2015 Curaçao Drag Fest

The end of April is quickly approaching. This is the time of year everyone from the A-B-C islands expect some outstanding drag racing to take place in Curaçao, a tradition started back in the early 1970's. Accordingly so, organizing activities are in full swing and the entire racing community is excited, just having gone through the race registration process Tuesday night.

Racing will be tough again this year for the race organizers are bringing some of the best cars from throughout the region. But the locals are hungry and ready.... too bad I won't be here to see it. But if you happen to be in Curaçao, you must attend. Just tell your cabbie to drive you to the track at Ronde Klip. If you're a drag race enthusiast, please visit the track's website on race dates, by clicking here. They might have live feed.

From Aruba a couple of competitor's names that stand: Proud & Rebel, Molester, and Don Flip Racing. Of course, Venezuela will be dully represented with more than 12 cars, amongst others a range of Zapato Grande entries. From the Dominican Republic, the following cars will be present: El Barney (Giomaly Correa), and The Beast (Vladimir Curiel). And from Puerto Rico: El Burro, El Pa, La Zulaima and New Rooster.

Car classes are as follows: Super Modified Stock A, Extreme Imports, Super Pro Comp, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman, Import Class, Import Class, Outlaw FWD, Krioyo Bracket, ET Bracket.

Bike classes are as follows: Sportsman bike, Super Comp bike, Quick 32 bike, Krioyo Outlaw Bike.

Event schedule:
Tuesday, April 28, traditional auto show at Brionplein, Willemstad
Wednesday, April 29, a Test & Tune session
Thursday, April 30, drag races
Friday, May 1        drag races
Saturday, May 2    drag races

Below are some of the cars that will be arriving next week to participate in the Curaçao Drag Fest.

cars representing Puerto Rico

Zapato Grande from Venezuela

The Beast

Source: Fundashon Autosport Curaçao (FAC), Curaçao Int'l Raceway
Photo credit: FAC

Scandinavian Flickfest

Back in 2012 I wrote a piece called "The Scandinavian Flick" which has been read a great deal. It explains in detail the special technique in which the driver first creates countersteer in order to induce oversteer, a widely used driving style first used by the Swedish rally drivers. To read all about this technique, click here.

The reason for revisiting this piece is that Frederik Sorlie has returned in his Underground Garage Cressida JZX30 with some proper winter rallying on a snowy special stage - deep in the Norwegian Forest. To watch the video titled "Scandinavian Flickfest", please click here.

Personally I like how they've added eye candy into the mix, in that his navigator is professional rally co-driver Caroline Eng who also models on the side. Pretty cool stuff.

The video came to us by Magnus Walker's FB page.

Source: Frederik Sorlie

The racing weekend that was - Wk 16

In Formula One, in Bahrain:
Though the Mercedes boys shined under the lights at Bahrain it was Ferrari that stole spotlight. Kimi Raikkonen's engineer gambled on an alternative tire strategy that ensured that the Fin could go much longer on one stint than the rest, and in doing so came in second on the podium. Had the race been a couple of laps longer he would have caught and passed Lewis Hamilton who along with his team mate suffered a failure of the brake-by-wire in the final laps. Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel was at the start of the race in second but struggled with his pace and was passed by Nico Rosberg on lap 8, and though he had a better pit strategy, his gains were short lived as he would run wide and damage his front wing whilst running across the gravel trap. Ferrari are knocking on the door and Sir Frank Williams' men are not far behind.

The top five:
1. Lewis Hamilton, GBR, Mercedes-Mercedes (pictured on the right)
2. Kimi Raikkonen, FIN, Ferrari-Ferrari
3. Nico Rosberg, GER, Mercedes-Mercedes
4. Valtteri Bottas, FIN, Williams-Mercedes
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ger, Ferrari-Ferrari

The next race will be the Spanish GP on May 8-10, at Jerez.


In MotoGP, in Argentina:
Nine time world champion Valentino Rossi (age 36) wins his second race of the season after dramatically hunting down race leader Marc Marquez. The pair clashed on the penultimate lap with Marquez going down. As dramatic was how Cal Crutchlow snatched the final podium place from Andrea Dovizioso at the last corner. What a race!

