CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD REFLECTIONS by Paul Gover

 My good friend Paul Gover is someone I admire, and envy, for his range of automotive experiences from road testing, to rally cars, to Australian racetracks, and great F1 motor racing circuits around the world.

He is one of the very few Australian motoring journalists to hold an FIA licence to drive all forms of racing and rally cars. He has driven the Bugatti Veyron at 200mph, and lists among his friends some of the great motor sport personalities.

He has competed in touring cars on the famous Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst; sampled rally cars on the limit on challenging forest sections; tested a Group C sportscar, and just recently filed a story for DRIVING & LIFE on the McLaren GT.

Then, there was his F1 experience at Circuit Paul Ricard:

Watching the French Grand Prix, I cannot help flashing back to my own memories of the Le Castellet circuit.

Officially it’s called Paul Ricard, because it’s named after the drinks magnate - Paul Louis Marius Ricard - who was responsible for its construction in 1969.

The first time I visited was as a guest of Generous Motors (GM), when it used to host regular gatherings of the world’s leading motoring journalists. There were keynote talks by GM higher-ups, and technology workshops, but the highlight of the events - and one that was also held by Nissan - was the driving.

GM assembled cars from all of its divisions, all around the world, for a road run from the French hotel to the track. And then there were some special cars, including the Chevy Corvette, available for track laps.

It was at Paul Ricard that I first met Mark Reuss (right), soon to become the head of Holden and now the global product boss of GM.

The introduction was made by Denny Mooney, CEO of Holden at the time, and I was impressed that Reuss was wearing a Cadillac Racing jacket.

As a sidebar, these events were so important that the PR director for Australia, Jason Laird, took himself to the event and parked cars. He had no official role in communications for the event, but knew he had to be involved. That’s the sort of commitment that took him to the USA as personal PR chief for Reuss, and now to the top job in communications at National Australia Bank in Australia.

Anyway, back to the cars.

There were some dreadful munters from low-level GM divisions, but the Holdens were always popular with the journalists and always scored well. At Paul Ricard, I sampled a range of the go-faster cars but - no surprise - had the most fun in the ‘vette.

 

There is a very, very fast right-hander at the end of the Mistral Straight - totally flat in an F1 car in 2022 - where the V8 Chevy was seriously quick. I hustled it a bit but left the exploration of the outfield to one of the others in the Aussie group …

Which brings us to the second visit, when I learned a lot more about a track that should be called the Circuit Bernie Ecclestone.

That’s because the F1 czar bought the track and turned it into the blueprint for all grand prix layouts, at least in terms of safety. It has giant striped run-off areas and the different colours tell the different levels of abrasiveness, vital for slowing a runaway car.

Paul Ricard is also alongside a private airport and there is a very tasty five-star Bernie hotel across the road.

It was there, as a guest of Renault for its ‘F1 Experience’, that I was sat down for dinner before driving the following day - in a Renault F1 car.

“Has anyone driven an F1 car before?,” I remember asking.

One super-wealthy tycoon had hired a Formula 3 car and the track for some private practice, but almost everyone else - including the Russian winner of a Renault prize, who could not fit in the car the following day - was, like me, a rookie.

“I have,” said one well-dressed Spaniard, who was part of a Santander group from the country’s leading bank. “I did two seasons with Minardi.”

Argh. That would be Luis Perez-Sala. And the next day I was paired with him as we started our experience in Megane RS hot hatches, before advancing to a Formula Renault single-seater and then the F1 car.

It was cold the following day, with single digit temperatures, and we were only using the short circuit. That means, at the point where the F1 cars hook left after the pits, we braked and turned 90-degrees right.

It was fun in the single-seater, following a Megane RS pace car - one of the drivers had a helmet given to him by his great mate, Jean Alesi - before we cut loose on our own.

Pumping my own tyres, I zapped away from Perez-Sala. But perhaps I had more to prove …

Then into the F1 car, liveried for the then-current F1 Renault but in reality an older V10-powered car that had been detuned and fitted with a foot clutch to make it easier to get underway.

They worked through the guests by size, which meant I stood around for a while, but when it was my turn I was excited. Really excited. And I had, by that point, qualified a Supercar for the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.

