Saturday March 6th, 2004
Schu Chillin'
While several drivers got into the pre-Australian Grand Prix spirit with hectic off-track activities, World Champion Michael Schumacher played it cool as usual with a low-profile build-up that included a day of football followed by a shopping trip in Melbourne's Chapel Street with his father Rolf all under the eye of two burly bodyguards. Meanwhile his former team Jordan, never one to shirk a bit of simple publicity, failed to match up to their Ralph Firman shark diving stunt from last year but still managed to get team boss Eddie Jordan and their two new drivers Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano wet by dumping them in the waves up the coast from Melbourne for their first ever surfing lesson. Even official test driver Timo Glock was allowed to join in on the spare Jordan board and the team claimed the youngster put in some useful rides which would help their race drivers improve during the rest of the season...
Temptation Island
Hand David Coulthard a brand new Mercedes AMG and he knows exactly what to do with it. The Scot showed he could happily cope with a possible future in tin-top racing when he took to the Philip Island track in the muscle machine after flying into the South Melbourne racing circuit by helicopter in the build-up to this weekend's Australian Grand Prix. And he failed to resist the temptation of burning rubber as he chucked a few donuts on the seaside circuit after taking to the wheel of one of his team's engine manufacturer's CLK55 machines. Coulthard already knows he has precious few months left to enjoy the thrills of Mercedes' road cars before he is dumped by the team in favour of Juan Pablo Montoya for 2005 but he remained professional as he turned salesman and tried to convince high-profile Mercedes clients to buy the new machine.
Kart Challenge
Jarno Trulli may be one of this year's contenders for Formula One race wins with his Renault team but that did not stop him turning down the chance to knock a few Aussie karting hopefuls down to size in the build up to the Melbourne race. The Italian, who runs his own kart team called Trulli Kart, headed to the beachside suburb of Geelong, in Melbourne, to take to the track against some of Australia's wannabes - Australian go-kart champions Barclay Holden and Glenn Powles. The race, at Geelong's Beckley Park Kartway, gave Trulli a real rush and he said: "I can tell you it's so tough, like you wouldn't believe. I wanted to run again so I could improve my lap times. It's an extremely good feeling driving one of these. It doesn't matter how fast you're going. The feeling you get when you go quick around a corner in one of these is as good as driving a Formula One car at 200km/h. I wanted to come down here to enjoy time with the drivers because it's extremely important for them."
No Go Webbo
Australian Mark Webber may be one of the few people who can drive on the Albert Park circuit this weekend in his Jaguar Formula One car but he would be left standing when the racetrack becomes a public road at any other time of the year because he no longer holds an Australian drivers' licence. The Aussie favourite revealed the shock news in Sydney during a promotional tour around Australia and coupled it with a stinging attack on the Australian police. Webber claimed they have brainwashed drivers and said: "They don't give us much responsibility. If you are doing 62 kilometres per hour you are a criminal. Especially down in Victoria. There are 80-year-old ladies getting pulled over and they are quite worried about what they've done. There are some hoons out there that need to be pulled over. Cars are dangerous, we need to respect that, but how far they go with it is interesting." Webber would not reveal when or why he lost his licence.
Published at 10:26:06 GMT
(03-11-2005): 
