AT A SCORCHING MAGNY COURS - GLASEL DOMINANT AGAIN…BOSCH IN HOT PURSUIT…
Several of the TGP fraternity were asked for their autographs after the race on Sunday by people amazed at the speed they were travelling; unfortunately for some of us, the gendarmes doing the asking were not spectators of the excellent on track TGP action, merely the sneaky, radar-gun happy swine who’d hidden in a bush beside the Paris-bound track of the N7 awaiting the chance to collect funds…
Nevertheless, all this came at the end of another scorching TGP race weekend that featured a double-header event for the teams and drivers to contend with – and for the three realistic championship contenders, it was going to be a range of fortunes. Steve Hartley (Arrows A6) was lying joint second with Christian Glasel (Brabham BT49D) prior to the weekend and having been dominant in class D all year, looked odds on to take another clean sweep of all the points available to him, but his Mirage team arrived at the circuit telling tales of engine woes and over twenty hours of effort to fit the Cosworth DFV to the back of his car. After one lap in free practice, Hartley rounded the final chicane with a plume of smoke coming out the back of the Arrows and, despite having turned the engine off before it ran dry, closer examination revealed that the damage had been done. Hartley tried again the next morning in qualifying but it was a doomed effort and, he conceded his title hopes had gone up in the smoke cloud that had followed him into the pits on Friday.
That left the attention on Glasel and the man two points ahead of him at the top, John Bosch (Ferrari 312 T3).
Both have proven to be extremely competent peddlers so far this season. Class C leader, Glasel has won everything when the machinery has kept going (and that’s only the once, at Lausitzring); Bosch has got the Ferrari going beautifully after some niggling problems at Hockenheim in Race 1 and since a test session at this circuit earlier in the year got the gremlins out of the car, has not really been challenged in Class B. But the flying Dutchman has suffered from the FIA points scoring system which rewards class winners according to the entry levels within the classes. Whereas Glasel’s C class regularly features more than 6 runner without fail, the numbers of Bosch’s competitors in class B have varied markedly. At Magny Cours – with a valuable double-dose of points available – there were three runners. More unfortunately for Bosch and his superbly turned-out Barron Racing team, Rowland Kinch (Arrows A1) is not registered for FIA points as he is only competing in a small number of the races. This meant that instead of the 10 points usually available (9 for the class win and one for fastest lap in class), Bosch could only score a maximum of 7 points in each race, compared to the 21 (an extra point awarded to the driver with outright pole after qualifying) on offer for Glasel.
It could be said that the higher levels of competition in class C, with the likes of Joaquin Folch and Richard Eyre (Williams FW08), John Wilson (Tyrrell 011), Hubertus Bahlsen (Arrows A4) and Dan Collins (Lotus 91/10) evening out the risk for Bosch. But the truth is that so far this season, Glasel has been the class of the field and with Folch missing the Magny Cours races through business commitments, Eyre being forced out of race 2 due to family commitments and Bahlsen’s continuing engine destruction programme continuing at full throttle, the German hot shot was favourite to come out of rounds 7 & 8 on top of the points.
Qualifying went to form. Glasel took pole by some way from Bahlsen, Wilson, Eyre, Bosch and Collins with Nico Bindels (Lotus 87), Dave Abbott (Ensign N180) and the 2004 Champion, Rodrigo Gallego (Minardi 185) behind. Alain De Wagter (Surtees TS16) & Andrea Bahlsen (Arrows A4) came next with Terry Sayles (Osella), Pietro Ratti (Copersucar) and Ean Pugh (Brabham BT34) closing out the grid.
Race 7 was a sprint over 10 laps. In theory.The F1 system of five red light coming on in sequence before flicking out to signal the start was employed for the first time in TGP and at the first time of asking, everyone was away cleanly. ‘Except for me’ said Richard Eyre who made a flying start and lead into the first corner. Believing himself to be at fault, he played the gentlemanly card and waved through the first three on the grid whom he believed he’d wronged. Later, reflecting on the act of decency, and realising that he wouldn’t have been penalised, he directed a few choice expletives in his own direction.
With the front three past Eyre, they began to pull away from the Essex racer. Glasel made the most of the clean air and stretched out a lead on Bahlsen who was pre-occupied with Wilson’s blue Tyrrell in his mirrors. Collins was having a good run as well, keeping up with Eyre over the first five laps. Bosch ran alone on the track whilst Abbott, suffering from a misfiring DFV, held off Bindels and De Wagter. The latter, an ebullient Belgian whose car is prepared by MEC Auto, was to feature in a more prominent manner later, but before that, his team mate, Gallego made his own impression as he suffered from fuel problems. For two laps the Portuguese driver struggled around the track before finally succumbing to them with just 5 laps on the board. Unfortunately, he stopped on the racing line and despite the recommendation of the weekend’s TGP Race Director, Walter Robertson (a lap record holder at Silverstone), the local Clerk of the Course called for an unnecessary red flag. The racing stopped but the local marshals compounded the confusion by directing the cars into the pits rather than following the regulations that state cars should stop on the grid.
