The F�d�ration Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) met on Wednesday, December 3 ahead of the Prize-Giving Ceremony coming up on Friday in Doha, Qatar. Several decisions were made in the council meeting.
Among the announcements coming out of the meeting was the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship schedule!
The eagerly awaited new race schedule for 2015 was confirmed by the FIA as follows:
March 15 -- Grand Prix of Australia
�March 29 -- Grand Prix of Malaysia
�April 12 -- Grand Prix of China
�April 19 -- Grand Prix of Bahrain
�May 3 -- Grand Prix of Korea (TBC) [still tentative, as of 12/3/14].
�May 24 -- Grand Prix of Monaco
�June 7 -- Grand Prix of Canada
�June 21 -- Grand Prix of Austria
�July 5 -- Grand Prix of Great Britain
�July 19 -- Grand Prix of Germany
�July 26 -- Grand Prix of Hungary
�August 23 -- Grand Prix of Belgium
�September 6 -- Grand Prix of Italy
�September 20 -- Grand Prix of Singapore
�September 27 -- Grand Prix of Japan
�October 11 -- Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi)
�October 25 -- Grand Prix of USA (Austin)
�November 1 -- Grand Prix of Mexico
�November 15 -- Grand Prix of Brazil
�November 29 -- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
For more information about the meeting and decisions announced from it, see my Examiner F1 article here.
Formula One.com has a convenient, clear, and printable schedule HERE. [Note: As of 12/3/14, the printable schedule on Formula1.com does NOT include the Korea race].
Lots of sunrise pictures posted by Formula One teams and photographers this week. That's because that's exactly what you see on your way to the track early in the morning!
This is my view just out my hotel room window, taken yesterday!
The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) racetrack is straight down the road in that direction.
So, the Formula 1 road show is in town in the United States over Halloween weekend. If Austin likes to "keep it weird," that might be a good recipe for doing so! For those not venturing into the weirdness but staying home to feed trick-or-treaters maybe instead, here's the TV schedule for the 2014 Formula One United States Grand Prix.
TV schedule for the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix:
Friday, October 31 (Halloween):
*3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Practice -- NBCSN -- LIVE 4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.: "F1 Extra" -- NBCSN 10:30 p.m. - 12 midnight: Practice -- NBCSN -- Rebroadcast
Saturday, November 1:
*1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Qualifying -- NBC -- LIVE
Sunday, November 2:
2:30 - 3 p.m.: Pre-Race -- NBC *3 p.m. - 5 p.m.: United States Grand Prix RACE -- NBC -- LIVE 5 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Post-Race -- NBC
[Photo: Mark Donohue scrambles from his burning Lola T70 as Mak Kronn squeezes by in his McKee Mk6 during the Watkins Glen round of the United States Road Racing Championship on June 26, 1966. Donohue was not badly injured, but his Lola was a total loss. (photo by David Baker from the International Motor Racing Research Center�s Argetsinger Collection)].
Martin of Seattle, Wash., will speak about the series and its crucial role in the development of professional road racing in America at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen on Nov. 8. The Center Conversations talk is free and open to all.
The USRRC was the Sports Car Club of America�s first series for professional race drivers.
'Without the USRRC, there could not have been a Can-Am, the better known and fully international series for the same type of car,' said award-winning motorsports author Michael Argetsinger. 'The Group 7 category, remembered today as Can-Am, pitted American engineering with the best from Europe and produced some of the most exciting race cars ever built. None of it would have evolved without the USRRC.
'The series, featuring unlimited displacement, two-seat sports cars, brought raw horsepower and speed that captured the imagination of fans, drivers and entrants alike. Scarabs, Porsche RS-61s and King Cobras dominated early years to be supplanted by iconic Chaparrals, Lola T70s and McLarens before the USRRC gave way to the Can-Am which would carry the tradition of unlimited race cars into the mid-�70s,' said Argetsinger, who is a member of the Center�s Governing Council.
John Bishop, SCCA executive director at the time, and his director of professional racing Jim Kaser were the key figures in the series� creation.
Bishop was instrumental in the founding of the Racing Research Center.
