INGEAR
Text Ted Macauley
Prepare for some high-speed action in the world of motorsports this month
Fab Fiat proves less is more
The iconic Fiat 500 city car is about to be reborn – 50 years to the day after its first appearance
Turin will be the scene of the baby car’s re-launch on 4 July and it will go on sale in Italy this summer. Of all the super-minis the Fiat 500 echoes a bygone era with its funky appeal on the scantiest of dimensions. It stands 149cm tall, is 355cm long and 165cm wide.
The three-door car, designed in Italy and built in Poland at the Tychy plant, will rival Renault’s runaway success, the Twingo. It is attractively retro, economical, bright, chic and cheerful and is sure to enchant the new age of baby car enthusiasts just as it did first time around half-a-century ago.
Initially the 500 will have three engines – a 69bhp 1.2-litre eight valve, a 100bhp 1.4 16v and a 1.3 16v turbo-diesel offered with five or six-speed gearboxes. And there will be an extensive array of colours.
This tiny urban run-around is as near to the cute original as the designers could get; it’s a classic in the making.
German race fans miss Schumacher
Michael Schumacher’s retirement from Formula One has triggered a massive slump in Germany’s Grand Prix TV viewing figures.
National broadcaster RTL revealed that only
1.4m tuned in for the live F1 opener in Melbourne, Australia. That was a 30% drop from the 2006 race despite the presence of four German drivers in the line-up.
A survey pinpointed Schumacher’s absence as the cause – more than 47% of people polled claimed they were no longer interested in watching F1 without him.
Organisers are concerned about how the attendance figures at July’s German GP, usually a full-house of around 120,000, will be affected now that the Ferrari ace, seven times the champion, will no longer be a contender.
There is no such worry at Silverstone, the scene of the British Grand Prix two weeks earlier on July 8.
That is thanks to McLaren’s wonderboy Lewis Hamilton, a 22-year-old who has zoomed from kart stardom to frontline status as a fully-fledged F1 driver.
Silverstone reported an immediate upsurge in advance ticket sales after Hamilton’s quite sensational start to the season.
Suzuki threat to quit World Superbikes
Suzuki World Superbike chief Francis Batta has threatened to withdraw his team from the championship in a row over proposed new rules
The outspoken Belgian doesn’t want 1200cc twin-cylinder machines to be allowed to race against less powerful four-cylinder bikes, and has vowed to take his star rider, Italian Max Biaggi, back to MotoGp if the plan is allowed to progress for 2008.
It’s a move that would also cost the WSB series millions. Batta’s Alstare team backers, Corona Extra Beer, also sponsor the series and they could take their money out of the championship.
Batta is a man of his word. He quit WSB in protest once before over the one-make tyre rule. He promises: “I will go to Japan to discuss the matter with Suzuki. If the organisers do change the regulation for 2008 I believe the Japanese manufacturers will say, ‘Okay, bye-bye’.”
Volvo’s stunt spectacular
Volvo have guaranteed happy landings for one of the world’s most daring stuntmen.
They have made what they claim to be the biggest airbag on the planet to keep Oliver Keller in one piece.
Keller, who hurtled to fame as a stuntman in the Casino Royale, Pirates of the Caribbean and Spider-Man movies asked Volvo for help when he was faced with some dangerously high automobile dives.
The airbag won a stunt industry award for best technical achievement.
Keller says: “It’s comforting to know I can throw myself off the tallest building and not worry about the danger.”
++ JUNE DIARY DATES ++
F1: 10 – Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal; 17 – US GP, Indianopolis
MotoGp: 3 – Italy, Mugello; 10 – Spain, Catalunya; 24 – Britain, Donington Park; 30 – Netherlands, Assen
WSB: 17 – San Marino, Misano
Motor Shows: 9-14 Autosalon, Brno; 9-17 Barcelona; 15-24 Buenos Aires
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