Disagreement over
Steering column’s position in Senna Trial. Senna
made no mistakes
(Imola 11 March 97)
The trial over the death of Ayrton Senna
resumed today, with prosecutor Maruizio Passarini
attempting to establish from the first witness, that
an improperly modified steering column and a poorly
laid track surface was the cause the fatal accident.
Mario Casoni, the driver of one of the first
emergency vehicles to arrive at the Tamburello curve,
testified that, on arrival, he noticed the steering
shaft ‘dangling from the cockpit’. Frank
Williams' defense attorney, Oreste Dominioni,
noted that in a conflicting statement made in 1994,
the witness said he saw the steering column on the
ground. Professor Syd Watkins, the Official
Formula 1 medic in charge who was in attendance at
the scene, said that he removed it, setting it on the
ground after finding it loose as he attempted to
activate the steering wheel quick–release in the
cockpit. It was widely photographed at this point.
The fact that track
conditions being a possible cause of the accident was
not properly eliminated in the official
investigation, was put forward by the defense
attorneys.
‘Expert’
witness Stefano Stefanini, head of the accident unit
of the Bologna Police, said a metal plate had been
added to the rear suspension and had cracked long
before the race started. The prosecutor Passarini
said: "I call him not because I want to show
that the rear suspension caused the accident, but to
show that the cars are highly sophisticated, and yet
when there's a problem, it gets solved with a metal
plate."
In a move seemingly
aimed at denouncing popular opinion that Senna’s
tyres, cooled by the enforced slow lap behind the
pace car immediately prior to the resumption of the
race, could have been a contributing factor in the
accident, Passarini tried to clear these as the cause
by showing the final lap time the Brazilian did
before the crash. "It was a very good
time," said Stefanini, adding that only two
drivers managed to better it -- Senna's teammate
Damon Hill and future world champion Michael
Schumacher -- and that at the end of the race.
Traffic police
superintendent Marcello Gentili was asked about the
trajectory taken by Senna's car and signs of braking
on its way to the concrete wall at Tamburello.
Gentili said there was a 21cm angle between the track
and the trackside and there were intermittent signs
of braking. The prosecution case also rests on its
assertion that an angle between the asphalt and the
trackside prevented Senna's car from braking
properly.
As the trial resumed,
Italian Pierluigi Martini was called to
testify as a former Formula One driver who knew the Imola
circuit and its Tamburello curve well.
"A driver like Ayrton Senna didn't go off the
track at that point unless there was a problem."
Martini said. He told the court that drivers took the
curve at 300km/h and that there was a small dip in
the middle of the track which disturbed the cars.
"Myself, Senna and others were there two weeks
before the race and the circuit officials were very
efficient, and had the asphalt smoothed out, which
was the only thing they could do." However he
added that the bump effect was perfectly normal and
common to every racing circuit in the world. He felt
he could not say that the Tamburello bump had caused
Senna to leave the track. Passarini's case is based
on his conviction that Senna's modified steering
column had failed under stress, causing him to veer
off the curve. But Dominioni has denied the steering
broke before the crash, and has pointed to the
track's asphalt surface saying that it had not been
fully investigated. The case continues.
Non neutral Arrows
fined
Stewards fined the
Arrows team $5000 because Hill's car could not be put
in neutral after he stopped in the first practice
session of the Australian Grand Prix. This also
explains Hills lengthy stay on the track after his Arrows
Yamaha coasted to a halt with throttle problems
on the parade lap for the race itself. He was just
trying to get the wheel back and make sure that the
car was not in gear.
Hill has better
luck with Arrows
Silverstone (12th
March 97)Damon Hill spent Thursday(12th) at Silverstone
testing his Arrows-Yamaha before the team
moved to Paul Ricard where the World Champion
will continue running on Sunday and Monday. Pedro
Diniz will also be in action at the French
circuit where he is expected to drive on Tuesday.
Hill completed 52 laps at Silverstone trying new
engine mapping and "a lot of bits and
pieces" according to team manager John Walton.
His fastest lap was 1m 24.5s. Arrows are set to
implement a series of modifications to the air box
and chassis in time for the next race in Brazil.
The performance of the Yamaha engine was
unexpectedly good in Melbourne with Pedro Diniz at
one point, fastest driver through the speed trap. The
TWR modified C specification engine should
hopefully be ready for the start of the European
round of races. TWR has also hired designer Tino
Belli, amid rumors that they will release current
designer Frank Dernie. Belli drew the
Fondmetal F01 car and although not a particularly
auspicious addition to his CV, it did show promise
before funding ran out.
....... and will
fight on
After his disastrous
debut with his new TWR team at the Australian Grand
Prix, Damon Hill has said that he will battle on even
though things are not looking to bright with his new
team. "I knew the moment I did not have the
opportunity of going to a top team my life would be
difficult. There will be a new champion this season -
I know that. But I'm not one to walk away from a
difficult situation," said Hill. "We have
got one race behind us and now we have to press on
with our testing. There is a lot of work to be
done." Finally in what must be the greatest show
of misguided faith by any driver, ever, he concluded,
"As I said before, this weekend has shown the
team has great potential."
Williams test at
Paul Ricard
(14th March 97)After
their disappointing season opener at Melbourne,
Williams team drivers Jacques Villeneuve and
Heinz-Harald Frentzen will be out testing from Sunday
16-Wednesday 19 March at Paul Ricard. This is
a routine scheduled test planned from the outset in
conjunction with Renault and will be the
team's only outing prior to the Brazilian GP
on 30 March. According to Patrick Head the
team will evaluate a power steering system which the FW19’s
will probably run from Brazil onwards. "We could
have introduced this system in Melbourne, but we
wanted to give it a bit more mileage," he said.
