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From: bspahh@midge.bath.ac.uk (A H Henry)
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Subject: rec.autos.sport FAQ 5/8: General Autosport Frequently Asked Questions
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Summary: This posting contains a list of miscellaneous
         Frequently Asked Questions (and their answers)
         about comptetitive motorsport.  It should be read
         by anyone who wishes to post to rec.autos.sport,
         or its subgroups.
Keywords: FAQ, autosport, motorsport, motor, sport
X-Last-Updated: 1995/08/04
Originator: faqserv@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.autos.sport.misc:9784 rec.autos.sport.info:7971 rec.answers:26924 news.answers:91354

Archive-name: autos/sport/general-faq
URL: http://www.bath.ac.uk/~bspahh/rasfaq/general-faq.html
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: June 25th 1995
Version: 1.4

This will be posted monthly to rec.autos.sport.info, rec.autos.sport.misc, 
rec.answers and news.answers.  It answers some of the most frequently
asked questions (FAQs) in the rec.autos.sport.* newsgroups as well as
some others which perhaps _should_ be asked.

The latest text version of the FAQ is also available from:
ftp://mgu.bath.ac.uk/pub/rec.autos.sport/general-faq
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/autos/sport/general-faq
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~bspahh/rasfaq.html

If you only have electronic mail, the FAQ can also be retrieved from
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu, listserver@grasp1.univ-lyon1.fr,
ftp-mail@uni-paderborn.de and ftpmail@ftp.edu.tw

For information on how to use FTP, send e-mail to
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with with no subject line. In the body of the
mail put: send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources

Whilst some care has been taken in the preparation of this FAQ, a few
errors may have slipped through the net (no pun intended).  Please send
any corrections or additions to rasfaq@bath.ac.uk.



Chapter 13

General Questions

13.1 Who is the greatest driver of all time ?

Gilles Villeneuve (IMHO*).
  Anyone can have an opinion on the greatest driver of all time.
Unfortunately we'll never know just who is correct. The great drivers
have never all raced each other in similar cars with each at the peak
of their careers.
  We can say who has won the most races and the most championships.
However, some of the great drivers have not been particularly
successful. Stirling Moss being the classic example of a driver who
failed to win the F1 championship after driving for some second rate
teams. Comparisons of drivers between different eras of motor racing
are even more open to question. There are so many changes both in
technical developments for the cars and circuits, and the differing
numbers of competitive cars and drivers through the years.
  Try to ignore obvious flame-bait. You're unlikely to persuade
anyone that they are wrong by shouting at them. If you want to try,
please do it in alt.flame. Whats much more interesting for people to
read are the reasons why you like your favourite driver. Tell some
anecdotes about their greatest moments. What makes them special ?
  [ * ] Some of my favourite Gilles Villeneuve information is
available here: http://www.bath.ac.uk/ bspahh/gilles/gilles.html


13.2 Which is the best racing series ?

This is another topic that has been thrashed to death. You are just
as unlikely to persuade anyone that they are wrong by shouting at
them. Whats much more interesting for people to read are the reasons
why you like your favourite series. What makes it special ?


13.3 Murray Walker

Murray Walker (aka Muddly Talker) is the commentator for the much of
the BBC's motorsports coverage including F1 and the BTCC. He is a
motorsports enthusiast. He is also prone to spouting rubbish in the
heat of the moment in spite of his vast experience of commentating
for Grand Prix racing. He's a nice bloke too.
  Some Murray Walker Quotes:
http://dcpu1.cs.york.ac.uk:6666/pete/walkerisms.html


13.4 Motorsport GIFs and JPEGs ?


o North Arizona ftp://ftp.nau.edu/graphics/gif/racing

o Australia: ftp://rana.ccs.deakin.edu.au/pub/pics/motor/

o NASCAR ftp://gdstech.grumman.com/pub/nascar/images

o Corel Professional Photos (USA (1) 800 836 3729) sell a CDROM with
  100 Photo CD racing photographs. They are royalty-free and cover F1,
  sportscars etc


13.5 Which are good races to spectate at ?

British GP
ftp://mgu.bath.ac.uk/pub/auto/f1/silverstone-spectators-guide Italian
GPftp://mgu.bath.ac.uk/pub/auto/f1/monza-spectators-guide Belgian GP
ftp://mgu.bath.ac.uk/pub/auto/f1/spa-spectators-guide Diehard 500,
Talladega
ftp://mgu.bath.ac.uk/pub/auto/nascar/talledega-spectators-guide Road
America
ftp://mgu.bath.ac.uk/pub/auto/indycar/road-america-spectators-guide


