DEOvE-mun4oW03bQd1k-Xi0suQl8wavVgo90E77HTrV8DjeZJP9fKYhsJK6kUFNZKA8iyRHsZPlUEvqP2QGJqg2g/w640-h334/Atacama%20mine.jpeg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Next time I want to bring to your attention the confusion and obfuscation which exists around the development of ‘blue’ and ‘green’ hydrogen – another plan marred by unacceptable environmental costs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">JOHN CRAWFORD<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-91685854035721168452023-06-05T09:24:00.000+10:002023-06-05T09:24:18.200+10:00EV OWNER, ROWAN ATKINSON, ON EVs<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGZCgedp6OVxntNKvss7Gk6fyC6LItgISbppfCLh8m-RCLm9UyjHjGHKCW4iwJQ2beoXNNfiCwtpNlX21uXDBwH-O1Yse7evuiyskhKyu5wd8jJ9GUZPgclB1AyHPM4BGzFrvtiHcfB20JijheF804jgGU6Je_CfCLrqdjfWsiuiH7ZcnFAuxGdPM8w/s445/collage-Rowan%20Atkinson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="445" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGZCgedp6OVxntNKvss7Gk6fyC6LItgISbppfCLh8m-RCLm9UyjHjGHKCW4iwJQ2beoXNNfiCwtpNlX21uXDBwH-O1Yse7evuiyskhKyu5wd8jJ9GUZPgclB1AyHPM4BGzFrvtiHcfB20JijheF804jgGU6Je_CfCLrqdjfWsiuiH7ZcnFAuxGdPM8w/w227-h208/collage-Rowan%20Atkinson.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I love electric vehicles – and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sadly, keeping your old petrol car may be better than buying an EV. There are sound environmental reasons not to jump just yet.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">E</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">lectric motoring is, in theory, a subject about which I should know something. My first university degree was in electrical and electronic engineering, with a subsequent master’s in control systems.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Combine this, perhaps surprising academic pathway, with a lifelong passion for the motorcar, and you can see why I was drawn into an early adoption of electric vehicles. I bought my first electric hybrid 18 years ago and my first pure electric car nine years ago and (notwithstanding our poor electric charging infrastructure) have enjoyed my time with both very much. Electric vehicles may be a bit soulless, but they’re wonderful mechanisms: fast, quiet and, until recently, very cheap to run. But increasingly, I feel a little duped. When you start to drill into the facts, electric motoring doesn’t seem to be quite the environmental panacea it is claimed to be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As you may know, the UK government has proposed a </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel<u> </u>cars </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">from 2030. The problem with the initiative is that it seems to be based on conclusions drawn from only one part of a car’s operating life: what comes out of the exhaust pipe. Electric cars, of course, have zero exhaust emissions, which is a welcome development, particularly in respect of the air quality in city centres.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But if you zoom out a bit and look at a bigger picture that includes the car’s manufacture, the situation is very different. In advance of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, Volvo released figures claiming that greenhouse gas emissions during production of an electric car are about </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">70% higher </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">than when manufacturing a petrol one. How so? The problem lies with the lithium-ion batteries fitted currently to nearly all electric vehicles: they’re absurdly heavy, many rare earth metals and huge amounts of energy are required to make them, and they only last about 10 years. It seems a perverse choice of hardware with which to lead the automobile’s fight against the climate crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 24pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Unsurprisingly, a lot of effort is going into finding something better. New, so-called </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">solid-state</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> batteries are being developed that should charge more quickly and could be about a third of the weight of the current ones – but they are years away from being on sale, by which time, of course, we will have made millions of overweight<b></b>electric cars with rapidly obsolescing batteries. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 24pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hydrogen is emerging as an interesting alternative fuel, even though we are slow in developing a truly “green” way of manufacturing it. It can be used in one of two ways. It can power a hydrogen fuel cell (essentially, a kind of battery); the car manufacturer Toyota has poured a lot of money into the development of these. Such a system weighs half of an equivalent lithium-ion battery and a car can be refuelled with hydrogen at a filling station as fast as with petrol. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If the lithium-ion battery is an imperfect device for electric cars, it’s a complete non-starter for trucks because of its weight; for such vehicles, hydrogen can be injected directly into a new kind of piston engine. JCB, the company that makes yellow diggers, has made huge strides with hydrogen engines and hopes to put them into production </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">in the next couple of years</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. If hydrogen wins the race to power trucks – and as a result every filling station stocks it – it could be a popular and accessible choice for cars.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But let’s zoom out even further and consider the whole life cycle of an automobile. The biggest problem we need to address in society’s relationship with the car is the “fast fashion” sales culture that has been the commercial template of the car industry for decades. Currently, on average we keep our new cars for only three years before selling them on, driven mainly by the ubiquitous three-year leasing model.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This seems an outrageously profligate use of the world’s natural resources when you consider what great condition a three-year-old car is in. When I was a child, any car that was five years old was a bucket of rust and halfway through the gate of the scrapyard. Not any longer. You can now make a car for £15,000 that, with tender loving care, will last for 30 years. It’s sobering to think that if the first owners of new cars just kept them for five years, on average, instead of the current three, then car production and the CO2 emissions associated with it, would be vastly reduced<i>.</i> Yet we’d be enjoying the same mobility, just driving slightly older cars.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We need also to acknowledge what a great asset we have in the cars that currently exist (there are </span><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">nearly 1.5bn</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">of them worldwide). In terms of manufacture, these cars have paid their environmental dues and, although it is sensible to reduce our reliance on them, it would seem right to look carefully at ways of retaining them while lowering their polluting effect. Fairly obviously, we could use them less. As an environmentalist once said to me, if you really need a car, buy an old one and use it as little as possible.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A sensible thing to do would be to speed up the development of synthetic fuel, which is already being used in motor racing; it’s a product based on two simple notions: one, the environmental problem with a petrol engine is the petrol, not the engine and, two, there’s nothing in a barrel of oil that can’t be replicated by other means. Formula One is going to use </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">synthetic fuel from 2026</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. There are many interpretations of the idea, but the German car company Porsche is </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">developing a fuel </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">in Chile using wind to power a process whose main ingredients are water and carbon dioxide<i>.</i> With more development, it should be usable in all petrol-engine cars, rendering their use virtually CO2-neutral.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Reprinted from THE GUARDIAN newspaper)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipR31fum6SKhe2c-XiQeflfUx7pTH1UZFE7g1RCMjIJIGehKMToKSy6OrLvRy5Uh5KoaOkbUQjpUlKznOZ6z9HqGDyjjbJVubArNfOrOF-ahXdiMN39yePivn7v6iEc5ryagnMcdV9sPLSwfzGYX5sxQ_LEIgQZqvtzLeW_a5F3CRNHes-10c4VRKMLA/s216/The%20Guardian.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="216" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipR31fum6SKhe2c-XiQeflfUx7pTH1UZFE7g1RCMjIJIGehKMToKSy6OrLvRy5Uh5KoaOkbUQjpUlKznOZ6z9HqGDyjjbJVubArNfOrOF-ahXdiMN39yePivn7v6iEc5ryagnMcdV9sPLSwfzGYX5sxQ_LEIgQZqvtzLeW_a5F3CRNHes-10c4VRKMLA/w320-h247/The%20Guardian.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-53953030801173681262023-05-27T11:01:00.005+10:002023-05-27T15:55:11.571+10:00Steve McQueen's OTHER motor racing project by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmJbqAOGZb80oT8fTXAsebiSrALdAcZSF98UGu_ZBfBR2zkUfEDaoPziOUi7VMMHZV_iuu1nA0KpvLxw7RoR00Qy9TZiXKomdBguyN1l_ikVwO0pMOmZyLZuAVk4OVoOPZ88LoLjzx4PJ51mtKwooHs-UbdfxXTbF15t3KeAoiyg9_BNoICsIlPLSeA/s672/Le%20Mans%20title(1).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="488" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmJbqAOGZb80oT8fTXAsebiSrALdAcZSF98UGu_ZBfBR2zkUfEDaoPziOUi7VMMHZV_iuu1nA0KpvLxw7RoR00Qy9TZiXKomdBguyN1l_ikVwO0pMOmZyLZuAVk4OVoOPZ88LoLjzx4PJ51mtKwooHs-UbdfxXTbF15t3KeAoiyg9_BNoICsIlPLSeA/w153-h213/Le%20Mans%20title(1).jpg" width="153" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Those of us who flocked to see Steve McQueen’s paen to the Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans, were of the opinion that this was the best film about motor racing to date.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">‘Le Mans’ was researched deeply by McQueen, and he ruthlessly pursued its completion and release, but sadly it bankrupted him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, before that there was another Steve McQueen motor racing film project. The working title was ‘Day of the Champion’ and it was inspired by Formula One. Despite his efforts, the John Frankenheimer film, ‘Grand Prix’ was released well before McQueen had been able to secure a 'release' from the movie, 'The Sand Pebbles', which ran seven months over-schedule. Subsequently Warner Bros dropped ‘Day of the Champion’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAluW7-q2wJCEgNoBwwONALhQ905b-SF5I3EgbEVbl6wuprJviiKpvuqVBI0oCOvwA4bI1mScj9rp9-NsL49iWBR2_V0JW75qYuRO3uyTdHwNBR2Lf-TvB_AycZVqBgsA9CXwuo59dWnNPzuoHnioNx5RBSDbrj9zsmvL62_qwxOJJpOqhU0FjKc2Pg/s839/Screenshot%202023-05-18%20at%205.16.00%20pm.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="839" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAluW7-q2wJCEgNoBwwONALhQ905b-SF5I3EgbEVbl6wuprJviiKpvuqVBI0oCOvwA4bI1mScj9rp9-NsL49iWBR2_V0JW75qYuRO3uyTdHwNBR2Lf-TvB_AycZVqBgsA9CXwuo59dWnNPzuoHnioNx5RBSDbrj9zsmvL62_qwxOJJpOqhU0FjKc2Pg/w320-h214/Screenshot%202023-05-18%20at%205.16.00%20pm.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">One of those camera car drivers was my dear friend, the late Sir Stirling Moss.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Moss was not only the lead camera car driver for all the critical high-speed moments of the track footage, but also the chief consultant to Steve McQueen.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Many years ago Stirling and I discussed his contribution and his relationship with McQueen whom he rated as a great driver, and all-round 'good bloke'.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWfnMemeI1cZagfe9hkY-aNkxQWjniV8XnP3AnbxhmKGbHMEN6NVDMrQ9rAFnlI9tZkniKpE6zfUi5qQWaJtTN-hp5AnczGOyvKNukku1b9gqLSs1fBu8x9blwL3F7z6ORTpoS2zI5cu7GfvDtrnJrF6Aat_cgtRZJ5ppLVdwThDaBTFKtxgHamgD4w/s1200/Collage-Moss_McQueen.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWfnMemeI1cZagfe9hkY-aNkxQWjniV8XnP3AnbxhmKGbHMEN6NVDMrQ9rAFnlI9tZkniKpE6zfUi5qQWaJtTN-hp5AnczGOyvKNukku1b9gqLSs1fBu8x9blwL3F7z6ORTpoS2zI5cu7GfvDtrnJrF6Aat_cgtRZJ5ppLVdwThDaBTFKtxgHamgD4w/s16000/Collage-Moss_McQueen.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The bulk of the ancilliary footage are crisp images of the 1965 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, shot in full-frame 35mm. In addition, there are fabulous ‘over-the-shoulder’ scenes taken from Stirling’s car.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPOiD1KJUXyhacYCkHRgx6FL-LWfZiAm3F4tF-DtufARqZOm5wzu3GDQaSpPxq7TrrAbPBVJF5Xg3HeE1IlZ_9srEAIbHbHpvLpKxO7_2xl245skfNc8awNjcwi3GVQuughsYq2M7WEtINptWXUkMhplnF6Xz5H8wqHMvUAh8BE-navYmqkTdVXIL6w/s734/Moss%201965%20German%20GP.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="734" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPOiD1KJUXyhacYCkHRgx6FL-LWfZiAm3F4tF-DtufARqZOm5wzu3GDQaSpPxq7TrrAbPBVJF5Xg3HeE1IlZ_9srEAIbHbHpvLpKxO7_2xl245skfNc8awNjcwi3GVQuughsYq2M7WEtINptWXUkMhplnF6Xz5H8wqHMvUAh8BE-navYmqkTdVXIL6w/s16000/Moss%201965%20German%20GP.png" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">The film, which was shown on Sky Documentaries, is written, produced and directed by Alex Rodger, formerly of Sky F1. However, archivist Richard Wiseman is credited with bringing the movie to life after he was sent clips from an American stock movie library.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This documentary movie is called ‘The Lost Movie’, narrated by another petrol-head, David Letterman. It appears you can only stream it on STAN in Australia, as well as You Tube.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCsD3IxwzREdiLXvQz6oahgLJPD0YFu6DLIKnlYwKuCiKXx4EBMpTuZxsLRdCCIvZYCCBk4LA21gsv9JyJtEEMu2iMYTB5RsCJ-7-NULjcd21EadpU8U4ZT-jdXHdFOxuOOyt76BKVrEG0G-td0QF2grVN4kbR7VjHKu6-ETR5Le4xmYgA5u6K9jUpA/s1735/Screenshot%202023-05-27%20at%2011.09.46%20am.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="1735" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCsD3IxwzREdiLXvQz6oahgLJPD0YFu6DLIKnlYwKuCiKXx4EBMpTuZxsLRdCCIvZYCCBk4LA21gsv9JyJtEEMu2iMYTB5RsCJ-7-NULjcd21EadpU8U4ZT-jdXHdFOxuOOyt76BKVrEG0G-td0QF2grVN4kbR7VjHKu6-ETR5Le4xmYgA5u6K9jUpA/w640-h268/Screenshot%202023-05-27%20at%2011.09.46%20am.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: left;">JOHN CRAWFORD</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-21435300355176686812023-05-25T09:28:00.004+10:002023-05-27T09:59:45.558+10:00NEW JAGUARS? MORE THAN A MAYBE by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In September 2020, as the global COVID epidemic was rising to its crescendo of chaos, when carmakers faced supply chain impediments never seen before, and were struggling to deliver finished vehicles, an aristocratic, autocratic Frenchman crossed the English Channel and joined Jaguar Land Rover, after being ousted from Renault following the Carlos Ghosn scandal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiKyOdhsdITweFpyWdI5qGYH_dpdTPKEPkLnvfF8UqCU83qLUPmBAa7pB0JzPTYpK9QNetdC1S1oK6Ij_Q_enPIUllYe8J_TAwcQzaAbHyRMH2ax5dRODFKzNZx_SB_JiqY9Xd3jrpxQPbMO1-YLMe_beQHsHZJlbEBpnx7Plp0tdtMalNhy4LXKe9A/s1024/Bollore-Ghosn.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="1024" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiKyOdhsdITweFpyWdI5qGYH_dpdTPKEPkLnvfF8UqCU83qLUPmBAa7pB0JzPTYpK9QNetdC1S1oK6Ij_Q_enPIUllYe8J_TAwcQzaAbHyRMH2ax5dRODFKzNZx_SB_JiqY9Xd3jrpxQPbMO1-YLMe_beQHsHZJlbEBpnx7Plp0tdtMalNhy4LXKe9A/w200-h126/Bollore-Ghosn.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Thierry Bolloré has very good executive credentials. He is very much cast in the same mould as Ghosn, his former boss and colleague.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Watch him walk into a room, or striding across the floor of an international motor show and he exudes an air of total self-confidence, pushing away acolytes with the dismissive air of a king fed up with his court.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgkkFKlTycvcXzp698dfQ-uUJKVJuN-EU-Q240yst107fUpm0TrwJ_SgOKGgqb0j0c4O9e6NWy5kip6vyjwisX3JMvhQdrgc2uI86whEM-6mH2ifM7naKQWDGx4e8xlsg3CudXRGy-Kb4goKciVRhr5w8xXHpeyGV324HD9NOjOItv4LN822GZ28rBA/s318/Thierry%20Bollore_M.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="284" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgkkFKlTycvcXzp698dfQ-uUJKVJuN-EU-Q240yst107fUpm0TrwJ_SgOKGgqb0j0c4O9e6NWy5kip6vyjwisX3JMvhQdrgc2uI86whEM-6mH2ifM7naKQWDGx4e8xlsg3CudXRGy-Kb4goKciVRhr5w8xXHpeyGV324HD9NOjOItv4LN822GZ28rBA/w179-h200/Thierry%20Bollore_M.jpg" width="179" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Initially, quite genial, often your dismissal can occur just after you begin conversation, say 30 seconds or so.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">He gives the impression of a man whose brain isn’t big enough to retain his thoughts, so he can’t afford to give up time listening to yours.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Just over a year after moving to Gaydon to take the reins of a carmaker with more problems than you would ever want to know about – from falling revenues, dangerously slim cash flows, desperate need for investment and minus a leader – let alone a vision from the leadership.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Bolloré delivered a program for the marque most failing – Jaguar.