F1: Hungarian GP Jordan preview

• Stephen M Baines
• Mon Aug 5 11:16:57 EDT 1996

Rubens Barrichello has scored World Championship points at each of the last
two events and will be looking for a third successive points-finish for
Benson and Hedges Total Jordan Peugeot at the next race on the calendar, the
Hungarian Grand Prix

The Hungarian GP has not been a particularly lucky race for Rubens in the
past. In fact last year the 3.965km/2.463mile circuit was the venue for one
of the biggest heartbreaks of the Brazilian's career. He was lying in third
place and looked set for a rostrum finish, but lost power within sight of
the chequered flag, eventually coasting across the line in seventh place.

Rubens was not the only person to feel disappointed in Hungary last year. As
with the triumphs, the low-points in a Grand Prix drivers' career are shared
by the entire team. Yet the prospect of a career within Formula One still
holds a massive attraction for thousands of aspiring mechanics, technicians
and engineers. "We receive approximately 30 letters a week from people
looking for jobs" says Jordan Grand Prix' General Manager, Trevor Foster,
"and that's when we don't have any vacancies. When we placed an advertisement
recently for 6 staff, it attracted 187 applications".

So what does Foster look for in an employee? "Obviously it varies according
to the position on offer" says Foster. "The right qualifications are
becoming more and more essential these days, when the sport is so driven by
technology. However, ifs also important to have the right attitude.
Attention to detail plays a major role, together with commitment, and an
ability to work unsupervised and under enormous amounts of pressure!

"Most of the mechanics and technicians have a related background, be it in
the motor trade or in engineering" continues Foster "They served an
apprenticeship, then got a position at a lower level of racing, working up
through the formulae before getting into Formula One. For the engineers, the
route now is mainly straight from university with mechanical engineering
degrees either in vehicle dynamics or aerodynamics. They come into the
Drawing Office at a junior level, and work their way up. Those are the most #
conventional routes into Formula One".

Some of the people who will be working with Rubens Barrichello and team-mate
Martin Brundle, in Hungary next week had a less conventional background
though. Rick Wiltshire began his working life as a disc-jockey on Radio
Caroline, a `pirate' station which operated from a ship moored off the South
East coast of England- He spent two years on-board, broadcasting his show
twice daily under the name of `Crispin St John' "When I returned to dry
land, I set myself up doing car repairs and after a little while got a
garage" says Wiltshire. Through that I met up with Mark Blundell who was
into motocross at the time. He used to come into the showroom to strip his
bike down, and then we'd always have a mad panic on Friday night to get it
back together in time! When he decided to try four-wheels instead, he asked
me to look after the car for him. I'd never taken any interest in motor
racing prior to that; in fact the first time I saw a circuit was when Mark
went to test his Formula Ford 1600 car at Brands Hatch. In addition to
working on the car, I used to drive it to and from the races. Each time
Mark went into a bigger formula he got a bigger truck to accommodate the
car, and I had to get a better licence to drive the truck! I eventually
ended up with a Class 1 licence and, as I'd always enjoyed the truck side
better than the mechanical side, decided to pursue it as a career. I joined
Leyton House as a `truckie' in 1987 - so I got into Formula One before Mark
did!"

Composites Fabricator Stuart Collins' first experiences of motorsport were
as a competitor. "I had a few friends who raced bikes and persuaded me to
give it a go myself - which I did until it got to be a bit too expensive.
I became a sidecar passenger instead, eventually turning professional. I
would race during the summer, and in the winter I lived in Geneva where we
would build the sidecars for the manufacturer. In 1977 I raced with
Mike Hobson, one of the best side-car drivers of his time, and together we
won the Isle of Man TT. The next year I finished 2nd in the World
Championship with Alan Michell. Eventually I decided I'd had one accident
too many so I stopped racing sidecars and concentrated on building them
instead. We used to build and maintain race-cars in the Geneva workshop as
well, so when I came back to England that's what I looked for. I worked with
Sportscars for a while, eventually ending up in Formula One about 11 years
ago".

Research & Development Engineer Paul Thompson was also a professional
sportsman in his youth. "I was sports mad at school and played a lot of
football, both for district teams and for Bedfordshire County football
team. I was spotted by a talent scout from Luton Town who invited me to have
a trial. I played in their youth team and then, when I was 16, I was invited
to sign as an apprentice professional. I played professional football for
Luton for 3 years. Whilst I was at Luton my parents persuaded me to get some
back-up qualifications, so I took a motor vehicle engineering course. I
didn't quite make the grade as a footballer, so I used the qualifications to
get a job in a garage. The manager was interested in racing and rallying and
invited me to go along with him to a couple of meetings, and suggested I
bring my spanners! I got the bug and I decided to see if I could find
somebody to pay me to work in motorsport. I found a job at Royale, as a
Prototype Engineer working under Rory Byrne".

As well as attending races, Thompson is heavily involved with the test team
who last week were in action at the Lurcy-Levis circuit near Magny Cours.
Italian Fabrizio de Simone tried various different aerodynamic set- ups
during the course of a very productive three day test. Rubens will be behind
the wheel of the test-car at Silverstone next week where he joins test-driver
Gianni Morbidelli who is evaluating components for the 1997 car. On Thursday
Barrichello will head out to join Martin Brundle and the rest of the Benson
and Hedges Total Jordan Peugeot team at the Hungaroring where he will be
hoping to put the disappointment of the 1993 Hungarian GP firmly behind him.

-- 
Stephen M Baines

 "[The Autosport sticker] started to peel off in the middle of Eau Rouge
 and it distracted me. In fact it was the first thing to hit the barrier"
    Tiff Needell - Jaguar XJR-15 Challenge - Interview with Autosport

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