13.6 Where can I get tickets for races ?

13.6.1 San Marino GP, May 1st 1994

SAGIS, Via Calori 9/D, 40122 Bologna, Italy.  Tel Italy (39) 51 52 20 75,
Fax Italy (39) 51 52 20 85.                     Friday  Saturday  Sunday
General Admission (adult)                       L25,000 L30,000   L45,000
General Admission (children + soldiers)         L15,000 L20,000   L30,000
Tribuna Fiat (A)                                L50,000 L80,000   L350,000
Tribuna Pirelli (B)                             L40,000 L50,000   L250,000
Tribuna G. Villeneuve (C)                        ------  ------   L180,000
Tribuna E. De Angelis (D)                        ------  ------   L200,000
Tribuna T. Nuvolari (G)                          ------  ------   L150,000
Tribuna Nuova Copma (H)                          ------  ------   L160,000
Tribuna Marlboro (I)                             ------ L50,000   L220,000
Tribuna Agip Petroli (L)                         ------  ------   L180,000
Tribuna C. Romagnolo (M)                         ------ L60,000   L240,000
Gradonata Verde (V)                             L40,000 L50,000   L 90,000

(All prices in Italian Lira)


13.6.2 Canadian GP, June 12 1994

Les Entreprises GP Canadien Ltee, C.P. 248, Succ. Place d'Armes,
Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 3G7, Canada. Tel Canada (1) 514 392-0000 Tickets
go on sale sometime in April. Montreal/Quebec Tourist information for
hotels etc: Canada (1) 800 363 7777

Tickets     3 days       Sunday only
------------------------------------
Gold         $240        $210
Silver       $200        $175
Bronze       $105        $80
General Admission        $50 (no seating)


13.6.3 British GP, July 16th 1995

Booking Office, Freepost, Silverstone Circuits Ltd, Silverstone,
Towcester, Northants, NN12 8TN.  Tel Great Britain (44) 327 857273,
Fax Great Britain (44) 327 857663
                                                Friday  Saturday  Sunday
General Admission (adult)                       GBP 19  GBP 25    GBP  63
General Admission (accompanied child)           GBP  5  GBP  5    GBP   9
North Grandstand (inc adult General Admission)  GBP 29  GBP 45    GBP 125
South Grandstand (inc adult General Admission)  GBP 24  GBP 35    GBP  90
Transfer to centre of circuit (adult or child)  GBP 12  GBP 15    GBP  18
(All prices in pounds sterling for the first 10,000 applicants or until
31st December 1994.)


13.6.4 Italian GP, September 11th 1994

Tickets are available from:
o Automobile Club of Milan, 20121 Milano c.so Venezia, 43, Italy Tel:
  Italy (39) 2 7745400 Fax: (39) 2 781844
o National Autodrome at Monza, 20052 Parco di Monza, Italy Tel: Italy
  (39) 2 482212, or (39) 2 2482407 Fax: (39) 320324 (missing digit?)
o Acitour Lombardia, 20121 Milano c.sa Venezia, 43, Italy Tel: Italy
  (39) 2 76006350, or (39) 76023966 Fax: (39) 2 781844
o A.C. Promotion, 20122 Milano via P. Cossa, 2, Italy Tel: Italy (39) 2
  76002574, or (39) 2 7745291 Fax: (39) 2 780938
Friday tickets are 35,000 Lira and allow access to all stands. Saturday
a 50,000 Lira ticket is good for roaming all stands except the two main
stands, which are 100,000 Lira. On race day tickets range from 350,000
Lira for the Main Agip Central stand to 50,000 for general admission
standing.


13.7 Origins of the names of teams and Manufacturers

o Alfa Romeo ALFA (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili) was formed in
  1910, Niccola Romeo bought in and took over, added his name and
  started the company building race cars. It was nationalised in the
  '30s.

o March an acronym formed from the names of the founders: Max mosley,
  Alan Rees, graham Coaker and robin Herd

o Tiga an acronym from founders TIm schenken and howden GAnley


13.8 What are the origins of F1 chassis numbers ?

Lotus cars have each have a type number. These are also allocated to
projects from outside F1. This means that there can be gaps between
successive F1 models (eg 102, 107 and 109). The 108 is the carbon fibre
bicycle which Chris Boardman used in the 1992 Olympics.
  Ferrari seems to change their numbering scheme every couple of years.
All the F1 cars have internal project numbers like 639, 641 etc. The
latest 412T1 number signifies a car with a 4 valve per cylinder, 12
cylinder engine.


13.9 How are F1 race numbers allocated ?

Before 1973, F1 drivers raced with different numbers at each race.
Teams in the world championship had to submit their entries to each
individual race organisation and were then given their race numbers by
the organiser. Number 1 ( # 1) was used by either the defending
champion of that race, the world champion, the first team to submit
their race application, or the favourite of the organisers.
  By mid-1973, FOCA (the Formula One Contructors Association) united
the teams who now entered the races with one joint application. FOCA
now took over the assignment of race numbers. At first, each team was
given a random number, which it kept until the end of the year. The
numbers were given to the team, but not drivers, so Stewart drove as
both # 5 and # 6 in the latter half of 1973.
  In 1974, the modern system took hold. At the start of the 1974
season, the teams were given the numbers according to the final
positions in the 1973 Constructors Championship. Hence Lotus got 1 & 2,
Tyrrell got 3 & 4, McLaren 5 & 6, Brabham 7 & 8 etc. If a team had more
than two cars, the extra car was given a high number like 33.
  These numbers are only changed when a new driver wins the the
Driver's World Championship. In this case, champion and his teammate
are given 1 & 2, while the previous champion gets the old number of the
new champion. If a driver changes teams after winning the Championship,
he takes the # 1 to his new team.
  For example in 1977, Ferrari ( # 11 & 12) won, but Lauda moved to
Brabham. So in 1978, Brabham raced as 1 & 2, McLaren (champions in
1976, who held # 1 & 2 in 1977) got 7 & 8 (Brabham's 1977 numbers),
while Ferrari kept the 11 & 12. Tyrrell have kept numbers 3 & 4 for 20
years because they had not won the championship since 1973.
  Before Nigel's Mansell's retirement, some non-champions did drive as
# 1. Ronnie Peterson got the # 1 in 1974 because this was the first
year. In 1985, Watson drove # 1 because he was Lauda's replacement.
However, after Mansell's retirement and possible unretirement, which
made the numbering system unclear, # 1 was declared being 'personal'
and only for the world champion, so Damon Hill got # 0 for 1993 in the
Williams.
  The numbers have been personalised for the past few years. Hence when
FIA gave out a number, it is both for the team and the specific driver.
Nowadays the numbers are given alphabetically, with the driver whose
last name is first in the alphabet receives the lowest number. Of
course, you can always request a change.
  Occasionally, if a team expires, a team with a high number will move
to occupy the old team's numbers. When Renault left F1, March took over
the 15 & 16 slot. Same rule applies to Brabham, but in this case it was
unusual involving a three teams switch: Larrouse > Benetton > McLaren >
Brabham. This had never happened before.
  Careful study of the race numbers shows some of the relationships
between the teams. Take 19, 20 & 21. These were the old Williams
numbers in the 70s. When Walter Wolf took over, Team Wolf got # 20,
while Williams, who re-started his new race team, got a new number of #
27. By 1980 when Wolf had merged with Fittipaldi, Fittipaldi got rid of
its old # s and got 20 & 21.
  Some numbers have special significance for some of the fans and
drivers. Thirteen is considered to be an unlucky number and is missing
from the F1 lineup. Gilles Villeneuve raced as # 27 during his finest
years which makes it a special number for Ferrari fans. Nigel Mansell
drove as Red Five for Williams, although this number has since been
taken over by Michael Schumacher's Benetton.


13.10 Why is there no US GP ?

Politics and money. The F1 circus expects to have a well developed
infra-structure at a racetrack. The FIA also wants to be paid a
significant amount of money to hold a race. At the moment, there are no
circuits in the US which have the necessary pit garages, press
facilities and hotel accommodation which think that they would be able
to run a F1 race at a profit. Whether this is because of the
unreasonable demands of the F1 establishment is open to question. After
a few years without a US GP, F1 may have lost the sponsors who would
have been most interested in a race in the US.


Chapter 14

Motorsport Pronunciation Guide

14.1 Pronouncing `English' names

Name                    | English pronunciation
------------------------+--------------------------------------------------
Derek Warwick           | der-rick worr-ick (worr-ick rhymes with the end of
                	| "historic")
Johnny Herbert          | JON-ee-ur-BUT (Johnny is from Essex where people
                	| tend to ignore consonants in the middle of words
                	| and just use vowels [a,e,i,o and u] instead)
Eddie Irvine            | ED-yur-vine (vine rhymes with wine)
David Coulthard         | day-vid cool-thard
Nigel Mansell           | nai-JUL man-SUL (nai rhymes with eye)
                	|
Mark Blundell           | mark blun-DELL
Martin Brundle          | mar-TIN brun-dle
                	|
Bernie Ecclestone       | BER-nee ECK-ul-stn
Max Mosley              | Maks Moe zlee  (Moe rhymes with toe)
                	|
Sterling Marlin         | STUH-lun MAAAH-lun
Stirling Moss           | stir-ling moss
                	|
McLaren                 | muck LAR un
Williams                | will-yums
                	|
Reynard                 | ray-nard (French word. English company. English
                	| pronunciation).
                	|
Jaguar                  | Jag-wahrrr (American) or Jag-uw-ah (British)


14.2 Pronouncing Germanic names

Pronunciation of `ch' in German: This is a soft gutteral sound. Take
the "ch' from `which', remove the `t' part from that sound -- et voila!