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">He called the forward-looking proposal ‘Reimagine’, telling the media and the global automotive world, that he would guide Jaguar through probably the most ambitious product developments in the brand’s recent history.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6chjA-ODCeNvktlwRZ3G4gAL_J116sE5jkbMZ-WdSVnYcFgIpKTWlfP6sRlITgOJ5npprRBzuJP1qUPzW8I36jxCFsHhI-T5Uaq5BCGHeq6FZXsKybz1uOcE1s2UHGifDI5-XB1NLXvLgjqFacDoJCSx_1rz4m3SZH0jH_qVhq2Da2hOMYcec22Wk1Q/s1200/Thierry%20Bollore_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="1200" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6chjA-ODCeNvktlwRZ3G4gAL_J116sE5jkbMZ-WdSVnYcFgIpKTWlfP6sRlITgOJ5npprRBzuJP1qUPzW8I36jxCFsHhI-T5Uaq5BCGHeq6FZXsKybz1uOcE1s2UHGifDI5-XB1NLXvLgjqFacDoJCSx_1rz4m3SZH0jH_qVhq2Da2hOMYcec22Wk1Q/w640-h246/Thierry%20Bollore_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">He asked us all to join him in reimagining Jaguar as an entirely different approach for the vehicles which proudly bore ‘The Leaper’.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yJE87xU8-NUQJRek-9U1RrH4rNH1b9F0RLv0zakcfBw1BYlTZqjCoFNLkNOlfsOwvo7x4uEG2AoMXX9sFvS5tJBqtJCQRSLBPTp0Ml90awj4r0mJs7K543IMEQxYW1TJ2QNydqXQf4_fWTFaVX3dv5ZN-QumTgYp5K809vJcU6m4qstzSytmzcIicQ/s640/Leaper.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yJE87xU8-NUQJRek-9U1RrH4rNH1b9F0RLv0zakcfBw1BYlTZqjCoFNLkNOlfsOwvo7x4uEG2AoMXX9sFvS5tJBqtJCQRSLBPTp0Ml90awj4r0mJs7K543IMEQxYW1TJ2QNydqXQf4_fWTFaVX3dv5ZN-QumTgYp5K809vJcU6m4qstzSytmzcIicQ/w320-h240/Leaper.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Actually, I believe from insiders, that during the development of ‘Reimagine’ there was even talk of ditching the marque’s most revered icon.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sacré bleu!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: arial;">A range of new Jaguars, which in design terms would owe nothing to their predecessors, would be built on an entirely new platform and would be fully-electric. Although there was no detail whether they may be sedans, coupes or SUVs, Bolloré made it clear they would not resemble anything that we may previously have perceived as a Jaguar.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Sir William Lyons always said: “Jaguars are a copy of nothing”. So, apparently these new Jaguars will not only be an original take for an old brand, but they will also be positioned at the pointy end of the price scale, closer to Bentley than the current range of cats.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This strongly suggests that the new Jaguars will succeed or fail because not only of how they will look, but also what they promise in terms of both the aesthetic, and their athleticism. Everyone who knows Jaguar’s glorious history has heard the phrase - “Jaguars must look fast, standing still.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxvqaX_yCrzlEWvg6vlucd89fioQ8lOGC1S7KgL6k-l2NGnJ3XZHXuPpyPda7ylR2ZoCyIswiz6lJYy5vLE6duxUVXbgZ8Hxdo7qT92daK7S-uCp9ZBbJOtk-rsvt0jkvnq1mbTqq_aFyUfJoVWHALEwxvrU-LklStZKGkc7Wuo0E0FV8L05uQYaZjw/s1024/Profile_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="1024" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxvqaX_yCrzlEWvg6vlucd89fioQ8lOGC1S7KgL6k-l2NGnJ3XZHXuPpyPda7ylR2ZoCyIswiz6lJYy5vLE6duxUVXbgZ8Hxdo7qT92daK7S-uCp9ZBbJOtk-rsvt0jkvnq1mbTqq_aFyUfJoVWHALEwxvrU-LklStZKGkc7Wuo0E0FV8L05uQYaZjw/w640-h196/Profile_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Given the mind-blowing performance of the new era of premium electric vehicles nobody doubts they will deliver smooth, speedy performance, so, again it really comes down to how they will look. The ‘look’ of a Jaguar has always been elemental to the brand’s success.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Therefore, where do stand on the subject of Jaguar design? Well, after Ian Callum’s dignified retirement, there was Julian Thompson’s departure after a short time holding down the chief designer’s seat. Did they jump, or were they pushed? I suggest the answer was a bit of both. But, more on future design in a moment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">After a bold and impressive start and with sweeping French flourishes and confident gestures from the stage of the ‘Reimagine’ presentation, Bolloré was gone in just two years. What happened?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I believe it was timing, and perhaps (unsurprisingly) personality clashes. Revenues were suffering badly and Bolloré’s ‘Reimagine’ program was ambitious, came with a huge price-tag, and required the risk-averse Indian management to ‘take a punt’. The Tata 'money' team back in Mumbai also would have bristled at Bolloré’s autocratic, insistent and determined push to get his plan approved.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Who will now guide Jaguar through the choppy seas of launching new designs carrying an iconic reminder of the past? Why! It will be none other than Captain Gerry McGovern – the man who is now in complete charge of all things creative on the good ship JLR.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuwbIdXQhcMl9YnbTKF85QzXsfq4y88ZJ5k48fD5vXsbe8QG17psezO7E1QrwL03SXmTlTaYSMVMdooFAeGxk_lbhvvK6mehlLlRw5jaMJnCCYMB5jr40hc8Uo4Z305s9YRGnsgPfKWhllyOmtzSvBZfgWM6MTS7CDdRAD99UKmqdVWhULR8IvcNO8Q/s3000/Gerry%20McGovern_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuwbIdXQhcMl9YnbTKF85QzXsfq4y88ZJ5k48fD5vXsbe8QG17psezO7E1QrwL03SXmTlTaYSMVMdooFAeGxk_lbhvvK6mehlLlRw5jaMJnCCYMB5jr40hc8Uo4Z305s9YRGnsgPfKWhllyOmtzSvBZfgWM6MTS7CDdRAD99UKmqdVWhULR8IvcNO8Q/w640-h426/Gerry%20McGovern_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">McGovern has proven his credentials too, following a string of incredibly successful SUVs carrying the oval green Land Rover badge – Evoque, Discovery, Defender and Range Rover. He’s a cocky character, totally self-absorbed and quite frankly, a little annoying to talk to or try to interview. His sense of self-belief has to be experienced.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">His latest forays into the jungle of the British automotive media at CAR and Autocar have not revealed any details, or even a sly hint at what the new ‘cats’ will look like, but as the man who says he now commands the design ethic of a ‘House of Brands’, he uses phrases which he hopes will resonate with potential Jaguar buyers. McGovern says the new designs will be aspirational, exuberant and, most important, fearless!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4sItzKhul1KN5HmcfUlx82VwUZ00pZNuTbuZ2y0H3c7jxIJRAfl1R3QvFTqpFF3WWLXzI4eEsVXUs5X2fVc-rfV222bF_CJbCsmoqYFCJGKbi7_cg1HmZGs9dWKSrHn_dyPsbKVoQObB6l_rFNO-Le_Og7uL1Bbb0cNlIJfG4ufjqK5qC2btE-msjw/s1200/Jag%20Fearless.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="1200" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4sItzKhul1KN5HmcfUlx82VwUZ00pZNuTbuZ2y0H3c7jxIJRAfl1R3QvFTqpFF3WWLXzI4eEsVXUs5X2fVc-rfV222bF_CJbCsmoqYFCJGKbi7_cg1HmZGs9dWKSrHn_dyPsbKVoQObB6l_rFNO-Le_Og7uL1Bbb0cNlIJfG4ufjqK5qC2btE-msjw/w640-h274/Jag%20Fearless.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course! But, I like the way he talks.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Before we go on with analysing whether a plan to ‘Reimagine’ the Jaguar brand will succeed, I’d like to present some design ideas which are a distillation of suggestions from terms McGovern uses; a few more defined words casually dropped by JLR’s new CEO Adrian Mardell; the tidy and symmetrical appearance of the latest models from Land Rover; a couple of tiny hints from some moles – and some good old crystal-balling.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I discussed the thankless task of designing some concepts using thin air as inspiration, with a designer mate I have known since my time as Editor of MODERN MOTOR magazine in the mid 70s. Steve Park* is highly experienced, very successful, has a great commercial eye, down-to-earth common sense, and also a sort of oblique connection to many of the brand names with threads running through this project.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy8EKv5Mhkfw7fXEFfuqtiRc9H2E56H01qqhm2audzeXcSz26Ih2haIR0YjVqNSALzDYt2fFcXfIu268ZZH0JOS6njKXmEfZJdfCQDVB01jKly2K-_ndTtkO3kAR7RBUyQQITOxo4u58I7fcB-ZPMAQ2S1HaD5p1SAwvsopkLu1Gzz8Yc7NiXv9ohUg/s1024/Collage-sketches(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy8EKv5Mhkfw7fXEFfuqtiRc9H2E56H01qqhm2audzeXcSz26Ih2haIR0YjVqNSALzDYt2fFcXfIu268ZZH0JOS6njKXmEfZJdfCQDVB01jKly2K-_ndTtkO3kAR7RBUyQQITOxo4u58I7fcB-ZPMAQ2S1HaD5p1SAwvsopkLu1Gzz8Yc7NiXv9ohUg/s16000/Collage-sketches(2).jpg" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">We have to ask, will Jaguars that look like this attract a young, but successful and aspirational group of buyers? Only time will tell, but apparently the plan has been approved.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The continuing commercial success of Range Rover, Defender and Discovery is generating large swathes of cash thanks to an uptick in vehicle deliveries, and according to CEO Mardell, JLR has paid down £1.5 billion of debt in the last six months, and Mardell has said “Thanks to an average transaction price of £71,000, I believe that confirms our focus on aspiration of our customers”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In fact the headline finance numbers show that JLR quadrupled its profits in the last quarter of the 2023 financial year compared with a year earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">With revenues rolling in, then perhaps now IS the time to splash big cash in Jaguar’s direction. There’s a view shared by many in JLR management ranks that Jaguar was the victim of too little investment; too much caution in design, a lack of ambition to move Jaguar into its own segment – and take a bold gamble. Mind you, this is the same management which was at the tiller when these issues threatened Jaguar’s survival.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgKgetQA1zxe6Swwk0xUNjYEkPsDeP5HSJqfbTx3pimfV8xZM8Gse9WHDHR4FU3gWpO9bSMsr9MXHUGEWm6ujXJBfBT-Ipd-HJzIBHWzD6s-T8eZAv4UTwyscrFYLj31RdS9_7CtkJhVPpO_n2AHMC5SbuCKP4H8fx8dGCRiBq8qdMPFzBAUK0lejNA/s400/Gerry%20McGovern_4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgKgetQA1zxe6Swwk0xUNjYEkPsDeP5HSJqfbTx3pimfV8xZM8Gse9WHDHR4FU3gWpO9bSMsr9MXHUGEWm6ujXJBfBT-Ipd-HJzIBHWzD6s-T8eZAv4UTwyscrFYLj31RdS9_7CtkJhVPpO_n2AHMC5SbuCKP4H8fx8dGCRiBq8qdMPFzBAUK0lejNA/w266-h400/Gerry%20McGovern_4.jpg" width="266" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">What Jaguar needs is a bold leader who shares a vision of exuberant modernism with Gerry McGovern. The current CEO is a bean-counter.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Jaguar doesn't have a leader with Lyons' vision, so McGovern is hope for the future.<br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">McGovern is a man who some say is obsessed with the great luxury brands like Gucci, Hermes and Rolex.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This is not a bad thing if you want Jaguar to be once again considered an aspirational brand.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">With so little information seeping out of Gaydon, everyone's had a go at suggesting what the new Jaguar EV may look like with both Drako and Autocar producing fancy concepts.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-YDb7RcVqNwG092bgo13BAI58qafM1kaH2Zbs9UokYfF-9AGOk_rktW07Nf5eH9lKkGnqYa_6sZwRwDoXrtdo_RKp8nT3nxuhIqEdXK-rnVO_lQRQU7oiB7x4KsO6yRpMcEETIlsuKCgVzlX3G-Y_b5oatg2q-oN9v1N1rFwcPy5kDEf-Eb5WPWOO0w/s1200/collage-red%20Jaguars_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="1200" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-YDb7RcVqNwG092bgo13BAI58qafM1kaH2Zbs9UokYfF-9AGOk_rktW07Nf5eH9lKkGnqYa_6sZwRwDoXrtdo_RKp8nT3nxuhIqEdXK-rnVO_lQRQU7oiB7x4KsO6yRpMcEETIlsuKCgVzlX3G-Y_b5oatg2q-oN9v1N1rFwcPy5kDEf-Eb5WPWOO0w/w640-h162/collage-red%20Jaguars_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, it sounds to me like Gerry McGovern may have tapped into the thinking of many Jaguar brand enthusiasts about the reasons for Jaguar’s success with cars like the XK120, E-Type and Jaguar XJ6. In all these instances Jaguar created its own market niche and under Sir William Lyons (who also obsessively chased aspirational buyers - for example stars like Clark Gable) Jaguar was a ‘brand alone’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">For comparison, in 1968 a Jaguar XJ6 was cheaper than a Bentley. But offered similar attributes of luxury, comfort and performance.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpl_Z_nZMwjEEegN7KEo9tuBweDY743crOXMT85XXBKCWCMKqc-JOHaf8xVR3LxBM3BCUfxibzQM9NNKr-J199VgDI4g6f18LH2ly2SaQwboFkKU65r2nmwIF8FBWcpr3gY8mSB3Jm4ipkq2j2jaav81rb0vKqsfrdKyDKR1qoqNaDr0LPwNWAm_etOQ/s977/collage-Jag-Bentley-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="977" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpl_Z_nZMwjEEegN7KEo9tuBweDY743crOXMT85XXBKCWCMKqc-JOHaf8xVR3LxBM3BCUfxibzQM9NNKr-J199VgDI4g6f18LH2ly2SaQwboFkKU65r2nmwIF8FBWcpr3gY8mSB3Jm4ipkq2j2jaav81rb0vKqsfrdKyDKR1qoqNaDr0LPwNWAm_etOQ/w640-h210/collage-Jag-Bentley-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I’m also guilty of expressing this concept and I am trusting Gerry McGovern to give Jaguar the tools it needs to not only survive, but prosper, and allow its new buyers to feel a sense of pride, accomplishment and celebration.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">For that, we have to put our hopes in Gerry McGovern’s ‘exuberant modernism’. I am more than happy to invest my emotional capital in ‘Reimagining’ Jaguar as a standout in JLR’s ‘House of Brands’ and regain its rightful place as one of Britain’s most respected marques.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">After all, this could be Jaguar's last gasp!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>*Steve Park - Designer</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT, serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: ArialMT, serif; text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjP8JYeBTCyz8QXoYRZ58ZDXoAZP4vym8o1shJAywPSj41tWVsFZoTduC3afF7t3w4IEjio_NxMzzgT9CDNWRB1DXhblMy_ExiHmIOSKhp6B_xxbfW08R9mR6FkAbWGyqUG1qcAPTh9z0dKg2Eb5Z5-rEU81sRqGYQ1bEgtl0JehD0dif3K5V6V1U0g/s2618/STEVE%20G.%20PARK_1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2618" data-original-width="2389" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjP8JYeBTCyz8QXoYRZ58ZDXoAZP4vym8o1shJAywPSj41tWVsFZoTduC3afF7t3w4IEjio_NxMzzgT9CDNWRB1DXhblMy_ExiHmIOSKhp6B_xxbfW08R9mR6FkAbWGyqUG1qcAPTh9z0dKg2Eb5Z5-rEU81sRqGYQ1bEgtl0JehD0dif3K5V6V1U0g/w183-h200/STEVE%20G.%20PARK_1.jpg" width="183" /></a></span></div><span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Steve’s been in the automotive design world for over 35 years and his background covers a wide range of experiences - from clay modeller to senior designer.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnB88TjImYWjbblE-n9oI3I82-94WJpADNMjCmTMdcV85NT_WSCW969o0hCzGSQMZRPDDgStycCJAa5diisGw6VoXxB5pMNUoiZckJ4bXSk_nwfbNmZupNRBVm55inVvLHT2s2t2fYqavTRsr4bxAuVj8qJQC7ZRk2XdsVLNTbgzLLXa9smUwpeP9Hjw/s434/collage-Falcons%20AU-FG(M).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="346" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnB88TjImYWjbblE-n9oI3I82-94WJpADNMjCmTMdcV85NT_WSCW969o0hCzGSQMZRPDDgStycCJAa5diisGw6VoXxB5pMNUoiZckJ4bXSk_nwfbNmZupNRBVm55inVvLHT2s2t2fYqavTRsr4bxAuVj8qJQC7ZRk2XdsVLNTbgzLLXa9smUwpeP9Hjw/s320/collage-Falcons%20AU-FG(M).jpg" width="255" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">He started with Ford Australia in 1977, and during his time has had a significant influence and impact on the Falcon range of cars. He was lead designer for the AU Falcon (top).</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The last Falcon he worked on was, the LAST the FG Falcon (Bottom).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Also, Steve has had senior design roles through the 80s and 90's at Ford of Europe; Dunton design in the UK; Ghia studios in Turin; a stint with The Ford Design studio alongside Mazda in Hiroshima; Exterior design in Köln, and a long-term posting with Ford North America.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Currently Steve is chief designer with HO [homologated option] based in Melbourne.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-60881170912869131542023-05-25T09:07:00.000+10:002023-05-25T09:07:20.881+10:00HONDA'S BOMBSHELL DECISION! by John Crawford<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMmhKYr7uREBfeVRkqZr5KPvhiRgxepF5M3CnjhG9wxEuRuoif-4Vkyi99o4PPXvCM1JFRCJJys9Rz-x1mMoEoywPQS03nad73hdjQdU441_3LwIOztU15MOaCATS2dRSsigkQszawM6QAcuG9W6z7OfgXDzZfexxg2vyF9t2L7XtWigFRwMBl255LQ/s2000/honda-f1-banner_4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="2000" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMmhKYr7uREBfeVRkqZr5KPvhiRgxepF5M3CnjhG9wxEuRuoif-4Vkyi99o4PPXvCM1JFRCJJys9Rz-x1mMoEoywPQS03nad73hdjQdU441_3LwIOztU15MOaCATS2dRSsigkQszawM6QAcuG9W6z7OfgXDzZfexxg2vyF9t2L7XtWigFRwMBl255LQ/s320/honda-f1-banner_4.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The big excitement in Formula One this week is the shock announcement that Honda will officially re-join the Formula One grid as an official engine supplier when the new rules are introduced in 2026.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFvvYstN68l_L9_cmrawzyS3G1g_QoX-iEnUEPYN4EKe5rQec2oy2oW89qB1ma3WpM0wTJaoQD3c_AXDaYM2PetmcO-8dx3CDRuu8F07XQLBD5rjNLaXJqJ_r0yMtZGkyhuiVJ0OxvW8QC0ofqkgIPcqf4boeT9iSS88jBR_0HYh0JPn0M1O-YSY_tg/s2048/Aston%20Martin%20logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFvvYstN68l_L9_cmrawzyS3G1g_QoX-iEnUEPYN4EKe5rQec2oy2oW89qB1ma3WpM0wTJaoQD3c_AXDaYM2PetmcO-8dx3CDRuu8F07XQLBD5rjNLaXJqJ_r0yMtZGkyhuiVJ0OxvW8QC0ofqkgIPcqf4boeT9iSS88jBR_0HYh0JPn0M1O-YSY_tg/w200-h113/Aston%20Martin%20logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The real surprise is that Honda engines will not be powering 2023's all-conquering Red Bull F1 team. In a huge development for the team, it will be Aston Martin F1 which will enjoy the benefits of all of Honda's vast F1 experience, plus all the stuff it has learned from the seasons it has partnered with Red Bull.