New ShelbysPicture the ferocity of the auction bidding if a pristine, never-driven Shelby Cobra 289 and a never-raced Cobra Daytona Coupe were on the block: The security guards would need shotguns to retain order. Well, perhaps the rent-a-cops should place their order with Remington now: Carroll Shelby is restarting the Shelby American assembly line. Soon, brand-new 289 FIA Cobras and Cobra Daytona Coupes, the cars that combined to win the '65 World Manufacturers Championship, will be available. These all-new cars will be built largely true to the original specifications. Still, some modern materials will be employed and a few chassis refinements added to cope with ultra-sticky modern tires, says a Shelby spokesman. Also, Shelby is still evaluating whether to make the bodies of fiberglass, carbon-fiber, or aluminum. The cars will be constructed as race cars and sold as rolling chassis, without engine or transmission. Price for the 289 FIA Cobra will be a steal at less than $50,000 while the Cobra Daytona Coupe will be "substantially higher."
MilestonesFirst of ManyMika Hakkinen, with a big assist from McLaren-Mercedes teammate David Coulthard, scored Bridgestone's first Formula One victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The win broke Goodyear's 109-race winning streak that dated back to mid-'91. This victory in the initial race under F1's new treaded-tire rules will be the first of many wins for the Japanese maker as Goodyear is withdrawing from this section of the sport at the end of the year.
Coulthard was leading the race with two laps to go, when, following team orders, he pulled over and let Hakkinen pass. The McLaren drivers had agreed before the race that whichever one won the battle for the first corner earned the right to the race.
Polesitter Hakkinen took that contest and led the early going until a slow pit stop allowed Coulthard to take the point.
Book Review:"Going Faster!: Mastering the Art of Race Driving," by Carl Lopez, forward by Danny Sullivan, 1997, Robert Bentley, 1734 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138; 800/423-4595; www.rb.com. Soft cover, 10.5x8 inches, 278 pages, ISBN: 0-8376-0227-0, $29.95.
If race driving were taught as a multi-semester course at a prestigious university, the textbook would look a lot like "Going Faster, Mastering the Art of Race Driving."
Hard wire the brains of all Skip Barber Racing School's current and former instructors-including Indy winner Danny Sullivan, CART competitors Bryan Herta and Robbie Buhl, Trans-Am champion Dorsey Schroeder, and front-drive expert Terry Earwood-directly to a typesetting machine, press "download," and the result wouldn't surpass this giant (278 large-format pages), thoroughly illustrated, piece. Unfortunately, the aspiring racer can't just press "upload" and transfer the data into his brain: If that were possible, Skip would be pretty much out of business. Instead, it will take years of competing, listening, and rereading to fully appreciate all that's in this work.
Written by long-time Skippy employee Carl Lopez, who was also the driving force behind the similarly titled Barber video, the book focuses on open-wheel formula cars on road racing circuits. Still there's plenty for oval racers, street-stock competitors, and big sedan drivers. Veteran competitors will find much of interest (like the computer-graph-illustrated chapter on "Finding Lap Time") as will non-driving mechanics (the "Chassis Adjustments" chapter, for instance). Also, the book is liberally sprinkled with interesting sidebars by Barber instructors: those listed above, along with Skip himself, IMSA/PSCR/USRRC competitors Jim Pace and Jeremey Dale, and more.
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