Michael Schumacher      | Mi-cha-el ("i" as in "in", "ch" as in Michelle "a" as
                        | in "part", "el" sounds like "ale")  Shoe-mach-er
                        | (gutteral "ch")
Heinz-Harald Frentzen   | High-nts Hah-rahld Frren-tsen
Karl Wendlinger         | Kahl Ven-dling-ah
Gerhard Berger          | Gair-hard Bair-gair
Roland Ratzenberger     | Ro-land Rah-tsen-bair-gair
Jos Verstappen          | yohs fair-shtopp-en (The 'a' sounds more like 'o'
                        | in Dutch)
                        |
Sauber Mercedes         | zow-ber mer-tze-des


14.3 Pronouncing Japanese names

In Japanese, the family name is spoken first followed by the personal
name. The most important thing to remember, though, is that there is
no stress in Japanese, and that each letter -- ma, tsu, shi, ta --
must get the same amount of time. (Otherwise you run into problems,
like calling your aunt (obasan) an old woman (obaasan).)

Hiro Matsushita         | mahtsoo-shtah (very faint "oo") he-row

Hiro is the grandson of the industrialist that started Matsushita
Industries. Their products, when not OEM'd, are marked as
mah-tsoo-shee-tah worldwide. When he started in ICs, Hiro tried to
explain to people that the pronunciation used to market the
products was different that what they actually called themselves in
the family, and that his name should be pronounced mah-tsoo-shtah.
Panasonic asked him to tell the press that no, it should be
pronounced mah-tsoo-shee-tah. Hiro then told Paul Page to pronounce
it however he liked to. Personally, I like Derek Daly's version:
mah-<spit all over Bobby Unser>-ta. ]

Ukyo Katayama           | kah-tah-yah-mah  oo-kyohh
                        |
Aguri Suzuki            | sooz-kee ahg-ree
                        |
Nissan                  | Kneess-ahn (American). Niss-ann (British).
                        | Kneessss-ahn (Japanese).


14.4 Pronouncing French and Canadian names

Gilles Villeneuve       | jil (with a soft j sound) vil-neuv  (where vil
                        | sounds like kill and neuv sounds like curve without
                        | the 'r').
Jacques Villeneuve      | Jacques is either "jawk" (hawk) or "jak" (yak). Both
                        | have a soft j sound.  JV, brother of GV, uses "jawk".
                        | JV, son of GV, uses the European "jak" pronunciation
                        | He also has told the American media that his name is
                        | pronounced vil-nev bordering on vil-neph and not the
                        | Francocorrect form.
Alain Prost             | a-lan p-roast
Jean Alesi              | jon (with a soft j sound) a-lay-zEE
                        |
Renault                 | ren-oh (ren as in siren, oh rhymes with blow)
Peugeot                 | pooh-szjoh (szjoh has a very soft "j", and rhymes
                        | with show)
                        |
Magny-Cours             | man-nyee cor
Le Mans                 | le mon
Spa-Francorchamps       | spa-fron-cor-shom  (fron rhymes with from)
Grand Prix              | gron pree


14.5 Pronouncing Portuguese and Brazilian names

The common "street" pronunciation for Brazilian names may be
different to the "formal" pronunciation.

Ayrton Senna            | Ah-EER-tone senn-a (EE sounds like "i" from "in")
Mauricio Gugelmin       | Mow-RI-see-oh Goo-gel-min ( The see-oh sounds very
                        | close to "see-you" as the final "o" tends to sounds
                        | like "ouh". The RI is a soft "r" like in "risk")
Rubens Barrichello      | roo-bens Bah-he-KEH-loh (Bah-he is a hard sound which
                        | is made with the tongue and not from the throat)
                        |[Although Barrichello is an "Italian" name, it is
                        | pronounced differently in "street" Brazilian].


14.6 Pronouncing Finnish names

The "i" in Yir is more like the vowel in "new" when it's not
pronounced to rhyme with you. (Not "noo york" but "nyew york")
  Mika Salo's first syllable is a short "me". Much like you
would pronounce "mikka", I suppose. And it's not saLOW, it's
sa-loh. The Loh is short, the h is not pronounced.
  Hakkinen's a is an "d", that is an umlaut-a. Pronounced mikka
hack-kih-nen. (e in nen is like in "then").
  Keke Rosberg can be pronounced in two ways (at least) even
here in Finland. Keke is the same however: it's keh-keh (silent
aitches). Rosberg is either "roos-berih" (roo rhymes with moo
(sound of cow)). or roos-bdrj, where d is the vowel in "man"
and the ending "j" is very short almost un-pronounced.

Jyrki Jarvilehto (the a | yer-kee yar-vee-leh-toh (yer
                        |
(or jay-jay leh-toh)
has an umlaut-two dots) |
Mika Salo               | Mee-ka Sa-low (low as in blow)



Chapter 15

rec.autos.sport and Usenet

15.1 The race finished hours ago. Where are all the results ?

There are sometimes delays propagating articles around the Net,
particularly at weekends, when systems may fail when there is no system
administrator on hand. Please don't post articles which just say `I
haven't seen anything about this race yet.' The delays may be a very
local problem and your message will get sent all the way around the
world, at considerable expense.