Paul Ricard is flat and open, with corners that are pretty geometric, but still it was a huge rush to open the taps and hear the howl behind me.

Not to mention the acceleration to the first corner, and then the super-stop brakes for the right hander. Only once did I fully open the taps, and it reminded me most of a 250cc supercross bike. Why?

Because it went gear-gear-gear-gear down the Mistral, in a howling maelstrom of speed and violence. My helmet was being sucked up off my head. Distance and time were compressed.

I braked for the right-hander where an F1 car is flat, but I pushed really hard through one of the left-handers towards the end of the lap, maybe 3Gs or so, and realised it was uncomfortable to breathe.

Paul Gover hustling the Renault F1 V10 through Signes corner at Paul Ricard

Then through the right-hand hairpin onto the pit straight where, because it was so cold, the traction control was still cutting cylinders as I went over the start-finish line.

So, when you’re next watching F1 from Paul Ricard, and wonder about the challenge of driving somewhere so sanitised, let me tell you it is anything but easy.

PAUL GOVER

Paul has recently joined the team at DRIVE.COM.AU bringing his vast experience and crisp journalism to the highly regarded automotive website.

 

ASTON MARTIN CELEBRATES 1922 F1 GENESIS by John Crawford

I am always suspicious about car manufacturers nominating a hazy racing history to justify participation in Formula One – such as Jaguar - when Ford bought the Stewart Racing Team in 2000 and changed the team name to Jaguar.

Jaguar had zero Formula One history (only sports and rally cars). It just happened to be politically-convenient for Ford to field an F1 team, when Bernie Ecclestone was putting the hard word on carmakers to get more involved.

 

So, I was delighted when I received this news story about Aston Martin showing its original GP car which entered the July 1922 French Grand Prix in Strasbourg.

 

21 July 2022 – Castellet, France: A century on from its racing debut, Aston Martin's original Grand Prix car today roared back to the French Grand Prix, for a thrilling celebratory lap. 

This weekend's race sees Aston Martin mark the centenary of its maiden challenge at the 1922 French Grand Prix, with no current Formula One manufacturer enjoying such an early history of top-flight competition.

Ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel had the chance to pilot TT1 – affectionately nicknamed 'Green Pea' – around Circuit Paul Ricard, 100 years on from the storied car taking to the road circuit of Strasbourg for a 60-lap, 800 km race as one of two Aston Martin entries.

Two cars were built by founder Lionel Martin following a commission by wealthy young motor racing driver and pioneer Count Louis Zborowski, who invested £10,000 in their construction and the development of an entirely new 16-valve twin overhead cam four-cylinder race engine.

TT1 and TT2 were originally intended for the 1922 Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) event, but a delay saw them instead make the marque's international racing debut at the French Grand Prix on the 15 July 1922, with Zborowski piloting TT1. He later went on to design 'Chitty Bang Bang' the car which inspired the book, film, and stage musical Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team driver said: "It was an incredible honour to drive this car, exactly 100 years on from it last taking to the starting line at the French Grand Prix.

This weekend, the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team will race with the original Aston Martin logo from 1913 on the nose of its cars, mirroring the marque featured on Green Pea.

 

The first Aston Martin Grand Prix car, featuring a 1,486cc engine unit, was good for around 55bhp at 4,200 rpm. The car – built with a body conforming to the voiturette style – weighed in at 750kg, 45kg lighter than today's AMR22 challenger.

 

It had a top speed of 85mph and carried two seats, one off-set, as per the Grand Prix regulations of the time, to accommodate the riding mechanic who was an essential member of the team not least because of his job to pressurise the fuel tank via a hand pump.

The experience was sufficiently exhilarating for the fledgling team, based at Abingdon Road, Kensington, to continue its Grand Prix adventures, blazing a trail for Aston Martin's future success in international motor racing.

The Green Pea, like many historic cars has at times resembled ‘grandfather’s axe’ (which had different heads and handles), with engines being changed a number of times, but it finally fell into disrepair, and lay unused until 1958 when a young Brit called Rob Murray fell in love with the car and paid an almighty £145! The car remains in his care and has been shown at Pebble Beach.

Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin and owner of the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team, said: "Aston Martin benefits from the earliest Grand Prix history of any manufacturer currently racing in F1, and we are proud to celebrate that this weekend, 100 years on from making our debut at the French Grand Prix.

Green Pea owner Rob Murray and wife at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

 

JOHN CRAWFORD 

AUDI e-tron S - HIGH SPEED ELECTRONS by John Crawford

What is the rough price guide for an EV with practical features in Australia? Given my recent, albeit limited, experience with EVs I’d say the KIA EV6 is a good starting point, at AUD$69,000. 

The end point? I’m afraid that’s a ‘sky’s the limit’ number up around AUD$200,000-$400,000!

However, pointing the Audi e-tron S Sportback down the road for the first time it’s very obvious to me that this car IS worth the pricetag. There are cheaper e-tron models, but I just happened to find myself behind the wheel of probably the most tech-laden EV SUV I’ve sampled to date – and everything about driving this car felt good. It’s a very impressive job from the Audi boffins because so much of the tech almost anticipates what you want to do next and, lo, it delivers on cue.

 

I’d go so far to say that the experience was quite seductive – that is not forgetting the price, and that other ominous aspect.

 

Range anxiety? Well, apparently, you’ll easily get 300km out of the big battery, unless you drive it like an idiot who doesn’t know about battery drain – and what accelerates loss of reserve power.

 

I’m not really an EV fan, because of that very aspect. I’m happiest when I look at the battery charge readout, and it’s either showing 100% or no less than 80%.

The peace of mind of being able to pull into a gas station for a top up with gasoline gives me far more comfort than I ever feel in an EV.

Having said that, there is so much to like about the e-tron S on the road, and when you’re preparing for a trip. I’ll mention the driving later, but whilst it’s stationery on the driveway you can appreciate how much thought Audi has put into this car.

The interior is well capable of five people in comfort; the driving position is variable to suit every body shape and size; the storage area is mammoth, and the general level of finish, quality materials and creature comfort is benchmark high.

 

This SUV is RWD, with a motor on each rear wheel, plus a motor up front which not only boosts performance, but also gives you virtual 4WD. It has plenty of performance, and the ride and handling is impeccable, so I have to adjust my vision of the value of this car.

I’m not in the market for an SUV, or an EV, and I cannot comprehend spending my dollars on something so elevated into the $200K stratosphere. However, despite Australia’s population of just 26 million people we appear to have plenty of buyers for this classy piece of kit. Expensive, flash EV SUVs have a waiting list longer than Xmas – 2030?

 

So, if the Audi e-tron S is your thing, I’d be hot-footing it to an Audi dealer yesterday, because the waiting list is l-o-n-g – and getting longer. BTW, as you contemplate owning this big EV, make sure you get the house wired up with a 32Amp power circuit for a home charger – nothing less will do. Also, all prices I quote are always before on-road costs, so your bank balance will again suffer for the experience.

e-tron S - powered by coal
Down Under

It transpires that probably the biggest mover and shaker in the EV space, simply by availability of a large range, is Audi’s parent – the Volkswagen Group. 

By the time you take into account the Audi and Porsche BEVs, plus upcoming VW Tiguan and ID4, and the latest EV on the horizon – the Cupra ‘Born’ – it’s clear that VWAG is locked in a battle to outsell Tesla. 

Quite frankly VW Group vehicles are leaps ahead of Tesla in terms of quality, and I always think the Tesla dream bubble may burst one day because of the temper tantrums and outbursts of its mercurial leader, Elon Musk.

 

Audi’s e-tron sits high and handsome, but just which VW Group platform underpins this BEV SUV? After all, VWAG became known for its multi-model, modular vehicle platforms a long time ago. Think Skoda Octavia, sharing the Golf platform; the Audi Q8 providing a platform for the Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus – you get the picture.

 

Up until the dawning of VW’s new range of EVs, most models were built on either the MQB (for transverse), or MLB (for longitudinal) platforms. Now when we talk about ‘platforms’ I don’t just mean the metal bits which support the rest of the superstructure. 

Platform includes everything connected to the overall architecture including electrical circuits, entertainment, brake systems and driveline options.