A review in Veloce Today describes Martin�s recently published undertaking as �an enthusiastic book which documents that exciting, noisy, time, in a way reflecting the social changes that were taking place in the nation, while proving that American know-how and muscle would finally prevail, at least on the race track.�
Offering a foreword by 1965 USRRC champion George Follmer, the book has more than 400 photographs, including some by Racing Research Center historian Bill Green.
Though he didn�t see a race until an event at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., when he was 16, Martin was a race fan long before that. Collecting information about racing and writing about racing came naturally. Still a teenager, Martin wrote his first 'book' about racing � a 176-page history of the 1.5 liter Formula One years.
'I didn't think to try to get it published,' Martin says. 'However, years later I discovered The Formula One Record Book by the Formula One Register guys and realized there must be a market for this sort of thing. A seed was planted.'
Over the years Martin had his eye on a history of Formula Two racing, while helping other authors with their research. He switched gears in the 1990s to USRRC and dedicated 20 years to the project.
When not enjoying the world of racing or researching or writing about racing, Martin has had careers in banking, inventory control and electronics manufacturing.
Martin�s talk is part of the ongoing Center Conversations series.
The final talk of 2014 will be on Dec. 13 on the Carrera Panamericana. Tom Overbaugh and Paul Wendt will speak about the revival of the famous Mexican race that today takes both experienced racers and novices 2,000 miles across that nation in a week.
The Racing Research Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials.
For more information about the Center�s work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call (607) 535-9044."
All of the Conversation series talks are free and open to the public. They are always informative and held in a casual atmosphere with friendly people!
The Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, England has announced that it will feature at its 73rd Members' Meeting in 2015 "High Airbox" historic Formula 1 cars that date from 1971 to 1976.
According to Goodwood, the 73rd Members' Meeting, scheduled for March 21-22, will bring more than 25 high airbox Formula 1 race cars dating from 1971 to 1976 to the renowned Goodwood circuit.
Among these will be, according to Goodwood's site: "...two ex-Niki Lauda Ferrari 312Ts and a 312B3, two Lotus 72s and a 76, a pair of Marches, McLarens, Tyrrells, a Shadow DN1 and some rarer machinery like the only Amon AF101 in existence, a Trojan T103-1 and such a thing as a (the?) Token RJ02."
Seeing these 70s-era cars at Goodwood will provide a very different experience for those in attendance than visitors to the Goodwood Revival have the chance to see. At the Goodwood Revival, cars on display and in action must be from the period of 1948 to 1966.
For more information about the 73rd Members' Meeting, check out the Goodwood website.
Red Bull drivers in Formula 1 are looking forward to the upcoming United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. The race takes place at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack, a track purpose-built to bring Formula 1 back to the U.S. and one that has so far only hosted two previous Grands Prix.
About his return, now as a member of Red Bull and not Toro Rosso, Daniel Ricciardo said in a promotional release from Infiniti-Red Bull Racing:
"Hand on heart, this is probably the date on the calendar I look forward to the most. I�ve loved every minute of being in Austin: when they picked this place for the US Grand Prix, they absolutely nailed it. The city is awesome. I love listening to live music and this is a great place for that, plus Texas feels like real America, and that�s something I�ve really enjoyed just sinking into the last two seasons. And then, there�s the important bit. The Circuit of the Americas, in my opinion, is the best of the new breed of circuits. The nature of the corners is interesting. It�s also a very busy track where you don�t get much respite. The first sector is very special and that first turn, blind up the big hill is like nothing else in F1. It�s also a good example of the excitement a late-apex can create: you can have a really good lunge there. They�ve done a very good job."
In the same release, four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel had this to say about the venue:
"Austin is a fun city where you get a real feel for the Texan lifestyle and traditions and get to race on a great track. The Circuit of the Americas is a track I like a lot; it has 20 corners and we drive it anti-clockwise. The start/finish straight has a steep incline up to the first corner and is the trademark of the track. For us that means the braking starts uphill, which is not easy and locking the front tyres could be a problem. A lot of the corner combinations remind me of other famous circuits on the race calendar. For example the fast combination during the first part of the track feels like Silverstone and Suzuka. The famous Maggotts and Becketts passages were used as a model for this part of the track and the drivers enjoy the extremely fast turns, when the car is balanced right. Also corners 12 and 15, this section was taken from the Motodrom in Hockenheim. It is a slower part of the track, and is designed to create more of a stadium atmosphere. The long bend also reminds of the famous turn 8 in Istanbul."
