peterwindsor.com

…chance doesn't exist; there's always a cause and a reason for everything – Elahi

Archive for the tag “Rob Wilson”

Rob Wilson’s world

He used to be a very fast (Nelson Piquet-, Nigel Mansell-fast) racing driver. Today he coaches personalities from all disciplines, including F1, GP2, GP3, F3, IndyCar, the WEC and the WRC. And, in between times, he writes music and plays in a band called Grand Prairie. He’s dedicated; he’s disciplined. And I don’t know anyone more passionate about the sport of motor racing. I recently spent a little time with Rob Wilson at his “second home” – Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, about 40 min drive north of Silverstone. I wanted to talk motor racing realities; I wanted to avoid the gloss. I can’t pretend ever to do justice to Rob Wilson but I hope some of the footage we shot  gives you some idea of why today he has the respect of most of the serious players in the F1 pit-lane. The concert clips, by the way, were filmed at the Grand Prairie CD launch party thrown recently by that pre-eminent performance car/F1 enthusiast, Joe Macari.  If you haven’t yet seen Joe’s new ensemble near Wimbledon, London, please try to do so.  Call it museum art-meets-cars-you’d-love-to-own.

Rob Wilson Picks Eight!

IMG_1817Regular readers of this site will be familiar with the GP Tours logo to your right.  It’s there because I’ve been a GP Tours fan for many years.  I like the people who run the business from Newport, California, and I like the tours they generate. They’re about race fans travelling with other race fans to some of the greatest circuits in the world – Monaco, Spa, Silverstone, Austin and many more.

What I’m particularly excited about this year is a new free-to-enter competition they’ve put together, the prize for which is a fully-catered trip for two to the 2015 Monaco GP. How to win? Choose your top eight finishers for each of the 2014 F1 races; points will be awarded when you select the right driver for the right finishing position, with bonus points if you make your choice prior to FP1 or Q1. Go to http://www.gptours.com/pick8 for more details – and where you’ll find the list of runners and riders and your entry form for the 2014 Rolex Australian Grand Prix.

Who to select for Melbourne?  On our YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/peterwindsor) you will find recent interviews with three of Autosport’s top journalists – Edd Straw, Glenn Freeman and Ben Anderson.  I asked all three to predict their AGP winner, so that should be of help.

In addition, I asked Rob Wilson (above, with a disguised F1 Racing Editor, Anthony Rowlinson, pictured after a recent TRE filming session) for his top eight. Rob is not only one of the world’s leading driver coaches and regular guest on The Racer’s Edge but also a remarkably perceptive motor racing observer. His list is a little specialized, as you would expect with a guy who also plays bass for Grand Prairie, but he nonetheless diligently exercised his grey cells when we asked him for his selections. And don’t forget that Rob has worked closely with ten of the F1 drivers who will be starting the 2014 season in Melbourne. This is his top eight for the Australian GP:

1  Kimi Raikkonen

2 Sergio Perez

3 Valtteri Bottas

4 Jenson Button

5 Felipe Massa

6 Nico Rosberg

7 Esteban Gutierrez

8 Kevin Magnussen

Obviously Rob’s counting on a few of the fancied runners (Lewis, for example, and Fernando) having mechanical dramas and he’s also clearly discounting the Renault runners at this stage (although he did nominate Daniel Ricciardo to finish P9).

Anyway, that’s Rob’s list.  Now you have a go.  There are 20 races from which to accumulate points, so don’t be too discouraged if you don’t get it right first time. (Indeed, seeing as how I think Lewis is going to win in Melbourne, I guess this is something I should be saying to Rob!).

Disclaimer:  Although I’m a GPTours fan, I should make it clear that I work with the company at selected races on the F1 calendar, talking to the guests and interviewing drivers.

 

 

Another one for Seb?

In this week’s edition of The Racer’s Edge I had a lot of fun with some of my favourite people, namely the supremely-talented World Series by Renault Championship leader, Kevin Magnussen; Sweden’s F3 maestro, Felix Rosenqvist; my mate Rob Wilson; and Ant Rowlinson, Editor of F1 Racing.   You’ll know Kevin and Felix from previous shows – and I make no excuse for inviting them on again.  If these guys aren’t serious racing drivers, and future F1 winners, then I’m a soccer-loving couch potato who only likes motor racing when there’s lots of overtaking.  Calm, quiet exteriors belie the razor-sharp minds of both of them. I caught up with Rob as he drove to a speaking engagement in Derbyshire and the conversation took the usual turns:  drivers he’s been training recently, the passing of George Bignotti, the mystique that is Michael Schumacher, the closing of Mallory Park.  You know, the usual things.  And Mr Rowlinson, speaking on what he said was a new, ultra-fast internet link (!), did a very nice job of taking us through the latest edition of his mag.  You’ll love his background story to Fernando Alonso’s “selfie” – a word I learnt only recently (from Sharon Swart, the very attractive and intelligent daughter of Ed and Sally Swart – Sally as in Sally “Jim Clark” Stokes).  Sharon is an accomplished film producer, based in California, you might be interested to know.   Anyway, she encouraged me to take some “selfies” when we drove Jim’s Elan around Goodwood recently and this was the result.IMG_0812  Fernando, for his part, certainly did the job with Lorenzo’s iPhone in Monza.   Anyway, this being the build-up to the – wait for it – Korean Grand Prix, I asked a couple of our guests what they thought about F1 at present – about Seb Vettel’s domination.  The answers, I think, you’ll find amusing.

On taxi rides and slow chicanes

In this week’s post-Singapore episode of The Racer’s Edge, we talk to Derek Warwick about those reprimands; to GP2 winner and Mercedes F1 Third Driver, Sam Bird, about his success this year and the styles of Nico and Lewis; and Rob Wilson, our favourite driver coach, analyses Sebastian Vettel’s approach to those most boring of corners – the slow chicanes.  Hope you like it.

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