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Honda has somewhat of a chequered history with Formula One. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The company first entered F1 in 1964, just four years after it produced its first road car. The company further startled the established F1 cadre by producing not only the engine, but also the chassis. The car was called the RA271, and after just one year of competition the RA272 (below) carried American Ritchie Ginther to victory in the 1965 Mexican GP.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrNXnvGH-FAtYvi8evjgdJpMoYVotkB-3725L6dpng8Obp2bt_QY_lqTqVrc2p3_QM-0aT_hdOGg1z7w1Tm75agSLCOFsr4kNAg6aa4x_xzsk7Qmjt0xiBOXYB6vLaojCRQjzwVmFJHvr12LMJBoXQ0BakLH1kFZTUX1OITU8JVwk6VI9mhKIqK9noA/s1024/RA272-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1024" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrNXnvGH-FAtYvi8evjgdJpMoYVotkB-3725L6dpng8Obp2bt_QY_lqTqVrc2p3_QM-0aT_hdOGg1z7w1Tm75agSLCOFsr4kNAg6aa4x_xzsk7Qmjt0xiBOXYB6vLaojCRQjzwVmFJHvr12LMJBoXQ0BakLH1kFZTUX1OITU8JVwk6VI9mhKIqK9noA/s320/RA272-M.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since then, Honda has been in and out of both direct competition as a full factory team, and as an engine supplier. </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2019 Honda signed with Red Bull to provide engines, and the team scored an important first victory at the 2019 Austrian GP.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2021 Honda withdrew, but agreed to provide assistance to Red Bull which manufactured the Honda engines under licence - an arrangement which was to run until 2025.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a major coup for the revitalised Aston Martin team, which has scored four podiums in the first five races for 2023.</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9KIlbHGuXK-A2zu-qHWGhIX_gwDeROXeDa0yjkWtvkeuJRXe7UQJAw4N-X7roal_dTl4O8KNKOyTN6dFjdu1Hz8T-BzwDfQmSh1ckHj909sR2b2C1mU3RbTNQj7t9XkYoFi2bDkQTkfrBwoow-J2eCMnQzr9S0jw0JXmHt8qH-1G80uoVeMbtICOUg/s1904/AM%20F1%20cars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1904" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9KIlbHGuXK-A2zu-qHWGhIX_gwDeROXeDa0yjkWtvkeuJRXe7UQJAw4N-X7roal_dTl4O8KNKOyTN6dFjdu1Hz8T-BzwDfQmSh1ckHj909sR2b2C1mU3RbTNQj7t9XkYoFi2bDkQTkfrBwoow-J2eCMnQzr9S0jw0JXmHt8qH-1G80uoVeMbtICOUg/w640-h350/AM%20F1%20cars.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">It also follows extensive 'poaching' of some highly-experienced engineering, design and logistical management from some of the top teams - many of whom defected from Red Bull.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Roll on 2026 - I'm certain there's more big changes to come!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-20100508462601830822023-04-30T11:10:00.000+10:002023-04-30T11:10:52.089+10:00ANOTHER EV TORTURE TEST - by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">If you think electric cars are doing your bit for the environment, then please read this:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So much for electric cars! This cautionary tale comes from a NZ mechanic!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">He had to work on a Nissan Leaf a week ago. A near-new NZD$30,000 car with a failed battery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEcqlPzQDZON40HzcZHaRyJsO2qr0nEFo8XKytD8hX_RYSMKtK1Y96qoYHyJhokgXsH1RMmv4-HAaMAAYPcfXp3F43R3hroDvHlKp0rEMws2pCThg6E_SMfQ3NzrAlR4f0ocUYJ76DyFrlWCZOFCMlWOOfs85gsCASlJdE4UAlGuFDzdHA5RTXbVst4A/s1463/Nissan%20Leaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="1463" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEcqlPzQDZON40HzcZHaRyJsO2qr0nEFo8XKytD8hX_RYSMKtK1Y96qoYHyJhokgXsH1RMmv4-HAaMAAYPcfXp3F43R3hroDvHlKp0rEMws2pCThg6E_SMfQ3NzrAlR4f0ocUYJ76DyFrlWCZOFCMlWOOfs85gsCASlJdE4UAlGuFDzdHA5RTXbVst4A/s320/Nissan%20Leaf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">No one in town would work on it, and as the mechanic had completed a course on electric cars, the service rights were awarded to him by Nissan NZ. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">He arranged for the tutor from the Dunedin Polytech to help.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9ophK3kdHLD4wBPm0vb02zhsCQhGoFiQOWZPWxpbeO56Isu2n5_MLY0z0QFjGWpUEXJ5uirAePFa0LL8bGHOWzf6ju8uC9g5wI1WZENYt8wE0mSOclDmO4piCMeLSKGOR1JfjhWlnm3bv1zmtDzx-EfC-iyiFk2VKroT3Pqvng5Td0GnH_2AgSl68w/s300/Battery%20module.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9ophK3kdHLD4wBPm0vb02zhsCQhGoFiQOWZPWxpbeO56Isu2n5_MLY0z0QFjGWpUEXJ5uirAePFa0LL8bGHOWzf6ju8uC9g5wI1WZENYt8wE0mSOclDmO4piCMeLSKGOR1JfjhWlnm3bv1zmtDzx-EfC-iyiFk2VKroT3Pqvng5Td0GnH_2AgSl68w/s1600/Battery%20module.jpeg" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">One failed module in the battery was shorting out to the case. A second-hand module is able to be fitted, but it needs to be in exactly the same condition as the remaining ones (85.2%), or the entire battery fails to perform.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, the owner was left with the option of a second-hand battery out of a wreck that has no guarantee at $14,000, or an entire, new battery pack at $20,000.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic9UiBbOENyJXQfEgir1d_bUvngCIuX5NGJzClEOOtnjZI_vDUgfgBMp0-q0XPpOhmKAeAC54HTq5srUvxKGdpT28blcShrNP6tHqVoAv2qXbNLpwwaqqJdvfyRkOvFV6mGJolvS8iKLPmA6fmUAUatv_8wgstU_DZ1SmYTbExvcrGLxlzE-Ylx7VWJA/s1024/Nissan%20Leaf%20battery%20pack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic9UiBbOENyJXQfEgir1d_bUvngCIuX5NGJzClEOOtnjZI_vDUgfgBMp0-q0XPpOhmKAeAC54HTq5srUvxKGdpT28blcShrNP6tHqVoAv2qXbNLpwwaqqJdvfyRkOvFV6mGJolvS8iKLPmA6fmUAUatv_8wgstU_DZ1SmYTbExvcrGLxlzE-Ylx7VWJA/s320/Nissan%20Leaf%20battery%20pack.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then there is the problem of disposing of the old battery, or part of a battery. Nothing is available in NZ, and no-one is willing to transport a damaged battery. Specialist transport is available, and the cost to have one module (out of 24) transported to Australia and disposed of is around $5,000.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">On top of all that, the tutor went through some of the legislation around EVs with the mechanic. If an EV is involved in a crash, and people are trapped inside, the fire brigade must isolate the battery before they can cut into the car, to rescue the occupants.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In a Leaf, the isolation plug is under a bolted cover on the floor between the front and back seats.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JOgrkfSJ9W3nCQAbOlv2DRAdk0hPdAevP_nC_CzXYV70g4ySBGmf9ojC-79kehzwCjfa-GDBm1sUKTcK0TePNgcbe9mgB1yPlx0CT4xreeu4xl7pZScQgN2CftvfTM-mTivGj5FvRCHZaPAkXPVwHPYh3CeXuy384m4wH0-SPzZDwHLIl-ncGE8UAA/s1024/Collage-Leaf%20cutaway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JOgrkfSJ9W3nCQAbOlv2DRAdk0hPdAevP_nC_CzXYV70g4ySBGmf9ojC-79kehzwCjfa-GDBm1sUKTcK0TePNgcbe9mgB1yPlx0CT4xreeu4xl7pZScQgN2CftvfTM-mTivGj5FvRCHZaPAkXPVwHPYh3CeXuy384m4wH0-SPzZDwHLIl-ncGE8UAA/w640-h640/Collage-Leaf%20cutaway.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdypAdZjaKpPzYL9VLLp5g_uSt0PQWWoo9t5l2meQKDHcMBspgNC4E40ukbfItdqoX25z08EgSix5kOuiyuZId16iCLXR4JfO-ybb_clOwgsmxCSpXBLwcEVwPW23I07Nb14CCbUb87kqbSkb7R_8H3ZrChE3TqWe5Vjp6dOL9pw2_wX116pmd_DLNIw/s1024/Protection%20gloves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdypAdZjaKpPzYL9VLLp5g_uSt0PQWWoo9t5l2meQKDHcMBspgNC4E40ukbfItdqoX25z08EgSix5kOuiyuZId16iCLXR4JfO-ybb_clOwgsmxCSpXBLwcEVwPW23I07Nb14CCbUb87kqbSkb7R_8H3ZrChE3TqWe5Vjp6dOL9pw2_wX116pmd_DLNIw/s320/Protection%20gloves.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Once the cover is removed, the worker must have 3 pairs of gloves, required by law. They are cotton, rubber, and leather. Then with hands resembling lamb roasts, they can try and disconnect the 3-stage electrical plug. Then they can cut into the car. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So, the problem with crashing any EV is that if you are trapped, you're dead, as it is probably impossible to remove victims. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Also, it’s practically impossible to extinguish a battery fire. <b>Water makes lithium burn</b>. They forgot to tell you this part! As I wrote previously on this subject, the only way to guarantee the fire is out, is to drop the entire car into something like a shipping container filled with water, or dunk it in a nearby swimming pool! Not!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJb1SyNYXJrXv2Kj571Z4Mbov4fniVlKyINrghtU4bKuE1LUEKpddAhhiUjdeT6NiBSOt7552Ia2jWSS3Gmld0x2n04i2HgJTPNGftXkvnrrTLXzFdKKuN5-WfV7hYC78No9i9dOdqDdChWWl0ntrogGTU35rekmaYs4TvbDAJnNsu82gLx9NkOHpJg/s1280/EV%20fire%20extinguisher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJb1SyNYXJrXv2Kj571Z4Mbov4fniVlKyINrghtU4bKuE1LUEKpddAhhiUjdeT6NiBSOt7552Ia2jWSS3Gmld0x2n04i2HgJTPNGftXkvnrrTLXzFdKKuN5-WfV7hYC78No9i9dOdqDdChWWl0ntrogGTU35rekmaYs4TvbDAJnNsu82gLx9NkOHpJg/w640-h360/EV%20fire%20extinguisher.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a separate discussion between the mechanic and a resident of the retirement village where the Leaf owner lives, it appears that if 20% of the residents in the village had electric cars and charged them every night, the power supply would crash, as it is not designed to handle that sort of load, especially when air conditioners are being used to heat us in winter and cool us down in summer.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">And who pays for upgrading the electrical supply? The owners of the units at the residential village of course!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Still think Electric Cars are the way to go? Think again! Oh, and would you mind passing this Post on to the Australian PM Anthony Albanese, Chris Bowen (the Chief Numpty) and your local member of federal parliament – because there’s no doubt they are ignorant of these details.</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-79250262548845825532023-04-19T14:05:00.000+10:002023-04-19T14:05:23.043+10:00IS THERE AN MG ROADSTER IN YOUR FUTURE? by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsogRPemfxCD41rtFHpddFrnH7zYQOEFgeiZL6-o_Zg5jP9IWIJ99GqfwyRPaP_1BRLcuTQZZEfI4A_Yz2pPEhEruiik4xbreF-PM7f_ziSCEsZzfLR3sY0SmcM7MD9-Fa_AhPH1I72bu_OKvv_2TSjUG1XEwxNc-Af_QN_0pSv8Raq5O_n-am3xK0Ig/s1024/Collage_MG%20Cyberster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsogRPemfxCD41rtFHpddFrnH7zYQOEFgeiZL6-o_Zg5jP9IWIJ99GqfwyRPaP_1BRLcuTQZZEfI4A_Yz2pPEhEruiik4xbreF-PM7f_ziSCEsZzfLR3sY0SmcM7MD9-Fa_AhPH1I72bu_OKvv_2TSjUG1XEwxNc-Af_QN_0pSv8Raq5O_n-am3xK0Ig/s320/Collage_MG%20Cyberster.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A while back, to keep the MG traditionalists quiet, MG revealed a concept car shaped like a two-seat roadster, promising a return to wind-in-the-face motoring in a car with an octagonal badge.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Just about everyone said: “Yeah, yeah, pull the</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">other leg, it rings a bell.” However, after looking at a filing notice from China, it appears MG just may be about to produce a production version of the concept car, named the ‘CYBERSTER’. What a stupid name.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Sometimes, legal filings with the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information on planned products are more BS than Blueprints for the future. However, there are people with no other avenue of entertainment in their lives who joyfully trawl through mountains of legal filings to come up with something new. Really? They need to get a life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, on this occasion let’s congratulate whomever managed to leak photos and details of MG’s planned surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I last drove the British-built MG-F in 1998, and I really enjoyed the car, more so than owners who had to deal with multiple warranty issues.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67tsHSeAdQNyyE_BhtEgfkiLzH4QIbLBL9mWs0OPRehtkgoe1gBeDeCQ1QfQ8dMF9pywEQMnyL1sq6NmgW3JT9QlS5xrNFHzCxEjRaXOeWEvN_LSCSt0yZo0r6HCfvmgJ5RtVrIOTy5SVhaGOZT_JtYWQFMFrtc0oaEsGUso1fawUowaMCZuuYyuTMw/s877/MG-F_Pelicans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="877" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67tsHSeAdQNyyE_BhtEgfkiLzH4QIbLBL9mWs0OPRehtkgoe1gBeDeCQ1QfQ8dMF9pywEQMnyL1sq6NmgW3JT9QlS5xrNFHzCxEjRaXOeWEvN_LSCSt0yZo0r6HCfvmgJ5RtVrIOTy5SVhaGOZT_JtYWQFMFrtc0oaEsGUso1fawUowaMCZuuYyuTMw/s320/MG-F_Pelicans.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Stephen Harper-designed roadster continued in production until 2005 – that leaves a long gap between roadsters!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here then is a, supposedly, ‘production-ready’ MG roadster, and some details of the propulsion system, and ‘whoa’ no steering wheel – just a ‘yoke’ as seen in aircraft and F1 cars.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimyQFh1ednoBUP54CsLzeRmJmTS_Ds10Sun0AXnjbBxXgU5VfZG6CMOJyUnV1icEFTyVRDAdK4h5b6XZDzM5lIAmiDAJ2nws0HEvEuIJEbr3PIeO1llZwTbijWTwA2Yc5olgr5O3YlXeZ14bdPghhIBcz4nkAZtRdFZk4F1ZyL9tolW8lwFEYhV_ORpg/s1024/Collage-MG%20roadster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimyQFh1ednoBUP54CsLzeRmJmTS_Ds10Sun0AXnjbBxXgU5VfZG6CMOJyUnV1icEFTyVRDAdK4h5b6XZDzM5lIAmiDAJ2nws0HEvEuIJEbr3PIeO1llZwTbijWTwA2Yc5olgr5O3YlXeZ14bdPghhIBcz4nkAZtRdFZk4F1ZyL9tolW8lwFEYhV_ORpg/w640-h480/Collage-MG%20roadster.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Dimensions first: 4535mm long, 1913mm wide, 1329mm tall – on a wheelbase of 2690mm.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJVmTl0pTZJ00f_2UNUxkBmQV6Y5LynYuPME-6F-ukb5XoyKU8Hq_nUh7bKDEHiyvqsy0gwMiGO6uCDGMdfP4K4KDNY7mZI3JppmxX0JDsVNlKnT-I_kZhhTxNSMZaOQOjGj7BsNIZMRloBtkkeVIDa83GS4Vhb3qZzuq9UHdZv5yh1DanOfJsFQ5MHA/s1219/Front%20high.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="1219" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJVmTl0pTZJ00f_2UNUxkBmQV6Y5LynYuPME-6F-ukb5XoyKU8Hq_nUh7bKDEHiyvqsy0gwMiGO6uCDGMdfP4K4KDNY7mZI3JppmxX0JDsVNlKnT-I_kZhhTxNSMZaOQOjGj7BsNIZMRloBtkkeVIDa83GS4Vhb3qZzuq9UHdZv5yh1DanOfJsFQ5MHA/w640-h326/Front%20high.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">It will have a choice of a red or black cloth roof, two seats and a kerb weight of around 1900kg. For relevance, the MG’s wheelbase is 215mm longer than a Porsche Boxster, and it weighs 700kg more than a Mazda MX-5.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ysl86jrLcNQ-o4vWf3k_hQJNgjh5FUY5TE3qjDHSP-Vu8ShmH-wZm7PUBwE6mivVg0HAEYj2Z5Vb0egTnMWcxGh-a1rDJa2t2S5xRhuxz-WpfYmsVZpveITt0pflrxey69DEdk4GVfZnOh7K1mv8HOJQdvq91eHNIjOpfQ_dGyFsFYKDhHxFdDVTgw/s800/Overhead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ysl86jrLcNQ-o4vWf3k_hQJNgjh5FUY5TE3qjDHSP-Vu8ShmH-wZm7PUBwE6mivVg0HAEYj2Z5Vb0egTnMWcxGh-a1rDJa2t2S5xRhuxz-WpfYmsVZpveITt0pflrxey69DEdk4GVfZnOh7K1mv8HOJQdvq91eHNIjOpfQ_dGyFsFYKDhHxFdDVTgw/w640-h426/Overhead.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">It's an EV - of course! Power will come from a single-motor-rear-drive, with 213kW of power, but there’ll be an optional dual-motor-AWD version with front axle output being 150kW, and rear axle output of 250kW. Which probably means real sports-car performance, but naturally pricing is unknown.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, quotes from MG’s UK and Australian marketing managers say it will be here in 2024 and keenly-priced.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Can you hold your breath that long?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">JOHN CRAWFORD</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-23130818489365293812023-04-16T17:51:00.008+10:002023-05-25T17:24:20.668+10:00FORD RETURNS TO F1! REMEMBER LAST TIME, BILL? by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCn_grlHUcq4VLGGmsSjnm7S7vch_0RD2N4eOmq-zTRmgZmYti8iGQlypZ-ZcIeNgrtoYW1__MunkvFJbevu98niRj56-yDfyNom-OW5ukotzVKjt-28c3diIN3wn9ZSUZXCXN4W7S2th5KWHupkeADf4qtohM7jyByzL9nhUregne3aRgP_DX8av9_g/s1280/Ford's%20F1%20return.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCn_grlHUcq4VLGGmsSjnm7S7vch_0RD2N4eOmq-zTRmgZmYti8iGQlypZ-ZcIeNgrtoYW1__MunkvFJbevu98niRj56-yDfyNom-OW5ukotzVKjt-28c3diIN3wn9ZSUZXCXN4W7S2th5KWHupkeADf4qtohM7jyByzL9nhUregne3aRgP_DX8av9_g/w640-h360/Ford's%20F1%20return.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBBPZPPgnl-DucXP5pdTgyA01-fn6HLCdDin6V7juTxongxG8qslFYF3fb97RcVFEEEjZfHDwXM8pR0sFwtnwcbx2uUH8Zjo2CbMRcaYs1qFC4W4xZXJsFCtxy1cmiL-wBzXXnyvyDidvGZUcNA5jxmakuYq56BH3vyYmBHMKqbrUmr_kI6KXsA6UPw/s1024/Nick%20Scheele(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="572" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBBPZPPgnl-DucXP5pdTgyA01-fn6HLCdDin6V7juTxongxG8qslFYF3fb97RcVFEEEjZfHDwXM8pR0sFwtnwcbx2uUH8Zjo2CbMRcaYs1qFC4W4xZXJsFCtxy1cmiL-wBzXXnyvyDidvGZUcNA5jxmakuYq56BH3vyYmBHMKqbrUmr_kI6KXsA6UPw/s320/Nick%20Scheele(2).jpg" width="179" /></a></div>It was in Frankfurt in October 1999, at the Motor Show, which in German is known by the acronym IAA, that I wandered across from the Bentley stand to meet my good friend Nick Scheele, then about to become President of Ford of Europe.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Previously I had worked closely with Nick, when I was PR Vice President of Public Relations at Jaguar Cars North America, and I received the usual warm welcome from the cheery and friendly former Jaguar Chairman. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Ford Motor Company was celebrating its June 1999 announcement that it had acquired the Stewart F1 team from its founder, Jackie Stewart, and would be renaming it the Jaguar F1 team.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLOXYBkmWPT38FxLMoHUYC-jFdCvSpSxaR9EjbMGKx3zt65pUDLjVjBqRaWZtDYfCse5ho6KHufPHeys7RMAKLN4hoByDmm-EVllEYLEh9GfE3FfVehvT6AHAbX5nqqX5LIuatn02Ll19Jq7i6rMu0zxze29IrA4gOr7Msysbjdw68h1EzydJmip67w/s3323/Stewart%20GP%20car.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1869" data-original-width="3323" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLOXYBkmWPT38FxLMoHUYC-jFdCvSpSxaR9EjbMGKx3zt65pUDLjVjBqRaWZtDYfCse5ho6KHufPHeys7RMAKLN4hoByDmm-EVllEYLEh9GfE3FfVehvT6AHAbX5nqqX5LIuatn02Ll19Jq7i6rMu0zxze29IrA4gOr7Msysbjdw68h1EzydJmip67w/w640-h360/Stewart%20GP%20car.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">We snuck off to the suite reserved for the senior executive’s use, for a welcome cup of tea and a chat about our time together with Jaguar. This naturally headed in the direction of Ford’s decision to rename the F1 team under the Jaguar banner.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Nick was very aware that having worked with the Jaguar brand since 1977, I was not only a dedicated guardian of the Jaguar brand image, but also a historian, when it came to Jaguar’s great history and tradition, and yes, the myths and legends.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The ‘myths and legends’ were a powerful tool when talking about the marque’s proud background as a British brand started by the visionary Sir William Lyons, which had not only captured the attention of British enthusiasts, but also most important, the vast American market.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">After pleasantries, I said to Nick: “What were you guys thinking? Jaguar has NEVER had any association with Formula One – its motor sport history is all about sports car racing.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWavjbENjjPPgEScPf8ecPSHgKLWTfBpxpb2zi1gdEsm1ofD4egBsNckW9vXKNxk5rNgcJ-MFWQzyh1JfF5f82Y6gm2axWrE6J9mePElCJ4kFxQFTsVVoj5O1yyItHdlaOlUAJA1PCaU8DoHtiEEMQaLWtt1S1xNl3ziv7D_K5gBwY2aKhRp2ska0sEQ/s238/Nasser-Reitzle.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="238" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWavjbENjjPPgEScPf8ecPSHgKLWTfBpxpb2zi1gdEsm1ofD4egBsNckW9vXKNxk5rNgcJ-MFWQzyh1JfF5f82Y6gm2axWrE6J9mePElCJ4kFxQFTsVVoj5O1yyItHdlaOlUAJA1PCaU8DoHtiEEMQaLWtt1S1xNl3ziv7D_K5gBwY2aKhRp2ska0sEQ/w301-h256/Nasser-Reitzle.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Jac Nasser (L), with Wolfgang Reitzle</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Nick sighed and said: “Aah, it was Jac’s idea, pushed really hard by Reitzle.” He was referring to Ford CEO, and also a good friend of mine, Australian Jac Nasser, and Wolfgang Reitzle, the ex-BMW director who was head of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I replied: “Well there’s two guys, truly at the top of the executive tree, who know nothing about Jaguar’s history, nor the foolishness of linking Jaguar with Formula One, this will end in tears.” And, indeed it did.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqKx18_aC8FXTI9gxYZ7nKWcuTcbYn6QTscyO5yoyPVNVZa6OV1NujsJIDC-vvwXceSUEGtZJR3S1rf_j_aBSVBEO4gED7Pq9tZCUbbrCKBZo0LCamQRPtDBsV-wyWT06PiNOZOH6JjhtRXb3Lon82DbINh53h_chSDf9XZxUkexrnlQMtEqR2x3bRg/s351/Sir%20Jackie%20Stewart(F).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="263" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqKx18_aC8FXTI9gxYZ7nKWcuTcbYn6QTscyO5yoyPVNVZa6OV1NujsJIDC-vvwXceSUEGtZJR3S1rf_j_aBSVBEO4gED7Pq9tZCUbbrCKBZo0LCamQRPtDBsV-wyWT06PiNOZOH6JjhtRXb3Lon82DbINh53h_chSDf9XZxUkexrnlQMtEqR2x3bRg/s320/Sir%20Jackie%20Stewart(F).jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">First, the wily Scot, Jackie Stewart, extracted the absolute maximum price from Ford when it acquired the whole team, plus facilities.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Then second, Ford stumbled (from the start) through its entire ownership of the ‘Jaguar’ F1 team with a revolving door of team management – hardly any of whom knew anything about competing in Formula One, and none of them knew how to manage an ‘octopus’ – which is what F1 begins to look like to newbies. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It's first Team Chief was much-respected engineer, Neil Ressler, who knew zero about managing a racing team, nor the labyrinthe layers of F1 politics.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr6_2QUyeO8cKDqs2fnfO7ewXkBrITo4icUvk-KgpSuIhjuoQsZU4HnuGCWu000wqZRdpSzKkY36iRtFJfzJcJiGH6Bo2fZr0U1K5ONCXyKvXe_WXMgJUl7X7np7eggU1StYBefFsj8kVew5fEi0qOt0brYtLy-27MbgxnIszv-H-DSvj9Rahutd5NA/s486/Lauda%20-%20Reitzle.tif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="486" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr6_2QUyeO8cKDqs2fnfO7ewXkBrITo4icUvk-KgpSuIhjuoQsZU4HnuGCWu000wqZRdpSzKkY36iRtFJfzJcJiGH6Bo2fZr0U1K5ONCXyKvXe_WXMgJUl7X7np7eggU1StYBefFsj8kVew5fEi0qOt0brYtLy-27MbgxnIszv-H-DSvj9Rahutd5NA/w253-h181/Lauda%20-%20Reitzle.tif" width="253" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">At one point Wolfgang Reitzle hired Niki Lauda as Team Director, but it didn’t take the acerbic Austrian long to realise that the Ford-installed team management had just one law –‘You do it our way, or not at all.’</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I think that’s brave talk, when you’re dealing with a former world champion who had decades of real experience.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVBLa0mFJukMF3gdgm6Tirmtz-xvdfWZT1ULwf1Ja5VljBw7Polse6ZRHlohx88Rh3j_8JJzUlqOtwudCOJ30iQWft5KqsddKFkyvswOVGKWCBHOKi5av3VfZ70h1q0TrTS8YOF8f_G2YmhzaE0WegLQAnc7_V7ptQFCb_qddPrQEOwC8SU6MYTak9g/s830/Lauda%20Monaco%20finish(4).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="830" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVBLa0mFJukMF3gdgm6Tirmtz-xvdfWZT1ULwf1Ja5VljBw7Polse6ZRHlohx88Rh3j_8JJzUlqOtwudCOJ30iQWft5KqsddKFkyvswOVGKWCBHOKi5av3VfZ70h1q0TrTS8YOF8f_G2YmhzaE0WegLQAnc7_V7ptQFCb_qddPrQEOwC8SU6MYTak9g/w640-h424/Lauda%20Monaco%20finish(4).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Monaco 1976 - Lauda shows a clean pair of slicks to the rest of the field</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Formula One is not kind to those who lack knowledge of the sport; knowledge of how it operates; knowledge of managing the disparate divisions of an F1 team, and also just the basic lack of appreciation that they are wilfully spending zillions of dollars chasing a somewhat imaginary goal.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The team owner and its sponsors must exhibit unwavering faith that the project will succeed. However, faith doesn’t pay the bills.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Yes - obviously to win in F1 you need big, big budgets and when Jaguar team management reports back to the Ford Board in Dearborn, that this year’s budget will have to be increased by XX millions, the conservative and somewhat penny-wise management qualities of ‘Good Old Boys’ in the centre of the USA simply cannot rationalize the dollars spent, with a lack of results which will truly benefit the company’s bottom line.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilsSotIbApf4zakHFQP5rLrX9KfZ0beQHb8_BqgOwFcyr1O7giumuqOA869trXa5f4mQYdwG0_kd1cGqouF7nUQOZBYVrVekv9Pm_u3SycyN8D7wa_rzl1FRDh0rrICzM2Rc_k_zkGAHfr989aKYMptvBwiLDQbmLvL3HUYx5eznFvh5rdK7b6mtf0w/s1024/Jacques%20Nasser.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilsSotIbApf4zakHFQP5rLrX9KfZ0beQHb8_BqgOwFcyr1O7giumuqOA869trXa5f4mQYdwG0_kd1cGqouF7nUQOZBYVrVekv9Pm_u3SycyN8D7wa_rzl1FRDh0rrICzM2Rc_k_zkGAHfr989aKYMptvBwiLDQbmLvL3HUYx5eznFvh5rdK7b6mtf0w/w400-h225/Jacques%20Nasser.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I can tell you, there would have been many times when Nasser went to the Board to try and explain that F1 is a money-hungry animal that just keeps needing to be fed.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The Board members would have been quite justified in saying: “Why? What are we really getting out of this project?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">By any measure the Jaguar F1 team was a failure, typical of projects that have not been seriously thought through, difficulties honestly assessed, an understanding of the challenges ahead for a ‘newbie’ team of managers, complicated by formidable Formula One politics, general skulduggery, and many examples of skirting the rules to gain advantage. This last condition is one which would never have occurred to the somewhat pious members of the Board of the Ford Motor Company.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, after a ‘dud’ showing the Jaguar team was sold to Red Bull on November 15, 2004 – that’s it, it’s all over now!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMWfwDveMjCB9ez6fkCNIJhAV577CgFiaziWtCXilsk_AdjrknTyeq6IwN5d-pQgSvSheM-ZgGhv8aZ4imL979h6Htma-XEiH9D_S3AsR5ioSB4imckD7ILXA8226JXYDyoelB851RwcqV1yno2eAP_RMTJM78iy-WFipd19NyG2sedAEfiI_Uuz5Fg/s832/Jaguar%20Leaves%20F1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="832" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMWfwDveMjCB9ez6fkCNIJhAV577CgFiaziWtCXilsk_AdjrknTyeq6IwN5d-pQgSvSheM-ZgGhv8aZ4imL979h6Htma-XEiH9D_S3AsR5ioSB4imckD7ILXA8226JXYDyoelB851RwcqV1yno2eAP_RMTJM78iy-WFipd19NyG2sedAEfiI_Uuz5Fg/w400-h402/Jaguar%20Leaves%20F1.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So, what’s different this time? If you read the press releases from Ford and the quotes from its CEO Jim Farley, not a lot. Ford wants what it wanted with the Jaguar F1 team – image, credibility, status, market presence, and this time, a focus on its technologies, oh, and of course to sell more cars.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I’m afraid Formula One’s ‘business model’ just doesn’t align with those objectives. The teams have only one destination – dominate races and the podium – and make sure there’s enough cash to pay the big salaries and huge operating costs. That’s it. Only the very smartest owners/sponsors can successfully use Formula One as a genuine marketing tool.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I don’t rank the giant Ford Motor Company among that tiny circle. Ironically, the company Ford sold its Jaguar F1 team to, Red Bull, has proved very adept at using its F1 team along with a number of ‘extreme sports’ to market its energy drink.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Think back to the glory days of the dominant, race-winning Cosworth DFV engine – the 60s and beyond. Every team which was chasing success simply had to use the DFV – but out in the public arena who knew that the Cosworth DFV was a (very successful) joint program between Cosworth and Ford?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrpneXqAy5jXt-Tqby6o3ZqBzED-l_avPSH1xyLZJSap2nC6_bzUC9CPXte83-0IVKaDpYxi0mpgQfEmsf23JGr80qD89q58zUpBeEq9ePEhDN60lYzIr87_p6Z3Z4l3-XKBN5qCuzI7eFHWC_Jlu4trHu1nM4Gh-PyR7PObyuM9SF4HraJnztHwOVA/s900/DFV%20engine.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="900" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrpneXqAy5jXt-Tqby6o3ZqBzED-l_avPSH1xyLZJSap2nC6_bzUC9CPXte83-0IVKaDpYxi0mpgQfEmsf23JGr80qD89q58zUpBeEq9ePEhDN60lYzIr87_p6Z3Z4l3-XKBN5qCuzI7eFHWC_Jlu4trHu1nM4Gh-PyR7PObyuM9SF4HraJnztHwOVA/w640-h424/DFV%20engine.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Even then, motor racing success with its dominant engine never morphed into a successful marketing tool for Ford, despite the millions involved.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The project was inspired and managed by a small group of diehard engineers who really knew their stuff, but you could have called that whole Ford racing division a ‘skunk works’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Imagine a Pommy Ford salesman saying to a Cortina or Escort buyer, “You know this car comes from the same company as the one that makes the most successful F1 engine.” What?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Now, when it comes to ‘American’ motor sport like Nascar, that’s a whole other ball game.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkizZ9awx7sCkVkqJ2lZeFy95zboecgGJ5xRv9PYDkuRvZk0t3nr8ZUF5si5umGmrs1bAeDDOoFww1vmJPw7Rzm6SGyfWbKXqAgyajcVAoDPIm_Sn7m9ZwdwmnsT-I1cDmibTkvhpw_8oystWbBJBpNR08pkLEvXXTJzDHkcb-eM3GmvsSU2SftiN0hg/s2094/Ford%20Nascar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="2094" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkizZ9awx7sCkVkqJ2lZeFy95zboecgGJ5xRv9PYDkuRvZk0t3nr8ZUF5si5umGmrs1bAeDDOoFww1vmJPw7Rzm6SGyfWbKXqAgyajcVAoDPIm_Sn7m9ZwdwmnsT-I1cDmibTkvhpw_8oystWbBJBpNR08pkLEvXXTJzDHkcb-eM3GmvsSU2SftiN0hg/w640-h418/Ford%20Nascar.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, Formula One? Never mind the success of Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” series and how it’s awakened American audiences to the thrills of Formula One. Translating that into public imagery which boosts the status and integrity of the Ford Motor Company, and sells more cars is a long shot.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Funnily enough, General Motors’ program to gain entry to Formula One via the Andretti family and its Cadillac division makes slightly more sense.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2L7CmVrpO6otI3IfDGRFWejqtQgaDA6zw8ZsEee6EkL7R_FWwoUN-KmJfBGfJH7SwRIXe8zHChAWhPPJtbQELASzlptVKfs_ya0iG078ydBayHdXL3-CScvwlXV6k8vYj5dPwAQ5uf9eGBaBVmsVIWSaLYu_WPS-1SwiY7XCjbMU1bpPw57VA9OOufA/s1024/Cadillac%20racing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2L7CmVrpO6otI3IfDGRFWejqtQgaDA6zw8ZsEee6EkL7R_FWwoUN-KmJfBGfJH7SwRIXe8zHChAWhPPJtbQELASzlptVKfs_ya0iG078ydBayHdXL3-CScvwlXV6k8vYj5dPwAQ5uf9eGBaBVmsVIWSaLYu_WPS-1SwiY7XCjbMU1bpPw57VA9OOufA/w640-h426/Cadillac%20racing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Cadillac has been dominating American sports car racing for a long while, and it will be the Andretti name dragging Cadillac into the spotlight, rather than the other way around.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I don’t mean to belittle the auspicious and impressive talents of Ford’s engineers, and their ability to forge a path into a challenging new field of technology, using F1 as its ‘vehicle’, but my guess is that even if it is Ford’s engine (and associated technology) that ensures Red Bull keeps dominating Formula One, you can bet that the name on everyone’s lips is more likely to be Red Bull than Ford.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Cast your mind back to when Henry Ford II became so angry about Ferrari’s success in producing, selling and winning in the sports car sector, that he agreed to spend ‘whatever’ to beat Ferrari in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">For Henry Ford it was ‘personal’. He hated il Commendatore, because Enzo knocked back an offer by Ford to buy the famous Italian company, and didn’t even personally reply to Ford’s offer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKasYvl-xakQ_dTKeH2YRgjJ4NsAC5c79esqusot-OO5wHAdrFs9GqqDKjGpzKj9TkZtwqckULgHlwA8pz5440hLvSLh7EcbpI5hs0PmKw8ODhI6McNs8RBE3_zM9bqoRv0n4Nb_7OYS0BxDx8yF8mxL81a4JAtJNE2TQx4eCJqXCIhlQsljSsT3kMw/s1210/Ford%20GT40.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1210" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKasYvl-xakQ_dTKeH2YRgjJ4NsAC5c79esqusot-OO5wHAdrFs9GqqDKjGpzKj9TkZtwqckULgHlwA8pz5440hLvSLh7EcbpI5hs0PmKw8ODhI6McNs8RBE3_zM9bqoRv0n4Nb_7OYS0BxDx8yF8mxL81a4JAtJNE2TQx4eCJqXCIhlQsljSsT3kMw/w640-h360/Ford%20GT40.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">It's estimated to have cost Ford Motor Company around USD$25 million on the GT40 program over the course of four years – 1964-67. Ford did beat Ferrari, but the only thing that was satisfied was Henry Ford’s ego. Did it sell more Fords? Hard to say, but I suspect the answer is no, certainly not 25 million bucks worth!</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My advice to Ford is, go ahead with the Red Bull deal, but temper your expectations. On a personal note, I’d also advise Ford to spend up big, really big, on a competent communications program, run by people who know and understand the F1 PR machine, to ensure it extracts every cent’s worth of value represented in the Ford-Red Bull joint venture.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">And that it positively impacts Ford’s bottom line.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b><b> </b> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-38916964932704191942023-04-11T18:23:00.011+10:002023-04-12T21:11:36.943+10:00MIRROR, MIRROR, ETC, ETC..... by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The 2023 Formula One technical specifications included a small change you may not have noticed – all the cars now have larger rear-view mirrors this year. Why is that important?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">All the better to see you with!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Because now drivers can more clearly see Aston Martin F1’s AMR23 filling the mirrors, resulting in three podiums in the first three Grands Prix of 2023.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZVV1PDVMch5NQtaKcVdxHJyk4tsoX6AW0eQzVxUd_opIds_HKs60RL7DCFMtEGbJqgdh9GuD4kbTO22geT36q4CTxBGlBH65ume6Cw1uJOaallsvjQqBp6nkslU8SIUdw08NWzaxMy6FnP0GeOjiVrNYcguv3lwqOUL1mxDCLejh7wM4wUj4DwbvwA/s1024/Alonso%20AGP(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZVV1PDVMch5NQtaKcVdxHJyk4tsoX6AW0eQzVxUd_opIds_HKs60RL7DCFMtEGbJqgdh9GuD4kbTO22geT36q4CTxBGlBH65ume6Cw1uJOaallsvjQqBp6nkslU8SIUdw08NWzaxMy6FnP0GeOjiVrNYcguv3lwqOUL1mxDCLejh7wM4wUj4DwbvwA/w640-h300/Alonso%20AGP(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />The performance of the 2023 car, especially in the hands of double world champion Fernando Alonso, has dominated paddock chat about the Aston Martin team’s performance.