15.2 Where are r.a.s.info, r.a.s.tech, r.a.s.nascar, r.a.s.f1,
r.a.s.indy & r.a.s.misc?

These newsgroups were created in 1994. If they have not appeared where
you read rec.autos.sport, contact the administrator of your system.
Some sys admins do not enable automatic news group creation, but vet
each new group individually. 


15.3 How many people read the rec.autos.sport hierarchy ?

This is taken from the Usenet readership report for January 1995.
Explanations of the figures are posted to news.lists.  Briefly, someone
is listed as reading a newsgroup if they are subscribed to it.

  +-- Ranking in order of most popular newsgroups
  |     +-- Estimated total number of people who read the group, worldwide.
  |     |      +-- Actual number of readers in sampled population
  |     |      |    +-- Propagation: how many sites receive this group at all
  |     |      |    |    +-- Recent traffic (messages per month)
  |     |      |    |    |        +-- Recent traffic (megabytes per month)
  |     |      |    |    |        |    +-- Crossposting percentage
  |     |      |    |    |        |    |    +-- Cost ratio: \$US/month/reader
  |     |      |    |    |        |    |    |     +-- Share: \% of newsreaders
  |     |      |    |    |        |    |    |     |   who read this group.
  V     V      V    V    V        V    V    V     V
 194 100000   604  76%  4082     6.2   8%  0.05  0.9%  rec.autos.tech
 800  49000   353  61%  3240     4.8  10%  0.07  0.5%  rec.autos.misc
 912  44000   321  60%  1123     1.1  11%  0.02  0.5%  rec.autos.marketplace
1006  40000   337  52%    21     0.0  55%  0.00  0.5%  rec.autos.sport
1297  31000   228  60%   525     0.9   4%  0.02  0.3%  rec.autos.simulators
1382  28000   276  45%   120     0.1  50%  0.00  0.4%  rec.autos
1477  26000   219  51%  1986     3.2   1%  0.07  0.3%  rec.autos.sport.f1
1610  23000   191  54%   115     0.4   6%  0.01  0.3%  rec.autos.sport.info
1655  22000   175  56%  1523     2.6   1%  0.08  0.3%  rec.autos.sport.nascar
1701  21000   171  54%   311     0.7  11%  0.02  0.3%  rec.autos.sport.misc
1842  18000   155  51%   466     0.6   6%  0.02  0.2%  rec.autos.sport.indy
1899  17000   138  55%   218     0.3  11%  0.01  0.2%  rec.autos.sport.tech


15.4 Where can I get the latest race results and championship tables ?

Many race results are posted to rec.autos.sport.info, which is archived at
<ftp://ftp.metrics.com/archive/rasi.*


15.5 Now that rec.autos.sport has split, why not make
r.a.s.rally & r.a.s.drag?

Subjects like drag racing or rallying can be clearly defined but are
not discussed often enough to justify a newsgroup on their own. Start
some discussion !
  If you still want to split the group, news.announce.newusers has
guidelines on how to proceed.  Please take the discussion to
news.groups ASAP.

15.6 Why rec.autos.sport.* and not rec.sport.autos.* ?

A long long time ago (in the mid 80s), on a usenet far far away, there
were two newsgroups about cars:  rec.autos, and rec.autos.tech.
Discussions about motorsports tended to disappear in the noise (and
there was every bit as much noise in rec.autos then as there is now.) A
number of rec.autos residents who wanted more discussion of a sporting
nature briefly discussed getting a group created, but instead we
settled for a mailing list. The auto-sports mailing list was run from a
Vax at GE R & D for about two years, administered by me (Richard
Welty.) It eventually became so popular that it killed itself, having
impacted the GE R & D long distance bills enough that the corporate
bean counters noticed it and ordered it stopped (GE did not have a good
quality Internet link at the time.)
  Fortunately, the auto-sports mailing list was also successful enough
that I convinced myself that it was worth trying to run a vote for a
new Usenet newsgroup.  The only major issue to decide was the name.
After extended discussion, we settled on rec.autos.sport, as most of us
had come together via rec.autos in the first place. Other strong
candidates were rec.sport.autos and rec.sport.motor (on reflection a
placement in rec.sport might have been a better idea, but that's all
old news articles in the bitbucket now).
  One thing that was felt very strongly at the time was that in light
of the interminable arguments on what constituted a `sports car' that
regularly consumed rec.autos, we felt that rec.autos.sport was for
sporting discussions. We could see no way in which a meaningful, useful
discussion could be held on whether a Chevy Camaro was any more or less
a sports car than a Bugeye Sprite. I think that this holds true today.
rec.autos.sport should continue to be for sporting discussions.


