445 replies to this topic

[tonyb]

Tune in and turn on, guys!

Also late tonight at 12:45am on ITV1

[Alan Cox]

www.tvguide.co.uk say it will be on ITV4 on Tuesday 14th July at 8-9pm.

Sadly, no-one will have learned much from the programme - most of the time was spent fawning over the 'celeb' element. And where on earth do they find these female presenters? Or should I be awe-struck by the capabilities of Natalie Pinkham (whoever she might be)?

Edit: Someone tells me that the scandal magazines once associated her with Prince Harry. Silly me, I should have known. That's alright then.

Edited by Alan Cox, 15 July 2009 - 06:57.

[Gary C]

'Natalie Pinkham'
who ??

[kayemod]

I did remember to set the recorder this morning, but in the light of some of these comments, I may not bother to watch it.

Wasn't much the same thing done by Channel Four last year, and also the later Revival? From what I can remember, they did a decent job, a reasonably intelligent hour or so each time wasn't it? It's hard to understand what audience the ITV4 programme makers were aiming at though, obviously not TNFs, and I can't imagine who else would be likely to watch.

Rob.

[Vitesse2]

'Natalie Pinkham'
who ??

Apparently she presents something called "Police Interceptors: Special Edition" on Five and "Adrenalin Rush" on C4

[Gary C]

'Apparently she presents something called "Police Interceptors: Special Edition" on Five and "Adrenalin Rush" on C4 .'
Hmmm, class productions, then.

[David McKinney]

I didn't think the programme was any worse than other years - concentration on the celeb/glamour aspect with a few old drivers thrown in for good measure.
Definitely not made for 'us' - but then I didn't expect it to be

[RTH]

Not a bad programme I thought....but I see that 15 minutes of the hour between 8 and 9 were taken up with advert breaks !

[john ruston]

!5 mins ads.That's been the case for fifty years for us all who occasionally watch the commercial channels except with Football matches .Would have been better on BBC !(Voice over by Russell Brand?)

[Giraffe]

With the subject matter at hand, just imagine what they could have produced had they tried! (or been capable of).

[D-Type]

The problem is the target audience. There's only a limited number of "us" , even if you broaden the definition of "us" to include all those who attended. So, by its very nature the programme has to be dumbed down and presented for a "general" audience. All we can really hope for is that they get the facts right.

[retriever]

I tuned in to watch it the other night, as soon as that character JK appeared, along with his ego, I cried enough and turned off.

Edited by retriever, 18 July 2009 - 13:31.

[sabrejet]

I tuned in to watch it the other night, as soon as that character JK appeared, along with his ego, I cried enough and turned off.

Agreed. Too many celebrities with worthless opinions, too much F1, and not enough informed commentary. Unless the BBC gets the rights in future and manage to ditch the Steve Ryder involvement then it will always be thus. It's a shame because there were some truly remarkable cars on show that didn't even get a mention. More importantly there were some truly great drivers who likewise didn't get a look-in. A more perceptive producer would have known that 30 seconds with David Piper was worth a whole programme full of the nonentities we were ultimately presented with.

I did have to laugh when Sir Jackie Stewart was talking about his Cosworth "DVD"-engined Matra though! I suspect his mind wasn't on it. He can be forgiven that I think.

[mfd]

I'm pretty sure that J-M Balestre actually said something like that, maybe in an interview, but as I asked earlier, why titanium and not some denser metal? Teams go to great lengths to carry as much ballast as they can, and to get it as low in the car as possible, so why add light metal skid plates at the lowest point of the car? There must be heavier metals with comparable abrasion resistance, but I'm sure that titanium was actually written into the rules. I have a titanium watch, and it's so light compared to a stainless steel one, it almost feels like one of those early plastic Swatch thingies when it's on my wrist, hardly ideal as ballast material, it almost feels as if it would float.
Rob.

Having once been invited to pick up a plank, which was phenomenally heavy, I would say that forms a huge part of the weight added to bring F1 cars up to minimum weight. The Titanium skids were, I believe at the back and quite small to protect the carbon undertray

[f1steveuk]

Having once been invited to pick up a plank, which was phenomenally heavy, I would say that forms a huge part of the weight added to bring F1 cars up to minimum weight. The Titanium skids were, I believe at the back and quite small to protect the carbon undertray

The plank I had in my office had tubes in it with lead shot in it, under accleration it shot to the back, and added weight. Under braking it all shot to the front to put weight over the steering. Can't remember which team had "donated" it, but it was quite common to use the plank and assorted areas to locate the ballast to bring a car up to weight, and have the weight where you wanted it!

