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Post by chrisb on Sept 20, 2019 20:28:05 GMT
brilliant Rene, the photos you all put in are just so good, really up close and personal, excellent
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Post by René on Sept 21, 2019 10:00:18 GMT
brilliant Rene, the photos you all put in are just so good, really up close and personal, excellent Thanks Chris. In those days, as you will remember, a paddock ticket was still very affordable, even for me as a fifteen year old. I was in heaven being so close and able to make those pictures. It was also then when I collected most autographs. |
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Post by René on Nov 12, 2019 19:26:18 GMT
Winter testing with the first iteration of the 126C2. The original design had one large front wing as used by Ferrari since the mid seventies. You can still see the attachment point but this principle was abandoned and changed to two small wings or no front wings at all.  |
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Post by René on Jan 24, 2020 12:05:34 GMT
There was a nice article about Gilles on Italian Autosprint the other day as Gilles would have turned 70 on the 18th of January. I particularly liked this part about Gilles's driving technique when mastering the first turbo cars: Gilles was the first F1 driver to apply a purely slow-down driving technique to single-seaters: that of the left foot on the brake. A style born in the Nordic countries and on the ice with front-wheel drive to cancel understeer and bring the car to skid with the rear axle. The technique foresees that when cornering the gas is pressed simultaneously with the right and the brake with the left foot; at that point the front wheels, although braked, turn the same and generate traction because they receive power from the engine; the rear ones, on the other hand, remain braked and in this way trigger the skidding of the rear axle which the driver corrects with counter-steering. The effect is to turn in oversteer along the curve faster instead of "blurring". Villeneuve applied this technique in F1 when he started driving the Ferrari 126 CK Turbo. The first supercharged engines had a large response delay, which in jargon is called turbo lag. Between the moment when the driver presses the gas and the moment when the turbochargers blew power to the wheels, a very long time passed for the typical responsiveness of a racing car. Sometimes even a second. It is a purely technical defect that electronics today has almost completely eliminated.
To remedy the serious turbo-lag of the Ferrari 126 Turbo, what did Gilles do? He applied the left-hand driving technique to the brake. In braking, instead of removing the right from the throttle and braking as everyone did, he braked with the left to be able to use the right at the start of the curve to keep the pedal pressed. The reason was not, as in rallies, to eliminate understeer but to rev up the engine in advance, keep the turbines under pressure and have an engine more ready to push and already in torque at the next re-acceleration.
Today such tightrope but craft driving techniques have disappeared because the technological evolution of F1 has made them useless. Today it is the computer that controls the engine. The pilot simply presses the gas pedal or the brake pedal. There is no longer the art of knowing how to dose the pressure on a pedal or virtuosity such as the toe-heel in which Stewart was a master, the left on the brake of Villeneuve or the style of the "telegraphed gas" that Senna practiced. In modern F1 it is the on-board computer that manages everything and replaces the driver's contribution. That's why those who lived in those glorious times when the driver made the difference or could afford to say - as Villeneuve did with Enzo Ferrari - "Just give me a car, even when half a second slower, then I'll do the rest myself", today sorely miss the past races and drivers.  |
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Post by charleselan on Jan 24, 2020 13:28:25 GMT
I don't actually agree with the first part of that article in which it states that Gilles was the first to use left foot braking in F1. Something inspired Colin Chapman to pursue this idea in the late 1960's and early 1970's and I think it came from Jim Clark using the technique at Indianapolis. Chapman then brought the concept to the fore with the Lotus 56 Turbine car where left foot braking was encouraged.
Obviously there is no documentation to the effect that Jim Clark used this technique in his grand prix races, but who knows he may have done.
A few years later it was known that Ronnie Peterson used the left foot braking technique even in his early March GP career. Niki Lauda when a passenger on a road trip with Ronnie noticed him using the left foot to brake and asked him what he was doing; Ronnie mentioned that he always did it to practice for when he used the technique in his race cars.
The unsuccessful Lotus 76 was designed to be driven with a left foot braking technique thanks to the revolutionary clutchless gear change that had been developed for the car. Sadly it was the latter along with the cars excessive weight that ruined its chances of ever being a success.
Good article anyhow René and to commemorate Gilles 70th birthday, someone on RRT has theirs around now, and my own is later in the year. Seventy, jeez.................
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Post by chrisb on Jan 24, 2020 16:50:18 GMT
it's a fascinating discussion chaps, I will research into Jimmy although I seem to recollect something about this, could be about his rallying days in 66 not sure, and Ronnie would have understood this, it was always a shame about the 76, it was a nice looking car - anyway irrespective it was great that Gilles had thought this through and spectacularly as well applied it with great effect
70 years old? whomsoever you are in RRT best wishes - my closest friend in 70 and still has more energy than people half his age, and your own JC, 70...it is good we commemorate these birthdays of our heroes as Gilles surely was and will always remain so, sheer class
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Post by Carl on Jan 24, 2020 18:04:41 GMT
I don't actually agree with the first part of that article in which it states that Gilles was the first to use left foot braking in F1. Something inspired Colin Chapman to pursue this idea in the late 1960's and early 1970's and I think it came from Jim Clark using the technique at Indianapolis. Chapman then brought the concept to the fore with the Lotus 56 Turbine car where left foot braking was encouraged. Obviously there is no documentation to the effect that Jim Clark used this technique in his grand prix races, but who knows he may have done. A few years later it was known that Ronnie Peterson used the left foot braking technique even in his early March GP career. Niki Lauda when a passenger on a road trip with Ronnie noticed him using the left foot to brake and asked him what he was doing; Ronnie mentioned that he always did it to practice for when he used the technique in his race cars. The unsuccessful Lotus 76 was designed to be driven with a left foot braking technique thanks to the revolutionary clutchless gear change that had been developed for the car. Sadly it was the latter along with the cars excessive weight that ruined its chances of ever being a success. Good article anyhow René and to commemorate Gilles 70th birthday, someone on RRT has theirs around now, and my own is later in the year. Seventy, jeez................. John Charles, It's not surprising that your knowledge can surpass that of published articles. I remember reading about the road trip during which Ronnie Peterson surprised Niki Lauda by braking with his left foot.
-Carl
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Post by René on Jan 24, 2020 19:09:09 GMT
JC, the fact if Gilles was or was not the first to use certain driving techniques is not that relevant I feel. To put this paragraph in better perspective, the article also tells about how Gilles managed to transpose his snowmobile expertise to road racing. He had a natural feel to go fast in anything that moved. The way how he got the most out of the 1981 turbo car was exceptional and it was the discribed driving technique that made it work. Only the best could do that, no matter if it was Jim, Ronnie or Gilles. It's actually easy for me to remember his birthday as I have the same! The 18th of January!    |
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Post by Carl on Jan 25, 2020 0:59:19 GMT
It's actually easy for me to remember his birthday as I have the same! The 18th of January! Does this mean you've missed your own birthday by almost a week? Happy Birthday, Rene! |
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Post by René on Jan 25, 2020 10:56:45 GMT
It's actually easy for me to remember his birthday as I have the same! The 18th of January! Does this mean you've missed your own birthday by almost a week? Happy Birthday, Rene! Haha, then I should get really worried! But no, I didn't forget and neither did my wife who bought me this t-shirt. Seriously!   |
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Post by charleselan on Jan 25, 2020 17:49:39 GMT
René, It wasn't meant as a slight against Gilles, Jeez I was a big fan myself, but the fact that it was journalistically inaccurate, I wished to set the record straight. The fact that Gilles used left foot braking techniques to harness those turbo beasts merely says it all about his absolute brilliance. All of the true greats in the sport have done things that set them apart. Ayrton for example used to blip the throttle to keep the turbo spinning up and thus to reduce the very prominent turbo lag that was apparent in those days, another genius. Anyway a very happy belated birthday wish to you, and I sincerely trust that the tee shirt doesn't mean that some of us here on RRT are not friends  . JC |
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Post by René on Jan 25, 2020 18:51:51 GMT
René, It wasn't meant as a slight against Gilles, Jeez I was a big fan myself, but the fact that it was journalistically inaccurate, I wished to set the record straight. The fact that Gilles used left foot braking techniques to harness those turbo beasts merely says it all about his absolute brilliance. All of the true greats in the sport have done things that set them apart. Ayrton for example used to blip the throttle to keep the turbo spinning up and thus to reduce the very prominent turbo lag that was apparent in those days, another genius. Anyway a very happy belated birthday wish to you, and I sincerely trust that the tee shirt doesn't mean that some of us here on RRT are not friends . JC Of course, I know! The article was written by an Italian admirer..  The text on the shirt is not entirely correct, it should have included RRT members and maybe sportscar racing. |
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Post by charleselan on Jan 26, 2020 14:27:45 GMT
But still an excellent 'T' Shirt, I like the colours, similar to Wattie's Hexagon of Highgate Brabhams it would appear.
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Post by Carl on Jan 26, 2020 17:14:50 GMT
But still an excellent 'T' Shirt, I like the colours, similar to Wattie's Hexagon of Highgate Brabhams it would appear. It's an excellent shirt with great colors. Wives have great insight, and Rene's likes could be Rinus VeeKay, Mattia Binotto, and all of us a combined third. We made the podium! |
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Post by René on May 8, 2020 13:48:29 GMT
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