16-7 What do these abbreviations mean ?

o GOB NASCAR racers and fans (from Good Ol' Boys)
o Pick [ n ]Competitions where you use your skill and judgement to
   predict the results of races (eg F1 Pick6, Indycar Pick12).
o BGN Busch Grand National (NASCAR; feeder series for Winston Cup)
o BTCC British Touring Car Championship
o CART Championship Auto Racing Teams (Run PPG IndyCar series)
o DTM Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (German FIA Class I Touring
   Cars)
o FIA Federation Internationale de l'Automobile
o IMSA International Motor Sports Association
o NASCAR National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
o NHRA National HotRod Association (Drag Racing governing body)
o PPG Pittsburgh Plate & Glass
o USAC United States Auto Club (Organisers of the Indy 500)
o WRC World Rally Championship

o BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
o CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
o ESPN was Entertainment and Sports Programming Network at launch I
   think, however I suspect these days it doesn't officially stand for
   anything.
o TNN The Nashville Network

o BHP Brake Horse Power (1BHP = 550 ft-lb/sec2 or 76.0402 mkp/s2).
o PS Pferdestaerke (`The Metric Horsepower': 1PS = 75 mkp/s2)
o ci,cc Cubic Inch, Cubic Centimetre (1ci = 16.39cc)
o ABS Anti-Blockieren System (anti-lock brakes)
o FWEP Front Wing End Plate
o PIR{Portland or Phoenix } International Raceway
o NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (as in NACA duct)

o DNF Did Not Finish
o DNS Did Not Start
o DNQ Did Not Qualify
o DNPQ Did Not Pre-Qualify
o DQ Disqualified
o FAQ Frequently Asked Question
o IMHO In My{Humble or Honest } Opinion
o BTW By The Way
o AFAIK As Far As I Know
o AFAICR As Far As I Can Remember
o ROTFL Rolling on the Floor, Laughing
o IYSWIM If You See What I Mean
o RTFM Read The Fine Manual
o TLA Three Letter Acronym


Chapter 16

Miscellaneous Questions

16.1 How do I Join the Pick6 competitions ?

These competitions, where you use your skill and judgement to predict
the results of races, are being run for the F1, NASCAR and IndyCar
series. You can join the competition in the middle of a season, you are
unlikely to win the championship. The rules for these competitions are
too complicated to describe here. However, the both the F1 Pick6 and
GOBPick6 rules are posted frequently.
  F1 Pick6 rules:
ftp://mgu.bath.ac.uk/pub/rec.autos.sport/F1-Pick6-rules
  You can submit picks for F1 Pick6 directly from the World Wide Web,
here: http://www.motorsport.com/Pick6/Pick6.html


16.2 Which are faster: Racing cars or racing motorbikes ?

At the average road course, F1 bikes (500 cc) are just a little slower
in overall lap times that Formula three cars. F1 cars are much faster
than bikes! For example, at Donington Park last year, the F1 bike pole
was about 1:34 (min:sec); the F3 pole was about 1:30, and the F1 cars
were under that in the wet.
  F1 and IndyCars can generate very high downforce which means that
they can go round high speed corners very quickly. GP motorbikes have
good acceleration, but are much slower at cornering and braking because
they have a lot less downforce. One of the main reasons for this is the
rule which stops them from having bodywork which extends behind the
rear wheel.
  Road legal superbikes are much closer in performance to the Grand
Prix machines than a Ferrari F40 is to a Formula 1 Ferrari. A magazine
tested a stock Yamaha FZR1000 against a the Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1
with slick tyres and the bike posted a better time by around a second.
Thus, a CBR900RR might be closer to the Ferrari F1 car than the F-40
is.
  Similarly, another magazine reported that Mick Doohan tested a RVF750
superbike (essentially the $ 25,000 RC-45/RVF750 you and I could buy +
the three race kits costing $ 30,000 + a good trackside tuning) and ran
times 5 tenths of a second slower than times he set using the RVF750 F1
bike he ran the Suzuka 8hrs with. During the 8hrs he posted times a
scant 2 seconds off the 500cc GP outright lap record. $ 55,000 for a
bike that can run 2.5 seconds of a 500cc pace is quite astonishing.


16.3 Which are faster: F1 or IndyCars ?

This very much depends on the racetrack and the race distance. For a
qualifying lap on a road course or short oval, an F1 car would be much
quicker. However F1 cars are designed to race for 190 miles and are not
designed to cope with racing conditions found on a superspeedway.
Stefan Johansson was the most recent driver to try an F1 car on a
superspeedway, in a 1986 McLaren-Porsche. The car was relatively quick
even running with a lot of downforce and drag, but probably would have
not been able to run for 500 miles without breaking down. F1 engines
are usually only run for 400-500 miles between rebuilds and the
clutches rarely have to take more than three standing starts per race.
  Both F1 and IndyCars have about 750-800 bhp on tap. However, the
minimum weight for an F1 car is 1108 lbs. The minimum weight for an
IndyCar is 1550 lbs. Generally, F1 cars are more sophisticated and
expensive than IndyCars. Carbon fibre brakes used in F1 are less likely
to fade and are much lighter than the steel brakes used in IndyCars.
However they are also much more expensive.
  Although semi-automatic gearboxes are banned in IndyCars, some say
that after the initial development cost, they actually save money for
F1 teams by reducing the amount of engine damage when drivers miss
downshifts with a manual gearchange.
  F1 cars have to have a flat-bottomed chassis which means that an
IndyCar, which is allowed ground effect tunnels, can generate a lot of
downforce for a given amount of drag.
  The May 1994 issue of Automobile magazine listed these performance
figures for 1993 cars.

