Back during the 1960s there was a musical group of some renown known as the Yardbirds. They had a dozen or so hit songs, one which kept going through my mind as I watched the events unfolding as part of this year's Grand Prix of Australia. That song was titled "Over, Under, Sideways, Down," and contained a line that added "backward, forward, turn-around." Perhaps those of you old enough to have actually seen Graham Hill and Gilles Villeneuve race remember that song as well. You may even have been thinking of it along with me.

The initial race in Albert Park was certainly a memorable one. Is that track great, or what? Last year I wrote a piece on tracks and how they could be improved (Vol. 1, No. 3). The folks responsible for building this track must have been reading. It is no secret that I hate temporary street circuits, and favor permanent road courses. This one, however, has to be an exception, if indeed it is a temporary street circuit. It actually looks more like a temporary road course. To be sure, it contained no concrete canyons. Where walls do exist, they are set well back from the pavement's edge and are separated from the track by a broad grassy surface, even at the narrowest point. The track has many of the same qualities as the one in Montreal, except it is better in every regard; as, of course, any new track should be. Hey you Indy Car people who built the Detroit track at Belle Isle, I hope you were paying attention!

If there is a problem with the track, it clearly has to be with the gravel traps. You know, those colorful expanses that seem not to have worked so well. It is a good thing that they were not needed. Sure, Martin Brundle is lucky to have had the space, but the gravel itself did him little good (although in fairness, it couldn't have). Did everyone notice that Michael Schumacher had absolutely no reservations about, and no trouble at all, driving through one of these gravel traps from a standing start? Someone needs to tell the Melbourne people about plowing ridges and furrows perpendicular to the most likely direction of impact. Gravel traps need to have a washboard-like surface, not a flat one, to dissipate energy and literally entrap errant cars.

And, what about the cars. I really don't need to say much about the design and appearances of this year's crop. We all know they are uniformly ugly, and we attribute that to the necessary evil of safety. Americans watching the race on ESPN2 all heard Eddie Cheever comment after the big first-lap shunt that the new cockpit design saved Brundle's life, and probably would have saved Senna's had it been in place two years ago. The car's designer, Gary Anderson, must have strutting proud as a peacock when Brundle came running down pit lane!

But who's responsible for mounting the larger-than-last-year's on-board camaras on top of the air box? This positioning made ugly cars even uglier. And, I'm not so sure I like the view. The straight-on view has some merits, not the least of which is seeing close-up and personal the driver's hands on the wheel. I, for one, remain amazed at how these guys used to have to take one hand off the wheel to shift gears! But, don't you think the view is from too high up? It really isn't a drivers-eye view. I've got an idea. Why don't the designers incorporate the camara into air box so that it doesn't stick up, or out?

There always seems to be something new going on in the pits, and this race was no exception. I reserve judgement on the new, apparently skid-retardent, strips some teams are using to help guide their cars into position in front of the garage. On one hand, they look like quite the innovation. On the other, they look like some amateurish aide to help in parking the car. Some teams used them, some didn't. There seems at the moment to be no correlation with their use and team quality. I'll render a verdict sometime later this year.

Although I'm holding off judgement on the pit strips, I'll give you one right now on the starting lights--THEY HAVE TO GO! I've replayed the first start and the restart on my VCR at least a half dozen times, and am not convinced they worked as described, and the same way twice. The system is confusing, and, therefore, hazardous. If we had lots of jump-starts last year, it wasn't with the red light off-green light on system, it was with the motion sensors built into the track under each car. The sensors, not the lights, needed fixing. I say we go back to the pre-1995 system of two lights, and a flagman at each car. The human element at the start was rather nice, and it if failed at times, so what? Olivier Grouillard's jump from the back of the pack that resulted in his gaining four places at the start of the 1991 Mexican Grand Prix remains one of my favorite racing memories (You really had to be there to appreciate it, as my friend Bob Balling will attest).

Earlier I mentioned Eddie Cheever. Let's be fair. His inaugural race as a color commentator was chequered, and at times less than colorful. It was, however, by ESPN standards, not bad. Eddie, an accomplished driver himself, had trouble remembering such simple things as what "tear-off strips" are called. Thanks, Bob (Varsha) for helping-out in the time of need. And, for a guy who spent so many years in Europe, his pronunciation of names was no better than an Alabama redneck. Who was driving the number 2 Ferrari? Was it Irvine or Irvan? At least his comments weren't as exuberant as Derek Daly's and as inflated as those of "The Biz" (Will we ever forget the six-inch curbs?). Eddie isn't any David Hobbs, but he is as honest and forthright. A few lessons from David wouldn't hurt. And, a few gin and tonics might liven things up a bit. But, Eddie, don't call a Canadian racing icon a "dope" in public, especially while in Montreal. ESPN doesn't like that.

The season-opener at Melbourne provided us with a few on-track memories. Brundle's shunt is sure to make the all-season highlight film. And, how about that masterful piece of driving by rookie Ricardo Rosset? In case you didn't see it, he was tapped rather hard from behind by Pedro Lamy and sent into a spin. He partially left the track, but recovered quickly and cleanly and returned to racing. Many others more experienced would, I think, have lost it completely.

Then there was the Villeneuve and Hill dicing. The young turk went mano a mano with the old man and did a more than admirable job. Now, before all you Indy Car nuts start bragging about how this proves the American series is as good as the "world series," remember, Villeneuve ain't your average west-of-the-Atlantic racer. This guy is of purely European pedigree. His stint in Indy Cars was a passing phase. He was destined for Formula One and everyone except the brain-dead knew it all along. My only regret was that his car failed him toward the end. A rookie, this rookie, winning his first race would have been the icing on the cake. That he out-qualified Hill is special in its own right, and speaks volumes about who will be the number one driver on this team in the very near future.

Finally, and going back to the future (Or, could it be going foreward to the past?), Irvine out-qualifying Schumacher simply cannot be described. I'm nearly speechless. I always knew Irvine was good, but that good? I would have loved to be there to witness the exchange of glances between Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, Irvine's teammate last year, when it was announced that Irvine took the pole. Was it a glance of disbelief? An "I should have guessed? Maybe it was glance that would recall memories of another Yardbird hit -- "Smokestack Lightning."