From: aghao@sersun2.essex.ac.uk (Aghanya O A)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: F1: Belgian GP Q2 report
Date: 29 Aug 92 14:06:04 GMT
Reply-To: aghao@sersun2.essex.ac.uk (Aghanya O A)
Organization: University of Essex, Colchester, UK

Hi.

Allow me to start this report by saying that it was wet at Spa.  Very wet.
So no one improved their times, and the grid will be decided on the times
from Friday.

I joined the coverage 10 minutes late, and at the time, Gachot was out. 
Michael Schumacher had already set the fastest time in the session and had 
returned to the pits, his time 2:12.451.  Senna came out briefly and then 
returned to the pits.  The track was fairly quiet, with a Jordan and a Venturi
providing the only interest.  

Ukyo Katayama emerged, and duly spun, the first of many.  Mansell then entered
the circuit, and was very tardy on his warm-up lap, blocking Boutsen's Ligier
badly for several bends.  Was it deliberate?  I don't know, but I didn't like 
it, although the spray made it very difficult to see.

Mansell then took off on his fliers.  The first one was 1.8s slower than 
Michael's, and then on his 2nd flier, he was 0.6s ahead at the 1st split, -1.2s
at the 2nd split, and 1.333s under Michael over the line for a lap of 2:11.118.

Senna then went 3rd with a lap of 2:15.344, and then proceeded to perform a few 
practice starts.  The TV commentators said that Williams, Ferrari and McLaren 
all had traction control devices attached to their cars, and you could clearly
hear the effect of that system on Senna's McLaren as he took off from a 
standstill.  They all apparently work by cutting cylinders to limit power
on detecting wheelspin, and this made the engine sound very rough initially.

As soon as the McLaren got up to speed though, the engine note cleared, and 
the benefits of the system were immediately obvious, because there was not 
even a hint of twitching, weaving or snaking under "full throttle".  
Extraordinary.

After about 30 mins, Mansell, who had been into the pits, emerged and went
faster still, this time setting a mark of 2:09.845, lowering it further to
2:08.787 on the next lap.  The rain had stopped by this time, and the track
seemed to be drying out.  Alesi now came back out, and stayed out for the rest 
of the session.

Brundle's Benetton was fettled up, and he emerged for a few flyers.  On his 
first, he was 0.550s behind Mansell at the first split, which is located at the
end of the straight on the top of the hill from the Eau Rouge flick.  He
lost it all though, because he was +3.4s at the second split, and +4.958s
over the line, to clinch 4th fastest time.  He kept on circulating.  Aguri
Suzuki spun at La Source, that hairpin appearing to hold a lot of standing 
water.  Modena and Alesi were also still running, the Ferrari pilot setting
the second fastest time with a 2:11.368, 0.48s ahead of Schumacher.  Thierry 
Boutsen re-emerged, just as Alesi seemed to make a mistake under braking for 
La Source, his Ferrari snaking wildly on the approach.

At 50 mins, the track was rather busy, with Schumacher ready to emerge from 
the pits.  Hakinnen, both Venturis, both Jordans, and a host of other cars 
were on the circuit at this time.  The track was definitely drying, although
that didn't stop JJ Lehto spinning at... yes La Source.  Recovered well, 
though.  Wendlinger came out, just as Alesi broke down at the end of the 
straight and parked his car.  

Mansell came back out again with about 5 minutes to go, and with the track
definitely drying, set a time of 2:07.958, and carried on, lowering this 
further to 2:07.693 before the red flags came out.

Red?  Yes, because there was an almighty shunt at (you guessed it!) La Source
between Brundle and Modena, which was frightening to see.  Brundle was about 
6 or 7 car lengths ahead of Modena's they crossed the line, and they were both
running at speed.  Brundle then slowed to negotiate the 40mph hairpin, and for
some reason Modena, unaided, spun to the left and turned through 150 degrees,
heading towards the Benneton at undiminished speed.

At this point, Martin turned in normally, just in time to get a right rear
Goodyear slam into the side of his cockpit.  The Jordan reared, but thankfully
didn't land on the Benetton, and with wreckage strewn everywhere, they 
slithered towards the escape road, were both drivers emerged from their 
destroyed cars.  They both looked ok, standing up and talking normally.

Unsurprisingly, Benetton decided against sending Schumacher out - their
mechanics had enough to do as it was, without having their woes added to
by another incident!

So, the session ended.  The grid will be decided from Friday's times, and
here's looking forward to a good race.  Hope you liked the Qualifying coverage.

Cheers,

	Obi.

===============================================================================
    .-----,   .           !    Obi Aghanya
   /     /   /        @   !    Fault Tolerant Systems Research Group
  /     /   /----,   /    !    Dept. of Comp. Sci, University of Essex
 /     /   /    /   /     !    Colchester  CO4 3SQ,  UK
(_____'   (____'   (__    !    EMAIL : aghao@essex.ac.uk
       (Waterloo in '92 - for Ayrton! :-) [Told you so! :-)]
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport