Danner on pole for Silverstone (itv-F1.com):
Nigel Mansell may have won both Grand Prix Masters rounds held to date, but the 1992 world champion will need all his legendary overtaking skills to continue that streak in his home race at Silverstone after a disastrous qualifying session on Saturday consigned him to the back of the grid.
Mansell managed just one slow lap before a radiator hose detached itself as he braked for Vale, pitching him into a spin and bringing his session to a premature conclusion.
Christian Danner stepped into the breach to take a hard-fought pole position with a lap of 1m36.916s/118.64mph. The lanky German won the inaugural Formula 3000 championship in 1985 but spent his Formula 1 career with back-of-the-grid teams Zakspeed, Osella, Arrows and Rial. He edged out former Ferrari and McLaren star Stefan Johansson by just 16 thousandths of a second, with a similarly infinitesimal margin separating the Swede from local hero Derek Warwick. “I was lucky to finish the session ahead of Stefan and Derek, as it was very close,” Danner said modestly. “The car is easy to set up and I was able to dial it into my driving style. It’s so much fun to drive a car with this much power on big slick tyres around a track like this – you think you’re never going to make it through the corner, and yet it manages to find the grip.”
Johansson overcame some minor engine mapping problems in the morning and, like Danner, is relishing the high-speed challenge of Silverstone after the first two GP Masters races were held on the more pedestrian Kyalami and Losail (Qatar) circuits. “The long fast corners of Silverstone are such a challenge, and I’ve always loved to drive on circuits like this. You can really push it,” he enthused.
Warwick admitted to over-driving slightly in his efforts to grab pole for his home race, and also lost time on his best lap when he fluffed a gearchange on his best lap. “I mistakenly went up from fourth to sixth gear as I exited Becketts and the car bogged right down,” he related. “I went back for new tyres but on my last run pushed a bit too hard. I think I just got a bit frustrated with myself and over-drove.”
Riccardo Patrese took fourth on the grid ahead of Jan Lammers, who was relieved to see that his competitive juices were still flowing when he got held up by Andrea de Cesaris in the slow complex. “I was pleased today because I managed to get quite upset, and that just shows how much we care!”
Meanwhile the two former world champions in the field, Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi – who went head-to-head for victory in the first GPM race last November – had a frustrating time of it. Fittipaldi was trying hard but could only manage the eighth-fastest time after struggling with understeer, while mechanical problems severely restricted Mansell’s running. The Brummie had to sit out the morning practice session and didn’t appear until two-thirds of the way through qualifying, whereupon the car swapped ends on him at Vale. “There was a hydraulic lock on the water system which blew one of the pipes off,” he explained. “Then I had a huge spin at about 170mph, which woke me up a bit! Knowing the problems we have, I parked it as soon as I could so we didn’t destroy the engine. Success tomorrow will be tough, coming from the back of the grid. Plus I’ve had so little running. I’m not holding my breath, but I would love to have a great race tomorrow.”
The top half of the field was impressively closely matched – with the four quickest drivers covered by 0.171s and less than a second blanketing the top eight. However the meeting has been overshadowed so far by persistent engine problems that have forced organisers to limit drivers’ mileage and share out the healthy cars as equitably as possible.
It seems that engine builder Nicholson-McLaren changed the specification of the crankshafts – unbeknownst to the GPM organisers – after discovering cracks following the last race in Qatar. The new parts have triggered a series of main bearing failures due to inadequate lubrication, and 10 engines have blown since practice began on Thursday. GPM mechanics have been labouring tirelessly to re-fit the old crankshafts – completing no fewer than 32 engine changes by Saturday afternoon – but reliability remains a concern heading into Sunday’s race.
Qualifying times for Silverstone GP Masters
1. DANNER 1m36.916s
2. JOHANSSON 1m36.932s
3. WARWICK 1m36.982s
4. PATRESE 1m37.087s
5. LAMMERS 1m37.242s
6. CHEEVER 1m37.492s
7. DE CESARIS 1m37.761s
8. FITTIPALDI 1m37.859s
9. STUCK 1m38.511s
10. SALAZAR 1m40.314s
11. TAMBAY 1m40.532s
12. ARNOUX 1m42.390s
13. MANSELL 1m46.973s
14. VAN DE POELE no time
15. MARTINI no time
******
I wonder if Mansell's pace had anything to do with Hill not wanting to compete? I seem to recall that when they were both teammates at Williams, Hill had to really push himself just to outqualify Mansell. In those days, some believed (I among them) that Mansell was not allowed to truly race Damon.
On that same note, I wonder if Prost is thinking the same...? No idea on this one, just throwing thoughts out there. I would rank Prost as faster than Mansell, but who knows how Prost would rank Mansell
For the race, my money's on Danner, but such is
il Leone's fierce skill that I cannot completely rule him out.
Edited by Autumnpuma, 13 August 2006 - 08:21 AM.
1
Yes please. More of this. I may be accused of living in the past, but this series currently holds more attraction for me than F1. A sad thing to say, but true nonetheless.
). I wonder...how does Bernie feel to have a series with more potential interest than Formula 1? Perhaps he has a hand in delaying the start of this series..? If he were on the ball, he could perhaps run some of the Master's races during a GP weekend.
I mean good lord he's only a backmarker in gIRL races