 

The Audi e-tron S is built on an evolution of the MLB (Modularer Langsbaukasten or "Modular Longitudinal Matrix"). The electrical system is a 95kWh battery system, but this is also something that you can mix and match. For example the Porsche Taycan system is an 800kWh, to provide Porsche-type performance.

 

There’s a lot more happening in the EV sector, but I’m afraid I have no confidence that ALL OF US will be happily motoring around in EVs by 2050 – there are too many hurdles (political, social, environmental and funding) to jump.

I don’t mind having an EV road test car for a few days (especially one that's come so far since the horse) - enjoying the silence, performance and unique experience, but I’m still very happy to fall back into my ICE car. That’s a much safer bet for the near to mid-term future.

 

JOHN CRAWFORD

CUPRA FORMENTOR - SPORTY SPANISH PIZZAZ by Paul Gover

The last thing Australia needs is another new car brand. The company count is already past 65 and closing on 70, with the electric promises and plans from Chinese and American makes adding new hopefuls with almost every month.

 

And then there is Cupra, by SEAT out of VW.

 

Spanish carmaker SEAT is owned by VW Group, which has done much to lift SEAT's image outside Europe, but sadly the brand's intro to Australia was inauspicious. CUPRA is a whole new ball game.

The Cupra then, is a 'sub-brand' - I don't know how else to describe it. SEAT models still have a sporty edge, but it is becoming known in Europe for its driver-friendly SUVs, so you can have your fun, and still take the family along for the ride.

And there will also be the fully battery-electric ‘Born’, which is already luring lookers in Australia for deliveries in 2023.

But it’s the Formentor that is doing the early work for Cupra in Australia. And, no, that’s not a spelling mistake or a silly spin on the dementors from the Harry Potter franchise.

 

Think of the Formentor as a Spanish twist from the Volkswagen Golf, using the same basic mechanical package with the focus on the GTI end of the action, with value pricing and plenty of equipment.

 

In Australia, there are four versions of the Formentor, and pricing starts at $54,990 for the V model.

 

Each one is easy to pick, thanks to a badge on the grille that looks like something from a Marvel movie.

For me, it looks like it belongs on the chest of someone like Chris Hemsworth.

 

“It symbolises the sense of belonging to a clan, the Cupra clan,” says Jordi Front, who is the company suit responsible for the Action Man impact. “The design of the inverted triangle was modelled on the attitude of tribal civilisations, on their courage and daring.”

 

To test that courage and daring, with the Formentor story just beginning in Australia, there is a chance for me to have a quick spin whilst I'm in the UK.

 

My Formentor V2 is not strictly to the same specification as Aussie arrivals, but it gives 140 kilowatts from the engine room with a quick-shift DSG gearbox and 4Drive.

 

First impressions are good.

 

It looks bold and inviting, with the promise of SUV practicality - including a big boot and good space for five in the cabin - and the first few miles (not kilometres in old-school Britain) pass quickly and easily.

The pick-up is good, the front grip is impressive, and the driving position is excellent.

 

Compared with old-school SEAT cars, this is properly 21st century and not just a bargain-basement tweak on a Volkswagen hatch.

 

For a bit of extra context, there is a growing push - and demand - for sporty SUVs in Australia. Hyundai has a sell-out success in the Kona N, Ford is doing well with the baby Puma, and more are on the way.

 

Over time, the Formentor is just as I expect. It’s not as flat-out fun as some others, but that’s down to the 140 kiloWatt engine in a relatively bulky body. The overall feel is a little less solid and planted than others in the Volkswagen group, including the SUVs from Skoda, but it is still an impressive drive. I think the interior treatment deserves special mention, because it reflects the same 'dark' approach as the bold exterior.

And that’s the thing. Volkswagen is also pushing a growing number of sporty spin-offs in its Aussie SUVs, from the T-Roc to Tiguan, and buyers are queued for months to get one.

Cupra won’t be an instant hit in Australia, but the Formentor is an impressive start and should be popular with enthusiastic drivers who need a family hauler - with the benefit of slipping under the radar. I think it could be a 'sleeper'.

PAUL GOVER

GOVER & SON TAKE ON THE POMS by John Crawford

It’s not quite the challenge for the Ashes, nor a buying spree at Harrods (although come to think of it Paul does have a good eye for a good brand), but Paul has long wanted to expose his teenage son Eli to the mysteries of just ‘being’ in England – so it’s an eye-opener for Eli, and with Paul’s connections this young man’s world of experiences just went up a few notches.

