You are probably wondering what that thing is in today’s photo.
It’s a motorbike. It’s a means of transport for temporary Australians that was particularly popular in the late forties. Being a 1940s kind of person himself, my editor insists that I do a two-wheel story every six months. So, despite being my birthday, attending auctions with free food and drink in exotic climes, having huge F1 gossip and even more exciting gossip about WART team members you have to read the next 100 words.
Australian Jack Ehret was one of the world’s greatest on two wheels. The bike you see him on in the photo is a Vincent Black Lightning. One of thirty, it only had one purpose, to win races and break speed records. In fact, it was faster than the world’s fastest production car, the Jaguar XK 120. Jack owned the Vincent from 1952 to 1999. In that time, he raced the bike for 8000km, won 80 per cent of all the races he entered and in 1953 smashed the Australian land speed record, hitting 227km/h on a stretch of country road between Tamworth and Gunnedah. Twenty-five years later he won his last race. To mark the 40th anniversary of ownership, Jack’s son John raced it at Eastern Creek in 1993.
While the bike has always been ridden and was in excellent condition, it was restored this year by the van Gogh of Vincents, France’s Patrick Godet. Look, Jack’s bike is the most famous Vincent of all time but can I just mention that title could also be claimed by the Vincent ridden on the Bonneville salt flats by Rollie Free wearing only a half-helmet, goggles, slippers and budgie smugglers. Bonhams have the Ehret going up in January at their annual Las Vegas motorcycle auction, where I’m thinking $300,000 will get you one of the world’s most important two wheelers not ridden in Speedos. So, what happened at Monza last Sunday? Well, it wasn’t pretty if you are Italian. Italians go to the Italian Grand Prix expecting to see Italian car company Ferrari win. They have given up hoping an Italian driving an Italian car will win. The last time that happened was 51 years ago when Ludovico Scarfiotti broke a 15-year dry spell and beat Mike Parkes and Denny Hulme. (Race favourite Jack Brabham retired with an oil leak but still won that year’s world championship). Ludo was the grandson of one of the founders of Fiat. Ferrari haven’t won on this course since 2010. On the other hand, this year’s win by Mercedes made it four in a row for the Germans and three out of four for their English driver Lou Hamilton.
But despite what the F1 propaganda machine tells you, Monza demonstrated all that’s wrong with the universe’s most expensive sport. Nine drivers, including our own Italian Australian, Daniel Ricciardo, were given grid penalties equal to 150 paces. Basically, the F1 rules try to keep costs down by stipulating car parts should have a long life. If a team changes, say, the engine or gearbox too many times the driver drops places on the grid. So, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo qualified second and third for last Sunday’s race but Maxie got a twenty place penalty, Danny a 25-place penalty and Alonoso a 35-place penalty. Nothing bizarre to see here. Now Hamo won the race effortlessly but the best and fairest ribbon goes to Danny “the Honey Badger” Ricciardo.
Despite starting so far back he was able to have a Chinotto and fette biscottate for colazione while waiting for the cars in front to get going, the Badger cut through the field to take fourth. I reckon the crowd was so desperate for anything Italian to cross the line first they would have given the Badger a standing ovation and awarded him the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana. Instead Hamo won and got booed.
The F1 of Australian sedan racing, the Australian Production Car Series, is on this weekend at the Monza of Victoria, Phillip Island. Watch out for our very own Steve Champion, the poster person of fun-loving bean counters, try to take out the series in the Sherrin Rentals BMW 135i.
Keep an eye out for online educator Rod Salmon who just sold his Drummoyne digs for a lazy $11 million. Rod will be teaming up with former Red Bull F1 tester Nathan Antunes in the Merc A45. Another WARTer, Garth Walden, will also be in a Merc. I’m reliably informed that Platinum Nightclub on the Goldie owner, Astrid Woods, has sponsored the Merc team that has hubby Rob as a driver to try to undo the damage done to the brand by having newly married Garth as a team member.
Finally, our Byron Bay correspondent, the always restrained Darryl Henniker, writes from the laid-back capital of Australia’s north coast of NSW: “What moron person or firm or terrorist organisation invented that thing whereby cars ‘self lock’ even when your keys are on the seat and a baby in the car seat. Yes, it happened to my daughter and my greatest grandson ever, Lenny, and the NRMA tells me it happens all the time. Our Nissan dealer say they can’t change it! What? Would it be too much for a motoring writer to address this potentially lethal ‘accessory’?” You got it, Darryl.