The 2014 U.S. Grand Prix takes place over Halloween weekend in the States, October 31-November 2.
It has not yet been announced whether reserve driver, American Alexander Rossi, will race for Marussia's injured driver, Jules Bianchi, who remains hospitalized following a head injury suffered in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.
I was sent this link to a blog post by Philippe Robert, who made a pilgrimage in 2014 to Watkins Glen, New York / USA in tribute to Formula 1 racer, Francois Cevert.
Glad to pass along the link that tells about Mr. Robert's journey to the Glen. The post is, however, in French.
The key above was Francois's room key from the Glen Motor Inn, where many drivers stayed in the 1960s and 70s during the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix every October. The key was found in Francois's briefcase after he died on the track at Watkins Glen on October 6, 1973. The photo comes from the book about Cevert co-written by the driver's sister and pictured at the top of this post.
It is haunting to see the room key for Room #7, thought to be a lucky number by some. The Glen Motor Inn, overlooking scenic Seneca Lake, still exists and remains in operation to this day, mostly unchanged from the Grand Prix days. As Mr. Robert writes in his blog post, he was able to stay the night in Cevert's very room.
The Cevert book was initially printed in a limited edition in 2013 to mark the 40th year of Cevert's passing.
There is a wish among some fans that the book be translated into English.
BOOK:Francois Cevert: Legendary Driver by Jacqueline Cevert-Beltoise and Johnny Rives.
Sir Jackie Stewart and Jean-Claude Killy.
L'Autodrome
The book is available to read on the premises at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen. As with all the rare books in the reference library at the IMRRC, it may not be checked out.
Thank you, Philippe Robert, for sharing your experience with readers.
In sending me his blog link, Mr. Robert referred to reading my own blog story about Francois Cevert and Watkins Glen as one of the factors in his deciding to make the trip from France to the Glen. You can read my Motor Sport Muse post about looking for signs of Cevert's crash at the Glen on the 40th anniversary of his passing, HERE.
[Photo credit: Booklink; used with permission from the author.]
It was a pleasure to speak with the author of this book in purchasing and writing about the book and to also communicate with Paul McMorran of the Crossl� Car Company.
Readers of this blog and my Poetry in Motion: Vintage Speed (poetry and historic/vintage motor racing) project will know of my affection for Crossl� race cars. This book and the videos linked below will help explain why.
Note: This book review was written for the Sports Literature Association and also appears on their website hosted by the University of Texas -- Arlington.
Motorsports and American Culture:From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR edited by Mark D. Howell and John D. Miller
Howell's and Miller's Motorsports and American Culture: From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR is a welcome publication in the small but growing field of motor sports studies. While a bit uneven at times, collections of essays such as this one offering different perspectives on a common theme can be exciting reads because one witnesses on the page scholars in the act of angling approaches to a newer area of study. Books analyzing Emily Dickinson's correspondence, for example, illustrate this. So have early critical collections about the Harry Potter phenomenon in children's literature and popular culture. While each essay here cites earlier writings by other scholarly fans of speed, the editors assert that their collection is possibly the most diverse treatment available so far. That description may be quite apt.
The book's introduction provides a brief orientation about motor sports within American culture and attempts to address the question that inevitably gets asked of those who conduct racy research, "Why study motor sports?" Following that, the book is made up of 12 essays, each by a different author. The essays are grouped into four parts: Part I: "Speed and Spectators: What Motorsports Means to Fans;" Part II: "The Track and Beyond: Motorsports and Community Identity;" Part III: "Fenders and Genders: Motorsports Femininity, and Masculinity;" and Part IV: "Stars of the Road: Spectacular Drivers and Spectacular Feats." Five of the 12 essays are illustrated with black and white photographs. End notes including citation information follow each essay, and the book contains a useful bibliography and index as well as notes about the contributors and editors at the back.