                        Williams Renault FW15C  1993 Lola T93/00-Ford
                        ----------------------  ---------------------
0-60 mph                2.9 sec                 3.0 sec
1/4 mile                7.3 sec @188 mph        7.7 sec @177mph
Top speed at fastest    205 mph (Monza)         240 (Michigan)
        track
Pounds per bhp          1.9                     2.3
Miles between engine    311                     550
        rebuilds
Race fuel consumption   5.5 mpg                 1.8 mpg
Maximum lateral acc.    4.5 g                   4.0 g
Max power               760 bhp @14,700 rpm     780 bhp @13,000 rmp


16.4 Can a car decelerate faster than 1G ?

Yes -- F1 cars can pull 4-5G under braking with the help of high
downforce, sticky tyres and efficient brakes. Aerodynamic downforce
can double the effective weight of an F1 car at speed. Sticky tyres
don't slide smoothly but in a series of many small deformations.
These can give very high coefficients of friction (much greater than
1). A less significant factor is the aerodynamic drag caused by the
large wings. The Cd figure of an F1 car can be very high and is even
higher when a car spins.


16.5 Car X handles superbly. All it needs is more power

A racecar is a system and not just an engine bolted to a chassis. The
fairly promising Truesports IndyCar chassis with a down-on-power Judd
turned into an ill-handling pig when fitted with an Ilmor. Another
example: when Tyrrell got decent results in the 1990 F1 season
despite only having Ford DFR power, the 019 seemed to be an excellent
chassis. However, in the following year when they got the Honda V10s
which had given Senna the world championship, the car handled like a
pig. The extra weight and power from the engine had destroyed the
balance of the car.


16.6 What are the advantages of Carbon Fibre Brakes ?

A carbon/carbon setup gives a coefficient of friction of about 0.6 as
compared to 0.4 for a carbon/steel pad/rotor setup.
  The extra friction generates extra heat. Carbon brakes work best in
the 600 to 800 C range. They're terrible cold and as such aren't
suitable for street use. Steel brakes fade at the temperature that
carbon brakes work at. Carbon brakes atart fading at 2000 C.
  Carbon discs are MUCH lighter than steel ones (1300 grams per vs. 4
kg for a steel disc). This is a big difference in unsprung weight and
is also useful for lowering the weight of an F1 car to the limit.
  Carbon discs and pads are much longer lasting than steel ones. In
F1, they'll go the entire weekend even for a big buck team. Smaller
teams find that the rotors last three weekends. In the 24 hours of
LeMans in '91, the Mazda only changed its pads once, as opposed to 17
times for the Porsches.