 

What with the British GP; Goodwood Festival of Speed; visits to McLaren and M-Sport, this son of a scribbler got the ‘Full Monty’ of automotive life in Britain, and some great snaps along the way.

Eli for F1? Maybe a sports car? Getting Gordon's Burger tips; Bentley GT3 coupe at M-Sport; With Stig Blomqvuist at Goodwood.

Driving & Life came out a winner too, as Paul sampled some wonderful wheels in the Old Dart, and there’ll be words to follow.

AND NOW THE REALITY OF MASS EV CHARGING by John Crawford

I have tried to present realistic (and positive) presentations of the design attributes and performance of the growing number of new EVs coming to market.

Along the way I've also pointed out the real challenges in locating, mining and refining the rare earth metals, plus lithium, cobalt and other materials to create the huge batteries fitted to most EVs - especially those which advertise driving range in excess of 350km.

I have tried not to be an unreasonable sourpuss about the rise and rise of both interest and sales of EVs. However, in my heart I know that EVs will not be wholly successful in the mid term for a growing number of practical reasons, but rather than make sweeping claims for the global picture, let's just zero in on ONE Australian state capital.

Here's some wise words from an electrical contractor in Melbourne who recently did some electrical work for the body corporate community at the Dock 5 Apartment Building in Docklands in Melbourne, to see if it was possible to install a small number of electric charging points for owners to charge their electric vehicles. 

"We had our first three applications and then we discovered:

 

1.      The building has no non-allocated parking spaces i.e. public spaces. This is typical of most apartment buildings so we cannot provide shared outlets.

 

2.      The power supply in the building was designed for the loads in the original building, with virtually no spare capacity. Only 5 or 6 chargers could be installed in total in a building with 188 apartments!!

 

3.      How do you allocate them? Because they would add value to any apartment owning one. Right? The shit-fight started on Day One with about 20 applications received on the first day, and with many more following.

 

4.      The car park sub-boards cannot carry the extra loads of even one charger, and would have to be upgraded on any floors with a charger, as would the supply mains to each sub board.

 

5.      The main switch board would then have to be upgraded to add the heavier circuit breakers for the sub mains upgrade and and there's more.

 

6.      When Docklands was laid out by the government planners, a limit was put on the number of apartments in each precinct and the mains and transformers in the streets designed accordingly. This means there is now no additional capacity in the Docklands street grid for any significant quantity of car chargers in any building in the area.

 

7.      It gets better. The whole CBD (Hoddle Grid, Docklands) and Southbank is fed by just two sub stations. One in Port Melbourne and one in West Melbourne. 

This was done to have two alternate feeds in case one failed or was down for maintenance. Because of the growth in the city, Docklands and Southbank now neither feed is capable of supplying the full requirement of Melbourne zone at peak usage in mid-summer if the other is out of action - let alone additional load from EV charging!

The Port Melbourne 66,000 volt feeder runs on 50 or 60 year old wooden power poles above ground along Dorcas Street, South Melbourne. One is pole is located 40 cm from the corner kerb at the incredibly busy Ferrars St/St Dorcas St intersection and is very vulnerable to being wiped out by a wayward vehicle.

 

The infrastructure expenditure required nationally would dwarf the NBN cost, and that’s not including the new power stations required! And that’s just one state capital!

 

These advocates of electric vehicles by 2040 are completely unrealistic! It takes 5-8 years to design and build a large coal fired power station like Loy Yang, and even longer for a Nuclear one (That’s after you get the political will, permits and legislative changes needed). Wind and solar just can’t produce enough. Tidal power might but that’s further away than nuclear.

MOST AUSTRALIANS DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS YET!

 

It's just a greenies dream for Australia’s foreseeable future, other than perhaps in smaller wealthier countries.

 

It will no doubt ultimately come but not in the next 20 years...

 

The grid simply cannot support it in most places in Australia!"

The above analysis is not driven by sour grapes or EV naysayers. It's just a realistic analysis of what it will take to generate a mass transition from ICE cars to EVs.

