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How's this for vintage?!!?!??...

So I took the day off work to surprise my son by pulling him out of school early so we could spend the day together racing our RC Cars at a new track an hour away. We get there, set up but the track was reserved for 2 hours for a birthday party so we take off to go eat dinner and when I get back, the guy who just arrived and is setting up right next to me is none other than the great and legendary Rick Mears!!!!!

I mean what are the chances??!?!???

I looked at him and immediately said hi Rick Mears??!?? He says nah, his twin brother! Had a laugh and exchanged pleasantries. Even helped him set up his shirt course truck. I'm still here in the middle of qualy rounds but I don't have the nerve to ask for a picture with him and my son.

I'll keep you all updated...

I always wished he had come to F1. When he tested with Brabham he was as quick as Nelson IIRC.
I think he decided himself not to do it but I can't remember why.

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Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have the skill & the will but the will must be stronger than the skill. Muhammad Ali

Arai, what a story! What about asking Rick's brother for an intro? Someone I know who knew nothing of racing got an intro second-hand and Rory Byrne met him in Maranello for dinner! Two hours and this guy (with his wife and two kids there!) did not know what to ask Byrne about!

You'd have so much to talk to Rick Mears about.

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Here's a crappy pic with rick and my son!



I have a better pic but I have to open it up in photoshop to properly remove the little bit of red eye and correct the lighting but that be da man!!! Who knew this Puerto Rican kid that used to look out his grandmother's window at an old retired track whilst playing with his cheap lotus and march toy cars which was converted for training thoroughbreds, would one day meet 2 of his biggest heroes??!?!???

First Mario, now Rick!!! Been 24 hours and I still can't believe it!

Something to tell Hamilton...

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Use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping? Use them after your own honour and dignity.

Maria de Villota - Jules Bianchi

A better class of monkey...

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"Guys I'm coming in, I'm having too much grip"
- Chanoch Nissany

Although this one is from pre-F1 times, the story is too funny to miss.
1934 Mercedes-Benz grand prix team runnig three to four drivers in their technically advanced, fast cars. They had employed the xperienced Italina driver fagioli as a replacement for their previous number one, Caracciola, who had suffered sevre leg and hip injuries after crashing into the wall at Monaco. Fagioli was really the number one driver, but politics insisted that German driver Von Brauchitsch should win the Eifel GP at the Nurburgring. For a few laps Fagioli sat behind, but at his first pitstop he fumed at team manager Neubauer that he was much faster and be allowed to pass von Brauchitsch. Not permitted. After another pitstop shouting match, Fagioli wheelspun off, drove around to a deserted spot in the forest of the 22 km lap, parked the car well off the road in the trees, and walked off. It took the team two hours to find the car after the race.

At Malyasia 2013 all Red Bull team had to face were two unhappy drivers; they did not have to look for one of the cars.

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Gret vid mmi 16. I have the complete set of a Gentleman's Motor racing diary by John Tate & all this kind of stuff is on it.
It was given to me by a good friend.

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Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have the skill & the will but the will must be stronger than the skill. Muhammad Ali

Amazing what was considered 'safe' in 1955 as compared to the present.

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Yes & I witnessed it first hand as I was at the Ulster TT at Dundrod in 1955 where drivers were killed that day.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/trage ... ulster-t-t

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Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have the skill & the will but the will must be stronger than the skill. Muhammad Ali

At Imola in 1982, Vileneuve, dissapointed by Pironi's behaviour, looks somewhere in the distance during the ceremony. The plate that was given him for the 2nd place had an interesting history. It's told by Jonathan Giacobazzi, a member of the Giacobazzi family (notable vine producers) that sponsored him:

"When Gilles climed out of his Ferrari after the chequered flag, he stormed in our motorhome totally upset. He didn’t want to show up on the podium. My father told him to go for the sake of his fans. Then he came back, threw his trophy, a silver plate away, saying, This is not mine, mine was stolen by the other. He didn’t mention Pironi’s name. The plate remained in our motorhome, so my father phoned him a week later asking what he should do with, since it wasn’t our. Gilles told him to bring the trophy to Zolder and to give it to Ferrari. Then it turned out that my father had some business obligation and couldn’t go Belgium and a collegue of his brought the plate to Zolder which later became a piece of the colletion of the Villeneuve Museum in Berthierville."