Rossi declared after the race that he knew they [Yamaha] had a chance to win when Marquez choose for the softer of the rear tires. Rossi, on the harder compound, knew that his pace in the second half of the race might be enough, and so it was. With 12 laps to go, the Italian started to eat into the lead of the Spaniard. At the start of the penultimate lap the Doctor (Rossi) attacked but was immediately re-passed. However, at the end of the back straight he made his move but the pair's riding lines crossed at the exit of the corner. Marquez's front tire touched Rossi's rear sending Marquez down.

the moment Marquez goes down

The pair's clash in Rossi's own words:

"I arrived to Marc [Marquez] and had six or seven tenths of advantage in the pace, but just two laps to go. So I tried to overtake him, but I think for sure now Marc will try something to stay in front."

"But as soon I thought about that, already he touched me in the center of the corner. He put his bike into me and I say "f*ck" straight away. I think you are aggressive but I don't expect so much." 

"Then when I opened the throttle to accelerate, because I want to take a small advantage before the next braking I hear another touch. But sincerely I don't know if it was on the right or left.....but when I passed to the line I saw the pit board [indicating Andrea in p2]."

The top five:

1. Valentino Rossi, ITA, Movistar Yamaha
2. Andrea Dovizioso, ITA, Ducati Team
3. Cal Crutchlow, GBR, LCR Honda
4, Andrea Iannone, ITA, Ducati Team
5, Jorge Lorenzo, ESP, Movistar Yamaha

Race director deems the Rosse/Marquez clash a racing incident.

The next race will be Gran Premio bwin de España, May 1-3, 2015.


IHRA at Bradenton:
In the Pro Mod category, second-generation racer hailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Isaias Rojas not only secured the top qualifying spot but also scored their first win with their Mech-Tech 2006 Chevy Cobalt. On the road to the win light, he defeated Dina parise, Ken Ficus and Jimmy Keen in the final

In the pro stock category, fellow Aruban Trevor Eman drove his Ford Mustang to the final round but lost out to former IHRA series champion John Montecalvo who laid down a 6.288 sec at 222.82 mph. The final round is pictured on the right.


Source: Crash.net, Formula One, Competition Plus.
Photo credit: MotoGP, F1

Flame Throwers

Being stuck on a paradise island has its drawbacks. One of them for me is the infrequent visits to the PDRA in a year. Luckily these folks do a fine job of posting articles and videos on the web.

Their last video, by Les Mayhew, titled "PDRA Pro Nitrous Frame Throwers" is out on CompetitionPlus TV and can be seen by clicking here. This killer video explains the ins and outs of the Pro Nitrous division and has interview with two of the best in the business, "Tricky" Rickie Smith and Shannon "Iceman" Jenkins. The highlight is the category's trademark header flames.

Shannon Jenkin's bullhorn exhaust w/ perfect flame

I just love the sound these nitrous injected V-8's make, especially when they lit the candles!

Source: Drag Illustrated
Photo credit: Drag Illustrated

Williams/Hackett commercial

As those that take part in Formula One racing are well-known for balancing on the cutting edge...of just about everything, it should come as no surprise that occasionally they create remarkable adverts. Just like the Ferrari/Shell advert I featured back in 2011, this time it is the Williams F1 Team that steps into the spotlight. Just click here to see a commercial of the British clothing and accessories company, Hackett, and Williams F1.

A still picture of the Williams F1/Hackett video

The face masks kinda resemble those worn by the storm troopers and the French F1 fire fighters. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Source: Williams F1

Speed Weekend On Ice

One of the driving forces behind my writing for Fultrot is the great stuff I encounter during research. A perfect example is this year's "Speed Weekend On Ice" in which an incredible gallery of ridiculous machines, drove, skated and rocket-boosted their way across a frozen Swedish lake. One of my favourite is shown in the picture below. I often sit in my own bathtub wondering what it would feel like to be in a front engine dragster. This is pretty close..... don't you agree?

The annual event is sanctioned by Land Racing Sweden and has a course for flat-out drag racing style racing and another with a few turns. It has a staggering 40 classes with everything between a moped and a jet powered sled. A couple of classes that, to me, stand out above the rest are:

- Class 2 Moped < 90 cc
- Class 9 Snow scooter > 1000cc
- Class 27 Truck over 3500 kg
- Class 28 Other class, which doesn't exist in any of the previous classes
- Class 31 Killer Bee (Pit Bike in accordance with Finnish Bomber rules)
- Class 34 Mc 500 cc < 1949
- Class 38 JET
- Class 39 Sidecar Mc
- Class 40 El (elec driven vehicles)
Note: A=without overpressure   B=with overpressure and/or laughing gas.
         Gotta love Class 28!!!