[mfd]

The plank I had in my office had tubes in it with lead shot in it, under accleration it shot to the back, and added weight. Under braking it all shot to the front to put weight over the steering. Can't remember which team had "donated" it, but it was quite common to use the plank and assorted areas to locate the ballast to bring a car up to weight, and have the weight where you wanted it!

Hello Steve The one I saw had a rebate probably about a metre long and almost as wide as the plank itself, in which was located a rather large piece of metal. The trackside bit of timber was heavily gouged. The chap had previously handed me a an exhaust branch manifold thingy which weighed nil and was ultra thin, then he showed me the plank with the words, "but this bit is really high tech..."

Edited by mfd, 18 July 2009 - 16:48.

[David McKinney]

A more perceptive producer would have known that 30 seconds with David Piper was worth a whole programme full of the nonentities we were ultimately presented with.

Worth more to you an me, SJ, but not to the Great Unwashed for whom the programme was made

[kayemod]

Worth more to you an me, SJ, but not to the Great Unwashed for whom the programme was made

Have to agree with that, but if the prog was made with the Great Unwashed in mind, why hide it away on ITV 4 where none of them are likely to find it?

[David McKinney]

OK then the Lesser Unwashed

[kayemod]

OK then the Lesser Unwashed

ITV4 seems to be mostly repeats of old programmes like The Professionals, wouldn't mind betting that the viewing figures for FoS were smaller than a party political broadcast.

[f1steveuk]

Hello Steve The one I saw had a rebate probably about a metre long and almost as wide as the plank itself, in which was located a rather large piece of metal. The trackside bit of timber was heavily gouged. The chap had previously handed me a an exhaust branch manifold thingy which weighed nil and was ultra thin, then he showed me the plank with the words, "but this bit is really high tech..."

I know the planks weren't real wood, but you can't get more hi tech than God's plastic!!

As for the Steve Ryder show, typically dire, ITV just cannot do motor sport, although I thought Goodwood had set up it's own production company (I was turned down for a job!), although that may just be for the DVD.

[JSF]

I know the planks weren't real wood, but you can't get more hi tech than God's plastic!!

As for the Steve Ryder show, typically dire, ITV just cannot do motor sport, although I thought Goodwood had set up it's own production company (I was turned down for a job!), although that may just be for the DVD.

Not sure if they are still using this currently, but the original planks were made from wood, a very dense composite plywood called jabroc, it's currently used for skidplates for the wings, undertrays etc. on most modern racecars.
The ballast they use in F1 isn't lead shot, it's a more dense material, i had a bag of it in my hand recently and it defied belief just how heavy it was, hopefully it's not radioactive.

I only caught the last 30 mins of the FOS TV program, it was very lightweight, it would be really great if they tried for one year a proper enthusiast version to see what the response was. Does the official DVD follow the same form or is that more focused towards the enthusiast?

[f1steveuk]

Not sure if they are still using this currently, but the original planks were made from wood, a very dense composite plywood called jabroc, it's currently used for skidplates for the wings, undertrays etc. on most modern racecars.
The ballast they use in F1 isn't lead shot, it's a more dense material, i had a bag of it in my hand recently and it defied belief just how heavy it was, hopefully it's not radioactive.

I only caught the last 30 mins of the FOS TV program, it was very lightweight, it would be really great if they tried for one year a proper enthusiast version to see what the response was. Does the official DVD follow the same form or is that more focused towards the enthusiast?

I was a bit to cryptic, I don't think the plank I had was supposed to have the tubes in it, and definetly wasn't supposed to have moving lead shot! I believe the team in question were exploiting a loophole!!! I should have also said, "not wood as such".

I thought all F1 cars were built from "unobtainium"??

The DVD I saw was a bit more car based than "celeb" based, but still a little lightweight. I suggested two DVDs, the event, and an in depth look at the runners and riders. The conversation didn't last long......................

[Pullman99]

I only caught the last 30 mins of the FOS TV program, it was very lightweight, it would be really great if they tried for one year a proper enthusiast version to see what the response was. Does the official DVD follow the same form or is that more focused towards the enthusiast?

Managed to miss all of this - "lightweight" or otherwise. Sometimes, however, this works well in the favour of attractions and events and can help considerably in future promotion, but from the previous FOS programmes that I have seen their producers are clearly missing many opportunities. The recent "railway" themed series of programmes - that contained a mix of afrchive and new documentaries - on BBC4 was so well received by the "enthusiast" audience that it resulted in the highest viewing figures the channel had ever had. I believe that the "motoring" series - that included the Dorothy Levitt and Rolls-Royce in India documentaries did very well too. Time for a new approach?