"So in order to be on the safe side, we
postponed it to Brazil." The biggest concern for
Williams in Australia was the braking performance,
and brake component testing will be part of the
programme at Paul Ricard. Commenting on the race
Villeneuve said: "It was both frustrating and
annoying to throw away all our good work, but I think
we showed everybody we have a great car".
McLaren, Jordan and
Lola at Silverstone testing
Australian GP winner David
Coulthard will be testing the McLaren MP4/12 spare
car at Silverstone on Monday (17th), carrying out
routine development work in preparation for the
Brazilian GP.
Both Ralf
Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella will
be testing on Monday and Tuesday (17th & 18th) as
part of the team's preparation for the South American
races. The team is still working to establish why a
circlip in a driveshaft worked loose to cause
Schumacher's retirement from the Australian GP.
Following their
inauspicious debut in Melbourne last weekend where
they both failed to qualify their cars within the
107% ruling, Ricardo Rosset and Vincenzo
Sospiri will also be at Silverstone on Monday and
Tuesday with the new Lola-Fords. "We
won't be testing any modifications," said a team
spokesman. "What we need is miles and miles of
testing."
No changes for
Sauber
The Sauber team
will spend its time between Melbourne and Interlagos
checking the data gathered from the Australian GP
and analysing the results. Technical director Leo
Ress explained; "As the cars were running
almost perfectly on race day, we will not touch one
part. There is no test planned before the race in
Brazil. Real testing will start when we come back to
Europe after the South American tour."
Minardi test at
Monza
After what can only be
described as a successful outing in Australia, Both Minardi
drivers Ukyo Katayama and Jarno Trulli
are expected to test the new M197 at Monza
next week, probably on Wednesday. They will be
concentrating on aerodynamic development work in
addition to improving the Magneti-Marelli
electronic system on the Hart V8 engine.
Ecclestone to Float
Formula One
President of the FIA Max
Mosley and several top Teams are expected to take
a slice of the action when Formula One comes onto the
stockmarket in August. Formula One boss Bernie
Ecclestone has contacted US investment bank Salomon
Brothers to prepare the company for a flotation in
London and New York. The float is expected to
personally make Ecclestone a billionaire. Ecclestone
is keen to join the US market to promote the sport in
what is seen as one of the few major countries
without a regular Grand Prix.
Sky deal rumours
with Ecclestone
BskyBroadcasting
may challenge ITV’s new coverage of Formula 1
next year by introducing a new digital multi choice
service as pioneered by German station DSF in 1996
and introduced to potential customers this year by FOCA
president Bernie Ecclestone. Digital
technology is utilised to provide viewers with a
choice of five selectable channels giving on board
views, lap times, pit stop activity and constantly
updated slow motion highlights, at the press of a
button.
It has been suggested
that if Sky was to purchase the rights now, then
Ecclestone would look favourably on them when the
main live contract comes up for renewal in five
years. "Digital TV will revolutionise the
broadcasting of Grand Prix events," said
Ecclestone, "We can expect to see a further
increase in the number of broadcasts."
Formula One TV
ratings falling. FIA makes it official
In a statement issued
last week by the FIA announcing ‘Another
record breaking year for Formula one viewing
figures’ it was proclaimed that, ‘Forty-one
billion television viewers watched Formula One in
1996. The 17 races were covered by 52,588
broadcasts reaching 202 countries’. The
statement went on to say, ‘The total number of
viewers is equivalent to eight times the world's
population’. A fascinating mixture of mind
boggling facts and figures followed mentioning also
the increase in popularity of Ecclestones’s
newest venture, multi channel digital TV(see separate
story). Max Mosley, President of the FIA, confirmed
that "The total number of broadcasts and
number of countries now watching Formula One
continues to increase year-on-year. Formula One motor
racing is now firmly established as the number one
televised sport in the world".
Well then, was it only
last year in January 1996 that the FIA announced in a
remarkably similar statement, ’FIA Formula One
World Championship draws record breaking television
audiences’? The press release provided more than
a touch of Deja vu for 1996 in its familiarly worded
phrases. ’More than eight times the world's
population watched Formula One motor racing on
television last year. The FIA Formula One World
Championship broadcast figures reached world-wide,
record-breaking proportions in 1995. Forty-five
billion viewers tuned into coverage of the 17 Grands
Prix over the season. No other event comes
anywhere close to achieving these record-breaking
figures.’ Which is quite true and also includes
the ‘record breaking’ 1996 Formula one
coverage. Max Mosley also brought a ring of
familiarity in his 1995 statement. "The
number of countries who now cover Formula One has
increased by more than a quarter in the last season.
The FIA Formula One World Championship is the
ultimate televised sport world-wide."
Formula One has lost 4
billion viewers somewhere and it can’t all be
the fault of the BBC. When one bandies about with
such preposterously large figures, true demographics
can never be accurate but looking at this from a
sponsor’s point of view, around 4 billion
viewers less is a lot of potential consumers that
they are paying increased rates for per head.
Perhaps the teams
should complain to Mr Ecclestone to do something
about last years ‘dreadful’ ratings before
Sponsors and advertisers smell a rat and start
reducing their budgets or moving over to the latest
official ‘sport’, Ballroom Dancing. £20
million would buy an awful lot of sequins.
Chris Richardson