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This is another one of those ‘overnight successes’ we often read about – only to find the outcomes have been years in the making. And, in Aston Martin’s case, not so many years. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The changes, since Aston Martin Chairman Lawrence Stroll acquired the former Force India team in July 2018, have been coming thick and fast. However, rather than being purely engineering-driven, it’s a story of the ‘people’ AMR has hired which reveal the reasons for the improved 2023 performance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Stroll is clearly a very determined man, and having invested £90 million in the former Force India Formula One team, he’s very keen to see a worthwhile ROI. This is in addition to his £190 million buyout of the Aston Martin car company in early 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Then there was a huge investment in the new, huge, Aston Martin F1 Campus at Silverstone - which includes a wind tunnel.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMVnr3nhW1FFuz0CpSenKFwzpxo_lRIiux0ReozBT84b2DCJ-HL3F6lRQKZ0CrBRWtUhD-GwLeJQimtv66A19M7BbEfWXcrrOAZZq14-LDiRD9zCKMn9WoSPEgmEsM3grssv4uvvag46loCMvfORdIBizLr5J3bXcYiBsQEn4d6kuvMQwl05-qYTDXg/s1024/AMF1%20campus(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMVnr3nhW1FFuz0CpSenKFwzpxo_lRIiux0ReozBT84b2DCJ-HL3F6lRQKZ0CrBRWtUhD-GwLeJQimtv66A19M7BbEfWXcrrOAZZq14-LDiRD9zCKMn9WoSPEgmEsM3grssv4uvvag46loCMvfORdIBizLr5J3bXcYiBsQEn4d6kuvMQwl05-qYTDXg/w640-h360/AMF1%20campus(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Yes, they are all financed with leveraged borrowings, saddling both the car company and the F1 team with considerable debt, which has to be serviced, but with a personal net worth of USD$3.6 billion, impressive business savvy and a significant track record building companies and brands, I think there are probably many more lenders willing to provide funds to Stroll, as opposed to the previous Aston Martin Chairman, the hapless Andy Palmer.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Amazingly, when Force India went into administration, almost nobody left the team. I think the apparent loyalty to the team, and each other was quite inspiring. This meant Aston Martin managed to retain many key people who have proved invaluable to rebuilding financially-challenged Force India.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There are now more than 700 people populating AMR F1’s new Silverstone campus, but the strengths of the team today are almost purely related to the individual qualities of the key people Stroll has added to the technical side of the race team.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The path to the team’s current ‘overnight success’ has been turbulent at times, but also clear evidence that a well-structured business enterprise, managed on stable and well-structured principles is more likely to succeed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Now, to step back in time. In 2010 I was commissioned to write a major feature for the Bahrain-published business magazine, TRENDS, about two key Indian businessmen with connections to cars. Sir Ratan Tata was an obvious choice, after acquiring both Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The second target of the feature was Vijay Mallya, the son of the founder of India’s UB Group – India’s largest liquor, spirits and drinks business – who had acquired the former Midland F1 team from Netherlands-based Spyker Cars for USD$109 million.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In my TRENDS story I suggested these two businessmen were probably India’s new ‘commercial princes’, but whilst Tata’s business credentials were never in doubt, Mallya was another story. He inherited his father’s large estate at just 27 years of age, with little experience running huge enterprises, which in addition to the drinks business, included a large pharmaceuticals division and a number of smaller enterprises.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Quite frankly, I was not surprised that over the years between 2007 and 2020, Mallya managed to piss away his father’s enormous legacy, and for a while was being pursued all over the globe by Indian police to stand trial for fraud, after the collapse of his three biggest investments – Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher Beer, and the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team, for which he paid an eye-watering USD$112 million.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQltIkbsQGh_4hn9a14bP2IohBC_Kd1FqUJHvnz0Lv43jfdJ5jRitVkQ3Xd_cxN2ohgj2dDaVUZ8SRcdNNinbVa8_y1rBVrGUxiaa3uaGIf5cKadexRxzsDU9-rujrjJMrHMo9YfUbY0HXaSmY36SQbZhypA-c_NPIcxu5rXxHSivc8E5O5O-UK_vYLA/s1024/Collage-Mallya.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQltIkbsQGh_4hn9a14bP2IohBC_Kd1FqUJHvnz0Lv43jfdJ5jRitVkQ3Xd_cxN2ohgj2dDaVUZ8SRcdNNinbVa8_y1rBVrGUxiaa3uaGIf5cKadexRxzsDU9-rujrjJMrHMo9YfUbY0HXaSmY36SQbZhypA-c_NPIcxu5rXxHSivc8E5O5O-UK_vYLA/w640-h640/Collage-Mallya.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">However, this sad tale of rapid wealth depletion sits in complete contrast to Lawrence Stroll, and his smart moves both at Aston Martin, and the F1 team. He is driven, fiercely-determined, decisive, a highly self-confident manager with an aggressive outlook. I think he’s unlikely to reference the Mallya playbook in his management of the F1 team, because he has handed it to a very impressive manager.</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So, now to AMR F1’s key hires which took place from halfway through 2021, to the present day. First and foremost the team’s new CEO Martin Whitmarsh (actually Chairman of Aston Martin Group Performance Technologies), who comes with 25 years F1 experience with McLaren, having guided that team to more than 100 GP wins.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIuG7fxUch5GSFPNYuEa6QPZkrk5Av0h_Egf7fDIGqBjzCIbZIzjJUeXFH1ieA_IFk7Ix7--ccyYHgkf8ER0YSu2JLYpl2r4DX_aeR5xsX7zyS8oy1E6nYe0Fk2u1Inffqz9F7CMtFPzqaX9LtbDqc1jVD-n7Wul6H7BL6ro27W6YPJWQV_REabXiR0g/s1024/Strolls-Whitmarsh(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="1024" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIuG7fxUch5GSFPNYuEa6QPZkrk5Av0h_Egf7fDIGqBjzCIbZIzjJUeXFH1ieA_IFk7Ix7--ccyYHgkf8ER0YSu2JLYpl2r4DX_aeR5xsX7zyS8oy1E6nYe0Fk2u1Inffqz9F7CMtFPzqaX9LtbDqc1jVD-n7Wul6H7BL6ro27W6YPJWQV_REabXiR0g/w640-h414/Strolls-Whitmarsh(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i>Lance Stroll, Martin Whitmarsh, Lawrence Stroll</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Whilst Stroll oversaw a number of new hires, Whitmarsh was urged to continue the just ‘go and get the very best guys’ formula in order to build up AMR’s key strengths.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Given those very big talents and skill levels are concentrated in a group of very few individuals, Whitmarsh went ‘poaching’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Beginning in June 2021, AMR F1 appointed Luca Furbatto (from Alfa Romeo) as Engineering Director. He was followed by the announcement that Dan Fallows (Red Bull’s leading aerodynamicist) will take on the role of Technical Director. This comes after the then Technical Director, Andrew Green, was promoted to Chief Technical Officer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Andrew Alessi, Red Bull’s Chief Designer will move to AMR F1, as Head of Technical Operations. In addition to this talented troop, AMR F1 also lured Eric Blandin away from Mercedes-AMG. Frenchman, Blandin, also worked at the Fondmetal wind tunnel, before working on aerodynamics for the former Jaguar F1 team. Also, he spent a short period at Ferrari, also working in the field of aerodynamics.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluMlG3QeFU5TVyuS6wBDJ7HoAyAPBlvEPD3HywZPTAFS7qYNbC1RaaqjOqLjGDm4oCOmm2IJUCEAtYd_W2MRxcRSWiYp7ww3oE7ggPlgQ5rr5DQ77bJdWT0B3ij-ckJyb64ESPIIAF5MAcHAdwYVFom5OaOv3AYJ6Vc7gkPJ4OLnicQ4abyTBdZvRwA/s1024/Collage-AM%20F1%20staff.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluMlG3QeFU5TVyuS6wBDJ7HoAyAPBlvEPD3HywZPTAFS7qYNbC1RaaqjOqLjGDm4oCOmm2IJUCEAtYd_W2MRxcRSWiYp7ww3oE7ggPlgQ5rr5DQ77bJdWT0B3ij-ckJyb64ESPIIAF5MAcHAdwYVFom5OaOv3AYJ6Vc7gkPJ4OLnicQ4abyTBdZvRwA/w640-h640/Collage-AM%20F1%20staff.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Clockwise from top left - Mike Krack, Andrew Green, Eric Blandin, Dan Fallows, Luca Furbatto, Andrew Alessi</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Following the continuation of the ‘overnight success’ theme, it seems all of these impressive appointments have settled in quickly, and the word from Silverstone is that the additions have brought new confidence and ambition within the existing team, which is evidenced by AMR F1’s much improved performance toward the end of the 2022 season.</span><br /> <br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Powertrain aside, because AMR F1 uses a Mercedes-AMG ‘customer engine’, it is clear that the input of new skills are bringing outstanding results in the area of chassis tuning and aerodynamics.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifC8WeuvNaD0Vg8vaWmm9hCcg8RbVBvCwUMr28ZABnHcvWzOZsIz1dIn8jzIm4FE-ElUiZn-MnhG5K-aNgAd6qJz6g0v-JH-02IO24d-QxON3T6Qc1bD6EavQ4m3MN_UyrPV60RZewEFE2ArYHQz3LbBNG8TRFh-NN1_6a0T8pFKYdlch-QhEOcLHN1Q/s1024/AM23_profile(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="1024" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifC8WeuvNaD0Vg8vaWmm9hCcg8RbVBvCwUMr28ZABnHcvWzOZsIz1dIn8jzIm4FE-ElUiZn-MnhG5K-aNgAd6qJz6g0v-JH-02IO24d-QxON3T6Qc1bD6EavQ4m3MN_UyrPV60RZewEFE2ArYHQz3LbBNG8TRFh-NN1_6a0T8pFKYdlch-QhEOcLHN1Q/w640-h136/AM23_profile(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">At the same time, I cannot dismiss the enormous benefit of bringing Fernando Alonso on board. I’ve met him a couple of times, and when I was asked what more Alonso could contribute, compared to multiple world champion Sebastian Vettel (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), my simple answer is a mix of personality and communication skills. Vettel is a German, and my experience, watching him at Red Bull, is that whilst he has amassed vast experience, and F1 trophies, he is simply not as communicative about the car as Alonso will be.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7YSQR-C2UBgQdHTtJDhY_I-fp3ovINnttPh5oiffLbJo3Y0mm-OwfwO-UryeNYJ4ljy_BQcVu2QQQwDgctMOdmuoOsYWuqpR5iWZZW8bgydIXN4pEjlEExAkFUIwfzjFh5SdqqmPGlFprcWr5qq3UJZyVPEUjQMTjVMaPCuY4aatYrGmG_6PwiJLIHQ/s1024/Fernando(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1024" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7YSQR-C2UBgQdHTtJDhY_I-fp3ovINnttPh5oiffLbJo3Y0mm-OwfwO-UryeNYJ4ljy_BQcVu2QQQwDgctMOdmuoOsYWuqpR5iWZZW8bgydIXN4pEjlEExAkFUIwfzjFh5SdqqmPGlFprcWr5qq3UJZyVPEUjQMTjVMaPCuY4aatYrGmG_6PwiJLIHQ/s320/Fernando(2).jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Alonso is a typical Spaniard, warm, friendly, affable and very willing to contribute in a voluble and valuable manner. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Compared to the quiet German, Fernando will bring not only his F1 experience to bear, but also his unique views resulting from his Indy car starts.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">With him behind the wheel, the AMR23 has consistently cut the gap to the team’s rivals. In Bahrain, Alonso was 0.6s off pole. In Saudi, that was down to 0.5s. In Australia, he shaved another tenth off to 0.4s.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It’s interesting also to look at the differences in the track surface of the Bahrain, Jeddah and Australian circuits. The AMR23 performed strongly in Bahrain, on the desert track’s cheesegrater surface where traction and power are important, and then in Saudi Arabia – home to the world’s fastest street circuit – and Australia, a semi-permanent track where conditions have been the coolest they’ve been all season.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The latter two circuits have a plethora of high-speed corners – and the AMR23 looked like it was on rails as it glided through them. Baku, the next round offers up yet another variation in circuits.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEw4lkxB8a3cIXEHlCUhDzMa7-7t8pm1T_9royZWUJcmpdJr_Ftd1mq-OcenNWrLKLyq0djsb0hwyAurmnx4RCcOhkUQyszrYfZfx2NMELfsgLXeMpIJuIWSspemqq340GKO3O0SCKFH52VDKOzkkGtW5w9VHbNM0APLTpiZ_89-6VdnP5tddZGLtg1w/s586/Mike%20Krak(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="392" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEw4lkxB8a3cIXEHlCUhDzMa7-7t8pm1T_9royZWUJcmpdJr_Ftd1mq-OcenNWrLKLyq0djsb0hwyAurmnx4RCcOhkUQyszrYfZfx2NMELfsgLXeMpIJuIWSspemqq340GKO3O0SCKFH52VDKOzkkGtW5w9VHbNM0APLTpiZ_89-6VdnP5tddZGLtg1w/s320/Mike%20Krak(2).jpg" width="214" /></a></span></span></div><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Team chief Mike Krack (left) says they are constantly working on small changes, but they will be introduced when they are ready, not just in one big package. The team strategy has been to clearly understand the ‘base’ car, before building on the data the first three rounds have produced. He is confident that by the fourth part of the season they will have produced a car which can finish ahead of teams like Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2px;"><br /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that these are impressive rivals, and they won’t be standing still.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">Krack also directly pointed to the level of ambition and energy within the team. “We have a hard time getting people to home,” he said.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So, does this mean we will see Aston Martin move into the serious point-scoring positions? My take is, you bet! Mercedes AMG, McLaren and a few of the other teams do not seem to have uncovered the magic secrets of combining their experience and strengths with the 2023 regulations – whereas, I think Aston Martin is off to a cracking start.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3Gpn__lDLhKJ03zytD3JgOE4n8opoWJqQ07CP-KFQvK-6jca9tU8Iuq7SDvrQ3QUC2LPgnQAhao81XgTX4qoohAfz30d8ATQfcvwglPcZ6NLkbKbrwgpQ5l9zylUaNJh7jxHwEuUM1kdtjJ3AfepSrYgNvNmLtnxWAIS1Cs8xxwcQN1u5aTb2wCjPw/s1024/Stroll(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="771" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3Gpn__lDLhKJ03zytD3JgOE4n8opoWJqQ07CP-KFQvK-6jca9tU8Iuq7SDvrQ3QUC2LPgnQAhao81XgTX4qoohAfz30d8ATQfcvwglPcZ6NLkbKbrwgpQ5l9zylUaNJh7jxHwEuUM1kdtjJ3AfepSrYgNvNmLtnxWAIS1Cs8xxwcQN1u5aTb2wCjPw/w151-h200/Stroll(2).jpg" width="151" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Alonso is keen, wants to win, and I’m sure his presence in the team will fire up Lance Stroll – who I’m told by insiders was a bit intimidated by Vettel – I think Stroll junior will find the new partnership much more productive, inspiring and valuable to the team.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">That’s why the AMR23 is filling the mirrors.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-63800395044840126142023-04-02T21:50:00.003+10:002023-04-03T08:13:14.459+10:00AGP WEEKEND DELIVERS RIPPER RESULT FOR RISING AUSSIES by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Anyone who regularly travels to Melbourne almost always packs for four seasons, because the weather is so changeable. But for AGP weekend the weather was at its best, and two young rising Australian racers enjoyed results one can only dream about.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In the supporting Supercars race 20-year-old Brock Feeney claimed victory in the final round prior to the Grand Prix, which is clear evidence for the confidence shown in him by his Triple 8 team which fields his Chevrolet Camaro.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgWkoVbffVLMrDIP6r2o8h3rJQkvac0Cs_swUWW1E6TcprwsA10KkuG8jVvPpxT893inkM7IzTT_1IshHKqmP422XwolseRuXpkmWjGFoWQVAREYdqMg8p05dgKl-R6XvxVO0ZSs_IEVtuslSewhbw54rFfpFJjkhApi5qXVlJxYnN1HaIDPbqpzFlw/s1024/Brock%20Feeney%2088.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1024" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgWkoVbffVLMrDIP6r2o8h3rJQkvac0Cs_swUWW1E6TcprwsA10KkuG8jVvPpxT893inkM7IzTT_1IshHKqmP422XwolseRuXpkmWjGFoWQVAREYdqMg8p05dgKl-R6XvxVO0ZSs_IEVtuslSewhbw54rFfpFJjkhApi5qXVlJxYnN1HaIDPbqpzFlw/w640-h292/Brock%20Feeney%2088.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguEDasphXTPHr81_HHqSI3i2tWwJDPldONWjBTpV3YQhTRXkCIBsnNiGw2BTP_Fr4C1TgRCExyfjrwvi_eP69D8K_DXirTiNw4HI-kboKIdx1bYlU9-fR0WWzACCahojd5d9eUZd5m27z3QSLbLRjr0NrYfKgYxTm4nBGr02xWGqfk3DTl3SO8d1rSQg/s1024/Feeney-Gover_Snapseed.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="1024" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguEDasphXTPHr81_HHqSI3i2tWwJDPldONWjBTpV3YQhTRXkCIBsnNiGw2BTP_Fr4C1TgRCExyfjrwvi_eP69D8K_DXirTiNw4HI-kboKIdx1bYlU9-fR0WWzACCahojd5d9eUZd5m27z3QSLbLRjr0NrYfKgYxTm4nBGr02xWGqfk3DTl3SO8d1rSQg/w400-h256/Feeney-Gover_Snapseed.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My good friend Paul Gover alerted me to Brock’s potential early on, and I wrote about his entry to the sport, and the high hopes held for his progress. I think winning the Supercars race on AGP weekend is simply bloody marvellous for this young, talented, but unassuming young man.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In the AGP, the day was full of chaos, mayhem, three red flags and eight cars which DNF’d. Nonetheless the World Champion claimed his first victory at Albert Park, but of course the interest of Aussie fans were all focussed on young Oscar Piastri in his first hometown GP.