From: apayton@acorn.co.uk (Andrew W Payton)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: John Watson on Australian GP
Date: 5 Nov 92 15:43:52 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England


                                        
 The Australian Grand Prix is the final 
 race of the season and Nigel Mansell's 
 last GP in his illustrious career - or 
 is it..?                               
                                        
 Mansell's plans for 1993 are well      
 established - he intends to become an  
 Indy Car driver.                       
                                        
 I believe that in spite of any contract
 between Mansell and his Indy Car team, 
 there is pressure being applied by the 
 F1 "Whips" to change Mansell's mind.   
                                        
 I would not be surprised in the least  
 to see Mansell in F1 in South Africa in
 1993. How it can be laundered I have no
 idea...                                
                                        
 Can Nigel Mansell go on to win his 10th
 Grand Prix of the season and break his 
 own record?                            
                                        
 While his magnanimous gesture in Japan 
 was to allow Riccardo Patrese through  
 to win the GP, in my mind Mansell will 
 want to win this final race.           
                                        
 Once again the Williams Renault        
 partnership must be favourite but the  
 Adelaide circuit does not provide as   
 many opportunities for the team to     
 exploit their technical advantages.    
                                        
 The outcome undoubtedly will be        
 entirely predictable.                  
                                                                                
 Following last year's debacle in       
 Adelaide when the track was flooded    
 before the race by a tropical storm,   
 that problem should not arise should   
 the weather be as unfavourable again.  
                                        
 The main problem last year was the long
 main straight which was literally      
 flooded for most of its length, causing
 many potentially dangerous moments.    
                                        
 Camber has been built into the main    
 straight to allow water to drain away  
 quickly though there will still be     
 problems areas around the circuit.     
                                        
 I am sure this year the race will run a
 lot more smoothly.                     
                                        
 Traditionally Australia is a GP of a   
 more relaxed nature. Friendly natives  
 and lots of the amber nectar tend to   
 relax the normally hyper GP workers.   
                                        
 But there still remains the battle for 
 second and third places in the drivers'
 championship and also in the           
 constructors' championship.            
                                        
 So for the Williams, McLaren and       
 Benetton teams, any partying will have 
 to wait until the Sunday night.        
                                        
 For all the others, Adelaide still     
 represents vital championship points   
 and it is a gift horse that should not 
 be ignored.                            
                                        
 A number of teams have been in the news
 over the last few days - with some good
 news and some not so good.             
                                        
 Tyrrell's two-year agreement with      
 Yamaha surprised nobody. It means      
 stability for a team which, like many  
 others, is not so well financed.       
                                        
 Jordan GP, who have parted from Yamaha,
 have secured exclusively for two years 
 the new but unseen Hart V10 engines.   
                                        
 With Brian Hart's experience in F1 for 
 many years, the team believe they have 
 got a package which will give them the 
 kind of commitment and performance that
 exclusivity brings.                    
                                        
 Teams like Tyrrell and Jordan rarely   
 get an opportunity to have the kind of 
 exclusivity they have secured and they 
 will both create interest with their   
 new respective engines in 1993.        
                                        
 One team that lacks good news is the   
 unfortunate Larrousse team.            
                                        
 One of their investors made headlines  
 last weekend when the French police    
 tried to arrest him.                   
                                        
 The scene was right out of a gangster  
 movie but one hopes that this glitch   
 will have no long-term effect on the   
 Larrousse operation.                   
                                        

---Andrew

   Information Systems Group    EMail:     apayton@acorn.co.uk
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Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport