Van Diemen

Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in Snetterton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula Ford chassis, which have been at the forefront of that class of motorsport for over 20 years and led it to becoming the largest manufacturer of bespoke racing cars in the world.

As well as Formula Ford, Van Diemen built cars for Formula Ford 2000, Sports 2000 and Star Mazda series. The company's purpose-built manufacturing facility was located on the grounds of Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, allowing racing teams to test the cars right off the production line.

History

Van Diemen was founded in 1973 by Ross Ambrose and Ralph Firman Sr., whose children Marcos Ambrose, Ralph Firman Jr. and Natasha Firman have since gone on to have successful racing careers. The company's name comes from the island of Tasmania, Australia, which was formerly known as Van Diemen's Land and is where Ambrose was born and lived before moving to the UK to co-found the company.

Diemen

Diemen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdimə(n)]) is a town and municipality with a population of 26,148 in the Netherlands. It is located in the south of the province North Holland, southeast of Amsterdam, and within the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.

Etymology

The name Diemen comes from the river Diem, which originates from die eme, meaning the water.

Geography

Diemen is located in the province North Holland, in the west of the Netherlands. The town is part of the urban area of Amsterdam and is situated between Amsterdam-Oost (IJburg, Watergraafsmeer), Ouder-Amstel (Duivendrecht), Amsterdam-Zuidoost (Bijlmer, Driemond), and Muiden.

Three waterways cross the municipality: the Weespertrekvaart from west to south, the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal from north to east, and the river Diem from south to north. The river is the namesake of Diemen. The town can be divided into three neighbourhoods: Diemen Noord, Diemen Centrum, and Diemen Zuid.

Diemen Noord (English: Diemen North) is located on the south bank of the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal, which separates it from the Amsterdam neighbourhood IJburg, on the west bank of the river Diem, and on the north side of the Amsterdam–Zutphen railway. The area contains houses, a few of which are recreated old houses, a minor shopping centre, and in the east a green area called Diemerpolder.

Formula Ford

Formula Ford is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula Ford has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone into formula racing after karting. The series typically sees professional career minded drivers enter alongside amateurs and enthusiasts. Success in Formula Ford can lead directly to other junior formulae such as a Formula Renault 2.0 or even an F3 seat.

Formula Ford is not a one-make championship. It allows freedom of chassis design, engine build and numerous technical items of specification on the car. This opens the door to many chassis manufacturers, large and small. Many other single-seater formulae impose fixed specifications. Only two other professional single seater racing formulae in the world offer the same freedom of chassis and engine build: Formula Three and Formula One.

History

The origins of Formula Ford began in the early 1960s, where motor racing schools such as The Jim Russell school and Motor Racing Stables featured single seat Formula Junior and Formula 3-like machines from world class constructors like Cooper and Lotus. Many aspiring Formula 1 stars looked to these schools in the hope of learning the craft and also looking the part. However, although there was no shortage of aspiring drivers, these schools had much trouble avoiding bankruptcy. The 1 litre Formula 3 engines, the 1.1 litre Coventry Climax FJ and later the Ford Anglia 105E, cost around £3,000 at the time in addition to the Dunlop racing tires which cost £80 a set. Furthermore, these engines were incredibly fragile to boot, meaning they had a tendency to self-destruct. All these factors contributed to a steep maintenance and upkeep cost of the schools.

The Edge

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge), is a British-born Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of the rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 13 studio albums with the band as well as one solo record. As a guitarist, the Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, and was raised in Ireland after the Evans family relocated there while he was still an infant. In 1976 at Mount Temple Comprehensive School he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1991's Achtung Baby. Over the years, the Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, the Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record Zooropa, and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

Van Diemen's Land

Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia.

History

Exploration

The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania in 1642. Landing at Blackman's Bay and later having the Dutch flag flown at North Bay, Tasman named the island Anthoonij van Diemenslandt, in honour of Anthony van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, who had sent Tasman on his voyage of discovery. Between 1772 and 1798 only the southeastern portion of the island was visited. Tasmania was not known to be an island until Matthew Flinders and George Bass circumnavigated it in the Norfolk in 1798–99.

Around 1784-85, Henri Peyroux de la Coudreniere, an army officer serving in Spanish Louisiana, wrote a “memoir on the advantages to be gained for the Spanish crown by the settlement of Van Dieman's Land”. After receiving no response from the Spanish government, Peyroux proposed it to the French government, as "Mémoire sur les avantages qui résulteraient d’une colonie puissante à la terre de Diémen".