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The McLaren team has failed to produce competitive cars in 2022 and so far in 2023, but Oscar kept his cool and even starting from a lowly 16<sup>th</sup> place managed to steer clear of the chaos, and produced a drive one would expect from a highly-experienced and mature F1 regular.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEE30tz8M-05zopE-bhpWniDFNxwDQZWfgqhmdpn1qmiR7uAWi_UbnuShvcO8D-wbuEoj3DcXgaD1e3cZpIHYhNaQ2NYaldV5nz84xW63RKuljh8OqkSwd-5Do3H-mz4gjBbrI2e-TABYuNRjLj3_lSZ3BqshHo4CUAQYYv_AbHgjpgPiqZIz3aljjyw/s1125/Oscar%20%2381.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="1125" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEE30tz8M-05zopE-bhpWniDFNxwDQZWfgqhmdpn1qmiR7uAWi_UbnuShvcO8D-wbuEoj3DcXgaD1e3cZpIHYhNaQ2NYaldV5nz84xW63RKuljh8OqkSwd-5Do3H-mz4gjBbrI2e-TABYuNRjLj3_lSZ3BqshHo4CUAQYYv_AbHgjpgPiqZIz3aljjyw/w640-h360/Oscar%20%2381.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">To come home in 8<sup>th</sup> position, in the points, at his first AGP (and only his third F1 race) is a fantastic result, and no-one should have any doubts about his potential.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Well done Brock and Oscar – you did us proud. Thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">JOHN CRAWFORD</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-28136387783869046232023-03-31T17:52:00.000+10:002023-03-31T17:52:54.859+10:00VALÉ DOUG MULRAY - AN UNFORGETTABLE FRIEND by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I first met ‘Uncle Doug’ in either late 1982 or early 1983, when my company, Leyland Australia, leased a suite in the Triple M tower in fashionable Bondi Junction, in Sydney’s east, to house our PR department for me and my staff of two.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOpdU5YBZvvqEAc_Xf5vfmoJsdj7a8CV_HbKOIap3FvW-ibwwg27oCCZi4zOdR4sA_40ieqg7mhagH6WOcmXE0erKnkICWp98jBcGU7amYOA1J_47g00uMSYhurZkLm94vqv0dkNca3FjPqwyVs7qtDdKOt280iK3mFW0gZwBFA78OLU-uEDPLgpNHg/s1280/Triple%20M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOpdU5YBZvvqEAc_Xf5vfmoJsdj7a8CV_HbKOIap3FvW-ibwwg27oCCZi4zOdR4sA_40ieqg7mhagH6WOcmXE0erKnkICWp98jBcGU7amYOA1J_47g00uMSYhurZkLm94vqv0dkNca3FjPqwyVs7qtDdKOt280iK3mFW0gZwBFA78OLU-uEDPLgpNHg/w320-h181/Triple%20M.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">One morning I was parking one of the Jaguar road test cars in the basement garage, when a guy came up to me wearing a Triple M FM t-shirt. He said: “I work with one of the DJs on Triple M who loves Jags, do you want to meet him?”<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">“Sure, bring him down to our office on the 22<sup>nd</sup> floor anytime.” The very next day, this very loud, long-haired individual wearing over-sized ‘granny glasses’ burst through the door shouting: “Where is he, where is he? This man from Jaguar.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My secretary took fright, but then recognised Doug Mulray, who was taking the Sydney breakfast radio scene by storm with his hilarious antics, jokes, piss-takes and completely irreverent humour. Sydney loved him, and soon after Doug and his team totally dominated breakfast radio. He also became a regular visitor to our office around 9:30. He was usually totally exhausted after all the energy he contributed to his show.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Doug was in fact a Jaguar tragic, and later that year prevailed upon me to find him a sales slot for a Series III Jaguar V12 sedan with a five-speed manual gearbox. We were having a few quality problems with the Series III, so I tried to gently dissuade him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">“Never mind, he said. “I know the PR guy from Jaguar, so if anything goes wrong, I’ll call him.” Oh, great I thought, this is going to end in tears.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0FRyWDW4yfNfv6O1JwoPDa6MVd9iRhAAYLnWuvweIR1lUV9Cw0c1YIKcGJq77nQAoG0RpxiV_0zzQVsj84BNTDnnO6ungu-r1ed-AkfI4Hhjsh3XNE5vdvz7uh3vtd6if88kgJ2Jmc7wKP2Qk6boOgQ-oyBjSaSRQvdMsY0W6qU_EGBO3lciI1NcTw/s480/Jaguar%20V12%20sedan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0FRyWDW4yfNfv6O1JwoPDa6MVd9iRhAAYLnWuvweIR1lUV9Cw0c1YIKcGJq77nQAoG0RpxiV_0zzQVsj84BNTDnnO6ungu-r1ed-AkfI4Hhjsh3XNE5vdvz7uh3vtd6if88kgJ2Jmc7wKP2Qk6boOgQ-oyBjSaSRQvdMsY0W6qU_EGBO3lciI1NcTw/s320/Jaguar%20V12%20sedan.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">What it did lead to was a fabulous 32-year friendship with lots of laughs, great times and good lunches. Doug’s companion (partner in crime) was Lizzie Muir, the sister of famous radio identity and programmer, Rod Muir, who got Triple M rolling.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Pe7w4jznVSn_XxLvxXjlnRF5GD_019cSyDlJ6YFrEzIyJ9iesg_c8Q0J8wQVehN91Byn4V6-VDn5Amqos9eNu-Ae_r4bdM-v5IzQbEHXcJpEflVksRcuj9bk2SHwYb90OwwdlQSGLDqDI_pAb_siDcVVDjgkH19bmZ9aPlOS3xPICcN7-1NRLS7Vqw/s409/Doug&Lizzie(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="409" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Pe7w4jznVSn_XxLvxXjlnRF5GD_019cSyDlJ6YFrEzIyJ9iesg_c8Q0J8wQVehN91Byn4V6-VDn5Amqos9eNu-Ae_r4bdM-v5IzQbEHXcJpEflVksRcuj9bk2SHwYb90OwwdlQSGLDqDI_pAb_siDcVVDjgkH19bmZ9aPlOS3xPICcN7-1NRLS7Vqw/w200-h176/Doug&Lizzie(2).jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />Lizzie contributed not only to the laughs, but occasionally played a great straight man to Doug when he was taking the piss out of some pompous twit.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Doug and Miss Lizzie invited us to stay with them at their beautiful spread in Bilpin, about 90km west of Sydney in the Blue Mountains. The property was anchored by a majestic, stone, convict-built cottage set in a beautiful apple farm.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSJy47CA9kBp7BfyJl7uXLAiPdm4nRvdbxG6Nbr7bglTmX4IWZMWgtddD0F_qOb-iJjW-hVYp2YyYoiaLccNW7Km6OI0WrnxwdLEP_VMZRdqUIC8Mp6i65RyEgDm-vLPrcNhAaFAwRRQn1Quy1CtFfPcpJdstGTbcpw164wicmIY9FgWM5YyhJr_JZA/s1024/Homestead(2).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSJy47CA9kBp7BfyJl7uXLAiPdm4nRvdbxG6Nbr7bglTmX4IWZMWgtddD0F_qOb-iJjW-hVYp2YyYoiaLccNW7Km6OI0WrnxwdLEP_VMZRdqUIC8Mp6i65RyEgDm-vLPrcNhAaFAwRRQn1Quy1CtFfPcpJdstGTbcpw164wicmIY9FgWM5YyhJr_JZA/w640-h480/Homestead(2).jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: x-large; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-size: large;">However, the property was often threatened by bushfires, so I was always calling Doug to ensure the property was safe. Magically, the house and outbuildings were never threatened by fire. In the end the conversations went like this - Me: "It's JC Dougie." Doug: "It's okay JC, no worries, now piss off."</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Once we agreed to a short tour of the Blue Mountains. I took along one of the then-new Jaguar F-type roadsters, and Doug and Lizzie joined my wife Yvonne and I in their Aston Martin DB9 Volante for a very enjoyable drive along Bell’s Line-of-Roads, swapping cars.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEBeU5EbY3H1rKQY5DTA12ozb4YlW7PqVam87E8XYgo3cTyThpqJhxU_4eHdb39axTupLxPIRYLnsHGIj282qaoL7cIL70jSNbWqKvUDeNUuc17G0UDuExF3FVWnxPzle9hmmMBAFEwg69JFBL8-mjsoMxhJDyyHILHJNEVrLrsWyXNPQ-vrNrKaOrA/s1020/collage-cars(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="1020" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEBeU5EbY3H1rKQY5DTA12ozb4YlW7PqVam87E8XYgo3cTyThpqJhxU_4eHdb39axTupLxPIRYLnsHGIj282qaoL7cIL70jSNbWqKvUDeNUuc17G0UDuExF3FVWnxPzle9hmmMBAFEwg69JFBL8-mjsoMxhJDyyHILHJNEVrLrsWyXNPQ-vrNrKaOrA/w640-h238/collage-cars(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">We took a pit stop at one of Doug’s favourite local restaurants where we paused for a long lunch. The girls drove back to cottage. My wife's sense of humour was on the same wavelength as Doug's and they got along famously.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKSvZp3ZpPbnhWKjbCtbkuB8RaW2PO_veHzVBhE_mgy2V5htTAfowUXzgb1KWwaHhF765JN3plty5yMqkUmYBgDoo6078TXjW4U7-w8mugd86Wul2cb211b9y-F2wbPCaTEXeLTbsZIC680rSbLcuIDRsuCd8urAJY2I7DMH0K5sgMu9FFP5lJl8GoA/s2986/Dougie&Yvonne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1924" data-original-width="2986" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKSvZp3ZpPbnhWKjbCtbkuB8RaW2PO_veHzVBhE_mgy2V5htTAfowUXzgb1KWwaHhF765JN3plty5yMqkUmYBgDoo6078TXjW4U7-w8mugd86Wul2cb211b9y-F2wbPCaTEXeLTbsZIC680rSbLcuIDRsuCd8urAJY2I7DMH0K5sgMu9FFP5lJl8GoA/w640-h412/Dougie&Yvonne.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Doug and Lizzie also owned a beautiful penthouse apartment on one of the old, reclaimed industrial wharves on Sydney’s harbourside.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7BA-Jh8ALzLNs3VDHs-Q13uxf3diGGvbLQVq-KsUMZpJAK6p6I-6PUuhKCHE_XUAVqbSGk9S9Hyj19D9t6EfN2PRX7w1rc4t0MCceYu6_HQfKy6ErVVLHNmMaEA202kLY4hV78kX2pwyYd6bzHJoOereuKvwTn-s5Mkglm1Y5iOJhNdV0yqhsELZiw/s2694/Mulrays%20at%20home(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2056" data-original-width="2694" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7BA-Jh8ALzLNs3VDHs-Q13uxf3diGGvbLQVq-KsUMZpJAK6p6I-6PUuhKCHE_XUAVqbSGk9S9Hyj19D9t6EfN2PRX7w1rc4t0MCceYu6_HQfKy6ErVVLHNmMaEA202kLY4hV78kX2pwyYd6bzHJoOereuKvwTn-s5Mkglm1Y5iOJhNdV0yqhsELZiw/w640-h488/Mulrays%20at%20home(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">After leaving radio, Doug and Lizzie settled down to a quiet, private life, and about the only thing that could tempt Doug to leave his guitars and his stereo, was a trip on Sydney harbour on his classic catamaran.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">They visited us on the Gold Coast in 2013 for some of Yvonne's famous fruitcake, and were in great spirits.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7C5wG1x-onyRuryMlkpdz3w4ggHC-UHXvlotxLkzA9D9vvDLIUtRJI_WJqbmOTuPDwzBWNcXyf1we1IrPGWDo4UOi__XIHXh1Kwamm2kNHbFHdfIAMGptSQdKa6qknbdvNT42TmydQe4FJPzkJLn5Xt15U_p5D1Z_p6OH1EmB1C-jtmzOI1xIi9gMg/s3264/Cake&Coffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7C5wG1x-onyRuryMlkpdz3w4ggHC-UHXvlotxLkzA9D9vvDLIUtRJI_WJqbmOTuPDwzBWNcXyf1we1IrPGWDo4UOi__XIHXh1Kwamm2kNHbFHdfIAMGptSQdKa6qknbdvNT42TmydQe4FJPzkJLn5Xt15U_p5D1Z_p6OH1EmB1C-jtmzOI1xIi9gMg/w640-h480/Cake&Coffee.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The last time I saw Doug was in 2015, but we kept in touch by phone. I’m thrilled to have enjoyed such a long, respectful and affectionate friendship with Doug and Lizzie over so many years. He brought smiles to everyone he met, and entertained millions with his sharp wit, pungent humour, and completely irreverent style. His Sydney audiences loved him, as did I.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Doug Mulray, R.I.P. Thanks for all the laughs and good times. Yvonne and I send love and condolences to Lizzie – the love of his life, and to James, Tom and Rosie.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">JOHN CRAWFORD</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-43033211142865612762023-03-27T10:04:00.000+10:002023-03-27T10:04:19.872+10:00CHEVROLET CAMARO v.6 - 'DEAD CAR DRIVING' by John Crawford<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUhJpsX9NpPqZqds0LQ-KW7iT8FYc7CCv50w5j4l5FqyRXkCg1o7u0xM5nXsWUzIqcNr230efUQa3zX5Ly__ShWb8Vl8f-gFsaikVAzTBenMpeU0YTwV82AZ-JhSgIKs4O7DryTP6_rFhcu-rZR4dgy9s5wiVEA-CyK7CQk0ReKdKMlKD0hsP3ovSbA/s830/Camaro%20Dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="830" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUhJpsX9NpPqZqds0LQ-KW7iT8FYc7CCv50w5j4l5FqyRXkCg1o7u0xM5nXsWUzIqcNr230efUQa3zX5Ly__ShWb8Vl8f-gFsaikVAzTBenMpeU0YTwV82AZ-JhSgIKs4O7DryTP6_rFhcu-rZR4dgy9s5wiVEA-CyK7CQk0ReKdKMlKD0hsP3ovSbA/w640-h332/Camaro%20Dead.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m a long way down the list who have reported that the Camaro will disappear from public roads, but apparently not from racetracks any time soon. These remarks by a GM PR suit merely confirms how silly ‘Supercars’ is as a series – it totally lacks integrity, as it attempts to pursue the idea it can keep alive the mid-90s concept of Falcon and Commodore racing loyalties – with a couple of cars which have very limited lives, one of which is not even available for sale!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's how Associated Press reported GM’s comments:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>General Motors, which sells the brawny muscle car, will stop making the current generation early next year. The future of the car, which is raced on NASCAR and other circuits, is a bit murky, reports the<span class="apple-converted-space"> AP</span></i><i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">GM said the last of the 2024 model year will come off the assembly line in Lansing, Michigan, next January. Spokesman Trevor Thompkins said he can't say anything more about a future Camaro. “We're not saying anything specific right now”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">GM launched Camaro in 1966, two years after Ford launched the Mustang.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>Thompkins said GM has an ‘understanding’ with auto-racing sanctioning bodies that the sixth-generation car can continue racing. GM will have parts available, and the Camaro body will stay on the race track, he said.</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Just what is GM’s ‘understanding’ with Supercars? According to a UAW source, the line on which Camaro is currently manufactured is due to begin producing a dedicated Chevrolet EV pickup from plant start-up in October 2024!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">PS: I also wonder where this leaves the 30 year old business in Ferntree Gully, Victoria, <b>Crossover Car Conversions</b>, which has been doing all the RHD Camaro conversions?</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-29926819137590641912023-03-23T15:53:00.001+10:002023-03-23T15:53:42.411+10:00AMERICAN COMPETITORS FOR GT3 RACING by John Crawford<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This is what a track full of GT3 racers looked like in 2023, but the field will look a whole lot different with one, two or even more new competitors fronting up for a chance at the laurels.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBxKDY3VSNDPWf8Z2lfZ-mNC9fkn3G_AtYy5QcjbYsQXw8iY1Gb3DYoWTvijGKlBH6Kv3zArxJ2iX-YwEe-hZX6QkUX8nG7JUH8l8rzAq72pXAANytQHT0d9xYYW0ydq82gX8KX8XZgdv3TjwfAiMaG-JaQ5VH9LRl8i3NCMDtzviDRConBEB41Mqvw/s983/ADAC:GT3%20race%20field.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="983" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBxKDY3VSNDPWf8Z2lfZ-mNC9fkn3G_AtYy5QcjbYsQXw8iY1Gb3DYoWTvijGKlBH6Kv3zArxJ2iX-YwEe-hZX6QkUX8nG7JUH8l8rzAq72pXAANytQHT0d9xYYW0ydq82gX8KX8XZgdv3TjwfAiMaG-JaQ5VH9LRl8i3NCMDtzviDRConBEB41Mqvw/w640-h404/ADAC:GT3%20race%20field.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Australian 12 Hour Race sponsors Liqui Moly can count on even more interest in the 2024 event if the new entrants are led by GT3 versions of the venerable Ford Mustang, and the Chevrolet Z06 Corvette. I've thrown in a photo of the fabulous Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for more interest.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHoMcJMURc6m91GekQ5k-rs9XvLchKWTuqmtzKFWFPuCG0nSd5qC7L0N6PY89VKN2QntQD5RCwFCdCOoGlC2B2XvUWXghAxdYC9E-196bT3ZfBw_OaB_dJKn8NKG2eHJxLC3pNN4RS4ux9Yo4awRJPJmroB-xDAuvyJVu-PRI8Ge9jMN8J82Z7C5Gyw/s1024/collage=GT3(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHoMcJMURc6m91GekQ5k-rs9XvLchKWTuqmtzKFWFPuCG0nSd5qC7L0N6PY89VKN2QntQD5RCwFCdCOoGlC2B2XvUWXghAxdYC9E-196bT3ZfBw_OaB_dJKn8NKG2eHJxLC3pNN4RS4ux9Yo4awRJPJmroB-xDAuvyJVu-PRI8Ge9jMN8J82Z7C5Gyw/s16000/collage=GT3(1).jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Both Ford and GM have been clocking up test laps in anticipation of the announcement of the new season in 2024, which I'm sure will add even more interest to next year's Bathurst 12 Hour.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-86518719535786075342023-03-21T10:35:00.004+10:002023-03-22T08:50:41.661+10:00VALÉ - LADY SUSIE MOSS by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It is with very deep regret I mention the death of our dear friend, Lady Susie Moss at age 69.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Susie cared for Stirling following the infection from a mystery virus he contracted in Singapore in 2016, and stayed by his bedside constantly until he died in 2020. Following his passing Susie retreated to her home and rarely saw anyone except her very closest friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">We enjoyed a full and joyful friendship with them both after I first met Stirling in 1981, often staying with them at their London home in Shepherd Street, Mayfair, where we were first introduced to West Highland White Terriers via Stirling’s ‘Westie’ called Caesar, who spent most of his day in his bed alongside Stirling’s desk in his office, from where he and Susie ran Stirling Moss Limited together.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It was a very strong business, and one which very few former racing drivers could have emulated, as it focussed, and created income from, the fame and notoriety he generated between 1948 to 1962, when his famous crash at Goodwood ended his competitive career. He won 212 of the 529 races he entered, but perhaps one of his most famous victories was winning the Mille Miglia in 1955 at an average speed of 99.9mph.