Picture this:
A nice cold January day at the Bahrain International Circuit. You complete the GulfRun 5 morning briefing session and everyone heads into the pits to check on their cars. Not you… your pit crew do it on your behalf.
Fuel… check.
Tire pressures… check.
Engine vitals… check.
You walk into pit lane as they fire up your car. But it’s not just any car. No sir (or madam). It’s Michael Schumacher’s 1994 Formula 1 World Championship winning Benetton B194.
The car you see here is actually for sale on eBay Motors (might already be sold when writing this – sorry). This car was a controversial one during its time. It had Schumi labeled as a cheat, as a driver who only cared about himself, and one who wanted to win at any cost. So why the controversy? In 1994, Damon Hill and Schumi were only 1 point apart at the very last grand prix of the season in Adelaide. From the video below, you can tell that Schumi sees Hill make a mistake which he quickly corrects, assumes the proper driving line, but then Schumi just plows him away. In the end, Schumacher was crowned World Champion and the rest is history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfby7GaMXmoIn regards to the car though, the lucky buyer gets an F1 car with a rebuilt 3.5 liter Ford-Cosworth V8 engine, a load of spare parts, engine management software, a bunch of aero pieces and 2 sets of spare wheels. Autoblog’s last checking of the auction site showed that the bidding had already reached $3.5 million USD with expectations that it would go much higher. Want to impress at GulfRun 5 at any cost??? Then, you (Schumi wannabe) should break the bank.
Stay tuned! Pun intended.
elwehbi@brakebanzeen
This post was written by guest blogger, El Wehbi, from the automotive blog Brake Banzeen! To read more of his work, visit brakebanzeen.wordpress.com.