The pictures below illustrate just how creative our Nordic brothers are. Honey, I think I found us another cool motorsports event to put on the bucket list!

Pretty large crowds fill the camping grounds for the event

This one my H-D biker friends will appreciate. Cool huh!

Another of my favs, this one looks like a cousin of R2D2.

2 riders equals double the fun.

For more information on this unique winter event in Arsunda, Sweden, click here.

Source: Jalopnik
Photo credit: Lars Martensson, griddd.se

The Racing weekend that was - Wk 11

F1, at the Australian GP:
The Britton Lewis Hamilton started 2015 like he finished 2014 on the top of the podium with an easy and commanding victory from lights to finish.

Felipe Nasr (Brazil)

Though the first race of the year was contested by only 15 cars, it did give us a glimpse of who did their home work over the off season. Mercedes kept their performance whilst McLaren seem to have taken a step backwards. Ferrari's Vettel fired a shot across the bow of the silver arrows with a strong third finish and believes that they can be reeled in. Let's see. The Williams outfit are pretty fast though Felipe Massa could not hold Vettel beck. The other Felipe, Felipe Nasr, in spite of some internal team issues regarding the drive of Giedo vd Garde, put down his head and drove an exceptional race, keeping none other than Daniel Ricciardo at bay, to finish fifth in his debut race. Dutchman Max Verstappen also had a great debut, at one point racing in fifth place, only to drop out with technical issues while running in eight. Both Lotus' cars would drop out after just the first lap of the race. Pastor Maldonado was hit from behind sending him into the wall while Romain Grosjean developed problems of the starting line.

The top 5:
1. Lewis Hamilton, GBR, Mercedes-Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, GER, Mercedes-Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel, GER, Ferrari-Ferrari
4. Felipe Massa, BRZ, Williams-Mercedes
5. Felipe Nasr, BRZ, Sauber-Ferarri

The next F1 race will be the Petronas Malaysia GP on March 27-29.


MotoGP, at the final pre-season testing at Losail, Qatar:
The factory Ducati riders were amongst the fastest on Sunday. The Monday session was canceled due to rain.

The top 5 on the final day of testing:
1. Andrea Dovizioso (Right), ITA , Ducati
2. Marc marquez, ESP, Repsol Honda
3. Andrea Iannone, ITA, Ducati
4. Jorge Lorenzo, ESP, Movistar Yamaha
5. Valentino Rossi, ITA, Movistar Yamaha

The first race of the year will be held on March 26-29 at the Losail Circuit in Qatar.


NHRA, at the Gatornationals:
After witnessing a frightening crash during the first qualifying session on Saturday, in which the Top Fuel car of three time world champion Larry Dixon went airbourne, (to see the video click here) the rest of the competitors went about their business.

Spencer Massey drove his Top Fuel dragster to a holeshot victory over Tony Schumacher. Massey covered the 1,000 ft distance in 3.882 seconds at 320.74 mph.

Ron Capps, driver of the NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car defeated John Hale, which went to his first ever final.

KB Racing's Greg Anderson claimed his 75th career victory when he defeated none other than his teammate Jason Line in the finals of the Pro Stock category. Greg clocked a 6.538 at 213.43 mph.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle it was a women who got the win light and the Wally. Karen Stoffer defeated three-time world champion Eddie Krawic by running a 6.900 at 195.11 on her Suzuki. She's pictured on the right.

The next race will be the 4 Wide Nationals at the zMax facility on March 27-29.


Source: Crash.net, Drag Illustrated.com.
Photo credit: Sports.yahoo.com, Formulapassion.it

The King's stuff up for auction

For those die-hard drag race fans out there that still remember the names of Darrel Gwynn and Kenny Bernstein, on March 14 next, the Darrel Gwynn Foundation will auction off select pieces of its Kenny Bernstein Personal Collection. Some of these celebrate the lifetime achievements of the late Dale Armstrong, who as "The King's" crew chief, was instrumental in Kenny's milestone achievements, which include first drag racer to break the 300-mph barrier and six time NHRA world champion.

Dale Armstrong passed away last November. He was a talented driver, tuner, fabricator and innovator rivaled only by the legendary "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. He was 73.

The auction will be conducted both live and online by J. Sugarman Auction Corp. The auction will begin at 6.00 pm at the Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, rounding out a day of drag racing at the 46th annual Amalie - Gatornationals. For more information on the action please click here.

