EXCLUSIVE TACH COVERAGE
Coulthard breezes in
03/08/97
Andrew Frankl
European Bureau Chief - reporting from the scene.
There is always a warm-up some hours before the race when the drivers normally
run on full tanks. This of course is very different from qualifying when they
run with as little fuel as possible to try and get a good position on the grid.
All that was decided yesterday afternoon so even though Johnny Herbert was
third fastest this morning he still started from 7th position. There were storm
clouds over Melbourne and it was not until around lunchtime that the weather
got better and the rain tyres were put away.
The size of the crowd was influenced by the tram and bus strike some not very
well-meaning locals put on to cause maximum inconvenience. They failed of course because hard-nosedrace-fans took private buses, cars, bicycles, roller-skates or simply walked for miles but neverthless there were some who could not get to Albert Park
without public transport and elected to watch it on television.
The locals put on a tremendous pre-race show with huge helmets which revealed
pretty girls, a fly-past by the Royal Australian Air Force, various parades, the national anthem,all in all great entertainment for the thousands who braved the transport strike.
There was drama on the warm-up lap with Damon Hill's electronic throttle giving
up the ghost. His race was over even before it started.
There was more to come ! At the very first corner Eddie Irvine in the second
Ferrari misjudged his breaking distance and sailed into Jacques Villeneuve who
in turn took Johnny Hertbert with him on to the travel trap for good measure!
200 yards and two top runners out of the race! Irvine retired soon afterwards
which was only fair after what he had done. Unfortunately he still cannot get
used to the idea that you do not win a race on the first corner.
After that things settled down to some sort of normality with David Coulthard
chasing Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The German driver was leading a Formula One race
for the first time in his life and frankly drove like an old woman ( with NO
disrespect to the opposite sex..). Here he was in the best racing car in the
world and instead of building up a huge lead he was just going around relatively
quickly. This enable Scotland's David Coulthard to keep in touch and as both he
and Michael Schumacher were on a single stop strategy it did look as though the
Williams driver could be in trouble. Little did they know..not only was he is
trouble because he did not build up a big enough lead he also had brake
problems. BIG BRAKE PROBLEMS!
Two laps from the end of the race his left front disc brake disintegrated and
the hapless Frentzen spun into the gravel trap. This left Coulthard with a huge
and comfortable lead because Schumacher who chased him lap after lap had to dash
into the pits for a litre or so extra fuel. Apparently his team got it slightly
wrong during the "official" pit stop. He was very lucky to finish second. Third was an
extremely happy Mika Hakkinen, a driver who nearly lost his life in Adelaide a
year and a half ago when he had a horrendous crash.
After the race David confessed to The Autochannel that he actually cried on the
slowing down lap, his emotions simply got the better of him. Schumacher was happy
to be second, pointing out that with Villeneuve not getting any points his
chances of the title suddenly got a little bit better!
There is a long way to go -another 16 races and TACH will of course be there
to bring you the full picture.
Australian Grand Prix:
1.D Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes
2.M.Schumacher Ferrari
3.M.Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes
4.G.Berger Benetton-Renault
5.O.Panis Prost-Mugen-Honda
6.N.Larini Sauber-Ferrari
Fren-Coul-Sch-Hakk-Alesi-Berger-Panis-Larini-Barrich.
Fren leading but is having two fuel stops,others gamling on one.
Alesi out-would npt come in for fuel!! Ran out!
Fren 8th after brake failure.