Perhaps predictably in a book published in 2014 that examines how motor sports relate to American culture, half of the essays here are about NASCAR. James Wright's essay opening the volume, "The NASCAR Paradox," suggests that the growing popularity of NASCAR � once a stronghold sport of the American South but now the second most viewed sport across the United States next to football � does not say that the South is becoming more like the rest of the country but instead the shift "reveals a nation becoming more like the South" (4). Taking a historical approach, Dan Pierce's essay, "'What Is Your Racket, Brother?'" traces how Charlotte, North Carolina became the "home" of NASCAR over Atlanta, Georgia � represented by the establishment there of NASCAR'S Hall of Fame in Charlotte � by showing how the latter city purposely rid itself of known bootlegger race car drivers in the mid-twentieth century.
Through a "Soccer Mom" / NASCAR Dad" framework, Patricia Lee Yongue's "'Way Tight' or 'Wicked Loose'" shows how she believes the series reinforces male stereotypes and argues that some male fans enjoy NASCAR because, for them, it may serve as a "force by which traditional American manhood will be reclaimed from diversity" (145). Ehren Helmut Pflugfelder examines nationalism as it relates to international influence arriving in NASCAR in the early twenty-first century along with its effects on fans who "consume" the sport. Jaime Noble Gassmann writes in "The Spectacle of NASCAR" about how NASCAR teams use "enchantment" to create a bond between driver and fan that "promotes the fans' consumption of NASCAR-related products and sponsor-created identities" (150).
Outside of NASCAR, Susan Falls writes about the crash-banging of cars into one another without any suggestion of racing in between at demolition derbies as "creative destruction," a form of "theater" (58). Like Yongue's essay, gender studies also provide John Edwin Mason with a lens through which he looks at motor sports in America. He argues it is one of the few activities where females compete in the same professional series and arenas as men in "Anything but a Novelty: Women, Girls, and Friday Night Drag Racing."
Essays about individual drivers, types of cars, or events include one by Lisa Napoli on Barney Oldfield, an early twentieth-century racer turned celebrity; another by Martha Kreszock, Suzanne Wise, and Margaret Freeman about stock car racer, Louise Smith who competed from 1946 to 1956; and an essay by David N. Lucsko about the history of the American hot rod. The book closes with an essay by Ronald Shook tracing three eras of attempts to set and subsequently break the land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats and elsewhere.
Surprises that may make the collection ideal for some readers relishing the unexpected may puzzle others looking for examinations of more "traditional" forms of motor sports � i.e. races of various kinds of cars and motorcycles. Most notably in the unexpected category � acknowledged by the editors themselves in their introduction as a bit of a "stretch" � is Emily Godbey's essay, "Speed and Destruction at the Fair." This piece talks about an exhibition of nineteenth-century locomotives plowing into one another at the 1896 Iowa State Fair, which Godbey argues is an example of Americans' combined feelings of astonishment and terror towards technology, something she calls the "technological sublime" (40). Outlier though it may be, the chapter's consideration of technology and spectacle has, as the editors argue, reverberations with other essays in the book.
The editors acknowledge that the collection represents "beginnings rather than endings" in the study of motor sports and American culture. Among the more notable vacancies is the lack of an essay about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or its historic event, the Indy 500. Situated in the Midwest heartland as it is, on the same footprint of land with a history reaching back to 1908, that facility still holds the record as the largest sports spectator venue on the planet, seating 250,000 with grounds occupancy of 400,000. Indy warrants inclusion, as do many other subjects, in a book with a title as inclusive as this one. Contrarily, with its heavy emphasis on stock car racing, the book may have benefited from shifting its focus and title to include essays about NASCAR exclusively.
These suggestions aside, this rather eclectic mix of essays does demonstrate a range in current scholars' interests and thinking, and that alone is worthwhile for others researching trackside out there who may look to this book for ideas, approaches, or even just a sense that they are not alone in their speed-driven curiosities. However balanced or not the book is as a collection, this volume suggests a variety of directions and approaches that are bound to stimulate further thinking and exploration of motor sports, speed, gender, popular culture, and technology.
