BALLOONING AND SALOONING

Back in 1988, together with my long-time friend Susan Reynolds, I had one of the greatest adventures of my life, I participated in the Perth to Sydney Balloon Race and flew with record-holder Joe Kittinger who is part of the Red Bull Stratos project.

I believe Joe and his team left on Saturday for San Antonio for some testing, then back to Roswell for the final jump at 120,000 feet. To get the full story on the record attempt check out their site

Here’s the story so far:

The countdown is on for skydiver Felix Baumgartner.

In just two weeks, Baumgartner will attempt to go supersonic when he jumps from a record altitude of 37 kilometres over New Mexico. Project managers announced on Tuesday the feat will take place October 8.

The Austrian parachutist jumped from 21 kilometres in March and 29 kilometres in July. This time, he hopes to break the all-time record of 31 kilometres set in 1960.

A giant helium balloon will hoist a pressurised capsule with Baumgartner inside, dressed in a pressure suit.

Baumgartner expects to reach a top speed of 1110 km/h and break the sound barrier with only his body, less than a half-minute after he hops from his capsule. The same capsule was used for Baumgartner’s two practice jumps but was damaged in the latest touchdown.

It smashed down hard despite its parachute, and the outer shell had to be replaced with parts from a backup capsule. The entire craft was taken apart and reassembled. The repairs and retesting pushed the final flight from August to October. “I feel like a tiger in a cage waiting to get out,” Baumgartner, 43, said in a statement.

Project officials note that excellent weather will be needed to launch the 30 million-cubic-foot helium balloon from Roswell. Early autumn is generally an optimal time for such endeavours in the northern hemisphere.

The entire flight will be monitored by a NASA-like Mission Control; the mission is known as Red Bull Stratos, short for stratosphere.

One of the lead team members is record-holder Joe Kittinger, who was an Air Force captain when he took part in the military high-jump project. This time, the effort is privately funded by the energy drink maker.

MAY MEANS MEAN MACHINES IN MONACO

Like a true sophisticated international the volley boys burst onto the Monte Carlo scene, from Eze, totally unnoticed. They had driven their modest Renault Modus, a close relative of the Red Bull-Renault of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, to the car park under Avenue Princes Grace. They then made their way towards the Monte Carlo Casino via the famous tunnel which runs under the Farimont Hotel.

At this time of year you come to Monaco for one reason and one reason only and that’s for the cars. The girls line up Le Mans style to get into their Maserati. Above, Jackie Stewart reviews the track whilst Messes Ferrari, Mercedes, Bentley, Rolls and Porsche look on.

The café next to the casino is popular with the rich and famous and that’s where we head and like Larry the Lounge Lizard  we relax back to observe this parallel universe of wealth pass before our eyes.

Within minutes of taking our table we see Sally Carrera and Lightning McQueen sitting a few tables across and up the back Chick Hicks and Strip “The King” Weathers are having a few beers.

When I went to the gent’s toilet I heard a guy telling his mate that he saw Mark Webber talking with Doc Hudson. Someone else said Luigi and Guido will be helping in pit lane. I tell you everyone, who’s anyone, is here.

The race is held on a narrow course laid out in the streets of Monaco, with many elevation changes and tight corners as well as a tunnel, making it one of the most demanding tracks in Formula One. All in all it is a dangerous place to race and the 2011 event was not without incident.

Our compact, elegant and easy to manoeuvre Modus takes its position on the grid. Whilst we didn’t get pole position we were right up the front next to our Red Bull-Renault brother.

I won’t bore you with the details because I know you can look it up on the www but the 78 lap race was won by the championship leader, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who started from pole position. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was second and McLaren’s Jenson Button third.

Winner Vettel extended his lead in the World Drivers’ Championship to 58 points over Lewis Hamilton who was sixth. Mark Webber finished fourth and maintained third place in the championship. So our team did pretty well and we all celebrated late into the night but as you know what happens in the garage stays in the garage.