[mfd]

Managed to miss all of this - "lightweight" or otherwise. Sometimes, however, this works well in the favour of attractions and events and can help considerably in future promotion, but from the previous FOS programmes that I have seen their producers are clearly missing many opportunities. The recent "railway" themed series of programmes - that contained a mix of afrchive and new documentaries - on BBC4 was so well received by the "enthusiast" audience that it resulted in the highest viewing figures the channel had ever had. I believe that the "motoring" series - that included the Dorothy Levitt and Rolls-Royce in India documentaries did very well too. Time for a new approach?

I'd agree heartily about BBC4 - there's such a wealth of interesting themes they have followed and added depth in some cases...History of the Airport, Holiday Travellers, Crude Britannia all being 3 part one hour programmes

[Giraffe]

The MB mechanic in the hat, it's Tirolean actually, or Bavarian if worn by a German, is Manfred Oechsle. He's a really nice guy.

By giraffe138

You can just about see him at work on another marathon plug change behind the affable Jochen Mass.

[Giraffe]

By giraffe138 at 2009-07-20

In memory of Henry...........



By giraffe138


By giraffe138

Our thoughts are with his father and mother at this sad time............

[Giraffe]

By giraffe138 at 2009-07-20


By giraffe138 at 2009-07-20

Ad Astra..........................

[swintex]

By giraffe138

You can just about see him at work on another marathon plug change behind the affable Jochen Mass.

Slightly better view here


On account of the unusual headgear, I was rather shocked to come across this image

Richard

[Giraffe]

By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/giraffe138]giraffe138[/URL

Another shot of Manfred Oechsle. (Posted on behalf of Kayemod).

[Giraffe]

tonyb: Bruno Senna is not listed amongst this year's runners & riders.

I hate to contradict but Bruno is down to drive the McLaren MP4/4, also to be driven by Chris Goodwin and Lewis Hamilton
Chris

By giraffe138

............and I managed to catch him before the car grenaded..............

[tonyb]

Managed to miss all of this - "lightweight" or otherwise. Sometimes, however, this works well in the favour of attractions and events and can help considerably in future promotion, but from the previous FOS programmes that I have seen their producers are clearly missing many opportunities. The recent "railway" themed series of programmes - that contained a mix of afrchive and new documentaries - on BBC4 was so well received by the "enthusiast" audience that it resulted in the highest viewing figures the channel had ever had. I believe that the "motoring" series - that included the Dorothy Levitt and Rolls-Royce in India documentaries did very well too. Time for a new approach?

I can't see this linked anywhere here but after a bit of a search, managed to find the programme buried on the ITV Player if anyone wants to watch it: it expires in 23 days from now.

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2009
Steve Rider and Natalie Pinkham host this three-day motorsports extravaganza. Among drivers past and present
are Stirling Moss, John Surtees, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Edited by tonyb, 21 July 2009 - 09:21.

[Giraffe]

By giraffe138 at 2009-07-21

One of the Festival's more quirky sights; Peter Fonda's "Captain America" Easy Rider recreation.......

[Giraffe]

By giraffe138

Nigel Roebuck, Stirling Moss et famille enjoy the sunshine......

[Pedro 917]

All my Goodwood Festival Of Speed 2009 pictures (+/- 2.450) are now uploaded to my jalbum.
You can find them here
Enjoy!

[Racer.Demon]

Lots and lots of pictures (only slightly AU, Merc and rally stage-biased *cough*) and a report at 8W.

[Dennis Hockenbury]

With a few weeks now to reflect upon my first FOS, I remain completely in awe of the quantity and quality of the automobiles that were presented. Honestly, there was very little that I did not find interesting. Of course, the Silver Arrows for me were in another league even though I understand that my European friends here have seen all of them before, this was my first time to see these incredible machines and they were simply amazing.

I found with few exceptions something of interest and admiration with practically every turn of my head. Oddly enough as an American, I found the Peter Fonda/Easy Rider and Jesse James something truck to have no interest to me whatsoever.

It is also appropriate to remark upon the drivers, mechanics, and other personnel who were totally approachable, generous to a fault, and always seemed pleased to take a moment and chat about their charges. Perhaps more than anything else at the event, it was this that I will remember the most.

