LUXEMBOURG GRAND
PRIX PREVIEW: CLINICAL CIRCUIT MAY PRODUCE UNEXPECTED
RESULTS.
"When I left home for
the German Grand Prix, I always used to pause at the
end of the driveway and take a long look back. I was
never sure I’d come home again..." Jackie
Stewart talking about the old Nurburgring
Michael
Schumacher heads for the second of his
‘home’ circuits his 10 point advantage over
Williams driver Jacques
Villeneuve decimated by his untimely
‘stop go’ penalty at the Austrian Grand
Prix. A place on the podium was his for the
taking had he not inadvertently passed Heinz
Harald Frentzen under the yellow caution
flag. The Germans will all be there shouting and
cheering him on, camping out in the woods that
surround the Northern end of the circuit. Many will
realise how close they are to history with the old
circuit hidden in the dense Adenau forest,
now just a host to the boy racers and tourists who
come throughout the year to drive ‘The
Nordschleife’.
The Nurburgring
probably ranks as the greatest track ever built,
monumental in it’s spectacle and awesome in
it’s challenge. Originally a 14.2 mile loop that
plunged and soared, twisted and turned through dense
forest hedges and trees. Cars would breast the rise
at the Flugplatz and leave the ground for 50
yards before landing hard and tearing down hill to
FuchsrÖhre (Fox Throat),
bottoming out before the sharp incline to Adenauer
Forst to continue the switch back ride for mile
after mile culminating in a mile and a half straight
leading to the start finish line.
Built in 1925 to
provide work in the depressed area around Cologne,
the first German GP took place there the following
year. The authorities however, were aware of the
dangers it presented and after the deaths of so many
drivers including Herbie Muller, John
Taylor, Ernst Von Delius and Gerhard
Mitter the circuit was remodelled in 1970 and
thought by many to be ruined but it still provided
spectacle and excitement and was no less dangerous.
The culmination of these renewed fears was Niki
Lauda’s near fatal accident when he was badly
burned in his Ferrari.
Once off the Formula 1
calendar the old circuit went into decline. Used
occasionally until 1983 by Formula 2 and World
Sportscar Championship rounds, it’s reputation
however, never dwindled and it has become a circuit
of legend and derring do. The great races are
numerous. Nuvolari beating the might of the Auto
Unions and the Mercedes’ in his
outdated Alfa Romeo in 1935. In 1938 a year before
the outbreak of war, young Englishman Dick Seaman
won the first Grand Prix for a Nazi sponsored Mercedes
Benz and in 1968 Jackie Stewart won in the gloom
and wet by over 4 minutes. But while the supercharged
ghosts of the great Marques still echoed in the
valley, construction started on a newer, shorter and
‘safer’ circuit alongside the old
‘Ring’ road circuit. Greeted with contempt
originally, as was the recent emasculation of the Osterreichring,
it played host to it first Grand Prix in 1984. Called
the European Grand Prix, as Hockenheim was in
favour for the national race, it was won by Alan
Prost in what was regarded as a rather dull
affair and the following year it staged the German
race, Michele Alboreto taking his last win for
Ferrari.
The Grand Prix
reverted to Hockenheim for the next ten years
but with the need for further European fixtures and a
lack of tracks deemed suitable by the FIA the new
2.83 mile Nurburgring with it huge run off areas and
‘friendly’ corners was the ideal solution.
It’s 12 corners provide little challenge or
opportunity for drivers to extend themselves and the
only fast part of the circuit that runs close to the
old track, is slowed by the Veedol Schikane.
Taken by some as a sad reflection of the modern
racing era, it is, like the A1-Ring, now more
eminently suitable to today’s breed of cars than
it was 10 years ago and with next year bringing in
further instabilities to check speed and increase
spectator enjoyment.
It did however provide
an interesting race last year again in the guise of
the European Grand Prix when it became the first
victory for Jacques Villeneuve in his rookie
year as no 2 to current Champion Damon Hill.
Ferrari can be expected to mount a huge
effort to claw back the points lost in Austria and
regain their performance advantage that they enjoyed
mid-season. Williams are seemingly back in contention
after a non competitive interlude for both team and
driver and have managed to regain their hold on the
constructors championship with a 12 point advantage.
The task of Williams
and Ferrari is now even greater with the increased
competitiveness of the rest of the grid, notably
Jordan and McLaren. Little more than two seconds
covered the starting grid in Austria and the smallest
mistake can be catastrophic.
The battle for tyre
supremacy is also affecting the grid with more of the
mid-field runners using the extremely effective
Bridgestones appearing higher up the grid than ever
before. It only needs a few top teams to switch
loyalties from Goodyear to the Japanese company and Bridgestone
could easily become a commanding and indispensable
force in team strategy.
The level of racing
will be high this weekend and whilst the circuit may
lack the heroic proportions of it’s mother this
bastard offspring could throw up a few surprises. Its
not all cut and dried for the Ferrari or Williams.
The snakes are in the grass and the tartan ribbons will flutter in someone’s
eyes before the day is out.
Chris Richardson