Howell, Mark D. and John D. Miller, eds. Motorsports and American Culture:From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR.Lanham, MD:Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.248 pp.Hardcover, $75.00.ISBN: 978-1-4422-3096-5.eBook, $74.99.ISBN:978-1-4422-3097-2.
[Image Sources: Marc Giroux; Connie Ann Kirk; & ad from Vintage Motor Sport Magazine].
Huge ***CONGRATULATIONS!!!*** to Marc Giroux for receiving the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) Driver of the Year (DOTY) Award for 2014!!!! Marc races frequently during the year throughout North America in his 1969 Brabham BT-29 Formula B car as well as in his 1997 Lola Indy Lights T97/20 car. He is an exciting historic/vintage racer to watch on track, typically in the front few cars of the field, battling for a podium position.
He is either winning, or in a persistent fourth place gaining on the third-place car, or making it more difficult for the leader to hold position. A MIT-alum Chemical Engineer turned Sr. Corporate Vice-President at Corning, Inc. in a career spanning over 35 years, Marc calls Watkins Glen International his home track. He retired earlier this year and now lives in a newly-built home on the coast of Maine.
According to SVRA, the DOTY Award is "the most prestigious of the SVRA annual awards" and is presented at the Annual Awards Banquet at VIR. SVRA says "The DOTY is selected by the former recipients as the person who best represents the group�s goals of exhibiting Safety, Consciousness, Sportsmanship and Consistent Performance throughout the previous season." SVRA also indicates, "Persons nominated must also have participated in 50% of SVRA events and be free of 'chargeable incidents' during the year of their nomination." ?#?SVRA ? Marc's skills at driving plus knowing his cars and his rivals make a good example of how a racer can compete both fairly and competitively.
Marc is a great guy, an excellent racer, and I'm proud to call him a good friend whose exciting contests were among the very first I followed in this sport and continue to track today. I watch and write about a lot of races, but I follow only a few racers as a friend and a fan, and Marc is one of them. Congratulations again, Marc! I will keep watching and rooting for you, as always! [And please don't hate me for posting this!].
Here's a video of highlights from the powerful cars racing in the Whitsun Trophy at the 2014 Goodwood Revival. These were said to be some of the fastest cars on track at the entire event!
Link takes you to the Goodwood Revival site where you can watch the video.
Personally, I wish they had left the sounds of the cars in this one rather than back up the video with music.
Despite taking a little spin along the way, racer John Monson finishes the Whitsun Trophy race at the Goodwood Revival on September 13, 2014 in his 1964 Crossle 5S sports racer.
Racer John Monson in the #57, 1964 Crossle 5S sports racer, starts The Whitsun Trophy race at the 2014 Goodwood Revival. September 13, 2014. Apologies for shaky video!
I attended my first-ever Goodwood Revival in September of 2014. This, after consecutive historic racing weekend events the two weekends before -- Lime Rock Park Historic Festival 32 over Labor Day weekend, and the United State Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen the weekend between Lime Rock and the Revival.
Announcing there is now an "official" Connie Ann Kirk YouTube Channel! On the channel, you will find videos related to motor sports and other subjects.
Just announcing that I've set up a new Motor Sports page on Facebook. You can either visit to see what's new or "Like" to get posts added to your FB newsfeed on a regular basis.
Links to articles from my Examiner.com pages will be posted there, too.
The page will feature material related to my current interests of motor sports + a potpourri of links, shares, exclusive photos & videos from my occasional "insider's" views, etc.
Three-time Formula 1 World Champion race car driver and, to date, the only person to win the driver's championship driving his own car, passed away on Monday, May 19, 2014 in his home in Sydney, Australia.
I enjoy watching so many Brabham race cars out on the historic / vintage motor racing circuit. The cars are lovely, and amateur owner/racers who drive them have such a good time.
Of his many legacies, that is the one that I can relate to most.
There was a talk as part of the International Motor Racing Research Center "Conversation" series on Saturday, May 10th about Formula 5000 cars.
