The King Is Dead, Long Live The King
 
Since 1932, the Hockenheimring has been one of the most popular circuits in Germany, mainly because of its possibilities of achieving maximum speed on long straights. The first layout was a triangle, the second was close to being an oval and the third, which we all remember, was half of an oval with that slow section on the southwestern side, called Motodrom. The track was known for the scandals (e.g. Piquet and Salazar fighting after their crash in 1982, a man running onto the circuit in 2000… but also for amazing races, a lot of leading changes, almost incredible overtaking maneuvers in one of three chicanes or even spectacular crashes, mostly in the Nordkurve (we remember Villeneuve & Diniz in 1999 and M. Schumacher & Fisichella in 2000, don’t we?) or the start-finish straight. The speed on the forest-passes was achieving the maximum in Formula One word…and it’s also worth mentioning that the whole sight of trees, shade and racing cars was something different, it produced a feeling that you couldn’t get on any other place on the world. Imagine a pine standing in the wind, while a F1 car is passing by, with the whole speed. Brilliant. To conclude, the old Ring was a place where you could expect the unexpected. The whole race was also followed by special atmosphere, thanks to 80 000 fans on the grandstands and their noise, Mexican wave and even the firecrackers…just like a football stadium.
 
Of course, after all these good words, we can ask ourselves what was wrong on that fabulous place, when you had everything-good fun, speed and the scenery? Well, it wasn’t commercial enough and not good enough for FIA and Bernie. 80 000 people wasn’t enough and there was also the fact that they can’t see their idol Michael Schumacher while he’s racing through the forest. For heaven’s sake, there were those “dark satanic enormous pine trees” (a quote by Murray Walker, actually). And, we mustn’t also forget that the modern circuits are no longer than 5 km, and they have all the elements-parabolic curves, hairpins…one more proof that Formula One is turning into figure skating. So, there were two options: to change the configuration of the Hockenheimring, or to let Lausitz host the German Grand Prix. The idea was proposed in the autumn of 1999. As expected, this turned into a battle between German regions…the whole thing might be even more complicated when you know that Lausitzring is in the Eastern Germany and also very close to the capital Berlin. But, the government of Baden-Würtemberg, despite a lot of environmental groups and organizations protesting, decided to keep the race and make all the changes needed. Not even the great races in 2000 (in my opinion, one of the greatest Formula One races ever) and 2001 changed their mind. Fans signed the petition on the internet and some journalists were directly asking why does a great circuit have to be castrated? But, there was no use… the last race held on the old Hockenheimring was DTM event on 7th October 2001 and after that Jean Alesi tested a Mercedes car, in extremely wet conditions.
 
The reconstruction was set to start on 2nd January 2002 and that’s just what happened. God knows how many years did it take for nature to create what the bulldozers and workers removed in just one month. The beautiful trees were gone and replaced by a desert-like clean area that was supposed to be a part of an ultra modern racing circuit. The layout was finished sometime in April and the rest of the changes took some more time to take place. There was also a webcam on the track’s official site recording everything that was happening, which was very inappropriate and it reminds me of George Orwell’s “1984”. And, browsing the same site, I also came across a sentence saying:” And the first trees fell down on 2nd January.” Ethic? No way. Moral? What was that again?  
 
So, the new track was tested some days ago, first by Jean Alesi, and then by Ralf Schumacher, accompanied by the track designer Hermann Tilke. They all said they like the new track-and what else could you have expected? Alesi is driving for Mercedes and Schumacher is a German...it’s also obvious that the F1 drivers are not what they used to be before-rebellious and constantly seeking for challenges-today they accept cars with so many computer help and Mickey Mouse circuits, where everyone can finish a race. So sad, isn’t it.
 
So, what I’d like to do now is to give a decent farewell to the old Hockenheimring, because everything that’s left of it will be buried down in order to plant new trees, which is just an attempt to escape responsibility. New trees cannot replace the ones who died because I don’t think that they will grow well on what used to be asphalt. And, if you already did something like that, be ready to face criticism and don’t make the things even worse than they really are. We lost the trees and now we’re losing a historic circuit. Every era has its own Atlantis. So, we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun…and they paved the paradise. Goodbye, the old Hockenheimring. You’ll always be remembered for your unique layout, simplicity combined with pure power and the wonderful landscape. Hello to the artificial boot-shaped something. You might provide us with some racing, but that will be coldly-calculated, choreographed with a lack of spontaneity and passion, as same as everywhere else. Well, que sera…

Toyota veut Gascoyne    
 
 
 
  Toyota aurait décidé de faire appel aux services de Mike Gascoyne. L'ingénieur britannique est une valeur à la hausse. Son châssis R23 est l'un des meilleurs du plateau : jolie carte de visite...
 
Le contrat de l'ingénieur chez Renault arrive à échéance fin 2005, mais il comporterait certaines clauses de sortie. Son travail à Enstone a été spectaculaire : en 2000, l'équipe visait les dernières places de la grille. A Barcelone, elle aurait pu remporter la course à la régulière.
 
Le châssis R23 passe pour l'un des plus réussis du plateau. Son équilibre aérodynamique est remarquable, et son comportement dynamique suscite également l'admiration de tous. Pas de doute, cette voiture viserait la victoire avec un moteur plus puissant.
 
Côté moteur, Toyota est plutôt bien pourvue. Reste à peaufiner l'équilibre du châssis. Et l'équipe Japonaise n'est pas la seule à connaître un problème similaire : Williams, BAR et Jaguar donneraient cher pour s'attirer les services de Gascoyne.
 
La valeur de cet ingénieur monte en flèche. "Nous avons encore tout le temps de négocier", rassure Flavio Briatore.