Full Throttle

Make of this what you will.

Rome - A former Ferrari team doctor, Benigno Bartoletti, has said that close to one third of Grand Prix drivers takes cocaine.

“At races, there is a lot of cocaine and in Formula One, it could be as many as one third of all drivers who take cocaine,” the 68-year-old doctor told the Italian motorsport magazine “Quattroruote”.

He said that cocaine gave the drivers the belief that they are invincible.

He added that the effect of cocaine lasted around 90 minutes and during this time the driver had a faster reaction time. “However, if a race takes longer, then it could become dangerous for drivers as the drug loses its effect.”

Doping tests amongst Formula One drivers in the past season however did not return a single positive test.

This story is so incredulous, at first I checked to see if it had been posted as an April Fool’s joke. Operating under that premise I went Googling in search of Dr. Bartoletti to verify his existence. Or her exsistence, as this resume shows, (translated from Italian via Babel Fish). A certain Dr. Bartoletti, identified as female, from “1972 to 1992 have been responsible sanitary of the square run Ferrari and from 1987 to 1989 Official Doctor CSAI, for the Italian pilots participants to the Championship of Formula 1. This would seem to indicate they are one and the same “doctor,” although there is an age discrepancy, she was born in Genoa Italy in 1935. But how many females don’t lie about their age? It also calls into question the South Afican source of this story (free reg. req’d). It takes very little journalist integrity to publish these allegations of cocaine use based on someone’s word that has had no connection to Formula One since 1992.

For a moment let us leave aside whether my “Google search” turned up the correct doctor in question and look at the basic science involved. Based on this study by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine cocaine introduced into a baboons system “produced an average reaction-time decrease of 10 to 12%.” Not the type of thing you would want braking at the end of a long straight at 200 plus mph. What, you say baboons don’t drive F1 machines? ( except for this one of course) Well fine, have a peek at what the NHTSA has to say about cocaine use and the effects on humans.

Effects:
Early phase

LONDON, Dec. 28 (Xinhuanet) — F1 team McLaren on Tuesday gave their thumbs-up to last season’s performance of Chinese driver Cheng Congfu, but warned that he faces a key year in 2005.

McLaren started to support the 20-year-old Cheng last summer by sending him to race in the British Formula Renault Championship and arranged for F1 experts to give him guidance to fast-track his development.

McLaren, who have spent a big sum of money on supporting Cheng, expressed their satisfaction with Cheng’s improvement, thinking he is getting better although still short of the top standings in the Renualt series.

Stuart Seymour, McLaren business development director, said that McLaren is looking at the options for next year, but warned that Cheng needs to hit higher gears in 2005.

“He wants to continue racing in the Renault series,” said Seymour. “But next year will be important for him, he needs to be consistently successful.”

Cheng has vowed to become the first Chinese driver to break into the F1, the summit of motor sport, saying his confidence comes from the support of such a strong team as McLaren.

But this is a more serious matter. Via Planet F1. Together with millions around the world Ferrari had to endure hours of apprehension following the devastating tsunami that hit southern Asia, as team members Jean Todt and Rory Byrne were vacationing in the area.

Todt, who was in Malaysia at the time of the massive earthquake that registered 9.0 on the Richter scale, was the first to let the team know that he was okay. The Ferrari Managing Director was in the country accompanying his girlfriend Michelle Yeoh [such a hard life. You work for Ferrari, and jet off to Malaysia to see girlfriend Michelle, also known as Wai Lin - ed] on a visit to her parents.

However, Ferrari’s greatest concern was for chief designer Rory Byrne. The South African owns a diving school on the Thai island of Phuket, which was hit by waves as high as 12ft and capable of snapping concrete pillars in half. Byrne, though, is okay.

“Rory and his family are safe,” a Ferrari spokesperson told Speed TV.

“We kept in contact with him throughout the weekend, and his house is secure.”

Toyota

Via Planet F1.

Ralf Schumacher’s sense of humour has returned and after a month of seething he has embraced - and laughed at - his status as F1’s Porn King.

And he’s done it for charity. Ralf made the headlines at the end of November when he revealed he was investing in the Austrian branch of Beate Uhse, a German erotic products company, as a “a silent partner.” And although he claimed his $2.6 million business venture was “just like any other investment,” German comedian Stefan Raab didn’t agree.

It wasn’t long before the jokes were coming thick and fast with Raab dubbing the Toyota driver ‘Porn Ralf‘ and his wife, ‘Hard Cora’. It didn’t stop there, though, as T-shirts and caps soon hit the market.

But while the comedian’s audience was laughing, Ralf wasn’t. In fact his reaction to what he said was “a campaign against” him was to withdraw from his sex shop venture and start legal proceedings against Raab. However, like Ralf’s reign as ‘F1’s Porn King’ was short-lived, so too has been his legal action.

Thanks partly to the popularity of the ‘Porn King’ clothing items and partly to Ralf’s sense of humour returning, the German not only dropped the legal proceedings but also appeared on Raab’s show.

“Putting this case at rest was my personal part of Christmas amnesty,” Ralf said.

“But there was much more than simply putting aside this little quarrel.”

He did, however, insist on one concession from Raab. And that was that all the money from the shirts and caps, which Ralf says was more than 100,000 Euros, “goes to charity.”

The German added: “I do have a sense of humour.”

Sense of Humor?

The cynical me says he decided to save legal fees on a case that would have been lost and turned a negative into a positive by donating the concession proceeds to a charity.

Promoters continue with 52nd Trans Tasman Boxing Day meet in Auckland NZ, despite threat of $200,000 fine.

It is a case of “suck it and see” for Western Springs Speedway tonight.

Promoters are continuing with their 52nd Trans Tasman Boxing Day meet in Auckland, despite the threat of a $200,000 fine if they exceed their noise limit. The Environment Court decided to uphold the controversial 85 decibel noise limit this week.

The meet is the speedway’s third biggest event, and usually draws around 8,000 fans. Four Australian drivers are taking part. Promoter Dave Stewart says the ruling certainly is not what he wanted for Christmas this year. He says they are feeling despondent, but will fight to keep the track open.

Mr Stewart says they will not be able to put the usual 16 cars on the track at one time. Instead they will be monitoring trackside noise and cutting the number competing in each race to ensure they do not exceed the noise limit. He says they want to put on the best show they can for their Australian counterparts.

posted in Formula One, General | 0 Comments