I wrote a summary of the 3-hour program for my National Historic Motor Sports page on Examiner.com. NBC Formula 1 commentator, Sam Posey, was the honored guest at the talk.
We are following the 2014 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco!
This is a weekend of racing historic race cars on the same iconic circuit as the Formula 1 series will race in two weeks. The historic race meeting is held every two years in what many consider to be the most glamorous and arguably challenging road course in the world.
This song doesn't have much about cars or driving in the lyrics, but I have a strong, and more recent, car memory that goes merrily along with it. Guess maybe I should call it a "driving song."
After battling traffic driving solo to the Jersey shore from upstate New York the summer of 2013, and after presenting my paper at an academic conference I was there to participate in, the biggest pressures of the trip were off, and I had an afternoon free. The conference didn't meet far from the Springsteen-famed Asbury Park amusement park, and I decided to locate the place for myself and take in the sites and the sights.
Had a wonderful time strolling the boardwalk, taking my shoes off, and putting my toes in the Atlantic Ocean (cold!), watching people. It was a beautiful, warm but not yet hot sunny day -- early to mid-June, when those days can still feel somewhat new to those of us who live in the Northeast and work predominantly inside. Spring had come late, and summer had not yet fully arrived, so the day felt special just for the weather. It didn't matter what else happened at the conference, or if I could make my way back through the traffic to get home in a couple of days. That glorious weather at that particular location on that particular day was enough to make my spirits soar!
Taking it all in, I chatted with the vendors, sat on the benches, took photographs, and just genuinely enjoyed how similar the sight all was to the pictures Springsteen's songs always brought to mind when I listened to them. It was one of those rare experiences when an artist's work is full of place -- and when you visit that place, you feel at home simply because you have enjoyed that artist's work for many years before you got there.
I remember feeling the same way when I first visited the moors of the Bronte sisters in West Yorkshire, England. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne's house. The graveyard. The mossy, ragged, wild moors all around. I knew that place! What I saw in front of me on that gray, misty day was just what their books had created in my imagination so many times for so many years before.
Well, after spending the entire afternoon at Asbury Park, New Jersey, it was time to go back to the conference location to prepare for the banquet a bit later on that evening. I got in my now-hot car, rolled down the windows, and turned on the radio, and there it was -- Bruce Springsteen himself serenading me on the radio with none other than -- "Waitin' on a Sunny Day." How did he know I was there, and how nice of him to greet me to his hometown that way!
I cranked it up, left my windows down, and drove down the shore as far as I could before the song and time ran out. One of those perfect drives combined with the perfect music accompaniment, you know?
The song is actually from Springsteen's post 9/11 album, The Rising, though it was reportedly written before the 9/11 attacks. In the context of that album, the simple pop melody and lyrics recall an earlier, more innocent time and a desire to find happiness and peace of mind yet again. While the lyrics make it clear the day is not yet here, the melody makes it sound like the sunny day is not far away. It is not a deeply poetic song, but its lightheartedness fits its theme.
As, for me, now it's a car song and has joined my favorite driving songs playlist. And, at least for now, until another memory adds to it, whenever I hear it, it will always make me think of that sunny Friday afternoon, driving along Asbury Park and the Jersey shore in June of 2013!
It's rainin' but there ain't a cloud in the sky Musta been a tear from your eye Everything'll be okay Funny thought I felt a sweet summer breeze Musta been you sighin' so deep Don't worry we're gonna find a way
I'm waitin', waitin' on a sunny day Gonna chase the clouds away Waitin' on a sunny day
Without you I'm workin' with the rain fallin' down Half a party in a one dog town I need you to chase the blues away Without you I'm a drummer girl that can't keep a beat And ice cream truck on a deserted street I hope that you're coming to stay
I'm waitin', waitin' on a sunny day Gonna chase the clouds away Waitin' on a sunny day
Hard times baby, well they come to tell us all Sure as the tickin' of the clock on the wall Sure as the turnin' of the night into day Your smile girl, brings the mornin' light to my eyes Lifts away the blues when I rise I hope that you're coming to stay
