Logistics
后勤篇
For Formula One racing teams one of the biggest battles of a race weekend or testing session will be over before a car even turns a wheel: the vast logistical effort required to get all of the team′s equipment to the circuit.一级方程式赛车车队以其为期一周的比赛或测试赛成了当今世界上最壮观的场面之一,它会因一辆赛车甚至一个车轮的问题而终止。于是,庞大的后勤集团则有必要将车队设备搬到赛场。
Indeed each team competing in the FIA Formula One World Championship now travels something like 160,000 kilometres (100,000 miles) a year between races and test sessions - with some of the larger constructors (running one or more test teams) doing considerably more than that.事实上,在国际汽联竞争的每个车队由于比赛和测试每年大约行驶16万公里(10万英里),有些更大的生产商(经营一家或多家车队)所做的远不止这些。
Nor is the logistical effort as simple as merely getting people and equipment in place. Hotel accommodation must also be found and booked (a team can require anything up to 100 rooms), hire cars must be sourced and the team′s facilities at the circuit - from the pit garage equipment to the drivers′ motorhomes and the paddock corporate hospitality units must all be in place. Almost equally important, in this digital age, are the secure data links that connect the team to its base, enabling telemetry and other data to be sent directly back (which in turn allows engineers to study any potential problems, even while the race is running.) All-in-all, an enormous task.后勤工作并不是仅仅将人员和设备安排就位那么简单。预订住宿酒店(最多时一个车队需要100个房间),租车和车队的设备---从维修设备到车手的宿营车以及装备区贵宾接待区必须就位。在数字时代的今天,同样重要的是车队与其基地之间联系的可靠数据,有助于遥感勘测和其他数据的直接返回(工程师们可依次研究任何潜在的问题,甚至在比赛时),总之,这是一项艰巨的任务。
For the European rounds of the championship most of a team′s equipment will travel by road, in the liveried articulated lorries which are such a familiar sight in race paddocks across the continent. All of the race equipment required for the weekend will be loaded in these: cars, spare parts and tools. Most teams will ′pack′ three cars, one spare chassis and several spare engines plus a full kit of other spares. Tyres, fuel and certain other equipment are brought separately by technical partners and local contractors.对于欧洲地区的冠军赛来说,一个车队大部分的设备由陆路运输,运输设备为整体统一的铰接式卡车,这种熟悉的情景我们在装备区可以看到。比赛周所需全部比赛设备一应俱全:赛车、备用零件和工具。大多数车队会准备三辆赛车,一个备用底盘,几个备用发动机和一整套其他备用件。 轮胎、燃料和其他一些特定设备可单独从技术搭档和当地承包商那里购得。
For the non-European ′flyaway′ races the logistical effort is considerably more complicated (all Formula One teams being resident in Europe at the moment) as equipment has to be flown out on transport planes. Rather than use conventional aircraft containers, teams have created their own specially designed cargo crates, designed to fill all available space in the planes′ holds. At present most of the teams use cargo planes chartered by Formula One Management (FOM) which fly from London and Munich to wherever the race is being held. In the case of successive flyaway races (such as with the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix in 2000) there is insufficient time between them to allow the teams′ equipment to be brought ′home′, meaning direct transit between the two races. This means that considerably more components have to be packed. 对于非欧洲地区的“宽松的比赛(宽松式比赛或宽松赛事)”来说,后勤部门的工作变得更为复杂(所有的一级方程式车队此刻全都在欧洲),因为所有设备必须通过运输机运送,而非传统的飞机集装箱。车队有自己专门设计的货物箱,以有效地利用机舱空间。当前,大部分的车队利用一级方程式赛车管理公司提供的包机从伦敦和慕尼黑出发飞往任一比赛场地。在连续“宽松的比赛”中(像2000年在中国和日本举行的的汽车大奖赛),车队没有足够时间将设备带回“家”,意指在两场比赛之间直接运输。这就意味着必须将更多的零部件包装起来。
As the number of races outside Europe continues to expand, so the logistical effort required to transport the teams and their equipment will expand alongside it. Already the amount of transport required for a season of Formula One has been described, only half-jokingly, as being similar to that needed for a medium-sized military campaign.随着欧洲以外赛事继续增多,后勤集团运输车队及设备的力度也随之加大。根据对一个赛季运输量的描述,可以半开玩笑地说,这和一场中型战役的投入不相上下。
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