The moral? Don't sell your petrol car, and maybe even consider replacing it with another ICE car. It's going to take a long time before the politicians, environmentalists and Greens come to grips with the unrealistic claims which are supposed to support their hypothesis that our personal mobility future will be EVs.

More things to consider. Following the global pandemic (which is not slowing down), the war in Ukraine, and cost pressure on government budgets globally to provide existing services at the same quality level, plus unrealistic wage claims, many countries are seeing a dramatic fall in their GDP.

So for the cost of all the infrastructure changes needed to accommodate the complete replacement of ICE cars by EVs - where's the money coming from?

JOHN CRAWFORD

PS: We live in a small estate of 74 homes, and currently have three Teslas. I spoke to the main energy manager for SEQ, Energex, and asked them about the capacity of the estate's small sub-station, and how many charging points it could accommodate - the answer was blunt - FOUR. Any more, and if more than four vehicles were charging at once, the sub-station would fail. The estate's Body Corporate would have to pay Energex's bill for reinstating power. Mass EVs are NOT the answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

METAL-URGING - THE SECRET TO SUCCESSFUL EV TRANSITION? by John Crawford

Here’s a new take on the previous post. As the EV business (both car and battery makers) scramble to find new sources of rare earth metals, plus hopefully new (and bigger) discoveries of lithium and cobalt, comes a report warning that unless new sources are discovered soon, the entire EV strategy may be doomed to a massive slowdown in the growth of the concept.

A realistic assessment of the use of rare earths in EVs suggests that EVs use SIX TIMES more of these critical metals than ICE cars! The minerals include silicon, rare earth elements, uranium, copper, aluminium, steel, lithium, cobalt and nickel.

Despite optimistic future EV forecasts, that future is not assured.

That can only happen if sources of critical elements grow exponentially.

The International Energy Agency estimates that the annual demand for critical minerals from ‘clean energy technologies’ will exceed USD$400bn by 2050, which is equivalent to the annual revenues from the current coal market! S&P Global Insights forecasts that global light EV sales could hit 26.8 million by 2030 up from 6.3 million in 2021.

 

In addition to this scramble for critical minerals, there is also massive investment in trying to create the ‘silver bullet’ battery technology, which will deliver larger driving ranges, faster-charging and cheaper batteries. New developments hit the news weekly, but the trouble is they are either produced with a resultant huge carbon footprint; or the technology is not economically scalable, and in addition higher cost of new technologies hobbles rapid expansion of EV sales, with ever-rising retail prices of EVs.

The successful future of EVs then is completely saddled by lack of plentiful critical minerals, and the battery chemical evolution.

Also keep in mind that China has the largest reserves of lithium in the world, and it has announced it will not export lithium to the rest of the world.

A sobering statistic from Tesla’s recent disclosures to analysts reveals that US customers who ordered a Model Y in June, will not only have a considerable wait to take delivery, but the car will cost them USD$14,000 more when it lands on their driveway. Not only are all Tesla factories, according to Elon Musk, ‘gigantic money furnaces’, but output in the past year has been slashed by a third in some case, and by 50% in places like China.

However, China currently still dominates the global EV market.

All of this brings me to a sobering conclusion. Once you have dug up the rare earth elements and other metals out of the ground and used them, then that supply source is exhausted – so the world MUST keep on finding new sources to support this rush to total EV replacement of ICE cars.

 

There is also the environmental degradation after intensive mining, as China is finding out (top), with the toxic aftermath of mining for rare earth metals.

The devastation of the post-mining landscape in Colombia (bottom), Chile and Peru is even worse.

I believe that there’s a secondary industry out there, waiting to be developed, and it could generate considerable profits, and that is a widespread, technologically-feasible and mature re-cycling strategy to recover as much useable material as possible from discarded EVs.

 

Despite the appearance of some very stylish EV designs, it’s clear to me that the future of personal mobility is not an ironclad forecast.

Believe me, after covering the motor industry for as long as I have, there are ZERO certainties over the next three decades.

Nothing, and I repeat, nothing is certain and the sooner the EV ‘babes’ – along with the Greens and the impractical environmentalists understand this, then and only then will the way be open to devise a logical, and sustainable way forward.

 

JOHN CRAWFORD