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The family business, which in addition to his racing and personal appearances also included an extensive property portfolio in and around London, and Susie was the very effective ‘general manager’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">He and Susie married in 1980 and we were very fortunate to be invited to their 10<sup>th</sup> wedding anniversary in Los Angeles in 1990. The final time we dined together was in 2011 at Stirling’s favourite Greek-Turkish restaurant, Sofra, in Shepherd Market, but we continued to cross paths right up until Stirling’s illness in 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvpRI6KJUNDPhhW_qRutFnxMNJ6RTsiwcLsfIwE-4oJvUBTJ6krANvThxswiE83Q7MIPsmD96dI7TblchqKkQnv67edJPD1_zp0KpiCcM0ZBq7l6GQjujbmE9p29I5KfJsU7EHTw0VApQoEr9mWNzZJrJuJGDEkblGA5ZK6Z6_Ck1Sh8jIwYi-254mA/s1024/collage-Mosses-Crawford(1).jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvpRI6KJUNDPhhW_qRutFnxMNJ6RTsiwcLsfIwE-4oJvUBTJ6krANvThxswiE83Q7MIPsmD96dI7TblchqKkQnv67edJPD1_zp0KpiCcM0ZBq7l6GQjujbmE9p29I5KfJsU7EHTw0VApQoEr9mWNzZJrJuJGDEkblGA5ZK6Z6_Ck1Sh8jIwYi-254mA/s16000/collage-Mosses-Crawford(1).jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i>Susie Moss's last public outing was at Goodwood in 2022 at a tribute to Stirling led by the Duke of Richmond and Sir Jackie Stewart</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Susie’s death ends a 35-year era of affectionate friendship between the Mosses and the Crawfords. However, they were so popular and enjoyed such a huge circle of friends across the globe, I am sure there will be many other epitaphs contributed by all those who knew and loved this amazing couple.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">We send deepest condolences to Stirling and Susie's son Elliot, wife Helen and their daughter Stephanie, as well as his daughter Alison.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN & YVONNE CRAWFORD</b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-44167169861261757492023-03-19T17:58:00.000+10:002023-03-19T17:58:53.648+10:00Volkswagen's 'Golfie' EV? by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Volkswagen is teasing us with yet another EV concept, based loosely on the ID3 platform. I say loosely, because the MEB platform VW used for the ID3/4 has been ‘re-arranged’ to locate the EV motor up front, and this allows much better use of the interior space.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbSGFr5hkUn_vMQadFE1klRHZ0PC0raPDV0GCjpd9-fQ2NJYqW0_GbRnxK5Jk-u3YCu0I8fWjqIJmFsK3HhRfjgwCA6WFRF0lIlOzC4JCAgykwzPVBOZG8x1qAvjMBsNzYnLJqhL--Z9y_IZjvO9PZcpXUdaF-XmrZun_Q69baY6nIVOioOISJfjdhg/s640/Screenshot%202023-03-18%20at%205.45.15%20pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="640" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbSGFr5hkUn_vMQadFE1klRHZ0PC0raPDV0GCjpd9-fQ2NJYqW0_GbRnxK5Jk-u3YCu0I8fWjqIJmFsK3HhRfjgwCA6WFRF0lIlOzC4JCAgykwzPVBOZG8x1qAvjMBsNzYnLJqhL--Z9y_IZjvO9PZcpXUdaF-XmrZun_Q69baY6nIVOioOISJfjdhg/w640-h356/Screenshot%202023-03-18%20at%205.45.15%20pm.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There’s some ‘fours’ involved in VW’s plans. It’s proposed to offer 400km of range, and (in Australia at least) cost a smidge under AUD$40K, and it may be here in 2024.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhspsHGpLv59OD6jg7xMEbSgP0E-eoy23aenrGKQg1JC8r4NqfJYOQyP_5hbIgV_8mysKH1P5r3DBxXzwKqxBqslFFwv4S2EyKZ5si4S6yfAGNmVfisdhZXgWT8HRKa0s5PxDRww6bqDmY1hDglYv41L46jsZ79sN4NRXi9SexiRdljBzO_ap11pSGvQw/s647/Screenshot%202023-03-18%20at%205.45.30%20pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="647" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhspsHGpLv59OD6jg7xMEbSgP0E-eoy23aenrGKQg1JC8r4NqfJYOQyP_5hbIgV_8mysKH1P5r3DBxXzwKqxBqslFFwv4S2EyKZ5si4S6yfAGNmVfisdhZXgWT8HRKa0s5PxDRww6bqDmY1hDglYv41L46jsZ79sN4NRXi9SexiRdljBzO_ap11pSGvQw/w640-h350/Screenshot%202023-03-18%20at%205.45.30%20pm.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">This styling concept looks very Golf-like – which I think would make it immediately popular with VW tragics – and this would be no bad thing. Nothing’s confirmed of course, but VW has a huge budget for EVs which it hopes will wipe Tesla off its ‘competitors’ map’.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The cabin is clean and simple, with the usual ‘horizontal iPad’ in the centre of the dash.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2cwjoTAbRZigZKqUuGqU-VuWlzUkIClVJ60AmxbcELRou5Jl2q-ck-FyHMV6drBW1CvOD_K9Qc5ZLUKMum_h9Q4PAtnIjrdfBfjtfx2IdjXZW2-4FUSeta7SxuClTnucTyZG8LZAtf0LdsR4a65xzPIiiqXPG7hY-ZRD5XcQpa-v-zvxLMoaf6ariA/s647/Screenshot%202023-03-18%20at%205.46.45%20pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="647" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2cwjoTAbRZigZKqUuGqU-VuWlzUkIClVJ60AmxbcELRou5Jl2q-ck-FyHMV6drBW1CvOD_K9Qc5ZLUKMum_h9Q4PAtnIjrdfBfjtfx2IdjXZW2-4FUSeta7SxuClTnucTyZG8LZAtf0LdsR4a65xzPIiiqXPG7hY-ZRD5XcQpa-v-zvxLMoaf6ariA/w640-h352/Screenshot%202023-03-18%20at%205.46.45%20pm.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This concept is obviously a two-door, hatch but naturally there’s a five door planned for final production – whenever!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">If you read my blatherings regularly, I'm very skeptical about EVs saving the world, but as EV designs go, I'd buy this one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-43428833398787950972023-03-19T09:12:00.003+10:002023-03-20T17:38:36.422+10:00ASTON MARTIN F1 - ALONSO ASTONISHES! by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I thought I was tired of watching the F1 same-old, same-old, until ‘this old guy’, 41 years old Fernando Alonso took over the lead driving role at Aston Martin and has really shaken things up with his outstanding performance in Bahrain, and now elevating himself to the front row in Jeddah for this weekend’s Saudi Grand Prix.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3YyLYM08pIzqqwfwAHJ7NrVMuVHh4h779Xnq0LPgTM10JQXCdDMN9VjRjlBOOv1ZrhdzD9d7HVcs0P9rbLpzBAKdTlGhEUEwcUfsw4_AdmzqNs7DfFtL4DhnYZic3LOeU_piEFo7fMkiXgKa3K76rEdceOdhiDtHUa6Yd6oVAIktx9OwuIXLP8YZsg/s1200/Aston%20Martin_Alonso(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="1200" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3YyLYM08pIzqqwfwAHJ7NrVMuVHh4h779Xnq0LPgTM10JQXCdDMN9VjRjlBOOv1ZrhdzD9d7HVcs0P9rbLpzBAKdTlGhEUEwcUfsw4_AdmzqNs7DfFtL4DhnYZic3LOeU_piEFo7fMkiXgKa3K76rEdceOdhiDtHUa6Yd6oVAIktx9OwuIXLP8YZsg/w640-h220/Aston%20Martin_Alonso(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Alonso has driven for McLaren, Ferrari and Minardi – and won the World Championship twice, with Renault, in 2005 and 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpCaNHzT0_DCDYumBPbwPzrCOJvr4We2P6rpQAHQznS2T5VpjH1M7Ih34zOZPENrgSAHTL540SRMbS4l_pzicHqgrPDUtto5z9EasXvaPpPpgaAmGfmCbOosIOG9PNLPZMIsUyhLpdIqpPlin2XyL7JGbWSqpN43TrCvUGbyiNVKQezvKyEyo-FwHAw/s2800/Aston%20Martin_Stroll(2).jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="2800" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpCaNHzT0_DCDYumBPbwPzrCOJvr4We2P6rpQAHQznS2T5VpjH1M7Ih34zOZPENrgSAHTL540SRMbS4l_pzicHqgrPDUtto5z9EasXvaPpPpgaAmGfmCbOosIOG9PNLPZMIsUyhLpdIqpPlin2XyL7JGbWSqpN43TrCvUGbyiNVKQezvKyEyo-FwHAw/w400-h229/Aston%20Martin_Stroll(2).jpeg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Favoured front runner Verstappen suffered a drive shaft problem in Q2, and now the front rows look much more interesting than in many of last year’s GPs.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Red Bull’s Sergio Perez put in a fantastic drive to grab pole, then comes Alonso, George Russell’s Mercedes, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and in fifth position is Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In addition to the driving performances by Alonso and Stroll, it’s obvious Aston Martin spent some quality time on their 2023 cars over the winter break. It’s a big contrast to Hamilton, who hasn’t been on the pace, and keeps complaining that the team is not listening to his constructive comments about how to improve the car. If I was Toto Wolff I think I’d be listening a little keener to the guy who’s at the sharp end every weekend, and reckons he knows what he needs to get the job done.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Maybe you think Lewis is a 'chronic moaner', but seriously, who would ignore input from a seven times world champion?</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i><b>JEDDAH POSTSCRIPT:</b></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdE6ontVVuq4EbpFMjdaDpi3T1R4-mgImEYrJmAQ4s2lFov9VklzTSBGJe6d40qLfL-Yg2yWRODyhU_o44adPbp7yDVzyAMTlhN9SD4Sj8R8zBBEbhrlek1kO-XH_qAe5dX-khwIyxunxOM9iGZnTHLi8HQpyvsCidZDBDducKH3oGUQrR1-nW_aUJw/s800/Alonso's%20trophy(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="800" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdE6ontVVuq4EbpFMjdaDpi3T1R4-mgImEYrJmAQ4s2lFov9VklzTSBGJe6d40qLfL-Yg2yWRODyhU_o44adPbp7yDVzyAMTlhN9SD4Sj8R8zBBEbhrlek1kO-XH_qAe5dX-khwIyxunxOM9iGZnTHLi8HQpyvsCidZDBDducKH3oGUQrR1-nW_aUJw/w200-h114/Alonso's%20trophy(2).jpg" width="200" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>Alonso, the 'old lion' takes third at the Saudi GP, after a race where he displayed ALL of his bravery, experience and tactical thinking, resulting in his second podium in the first two races.</i></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><i style="font-family: arial;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSMgrsqb9gFhZQw7kOpTtR0qNOn6NwLn0f05cf1rQePW3jfc1TR63GJEOf9llhUob6v1091W-uW3EWLXFHC3rpSIicUuCjDAKily7uRRmHmFZhgavMGKr7Mopltby-qKKhRzjQBWfW6h5qGlmWpAeOA83Sqn2W0SdiTrJkyjlKzT07jaQDzgm9nOpZw/s768/Oscar%20Jeddah.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="768" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSMgrsqb9gFhZQw7kOpTtR0qNOn6NwLn0f05cf1rQePW3jfc1TR63GJEOf9llhUob6v1091W-uW3EWLXFHC3rpSIicUuCjDAKily7uRRmHmFZhgavMGKr7Mopltby-qKKhRzjQBWfW6h5qGlmWpAeOA83Sqn2W0SdiTrJkyjlKzT07jaQDzgm9nOpZw/w200-h132/Oscar%20Jeddah.jpeg" width="200" /></a></i></div><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oscar Piastri enjoyed a brilliant drive to finish 15th, leading home two other Mercedes-powered cars, including his teammate Lando Norris.</span></i><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-91162094691503384962023-03-11T18:29:00.007+10:002023-03-13T08:10:57.667+10:00LA – MIXING MAGIC MILLIONS, THE HOMELESS AND HOI POLLOI by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The locale for my recent visit to the City of Angels offered the full panoply from survivors in tents to up-market diners, fashionistas and even a concierge for super-rich Rodeo Drive shoppers.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsqo_aofeYhGurDXYnXJtie2shWvh2sE3IU6QIhv8Rn2rLZZyI1F_x1V0JK8Gncq1yhN_HeWW_vyVs-xiXcJI3xw-fnTbMMaFMV6ur5JjCtnksTofMWp6k7Ybz7FovPKGjB0z2e_71N8wZu-4P-LFmQogp0fteqSQkZ_yL-AVm_kG9U3nd0ZqcwiEBA/s1024/-BeverleyCentre&Sofitel(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="1024" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsqo_aofeYhGurDXYnXJtie2shWvh2sE3IU6QIhv8Rn2rLZZyI1F_x1V0JK8Gncq1yhN_HeWW_vyVs-xiXcJI3xw-fnTbMMaFMV6ur5JjCtnksTofMWp6k7Ybz7FovPKGjB0z2e_71N8wZu-4P-LFmQogp0fteqSQkZ_yL-AVm_kG9U3nd0ZqcwiEBA/w640-h224/-BeverleyCentre&Sofitel(3).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">From my lofty perch at the Beverly Hills Sofitel, opposite the up-market Beverly Center, all around me were both the signs of society in distress, but also one enjoying incredible affluence and prosperity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jONZzu7HbSUwQ9AB8_oIhPvNDPYaq_ZZF1rAxHiP1cKf26puKuhJxnaS8VxHTvWaXKUaKXgC6NL-YcTse3z1f03keeoBDD47pyAlRBgK1iVCyYEa3rSnQgeJYxwkOwbMGvlRvZ9UIW8teT5A9IJwUQ9igrVV31wR5cLoU9vliWzFE_sHBDWTRQW9pQ/s1200/Collage-Food-Homeless.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jONZzu7HbSUwQ9AB8_oIhPvNDPYaq_ZZF1rAxHiP1cKf26puKuhJxnaS8VxHTvWaXKUaKXgC6NL-YcTse3z1f03keeoBDD47pyAlRBgK1iVCyYEa3rSnQgeJYxwkOwbMGvlRvZ9UIW8teT5A9IJwUQ9igrVV31wR5cLoU9vliWzFE_sHBDWTRQW9pQ/w640-h640/Collage-Food-Homeless.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A conundrum? Certainly, but the street theatre of homeless people existing alongside avenues strangled by multi-million dollar bespoke automobiles encompasses every detail of not only this extravagant metropolis, but many, many other American cities where the dramaturgy of daily life is playing out for all to see – you simply can’t avoid it.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGKJk4c6pcZA55rwssdNfumP_1zD8EtoJWWpICDCJzTeKILTDFQglD3j2gfZ4w8_Kit45NFr-soGxrAcj58dadxzWJfwf6yYWntjsvGl_nGBNyO1KVhFCL_xqikZ7BqlrvJ2poVEv8W8tSdAcC5fLTtVQl1_Vwz4IlTLEIoCYKdr4sBDTCepWpiiSJFQ/s1024/CVS%20pharmacy(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGKJk4c6pcZA55rwssdNfumP_1zD8EtoJWWpICDCJzTeKILTDFQglD3j2gfZ4w8_Kit45NFr-soGxrAcj58dadxzWJfwf6yYWntjsvGl_nGBNyO1KVhFCL_xqikZ7BqlrvJ2poVEv8W8tSdAcC5fLTtVQl1_Vwz4IlTLEIoCYKdr4sBDTCepWpiiSJFQ/w200-h133/CVS%20pharmacy(2).jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Strangely, after striking up a conversation with some street dwellers camped outside the local CVS pharmacy in La Cienega opposite my hotel, and later in the cocktail lounge of the Sofitel, I found among the entire range of interviewees an almost zen-like acceptance of their current status. You could almost liken this to an attitude of surrender, against the terrible assortment of negative forces arraigned against the possibility for a change in their lifestyles.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">You may be right to say that Beverly Hills is not the ideal venue to conduct a full-on sociological experiment to measure the state of the lives of the local tribes, but surprisingly, I was startled at the lack of anger from the poor, and also, the lack of any possible solutions from the wealthy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yH3pyq6tXkbmQwGHcOk0r8Pf9jNdUsD6lyit92oDtsOXRlTSOnm9uzukAAGDPyiZiOCR1HsgSiiHoTlzcCG2QpeKvwPOsqi4h9nrORjTzBdfTIq6B0LLI4qMZ17g1TmfaaLMs-JTCNrmuAXU_Cte2QJZqu-fSdfftz2jdXlc9CN0IaUGO_II5bI94A/s1200/Collage-Beverley%20Wealth.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yH3pyq6tXkbmQwGHcOk0r8Pf9jNdUsD6lyit92oDtsOXRlTSOnm9uzukAAGDPyiZiOCR1HsgSiiHoTlzcCG2QpeKvwPOsqi4h9nrORjTzBdfTIq6B0LLI4qMZ17g1TmfaaLMs-JTCNrmuAXU_Cte2QJZqu-fSdfftz2jdXlc9CN0IaUGO_II5bI94A/s16000/Collage-Beverley%20Wealth.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ6RIzqOAUvTeV3aSY_CkKcgb4crsid8gqtXkO11yMrf2VGSt04dckZKOaYPdX3BdwVI-zMmtInLMtPTfyj_6Dv8OEMLdrlEm0o8mPiqhOBzyMo5aGEANlZYxelkpO-tOVl7TCYFvcbQ1Szz6LCuzcNUKm_c0Ey9BUkgU4p76HM2GlAFS-DPBYbK1Ocw/s612/Politicians%20arguing.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ6RIzqOAUvTeV3aSY_CkKcgb4crsid8gqtXkO11yMrf2VGSt04dckZKOaYPdX3BdwVI-zMmtInLMtPTfyj_6Dv8OEMLdrlEm0o8mPiqhOBzyMo5aGEANlZYxelkpO-tOVl7TCYFvcbQ1Szz6LCuzcNUKm_c0Ey9BUkgU4p76HM2GlAFS-DPBYbK1Ocw/w320-h213/Politicians%20arguing.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It seems like the only full-on class warfare in the American society takes place nightly on the nation’s television screens, where the GOP and Democrats shout, rant and blame each other for the country’s ills. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Neither side of politics appears to be able to develop any really practical and workable solutions to satisfy both their supporters, or their opponents.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It’s almost as if the social set in the streets, and the supercar owners accept their respective fates, and leave it to the political class to provide the shallow nightly entertainment.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So how does this deeply polarised society find a solution? The street dwellers and the rich seem to have arrived at their own apathetic answer - ignore it, and just get on with doing the best they can, under the circumstances.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">As I was writing this Post, the national data revealed America's unemployment rate is the lowest it's been for decades, and my good friend Stewart Varney announced on Fox Business News that the country was "not showing any signs of entering depression, any time soon".</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">However, significant, multiple problems still exist in the society, and I am certain neither a Democrat-led, nor a GOP-led government possesses any real insight, or ability to solve them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A fun highlight of my visit to the USA was the chance to discuss the great Lamborghini Squadra Corse racing series with Parris Mullins from the Tom O'Gara Group who have a lot of their customers entered in this entertaining and thrilling race series. It's so good, even Tom O'Gara (left, below) has been encouraged to enter in the 'Gentlemen Racing' division.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGu76e1woV_vbpauO_6ThP5oESR0uIgjK54eqHCRHBI1AX4pPYjoB58i66HaJSiryofG8ndpbxpk0LlM0RcNL_P5wPjkR5NgKPbQZwfZu4aoVAT0V7evslp8kRmwU1uDkHzt-48aXlAOuQhRFbYopC6lCJYorXnM8dPMljPGLeebecKBUUqfsDZr_9A/s1024/Collage-O'Gara%20Lambo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGu76e1woV_vbpauO_6ThP5oESR0uIgjK54eqHCRHBI1AX4pPYjoB58i66HaJSiryofG8ndpbxpk0LlM0RcNL_P5wPjkR5NgKPbQZwfZu4aoVAT0V7evslp8kRmwU1uDkHzt-48aXlAOuQhRFbYopC6lCJYorXnM8dPMljPGLeebecKBUUqfsDZr_9A/w640-h640/Collage-O'Gara%20Lambo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsCVg-0icMP2vIo4dBIekM4YG5KXzI2zg6ylepJMBRGZllD6LPAj5lIBvOJWTo0We6d9F5f6iJ1v1SLSmmPygExpljMd2vqgK96AsIfPx3iY5G2H8uOKzTW-D-JVmEtBwfjUQ9rbT7EzN0SP8R3iiyeosXMfmzELIsC9vazi9PTTQOVmMdm4L5k31EQ/s1024/JC%20&%20TO'G(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsCVg-0icMP2vIo4dBIekM4YG5KXzI2zg6ylepJMBRGZllD6LPAj5lIBvOJWTo0We6d9F5f6iJ1v1SLSmmPygExpljMd2vqgK96AsIfPx3iY5G2H8uOKzTW-D-JVmEtBwfjUQ9rbT7EzN0SP8R3iiyeosXMfmzELIsC9vazi9PTTQOVmMdm4L5k31EQ/w240-h320/JC%20&%20TO'G(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></div>In fact it was one of the great pleasures of my recent visit to Los Angeles - spending time with a man I truly respect for his sharp sense of enterprise, his initiatives, his visionary approach to selling 'experiences' rather than just high-priced sports cars and his integrity. I look forward to working with Tom O'Gara again.