Source: nhra,
Photo credit: nhra

The Retromobile

The Retromobile extravaganza is one of the first classic car shows of the season. This year the French exhibition celebrated its 40th anniversary. As such, it is considered a "classic" by many, though I doubt I will ever attend it. It's just that it is held during a period that I'd rather stay in the warm tropics.

Still, should you find yourself in Europe during the first week of February, it is a must see for every car enthusiast. This year the halls contained some 450 exhibitors, 500 cars on display, and over 100 clubs. Just head on to Paris where it is located at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre.

The exhibition has an attraction for everyone: from automotive jumble right up to multi-million-euro classics, any level of collector is catered for. Just the mere fact of finding a Tiger tank from the Museé des Blindés in Saumur looming over a Bugatti Royale from the Schlumpf Collection (pictured below).

As is often the case, this year the event organizers brought something different to the Parisian exhibition hall. The Spanish truck manufacturer Pegaso's short-lived era of sportscars during the 1950's was relived, along with some unusual Italian classics from Lake Como.

In short, something for everyone. Should you want to read more, click here to visit Classic Driver's report on the French car exhibition.

Source: Rétromobile, Wikipedia
Photo credit: Rétromobile/Schlumpf Collection

The X-Bow GTR

I've always been fascinated by those who push the boundaries. The folks at KTM, a well known Austrian sports motorcycle manufacturer, did just this in 2008 when they launched the X-Bow (pronounced "crossbow") at the Geneva Motor Show. The 2008 "Top Gear" Sports Car of the Year used a turbocharged four cylinder 2.0 liter Audi engine and a Dallara chassis. The ingenious combination was a development of KTM in collaboration with Kiska design.

The new GTR with the original X-Bow on the right.

As if that wasn't enough, recently they unveiled the X-Bow GTR which is meant only for GT4 racing. Its incredible good looks is a product of KTM and Reiter Engineering, and though its specifications are not available yet, it sure looks as if it may go straight to the top of GT4 racing. It even looks as mean as a LMP2 car.

What will they think of next?

Source: Jalopnik.com, Wikipedia
Photo credit: GT Spirit.com

Wild rides in drag racing

Today being Friday I thought it appropriate to send you off into the weekend with something exhilarating. Below a short video by N.H.R.A. highlighting 2013's wild rides. Personally, I love the one of the doorslammer passing the strip at Bandimere Speedway sideways.



Have a great weekend everybody.

Source: N.H.R.A.

The racing weekend that was - Wk 6

In endurance racing, the 12 Hour of Bathurst:
Needless to say, the track at Mount Panorama with its elevation changes and jaw dropping curves usually ensures for a nail biting finish. One would think that after a 12 hour long race this would not be the case. And this person would be so very wrong for a very late safety car bunched up traffic, instantly transforming a lengthy endurance race into a four minute sprint!

Bell leading Vanthoor up the mountain

Matt Bell driving a Bentley Continental GT3 was the race leader when the 20th caution flag waved. However, a quick thinking Ausie safety crew saved the race and allowed for some time for the top four to battle it out, Laurens Vanthoor in the Audi R8, Stefan Mucke in an Aston Martin and Katsumasa Chiyo in the GT-R.

Click here to watch a short video of the race's finish which included some of the best racing of the year, including arguably a candidate for Pass of the Year (Chiyo, GT-R).

2015 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour top 5 results:
1. F. Strauss/ K. Chiyo/ W. Reip, Nissan GT-R Nismo GT, no. 35,
2. M. Mapelli/ L. Vanthoor/ M. Winkelhock, Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20, no. 15,
3. D. O'Young/ A. MacDowall/ S. Mucke, Aston Martin Vantage, no. 97,
4. G. Smith/ S. Kane/ M. Bell, Bentley Continental, no. 10,
5. J. LeBrocq/ R. Muscat/ D. Canto, Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, no. 36.


NHRA at Auto Club Raceway:
The 2015 NHRA racing series started out with a big bang in Pomona, California. Always a crowd pleaser, the track is adjacent to the Wally Parks NHRA Museum, which is a must see for drag race fans.

In Top Fuel, 2013 champion Shawn Langdon (pictured on the right) entered the season without a full-time sponsor. Luckily he got support from the Food Network star Guy Fieri and ran the Knuckle Sandwich decals on the AJPE dragster.
Always a good sign, he qualified in the top spot and carried this performance throughout eliminations. Finals he outran Antron Brown with a 3.799 et at 309.91 mph.

