Monaco comes to Sandton – earplugs required
Speed freaks and F1 fans will no doubt be chomping at the bit for Sunday the 29 July when the streets of Sandton will be turned into a mini Grand Prix track by the Renault F1 cars. If you’re on Facebook you can also read all about it on the Facebook group ‘F1 at our doorsteps’ that describes the event as:
Word is out! The streets of Sandton are going to be alive with engine screaming when the Renault F1 team comes to Jozi! Come join the rest of us street freaks and see Fisichella and Nelson Piquet Junior get behind the wheel of the Renault F1 race car and rip up the Sandton tar at over 270km/h. Awesome !
Time and Place
Date: Sunday, July 29, 2007
Time: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Location: The heart of Sandton
Street: West Road and Friedman Drive
City/Town: Jozi
Country: South Africa
Thanks to Minesh Bhagaloo from Motoring.co.za for the heads up – read the full article:
Businesses in central Sandton can rest easy. Colin Hale, a senior member of the international ING Renault F1 Road Show Team, has assured us that his F1 cars are unlikely, despite their screaming decibels, to shatter any office windows when they blast through the streets of Sandton, in Gauteng, on July 29.
If anything, he reckons the buildings will amplify the 19 000rpm and give spectators a taste of Monaco-style F1 street racing
Five months will have elapsed between the proposal being made and the lights going green
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The office blocks are probably the least of Hale’s worries. After all, five months will have elapsed between the proposal being made and the lights going green.
It’s a time frame that apparently involved Renault SA suggesting three venues and the logistics team coming here to choose the right one based on, among other things, the route, public access, road surface and general safety. Then the city had to give permission and the local organisers meet the many international requirements.
Hale and his team run these road shows full-time; they’re not part of the core Renault F1 team we see on TV on Sundays but do have the F1 background and training and a full understanding of what makes not only the road show, but also real F1, tick.
They also have the same pressures. Like the Renault F1 race team, Hale must oversee the dismantling of his very real brace of F1 cars
Only the front and rear wings are detached for travel
. Only the front and rear wings are detached for travel then the cars are put into an aluminium box and accompany 5000kg of equipment to our shores – all handled by a company that specialises in moving show cars around the world.
That cargo will include two sets of wet tyres and three sets of slicks – it’s anticipated that each car will screech through one set of rubber for the Sandton event. There’s also 100 litres of racing fuel already locked away somewhere in SA – Total, partner to Renault F1, has signed a delivery note for this high-octane juice.
It won’t last all that long, either. Hale says his cars will consume around 1.5kg of fuel on a hot lap of Silverstone – and there’s 30kg for the entire Sandton event.
In terms car set-up on the day, it seems we are assured of a fully race-specced F1 car with the same numbers and power of a normal race day. The car you will see on the Sunday will be set up to win a GP, no second-rate efforts will apply except that the ride height might be raised slightly raised to accommodate road conditions.
‘Drivers love the shows’
“The car will be tuned for Monaco-type downforce,” Hale said. “Even manhole covers will be welded shut to compensate for the effect of severe, vacuum-like downforce.
“The drivers love the road shows; they don’t carry the same pressures as the F1 race the week before or after,” Hale added.
“They can have some fun – meet their fans. It’s relaxed and they do the best they can with the car on the day.”
It seems no specific training is involved, either. The boys arrive, do a quick route check in a Renault Mégane, and it’s all systems go. – Star Motoring