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-68042612383760465742023-02-25T15:34:00.001+10:002023-02-26T11:07:19.704+10:00LOS ANGELES - TRIBES, TALENT, TECHNOLOGY & TRIBULATIONS by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So, it’s been 16 years since I last set foot in Los Angeles (and for those who’ve forgotten, it’s known as the ‘City of Angels’). The 'Angelinos' were pretty crazy then – and I don't think much has changed! That is except for the big queues for Lyfts and Ubers at LAX, and the dwindling line for regular taxis.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXsC7bKtuPT1fj76RMKz97zdMFeaxgPs7ZV9NAommzXXOmwZAsAnPISFE-AjA5Yq4hSo7D1bqUl3q-W6SeGTliW-ohw0wezP3d5lZ0xtnx4aNJV5UYwCQNkHj0Mn3Z0aVcgI8ISMuymGv5t81DTglzEqCtMZvqSnVuFfDRwcWMqqCUKUy1K5lUH24CA/s1024/Lyft%20pic(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXsC7bKtuPT1fj76RMKz97zdMFeaxgPs7ZV9NAommzXXOmwZAsAnPISFE-AjA5Yq4hSo7D1bqUl3q-W6SeGTliW-ohw0wezP3d5lZ0xtnx4aNJV5UYwCQNkHj0Mn3Z0aVcgI8ISMuymGv5t81DTglzEqCtMZvqSnVuFfDRwcWMqqCUKUy1K5lUH24CA/w640-h426/Lyft%20pic(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you live, or have lived, in the wider USA (as I did for 12 years), maybe you share the view of many Americans – that Los Angeles is an ‘alien nation’. Home of the biggest stronghold for the Democratic Party, a lot of very wacky ideas, politicians and city officials who live in ‘La-La Land’, and the sincere belief that whatever happens in the other 49 states doesn’t really concern them.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRP76Icu0DGg1lftuQ4-4Hvrci8vzj1EMpEdELxVYtHvzCFj049sZ2QCrIfYzswoot32Valn2UjcVVvqmL7xRr6ef67nfCrbwsjkG4oMncgFRGvjLvlQZQCRWYhVil353B0h3I2FUpg8VISGQ8D1aZ_JvKRHK8MjbRehHpymYcgckGNJnK4qW6pr-uw/s800/Collage-signs-man(1).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="522" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRP76Icu0DGg1lftuQ4-4Hvrci8vzj1EMpEdELxVYtHvzCFj049sZ2QCrIfYzswoot32Valn2UjcVVvqmL7xRr6ef67nfCrbwsjkG4oMncgFRGvjLvlQZQCRWYhVil353B0h3I2FUpg8VISGQ8D1aZ_JvKRHK8MjbRehHpymYcgckGNJnK4qW6pr-uw/w261-h400/Collage-signs-man(1).jpg" width="261" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I was reminded of Californians’ willing acceptance of ‘alternative lifestyles’, as I checked into the Hilton Hotel at LAX on my final night, before returning to the relative peace and quiet of Australia.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A guy (I think, but who knows?) sprang out of an exhibitor’s booth and thrust a pamphlet in my hand promoting ‘Kundalini’, the existence of strictly female energy which lies coiled at the base of the spine, promising to be 'activated' by a total embrace of ‘Shaktism’, along with complete subjugation to <span style="color: #202124;">Adi Parashakti<span style="background-color: white;">, the supreme being in Shaktism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The entire Hilton Lobby was awash with signs directing to areas devoted to special exhibits, all associated with that weekend’s special expo theme dedicated to <i>‘Conscious Life’</i>. This included an intriguing space named 'The Rabbit Hole'? What went on down there?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzHx-fT3ptMuBLblNiQ0_zvofA3LtNB_ekgZudU2SlNRBm_IaWKkaRsLLHHyTxZ0cG2azes9v2Hz6HwC6Qqpyyt-Y8hbHSNLaBZwYtftuFKiLEqvrpnDXg2J9nz_rvL1ZVzWgO0eN512HGDn4VNGooG2WiDqRmgFeON0pf11L0S_RlULd6diM7NavDQ/s811/collage-Consciousness.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="811" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzHx-fT3ptMuBLblNiQ0_zvofA3LtNB_ekgZudU2SlNRBm_IaWKkaRsLLHHyTxZ0cG2azes9v2Hz6HwC6Qqpyyt-Y8hbHSNLaBZwYtftuFKiLEqvrpnDXg2J9nz_rvL1ZVzWgO0eN512HGDn4VNGooG2WiDqRmgFeON0pf11L0S_RlULd6diM7NavDQ/s320/collage-Consciousness.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Fortunately, the Hilton Hotel Group has developed a special (no living persons required) check-in app. You fill in your account details on the iPhone App, and it generates a unique digital key. You simply hustle into the elevator - with people wearing highly-coloured garb (or in some cases very little at all), head feathers and carrying incense, or take-out from Uber Eats, then find your suite among the 1,233 well-appointed guest rooms, <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">You hover your iPhone over the door lock and then, ‘Click’ and pure bliss prevails. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">I unpacked, logged on to the very fast wi-fi, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">hid in my room until it was time to venture downstairs to the still-chaotic lobby for dinner with a very special friend.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLKWj0vFcNV3bOKMtHEaeTIfqMDPPKUJdrW1IDUUuWPyDgpBsj6x7FLx0GqJKzRIBtHEGA2N2Jim0IzHDj-3xFyDcDH83nmZGAUuiFk_LW_aUiO3OzvIEvG2bb9UURB_lAzL9QBXMztJnaw87GgVuO_xlY2zKX_0IL9wKdL-rPRezsese_A4pxnyxEA/s1334/Hilton%20Check%20In.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLKWj0vFcNV3bOKMtHEaeTIfqMDPPKUJdrW1IDUUuWPyDgpBsj6x7FLx0GqJKzRIBtHEGA2N2Jim0IzHDj-3xFyDcDH83nmZGAUuiFk_LW_aUiO3OzvIEvG2bb9UURB_lAzL9QBXMztJnaw87GgVuO_xlY2zKX_0IL9wKdL-rPRezsese_A4pxnyxEA/w225-h400/Hilton%20Check%20In.jpg" width="225" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Joining me was one of my oldest Aussie mates, Peter Warren, who is also one of the greatest cinematographers I have ever worked with.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">He now resides in LA, which explains why h</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">e wears a smile of benign acceptance to the noise of a distorted sitar.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Oh, and also a competing blues singer, whose singing coach had apparently completely omitted to teach him anything akin to singing on-key or breathing whilst wailing.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Angelinos, to me, have always been willing to entertain the mysterious, the magical, the mythical, the mesmerzing and the monstrous - how else could Hollywood have survived for decades? However, given the name of the Expo, that could explain the need to explore 'The Conscious Life'.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n9k-UT73CPnCMNUm-qxG34O4-IzS36pvGdaLUWYaOtOs2LHzAxWl2cmIN_Xbl2b35TEvr-kLS9c4z9yiI012kXeFLr7jAKH3tqKxcgzMZ5eHS6JQiP8U4y1FrZdqa_OkFjPwk7XYstlks8v9H8rdPr0WNmsr9NdvhJgJrceyKzAnGV8H2rNvAv8cAw/s1887/Peter%20%20&%20JC%20Blurred%20small.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1659" data-original-width="1887" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n9k-UT73CPnCMNUm-qxG34O4-IzS36pvGdaLUWYaOtOs2LHzAxWl2cmIN_Xbl2b35TEvr-kLS9c4z9yiI012kXeFLr7jAKH3tqKxcgzMZ5eHS6JQiP8U4y1FrZdqa_OkFjPwk7XYstlks8v9H8rdPr0WNmsr9NdvhJgJrceyKzAnGV8H2rNvAv8cAw/w400-h351/Peter%20%20&%20JC%20Blurred%20small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I know I’ve treated this experience with unadulterated levity, but you have to experience LA to really understand it – and even then, you can’t. I must say Hilton Hotels have gone up several dozen notches on my appreciation scale. My suite was beautifully-decorated, quiet and comfortable. Hilton will be my go-to-choice next time I’m let loose in hotel-land in the USA.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">As for LA’s added extras, whatever! It’s a fun, vibrant city with an outstanding and almost unbelievable range of restaurants and cuisines.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildMugw7qccuq_I0I1ikdkgEnGOipqpVyP7YCVXSoU9FoGIPc050yVYwqeol1am4bvVPxDF82aFlaIZ9dwZ7omAAMDCaY5Nj4XAq775g6S17seuV_pDWrjENTXAnzFkXrDahK_IAZgjO9K-Mx7lXb2gHpdzcS3p6r6nvWL-5-pxPPuuVpKFiD_H0Ifiw/s1024/collage-uber%20and%20traffic(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildMugw7qccuq_I0I1ikdkgEnGOipqpVyP7YCVXSoU9FoGIPc050yVYwqeol1am4bvVPxDF82aFlaIZ9dwZ7omAAMDCaY5Nj4XAq775g6S17seuV_pDWrjENTXAnzFkXrDahK_IAZgjO9K-Mx7lXb2gHpdzcS3p6r6nvWL-5-pxPPuuVpKFiD_H0Ifiw/s16000/collage-uber%20and%20traffic(2).jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">And, if you’re a car buff (more on this later), you’ll barely believe your eyes as you creep along the boulevards in your Uber EV, among some of the most eye-wateringly-special cars I’ve ever seen in one city. Like this 1989 Vector outside my hotel, and the two-tone 2005 Veyron in the CVS drugstore lot across the road.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ixJCgt7GF0LbS6Sm2rGjpx8437K6fuFaMlTyfaoW6A7V77WJjxR8G_mWrH_iO6Il9vKzSB48QyS1UemKlBILMrw1RkP2wzEZL9ia9kcp0KVb6M2HVyiIY0TAvBmpu6dKDOaPLB2v-RfWl8iLpvlhb6sqgX5Pw-KccN8HtBAB62jwHG01bQbbVLA_bg/s978/Collage-Supercars(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ixJCgt7GF0LbS6Sm2rGjpx8437K6fuFaMlTyfaoW6A7V77WJjxR8G_mWrH_iO6Il9vKzSB48QyS1UemKlBILMrw1RkP2wzEZL9ia9kcp0KVb6M2HVyiIY0TAvBmpu6dKDOaPLB2v-RfWl8iLpvlhb6sqgX5Pw-KccN8HtBAB62jwHG01bQbbVLA_bg/s16000/Collage-Supercars(2).jpg" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-85047964696494529132023-02-05T18:16:00.003+10:002023-02-14T15:08:09.918+10:002023 LIQUIMOLY 12 HOUR & MERE SECONDS SEPERATED THE PODIUM CARS by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdoF38TM-b6WAoWyewHDqh8KMS4zMlIZJ4Mlog1p0pfmy14JksVNewvNV67E2Sw2EE-iE6wrUWj0LY_2LAWSUh7NrldgsMpUTDW9DDYR_A29QvW4CsPSSTQnJNHogioEM0CaerFeNprtee9348lWJAQrmx2U4P7bOzyaOe1905WvOS5k9vyU8bq1H4ZA/s239/2023%20LiquiMoly%20start.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="239" height="565" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdoF38TM-b6WAoWyewHDqh8KMS4zMlIZJ4Mlog1p0pfmy14JksVNewvNV67E2Sw2EE-iE6wrUWj0LY_2LAWSUh7NrldgsMpUTDW9DDYR_A29QvW4CsPSSTQnJNHogioEM0CaerFeNprtee9348lWJAQrmx2U4P7bOzyaOe1905WvOS5k9vyU8bq1H4ZA/w640-h565/2023%20LiquiMoly%20start.jpeg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />Fabulous race! After 12 hours, between 6-8 seconds separated the top three as Jules Gounon joined an elite group, winning the endurance event in three consecutive races!<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrLGZj6Bu91hx1D-1nxBvsFai7r1NkZo5XOGaVXmit_yD-gZlv7U2t--TK6LyrOO8k86KDxp6jLt5_APsGVyGBsiXo00mBWGphT04KhpTTQ6eUKM5JzqCIlB1M4bbOffNhPIiKBZGJ_Ez6a06pfTgrARvvmqxBVMexV0WrJKQELkGQcw0O4H07sVJAA/s1704/Car%2075.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="1704" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrLGZj6Bu91hx1D-1nxBvsFai7r1NkZo5XOGaVXmit_yD-gZlv7U2t--TK6LyrOO8k86KDxp6jLt5_APsGVyGBsiXo00mBWGphT04KhpTTQ6eUKM5JzqCIlB1M4bbOffNhPIiKBZGJ_Ez6a06pfTgrARvvmqxBVMexV0WrJKQELkGQcw0O4H07sVJAA/w640-h426/Car%2075.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">The strategists worked overtime keeping up with spins, bingles, the safety car and lots of high drama, which included decisions by race officials which cost precious minutes taking highly-placed cars out of the race, and into their garages for repairs, plus a penalty for working on one of the AMG Mercedes in pit lane.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Race fans couldn’t have asked for more. 53,000+ people attended over three days, which the commentators said was a record crowd, and they got their money’s worth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Just another event in the Mount Panorama circuit’s incredible history for delivering big surprises, great racing, and almost unbelievable results in some of the world’s toughest endurance events.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqNYtMJI27SM0RCpbxp9pB5YKgzSqdeYMVMhbej67jpnckXwbswGVQN3kTPwjqcShAPYubU9iSVWiYHFzU7cs9rNRcK7xCYNOMBkZkEM2V3CZDEVW8QTDGIy3piRbpsATXPjLYoO6D1kZAtHgd0pHnRncAR5r7osncP8AM68Ei5DQ1B2XQ1buEJWc9fA/s1080/Mt%20Panorama%20circuit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqNYtMJI27SM0RCpbxp9pB5YKgzSqdeYMVMhbej67jpnckXwbswGVQN3kTPwjqcShAPYubU9iSVWiYHFzU7cs9rNRcK7xCYNOMBkZkEM2V3CZDEVW8QTDGIy3piRbpsATXPjLYoO6D1kZAtHgd0pHnRncAR5r7osncP8AM68Ei5DQ1B2XQ1buEJWc9fA/w640-h480/Mt%20Panorama%20circuit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Never mind the details, it was a big year for two of the biggest German names in motorsport – it was Mercedes AMG and Porsche – right down to the wire. Brilliant!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Bathurst was the big winner! Again!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>JOHN CRAWFORD</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054375595913283226.post-74743164093900386732023-02-04T16:16:00.000+10:002023-02-04T16:16:44.871+10:00THERMAL EXCITEMENT by John Crawford<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This week I’m off to Los Angeles for a series of business meetings, one of which will take place at a very unique location, and best described as Valhalla for petrol heads.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I’ll be visiting <b><i>The Thermal Club</i></b>, just outside Palm Springs (194km and 2.5 hours east of Los Angeles), in the town of Thermal, California.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DtMfRvdDA4oXpCUn2UbpFNEMSmpt9mtgMhd25BC_05iAi4UbRu3RMh60-kGvePAk0F_YoT-GzerCz8otgxnggKYL7Yg2TPOPznVPOq-H1sEYJBf4YGIef0hbY7zajqfacG5AMAhKni3A4x0d5FBp8a9nh33K80szWzYc2y2c0c_KTNI8UAsEQa0HjA/s622/Porsche%20racing.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="622" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DtMfRvdDA4oXpCUn2UbpFNEMSmpt9mtgMhd25BC_05iAi4UbRu3RMh60-kGvePAk0F_YoT-GzerCz8otgxnggKYL7Yg2TPOPznVPOq-H1sEYJBf4YGIef0hbY7zajqfacG5AMAhKni3A4x0d5FBp8a9nh33K80szWzYc2y2c0c_KTNI8UAsEQa0HjA/w640-h376/Porsche%20racing.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Essentially, the Thermal Club is a privately-owned estate, which features more than 15 km of race tracks, which can be configured for long distance races, or short sprints.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsrYgbe4EuTcaVkZyRjnrbOvlm4i8GteLOae2jmoZRZft0b4mBbIS_xBw65O8RN5pFibldoxkLA0fpl5OtwjZ9161nB0Eg8YwhpiCz4uc7Rd-cwFUkiGVKbKJGOB5JbYAgdaswC0_O0AlpnccKEMEKo5kpaznQp00yefEOQBsBwLI_nLFX_AeDDr1HQ/s1024/Collage-Thermal%20Real%20Estate.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsrYgbe4EuTcaVkZyRjnrbOvlm4i8GteLOae2jmoZRZft0b4mBbIS_xBw65O8RN5pFibldoxkLA0fpl5OtwjZ9161nB0Eg8YwhpiCz4uc7Rd-cwFUkiGVKbKJGOB5JbYAgdaswC0_O0AlpnccKEMEKo5kpaznQp00yefEOQBsBwLI_nLFX_AeDDr1HQ/s16000/Collage-Thermal%20Real%20Estate.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Each of the planned 265 homes are built and decorated on a grand scale, and each has a garage capable of housing between ten to 30 cars, depending on how deep your pocket is, and how many cars you own. One member owns 60 track cars!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Club membership requires the purchase of real estate. In addition, the initial costs of a standard membership and corporate membership are USD$85K and USD$200K respectively, with approximately USD$20K per year in membership fees. Yes, this ‘Club’ costs serious money.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">On the track the Club offers driving without the hassle of hiring your own race team to prep or maintain track cars. With the help of accomplished professional race car drivers and cutting-edge technology, driver coaching is always available.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtc4iu5eCWuaXiU2LIh352Guy5g0VgsRBrywIR8cyrl3CdBuY_-g-6rsYdUzIbww8NV4k-gwvWz5C0aCSFJ3WIgnSAjauBvpEltGhoCwI0jRNCWxTkgjNRihOtw5plub-yxB0r7C5l0bl1Sfp0YG4s2j3UVumiZ9x9x_qaSH4AZMi7vztFYEF0dFsEg/s1024/Collage-Driving-Tuning.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtc4iu5eCWuaXiU2LIh352Guy5g0VgsRBrywIR8cyrl3CdBuY_-g-6rsYdUzIbww8NV4k-gwvWz5C0aCSFJ3WIgnSAjauBvpEltGhoCwI0jRNCWxTkgjNRihOtw5plub-yxB0r7C5l0bl1Sfp0YG4s2j3UVumiZ9x9x_qaSH4AZMi7vztFYEF0dFsEg/w640-h640/Collage-Driving-Tuning.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There’s also a fully-equipped Tuning Centre to handle any maintenance or modification of members’ vehicles.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The Club broke ground in 2012, and covers 424 acres. It was no small thing to get the necessary permits to create ‘The Dream’, but it’s a serious motor racing operation. Right now the teams participating in the NTT Indy Car Series are using the track facilities for pre-season testing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhFVpxvidI_JDx7Tf8rpCQFqRYVCZbajnF6Op6kOOtZ6FRS5aJQNB8pW3Wt9qxFTxAZrTrMOFFFixyEhObZkRXUeYI5HfWhO4bouoLUo2z1xfSocoeeggz_NF3fP8Edm4z-Kpx-25qidhgwf2xyz4yzeAHURkpA7OVeLBSKSMmLz1ZjKe1hGcm6wD7g/s1024/Collage-Thermal%20Indy.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhFVpxvidI_JDx7Tf8rpCQFqRYVCZbajnF6Op6kOOtZ6FRS5aJQNB8pW3Wt9qxFTxAZrTrMOFFFixyEhObZkRXUeYI5HfWhO4bouoLUo2z1xfSocoeeggz_NF3fP8Edm4z-Kpx-25qidhgwf2xyz4yzeAHURkpA7OVeLBSKSMmLz1ZjKe1hGcm6wD7g/s16000/Collage-Thermal%20Indy.jpg" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMy-PEO481In8GxxVl-aB6ihJ5j_cwEJ765CPbVTunB38uXbVqY5lUGry7KD0oO_6bv3rnO-rPRozJ7uhULSejEfKPk9pYxqSWcnO65Gkrj9b7RrXc-W13gWrds1DHNgEsjsbIk-LK_lAA2J-kYUnuJyzrXS52w6uV3LnMP35bl6VgJ2sMGPsAMv34XQ/s900/Collage-O'Gara%20Coach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMy-PEO481In8GxxVl-aB6ihJ5j_cwEJ765CPbVTunB38uXbVqY5lUGry7KD0oO_6bv3rnO-rPRozJ7uhULSejEfKPk9pYxqSWcnO65Gkrj9b7RrXc-W13gWrds1DHNgEsjsbIk-LK_lAA2J-kYUnuJyzrXS52w6uV3LnMP35bl6VgJ2sMGPsAMv34XQ/s16000/Collage-O'Gara%20Coach.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I am very much looking forward to my visit. Although there are many such ‘Clubs’ in Europe which operate on the same basis, I believe this is the first one in the USA.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My host will be Los Angeles’ top high performance prestige car dealer, Tom O’Gara, who runs a multi franchise business called O’Gara Coach, in Beverly Hills (right).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I've always said California is the cathedral of prestige luxury cars, and Los Angeles is the altar where they are bought, sold, exchanged and generally lusted after.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">JOHN CRAWFORD</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0