Member Info for Richard365054

How do you place a current value on the F1 team. The fact they have a contracted F1 World Champion would hardly diminish the price and it's interesting to note that AML are cutting their financial exposure to the World Endurance Championship where they have been a mainstay for 15 years. Would Racing Point becoming the official works Aston Martin team also fit in with MB being solely an engine provider and allow them to cut costs significantly with not having to run a full F1 team. I guess the destination of Wolff and Andy Cowell may be very revealing.

MFGX, somewhat worrying how you have clarified this. It appears to give Stroll unquestionable authority for his, MB's and the bond holders benefit. It makes the PIs seem to be very small, temporary tenants and the long term aim to increase his and his friends' shareholdings to then place the company and cement his larger holding within MB. Effectively, he's writing the rules to suit himself.

AML will be sharing the duty, maybe doing 12 GPs and AMG doing 11. Maybe use the vantage and DBX.

AML are certainly bucking the markets. Everywhere mostly flat or down.

I wonder how many of you peruse the classified adds and dream about whether you can yet afford a nice late model Vantage.

I'm guilty of this pleasure, although I actually have nowhere to put one so it's a non starter. But I have noticed the lack or scarcity of these vehicles whereas at one time they were plentiful. There are good numbers or early Vantages available, but post 14 or 15 plates seem in very short supply. Are owners just not selling because prices are firming?

When we wonder about the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel engined cars it puts into perspective the total lack of infrastructure that exists to persuade buyers to move into electric vehicles. It's typical that stories are emerging of how motorists are going to be charged for every mile that they drive to replace the lost revenue raised by the various duties on fuel plus the VAT. It's another example of the back to front thinking of politicians, all of whom quite frankly are quite ordinary doing extraordinary jobs.
What goes unmentioned are the sheer numbers of classic, historic , vintage and veteran vehicles being pampered in garages and lock ups around the country, awaiting once again the first signs of spring. The value to the economy is enormous but these owners rarely make a fuss, instead preserving as well as restoring our heritage and history. These vehicles all need petrol and to a lesser extent diesel. Woe beside any party or politician that tries to limit the use of these vehicles in the future. Current ICE cars will join these categories in the future and so the demands and needs will only increase. I hope there will be a flag bearer in Parliament like David Steel was. He did more to assist the classic and historic movement than any other politician, mainly because he was a hands on enthusiast.

Mercedes over the years have spent a lot of time, money and effort learning to control tyre temperatures in a way no other team has managed. Most races are held in warm to hot temperatures and they have learnt to keep the Pirelli tyres within operating parameters on the majority of occasions. Last weekend they struggled to get their tyres warm enough to perform. Other teams who generally struggle to cool their tyres sufficiently actually benefitted. I'm no fan of tyres that have an operating window of a few degrees or of races where the drivers go into tyre saving mode. Endurance raciers race tyres over two and three stints and race them hard. I want to see the best drivers not tyre economy runs.

Stroll bought Force India long before the involvement with AML. AML will sponsor the team for the next 5 years and Stroll will rebrand them as Aston Martin.

AML won the World Drivers GTE Pro title at the weekend as well as the runner up spot. They are now poised for a reduced factory effort in 2021.

Double pole for Aston with their GTEs.

3300, I'm old enough to remember the super Coopers of the 60s in rallying and racing. Probably why I have two in the garage! British success in motorsport in those days got on the front pages as well as on TV. The Monte Carlo Rally along with Le Mans were two of the biggest sporting events in the World. When Paddy Hopkirk in 1964 won the Monte in his Mini Cooper, the car and crew were feted on Sunday Night at the London Palladium. They were on the stage on the revolving pedestal and there was nothing bigger than this success. Literally front page headlines.
The minis won again in 1965 and 1966 but the French had told the British crews already during practise that they wouldn't be allowed to win again in 1966 and so were duly disqualified. The outrageous decision created as much front page headline as winning and so the French shot themselves in the foot. When the minis came back again in 1967 they duly won again.
Raymond Baxter did many radio transmissions during the event whilst with the BBC. BMC entered him in a works mini cooper s so he could keep up with the rally traffic and give hourly rally reports. I used to go to bed with a radio and listen to these.

3300, I remember those gorgeous DBR9s and their wailing V12s. What a sight and sound. Dunlop Bridge is a good place to watch as you can find a raised piece of ground for your steps or chair and just soak it all in. Crank 001, you're also right that AML don't get the coverage or publicity but it's the way of the world with a lot of terrestrial TV. You either have to pay to get it or not at all. The BBC just don't cover any form of ICE sport. Numpties.

For those who can receive this, qualifying is from 3.00pm today and the race from 11.00am on Saturday lasting 8 hours.

No apologies necessary. We need to measure ourselves against the opposition.

You make me feel old saying that!

There was a motoring programme last night that I missed most of. Tiff was one of the presenters who I've always liked. They were testing the DBS against, I think, the Ferrari superfast. The comment was the Ferrari got the most looks, but then again in bright red it would do. But Tiff came out in favour of the DBS, saying the looks were better and it was a better all round GT car. I shall road test these this weekend! Fancy coming 3300?

FN2187, the F1 team is a stand alone from AML. Laurence Stroll owns the team and will present the cars in AML livery next season. The $20 million sponsorship by AMLof Red Bull F1 will he transferred to Racing Point in what I understand is a 5 year deal. Running the cars in works colours with a multi world champion driver should provide very good exposure.

The discussion around units sold relates to DBS, Vantage and DBX. Other models that come into the mix next year and 2022 are Valkyrie and Speedster. These are very low number models but total around £450 million in revenue, with probably considerable profitability. They represent 2,500 to 3,000 of mainstream models in terms of revenue so are considerable, even if spread over 2 years. Then there is the question of the Valhallah which was originally 1,000 units at around £1.3 million apiece. I wonder if the V6 mule that someone heard pounding round Silverstone was perhaps a development engine.

Huge three days starts today for the AML racing team which could end up being potentially the greatest achievement since 1959. The Vantage GTE Pro is already the world Sportscar Constructor's Champion. Saturday evening will reveal if they have achieved the World Drivers' Championship as well as the GTE Am Constructor's and Drivers' Championships. In total the cars and teams will have battled for 66 hours over the season - kind of makes F1 seem part time!

It's just one opinion of thousands. Sadly, he has a platform to state what he thinks whereas most don't. It won't make any difference to current investors.