In Funny Car, reigning world champion Matt Hagan experienced a spectacular engine explosion during qualifying on Friday but bounced back to qualify in 12th spot on Saturday. On race Sunday, Hagan steered his car to four round-wins, the last one against his team mate Ron Capps.

"You try to put it out of your mind and not think about it," Hagan said when asked about his engine explosion. "These [race cars] are animals out there, and you never know what you are going to get when you crawl in there to drive one. It's always an experience. You have to respect it, but you can't fear it."

Line's Chevy being pulled to the start

In Pro Stock it seemed that a rookie might take the win light on Sunday. However, Drew Skillman's Cinderella story was side-wiped when he met Jason Line in the finals, who claimed his fourth Winternationals Pro Stock Wally. Line outran Joey Grose, Shane Gray, and Rodger Brogdon to advance to the final and meet longtime NHRA Sportsman racing standout Skillman, who had advanced to his first final in his first Pro start. Just amazing day for the Skillman crew. Keep it up!

The next up is the CARQUEST Auto parts NHRA Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, near Phoenix on Feb 20-22.


IHRA Nitro Jam at Tucson:

Pro Stock winner Cary Goforth 

Fans at the Southwestern Int'' Raceway in Tucson, Arizona, saw some exciting side-by-side racing, as did the fortunate ones to follow the live feed via the internet, even though it was a tad slow... I must say that I saw some of my friends [ read: Jeff Dobbins] way too pale. Gonna send them all suggestions to come and visit us in the Caribbean so they can properly relax during the off season.

- AMSOIL Nitro Funny Cars: Mike McIntire, Camaro, defeated Jason Rupert, Camaro, by running a 13.555 at 62.89 mph

- Nitro Harley-Davidson: Jay Turner outran Randal Andras with a 6.383 et at 221 mph

- US Bounty Hunter Pro Stock: Cary Goforth beat John Deflorian Jr. with a 6.348 et 219.72 mph.

- Jet Dragster: Elaine Larsen defeated Katarina Moller with a 5.73 et at 281.77 mph pass.

- Top Sportsman: Marlon Goates, 1997 Cutlass won with a 7.468 over Marty Blair 1996 Corvette running a 7.818.

For more race results, click here.


Source: Jalopnik, IHRA, NHRA,
Photo credit: Jalopnik. IHRA, NHRA

HBD John Surtees

The only person to win the World Championship on two- and on four wheels has turned 81 today. John Surtees won the 500cc Motorcycle World Champion in 1956, 1958,1959, and 1960. He also took the 350cc Championships in 1958,1959, and 1960. Though he started off riding on a Norton, he briefly switched to EMC and than back to Norton, and later to EMC, NSU, BMW and finally on MV Agusta, on which he captured all of his world titles.

In 1960, when he was still on top of his game on two wheels, he switched to four with Team Lotus driving the Lotus 18. In 1961 he drove a Cooper T53 for Yeoman Credit Racing Team but never finished higher than 5th. The following year was quite disappointing with just one race in which he retired with a Lola Mk 4. In 1963 his luck turned when he signed on with Scuderia Ferrari and secured a couple of podium finishes, including a win. The following year he won the championship with a V6 Ferrari 158, and in 1966 he finished the championship in second place. In 1967 he switched to Honda Racing and in 1970 he went out on his own with Team Surtees. but they were never competitive enough.

All in all a great career!

In 2007 I shot a picture of him while driving his old Honda V12 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Source: wikipedia
Photo credit: own files.

Women in top echelon of Motorsports - Updated

As any motorsports enthusiast knows, at the pinnacle of the sport we find the likes of FIA's Formula One, World Endurance racing, and World Touring championships, and on the other side of the Atlantic, the Nascar and drag racing truly stand out from the rest. However, where the Europeans are obsessed with constantly pushing the envelop of technology, and righteously so, the Americans are solely focused on the entertainment value.

And then you have NHRA drag race, who from its very inception encouraged women to participate in the mostly man dominated sport.

Alexis putting the Patron sponsored F/C through its paces

In the modern era of NHRA drag racing, women, often using the same equipment as their male counterparts, beat them to the finish line [light]. Above a picture of Alexis deJoria warming up her nitro-methane breathing 10,000+ horsepower funny car on jacks in the pits.

FIA gentlemen, Nascar men..... eat your hearts out. Drag racing has intelligent pretty girls... and they're winning championships. Go ask Greg Anderson!

For more on the topic, click here.