After deliberation in race control, it was decided that as less than 75% of the race had been run, there would be a restart and the second half of the race would run over 4 laps following one out lap onto the grid & a green flag lap. Hansueli Kohler, Bahlsen’s crew chief, expressed some concerns that it was too many laps and that fuel would be an issue. Gordon Coppuck, the legendary McLaren designer of the 70’s voiced similar worries.
The cars approached the grid for the second time that afternoon and lined up as the first red light flicked on, followed by a second, a third and then – the tail of the grid wagged. Alain De Wagged, actually. As the fourth of the red lights went on, De Wagter was moving. By the time the fifth light came on and blinked out, he had moved from 10th on the grid to first and was some 40 yards down the track before the rest of the field had dropped their collective clutch. It was a remarkable thing to behold and, fortunately, was both caught on camera and did not cause any serious accident. After the race De Wagter was apologetic and blamed a clutch problem. As it was, once the rest of the field suppressed their disbelief and set off after him, Glasel once again hit the front with Bahlsen and Wilson behind and Collins’ scrap with Eyre exciting to watch and enjoyed by Bosch one place back. For three laps they circulated in order until, as he turned onto the start-finish straight, Bahlsen suddenly swerved towards the pit wall, slowed, and stopped as first Wilson, then Eyre, Collins and the rest of the field went past. Kohler’s worry was proven correct; Bahlsen was out of fuel.
As the flag dropped, Glasel punched the air at a solid job well done. His absence from the Silverstone meeting had hurt his championship chances; he’d begun to make amends. Wilson was a good second and, with Eyre’s Williams dropping off the pace in the closing stages, Collins took third and his first podium spot, much to the delight of the Classic Team Lotus boys who needed a pick-me-up following the serious injuries to one of their own, Nick Yallop, in a motorcycle accident the week before.
The top three took to the podium for trophies and champagne but already things were happening behind the scenes. Bahlsen approached the stewards with a protest that the second half of the race was run over too many laps. After much deliberation, they upheld his argument and Collins was informed as he was leaving the circuit that his 3rd place had been taken away and given to Bahlsen. The Lotus driver took it in a very good spirit and returned his trophy to Bahlsen the next day.
The feature race on the Sunday was a longer affair to be run over 15 laps. It was hot. Very hot. And it may have been this heat and the disappointment of the day before that got to Collins who this time was the one to get away from the line early on the left hand side of the grid. Eyre had already left the circuit and the space he left directly in front of Collins was obviously appealing. The Lotus was through it as before lights went out. He was followed behind by Abbott whilst on the right hand side of the grid a slow-starting Wilson baulked both Bosch and Bindels. That put both Abbott and Collins ahead of several of the pacesetters going into turn one with Abbott and Bosch banging wheels. “He’s very aggressive!” said Abbott. “But that’s probably revenge for Hockenheim…” By the end of the lap, a semblance of normal service had resumed with Glasel in the lead from Bahlsen with Bosch ahead of Wilson.
The Ferrari driver did supremely well to keep the Tyrrell behind him for two or three laps before Wilson got past with Bosch developing a clutch problem. Behind them, Collins, Bindels and Abbott sparred for position. Abbott made a desperate lunge down the inside of Bindels at one stage but backed out to avoid taking the pair of them off. It put him some way back from both Lotus drivers and in a bid to make up time, he decided to try something extra special at the chicane at the back of the circuit. Unfortunately, his engine cut out just as he went into the first corner of the complex and the grip decided to let go forcing the Cumbrian into a major spin and back into the clutches of Terry Sayles who had himself been battling with Pietro Ratti for the duration of the race. Abbott recovered and drove away from Sayles but was no longer within reach of the others. He finished seventh. Bindels and Collins were ahead of him with the latter finishing just one second behind Bosch. Wilson was third behind Bahlsen who managed to reach the chequered flag in regulation this time but neither could provide any answer to the supreme Glasel who romped home to victory by just over 37 seconds after the 15 laps.
The wins put Glasel top by just four points with three races to go – a double header at Brands Hatch as the support event to the inaugural A1GP meeting and the final race of the season at Estoril where it looks like the title will be decided once again. With Hartley out of the equation, Bosch will be desperate to claw back lost ground on Glasel but may well face some stiffer competition himself with Mauro Pane threatening to arrive at Brands with his super-quick Tyrrell P34 and former champ, Martin Stretton lining up to do Estoril in the sister P34. Both drivers are very quick; Bosch may find it hard to catch the speeding German. Perhaps he should employ the French traffic police…