16.7 Who helped make this FAQ ?

Al Griffy                      agriffy@bongo.cc.utexas.edu
Alan F. Perry                  esprit@netcom.com
Allen Oberhauser               alleno@tok.eai.com
Andrew Henry                   bspahh@midge.bath.ac.uk
Anupam Razdan                  raz@prairienet.org
Ben Loosli                     loosli@bbs.ug.eds.com
Bill Mette                     bmette@MCS.COM
Bob Davis                      bob@earth.fishkill.ibm.com
Bob Kehoe                      bob@ncube.com
Bob Parnass                    parnass@ihlpf.att.com
Bono                           s9104429@mella.ee.up.ac.za
Brett Ramsey                   ramsey@deakin.edu.au
Bruce Harrison                 beharr01@ulkyvm.louisville.edu
Bruce McDiffett                nebulus@netcom.com
Cameron Howie                  cameron@cs.uct.ac.za
Carl Brewer                    carl@oversteer.library.uwa.edu.au
Charles Bloch                  cbloch@cyclops.iucf.indiana.edu
Chris Walton                   cmw5907@zeus.tamu.edu
Chuck Fry                      chucko@rahul.net
Dale Maurice                   dale@cmr.com
Dan Jones                      danjones@pyramid.com
Dave A Bernardini              dab@snowhit.kc63.att.com
David Koch                     koch@uwplatt.edu
David Reininger                aq175@yfn.ysu.edu
David Ross                     stud7c32@bnr.ca
David Ward                     abdkw@stdvax.gsfc.nasa.gov
Dean Barker                    deanb@cray.com
Duane Sharpe                   ah131@yfn.ysu.edu
Elliot Mitchell                emitch@lobster.mis.udel.edu
Eric Tittley                   etittley@phobos.astro.uwo.ca
Eric Waiter                    eric@EWAcars.com, Compuserve: 73424,1057
Finn Ellebaek Nielsen          ellebuk@thamis.ico.olivetti.com
Gayle Kemmerling               gck@navahonavaho.cc.bellcore.com
Hans Spiller                   hanss@microsoft.com
Hans Staalman                  hstaalm@cs.vu.nl
Ian King                       Ian_King@mindlink.bc.ca
J. B. van der Meer             J.B.vdrMeer@kub.nl
J. Pointe                      jpointe@aol.com
Jay Carina                     carina@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu
Jean-Pierre Paradis            jean-pierre.paradis@fsa.ulaval.ca
Joao Alcino de Andrade Martins jmartins@cat.cce.usp.br
Joe Reid                       jreid@vt.edu
John Burford                   burford@umr.edu
John Liskey                    xen@ripco.com
John Posthill                  ranger@jbp.rti.rti.org
Jonathan Crawshaw              jonathan.crawshaw@canrem.com
Jonathan Crawshaw              jonathan.crawshaw@canrem.com.ca
Keith Wood                     Keith_Wood@mm.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com
Kenji SUEHIRO                  suehiro@csl.cl.nec.co.jp
Kevin J. Coulter               kevinc@cbnewsf.cb.att.com
M.E. Nielsen                   menielsen@aol.com
MSTee3K                        mstee3k@aol.com
Mario Perrazzino               m_perra@pavo.concordia.ca
Mark A. Breland                breland@mcc.com
Mark H. Black                  black@mig.upenn.edu
Mark Jackson                   Mark_Jackson.wbst147@com.xerox
Mark Williams                  cymru@cbnewsc.cb.att.com
Martin Coombes                 mcoombes@mcoombes-sun.cisco.com
Matthew Smitherman             mlsmitherman@amherst.edu
Matthias Blume                 blume@cs.princeton.edu
Max Behara                     behara@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca
Michael Andrew Holthouse       holthous@cis.ohio-state.edu
Michael Regoli                 mr@ogre.cica.indiana.edu
Michael Stucker                stucker@aslvx1.sugar-land.anadrill.slb.com
Mike Cooke                     cooke%vlsiphx.uucp@asuvax.eas.asu.edu
Pat Campbell                   campbell@sauron.msfc.nasa.gov
Pat Hayes                      phayes@tamu.edu
Paul J. Graziano               paulg.wbst205ll@Xerox.com
Paul S Winalski                winalski@adserv.enet.dec.com
Pete Fanning                   fanningp@music.lib.matc.edu
Phil Rose                      PER4442@draper.com
Philippe Baque                 baque@cict.fr
R.M. Bownes III                bownes@emi.com
Richard Motofuji               motofuji@netcom.com
Richard Querin                 rquerin@alfred.carleton.ca
Richard Welty                  welty@balltown.cma.com
Robert German                  GERMAN@nfask2.fask.uni-mainz.de
Robert J Unglenieks            unglenie@schenectady.ecn.purdue.edu
Robert Marti                   marti@inf.ethz.ch
Robert Small                   rds@melbpc.org.au
Roberto Barros                 roberto@dcs.gla.ac.uk
Ron Natalie                    ron@topaz.sensor.com
Ron O'Dell                     keeper@cats.ucsc.edu
Russ Gould                     russ_gould@rsomacserver.rso.upenn.edu
Sam Gaylord                    samg@col.hp.com
Santiago Oleas                 s_oleas@pavo.concordia.ca
Smitherman                     mlsmithe@unix.amherst.edu
Stefan                         stefansk@sjuvm.bitnet
Stephen Shapiro                sshapiro@mail.sas.upenn.edu
Steve Godby                    ar1spg@sunc.sheffield.ac.uk
Steve Henderson                ff193@cleveland.Freenet.Edu
Steve Thompson                 thompson@cheme.cornell.edu
Sylvan Smith                   sosly@freeport.uwasa.fi
Tancredo Vasconcellos-Neto     tancredo@athena.mit.edu
Terry Matula                   tlm1@Ra.MsState.Edu
Thomas Hiett                   thiett@iastate.edu
Thomas R. Sundstrom            2446376@mcimail.com
Timo Pelkonen                  timo.pelkonen@hut.fi
Tim Dudley                     dudley.chi@xerox.com
Toby Vaughn Padfield           tvp53202@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Tom Haapanen                   tomh@metrics.com
Tom Stangler                   stangle@infi.net
Tony Johns                     johnst@yvax.byu.edu
Tony Johns                     zyllyx@netcom.com
Troy Davis                     troy@autodesk.com
Vincent B Ho                   hbv@mercury.sfsu.edu
                               awesome11@aol.com
                               mclarenmp4@aol.com
                               parabolica@aol.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The rec.autos.sport.* FAQ                                    rasfaq@bath.ac.uk