UPDATE
Just ran across this great picture of Leah Pritchett in her Top Fuel dragster after a run at last weekend's race in Pomona. Note that these are not just pretty girls! These cars produce as much G-force at the starting line to make an astronaut sitting atop of a Saturn V rocket sweat bullets. Not only must Leah endure the incredible G-force but she must drive the car and keep it in the grove while on the constant lookout for that excessive tire spin. Very cool stuff that we owe to the founding fathers of drag racing for empowering women to participate in the sport.

Photo credit: Alexis deJoria Racing, Leah Pritchett Racing

Pit lane fires

As is often the case in motorsports, but especially in Formula One, in the constant pursuit of safety each accident is meticulously de-constructed to identify ways to mitigate risk. Whereas in the 1980's and 1990's the pit lane was one of the most dangerous places to be, with crowds of people, fast cars entering and leaving as quickly as possible, narrow lanes and gallons of highly flammable racing fuel everywhere, the pit lane of today is exponentially calmer and safer.

It took quite some incidents, some public and others less so, for Formula One to analyze, research and make amendments to the rule books to get us where we are now. Below is a compilation of the five worst pit lane incidents that I can recall:

5.

Kubica's BMW Sauber during a flash fire

During a routine pit stop during qualifying for the 2009 Bahrain F1 GP, Robert Kubica experiences a flash fire at the rear of the BMW Sauber. Though scary looking at first, the fire was quickly extinguished. Pit lane fires, though not common in F1, are well trained for by all mechanics and make extinguishing of fuel fires seem like the most normal thing to do. The French fight fire even in style. Click here to read more.

4.
Another type of pit lane fired happened during the 2009 Brazilian GP when the McLaren team wanted to send Heikki Kovalainen out ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Unfortunately, the McLaren crew were not yet finished with the refueling when the "go" sign was given to Heikki.

Kimi lighting up Heikki's spilt fuel

So the Fin left with the fuel hose still attached to the car, causing the spilled fuel to spray directly onto the oncoming Ferrari of a fellow Fin and causing a rarely seen pit lane fire. To watch a video about this incident, click here. Afterwards, race stewards deemed Kovalainen's release had been unsafe and fined the team US$ 50,000.

3.
During the 2003 Austrian GP, legendary driver Michael Schumacher came into the pits for fuel while leading the race with a comfortable 10 seconds cushion. A problem with the refueling rig saw a fuel spill around the Ferrari's cockpit, but the cool headed crew quickly extinguished the fire and sent Schumi back into the race after the lengthy 20 second pit stop. He would eventually win the race. To watch a video of the pit stop, click here.

2.
One of the coolest guys under pressure, Jarno Trulli while driving the TF105 Toyota during the 2005 Spanish GP made a routine pit-stop, but as he pulled away he saw flames filling his rear view mirror. Fuel had escaped from the delivery hose as it uncoupled from the car, and catching fire as it touched the Toyota's RVX-05 3.0 V-10's hot exhausts. The team quickly extinguished the initial blaze, while the last flickers of the flame were finally extinguished as Trulli rolled off down the pit lane.

"When I saw the fire at the back of the car, I just said to [to myself] I will pull away and go because I wanted to try my best".

Trulli would go on to place third on the podium. A special re-print of this picture adorns my garage, for I found the Italian's performance that day quite extra-ordinary.

1.
One of the most dangerous and certainly most infamous fuel fires in Formula One's long history happened at the 1994 German GP at the Hockenheimring. Dutchman Jos Verstappen, driving for Benetton Ford, heads for the pit lane for a routine stop on lap 15. Once the car is in the box the well choreographed routine starts.

Both jacks are slid under the car while the fuel hose comes out. The car is raised and refueling begins while a crew member slightly opens Verstappen's visor. With refueling complete after just 2 seconds, disaster strikes. A junior mechanic removes the fuel hose filter (designed to restrict the rate at which fuel fuel flows into the cars running a pit stop) quarter-of-a-second too soon, causing over three liters of flammable fuel to spray all over the car and most of the crew. Though the ensuing fireball was controlled in a mere three seconds by the same crew, the conventional opinion is that it was a miracle that no one was seriously hurt, except Verstappen, who at the time had his helmet's visor open. He would only suffer some burning around his eyes. To watch a video of the incident, click here.

A Benetton crew member consumed by fire. Photographer unknown

Jos Verstappen's pit lane fire would bring about a great deal of safety rules to prevent this incident from ever happening again.

Source: Epic Formula 1, Wikipedia,
Photo credit: Autosport.com, Boston.com, F1, Rob Dyck,