tannat
15th January 2007, 04:21
Went to the attic to pull out some issues of Road and track for a friend, and found a couple of interesting tidbits in their coverage of the first F1 race of 1986 (Rio, won by Piquet in a Williams-Honda). One tidbit is tragic, the other revolutionary...
1) Frank Williams and Peter Windsor had been involved in a road car accident after leaving testing at Paul Ricard. While Windsor was essentially unscathed, Frank had lost all feeling in his legs and feet...
2)As reported by Innes Ireland, "Renault, it's own cars sadly missing....had something very new, a revolutionary method of closing valves by compressed air at 2000 psi instead of conventional valve springs. This allows the engine to run at 13,000 rpm..."
21 years and an additional 7000 rpm later, it's a wonderful thing that both Frank is still with us (despite the horrific accident) and that Renault is reaping rewards which eluded them earlier...
Tannat
1) Frank Williams and Peter Windsor had been involved in a road car accident after leaving testing at Paul Ricard. While Windsor was essentially unscathed, Frank had lost all feeling in his legs and feet...
2)As reported by Innes Ireland, "Renault, it's own cars sadly missing....had something very new, a revolutionary method of closing valves by compressed air at 2000 psi instead of conventional valve springs. This allows the engine to run at 13,000 rpm..."
21 years and an additional 7000 rpm later, it's a wonderful thing that both Frank is still with us (despite the horrific accident) and that Renault is reaping rewards which eluded them earlier...
Tannat