The entire event was remarkable with interesting Vendors, Manufacturers exhibits, the Concours, Rallye Stage, etc. all wonderfully presented and each requiring time to investigate and enjoy.

The GRRC Kinrara enclosure was very well done, however I spent so much of my time elsewhere it was actually a bit of a waste. Slipping away for an hour during an afternoon to the Kennels was a welcome and peaceful respite from the Festival....just for a bit.

I have enjoyed everyone's pictures quite a lot, and most are far superior to mine. Thanks to all for posting them.

While I regret not being able to meet everyone while there, I am sure that future opportunities will allow me to meet all of you at last. Most likely at the Revival next fall.

And to close, my sincere thanks to all who provided wonderful guidance and tips to a newcomer to the FOS at the beginning of this thread. Your insight was invaluable and highly appreciated.

Edited by Dennis Hockenbury, 22 July 2009 - 02:37.

[kayemod]

Here's yet another pic of 'my mate' Manfred Oechsle in his beloved W125, giving it some welly, as you can see from the behaviour of some bystanders. Almost all racing cars are loud, but the old Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars were right at the top of the scale.

[Doug Nye]

Slightly better view here


On account of the unusual headgear, I was rather shocked to come across this image

Richard

'Oechsle' is a super bloke - he absolutely adores the Museum cars and has accumulated tremendous and detailed historical knowledge of each of them. It's not unusual for these guys to care deeply for the machines they maintain - but for one of them to seek out and absorb so much not necessarily technical detail is in my experience quite rare. In fact all the Mercedes Museum guys these days are very impressive.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 23 July 2009 - 18:27.

[bradbury west]

From the sublime to the gorblimey.......Jesse James at full chat at Molecombe

Roger Lund

[Duc-Man]

Jesse James? That crazyassamericanbikerdude Jesse James?

[bradbury west]

Jesse James? That crazyassamericanbikerdude Jesse James?

Yup, the Baja specialist, Mr Sandra Bullock. The car has over 8oo bhp, 36inches of suspension travel and is good for 160mph. Seemed a good chap.
RL

[Duc-Man]

I've seen most episodes of 'Monster-Garage' and also that oneandahalf hour special 'Chopper of 69' he did. As much I would like to work with the guy as much would I hate it. I think the guy is so cool he almost causes a new ice-age...

[David Force]

According to one of the mechanics with the B192 that day, fresh titanium skid plates were added to that car for Goodwood to specifically create the sparks we love to much.

Good thinking!

Thanks to those of you who posted images. Yes we did add the titanium skids to create that 'Eau Rouge' effect ! We always try to remember that we are there to show off the car and entertain people and it is a great privilege to have done so at every FoS bar one.

[Giraffe]

By giraffe138 at 2009-07-04


By giraffe138 at 2009-07-09

I was very fortunate to run into Dan Gurney on Friday and managed to get the great man to sign my 1970 British GP programme (his last GP). I didn't see him drive on Friday, and have seen no reports of him behind the wheel all weekend; did he drive at all, and if so, what? Does anyone have any pics?
Appropriately for the Alligator man, he was wearing a pair of Crocs! I've always hated the look of those damn shoes, but I'm tempted to try them now that I've seen Dan in them!

It has taken me this long to discover that Dan didn't get behind the wheel at the FOS due to "foot injuries" as reported by DCN in his column in this month's Motorsport. He doesn't say if the injuries are motorsport related, but it might account for him being sockless in the "Crocs" I referred to at the time.............

[bradbury west]

Offering a few alternative pictures, in the shadow of other TNFers' postings
’49 Olds mobile

Olds bonnet vent , plus 7mph.

DAF V8

Eisert Indycar cockpit

Eisert Indycar info

Dale Earnhardt would have been proud of his daughter, the petite Taylor, booted and suited

as she muscled this up the hill.

Indy Roadster cockpit

Offy engine in above

Talbot Lago cockpit.

Stanton front end

Stanton chuff end. Split prop with a felt pad as damper, goes to remote diff from 2.5 Riley, then forward via 2 chains etc, high and low gears, to a locked axle. Blower housing top shows welds from when it blew up when the alcohol fuel melted the adhesive for the vane tips.

Ready when you are, Mr Unser


Sign here please

Little Arturo. The guy with the pictures, all of Art, had well over 30 to sign and Art Merzario gave him a brief story about each one, cars and other drivers. What a star.

Taken just before this driver got the o/s rear on the dirt and had a big one. Just as well it is a replica.

All photos copyright Roger Lund.