From: http://f1classic.blog.hu/

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The end is near

Great story POB, I can just imagine the Mercedes team becoming increasingly worried as he didn't come round again, giving way to confusion due to no trace of what they may have presumed was a serious accident.

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"Jean Alesi is using the Maginot Line policy-You shall not pass!"-Murray Walker

Great story Lt., another piece of this story... Villeneuve was quoted afterwards as saying,
"I'll never speak to Pironi again in my life." They proved to be prophetic words, as he was still not on speaking terms
with his teammate, Pironi when Villeneuve was killed during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks later.

I wonder how much anger he was carrying into that Q session after get jacked out of 1st plc at Imola 2 weeks prior.

I've still got an All American Racers charter member patch somewhere. Dan Gurney was my childhood hero, and I got to meet him in the pits at Silverstone when I was about 7. Big thrill.

For those who don't know, pit passes in the sixties put you right on pit lane before and after the race where you could get close to all the cars and meet all the drivers. Man, times have changed in that regard.

And never could a guy like Gurney build his own car and field his own team today as a driver. I love F1 still, but I miss the days when it was all done by mechanics and engineers armed only with pencils, paper, a welding gun and a stopwatch.

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Magic Williams 2018

The Multi 21 of the 1980s!!! (minus the certainty of the order)

I like the one Alan Jones said were Ferrari had shown interest in him and wanted to sign him up to race for them in 1978 (I think). He was told he had to come and meet Enzo Ferrari to discuss the drive but the whole matter needed to be kept completely secret and under wraps. Jones made a good effort and sneaking off to Italy without any one knowing and was successful until he reached Italy expecting a driver to pick him up from the airport and drive him to Maranello to see Mr Ferrari. As he walked out of arrivals he immediately spotted the driver, kitted head to toe in Ferrari gear, holding a placard with "Alan Jones" written on it in big letters....

so much for incognito!! Incidentally he got the contract but was edged out by Villenueve before he even started and his contract was deemed null and void.

He was carrying a lot of anger, but that wasn't the reason for his crash at Zolder.

Little OT:
Vintage Onboard Vids

Not sure where else to put this, but Rubens Barrichello has competed in over a third of all Grand Prix. And will have to wait until 2017 before he can no longer make that claim.

Just a fun fact I found.

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IV

My first memory of going to a motor race (although I must have been to some before that) was being at Brands Hatch when they announced over the tannoy that Jim Clark had just been killed in an F2 race at Hockenhiem.

Although I do not have any personal anecdotes I do recall one of my favourite driver of all time Pedro Rodriguez. He was at Brands Hatch for the British GP and in those days wives or girlfriend's kept the lap chart. Pedro not one to do things by halves had his wife in 1 pit and his girlfriend in the next doing the honours.

Also I was fortunate to see the race of my life The BOAC 1000kms at Brands hatch see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0YCGF3ncEY

In which Pedro driving the Gulf Wyer Porsche 917 managed to lap the field even after being called into the pits for a bo**ocking by the Clerk of the course.

Someone earlier mentioned Jaques Laffite I have fond memories of hearing him going through the gearbox on the Matra V12 screaming down the back straight at Brands. The changes where smooth and seamless so much so I was convinced he had an electric leg!

Ah ... you have started me off now! The only way you can tell the different cars these days in by the livery. Not a problem in the days of the 4 wheel Tyrell, the Brabham lobster claw, the lotus 72 the BRM P180, The Teapot Ligier and the STP March 711. Those where the days ... Umm I sound like my dad now!

That reminds me I have just remembered my encounter with James Hunt but that is another story!

Wonderful memories TBWG; especially interesting observation about Laffite's driving and that Matra V12. Now you can't leave us hanging about your encounter with James Hunt.

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POBRatings how could I refuse a request like that.

Back in 88-90 I was watching my son play in a Saturday afternoon school football match, and who should be there supporting his sons prep school team none other than James Hunt.

In the post match parents tea I approached him for a chat. I happened to mention that one of my motor racing buddies had had lunch with Jean Pierre Jarier at Brands Hatch and dropped it into his motor racing tales at every possible opportunity. To which he replied “Oh dear the poor chap”

I said I could now say that I have had afternoon tea with an F1 World Champion and surely that must outrank a French F1 pilot with over a hundred starts and no wins.

It was only a few years later that he died and I must admit when I saw him he did not look too good and was a bit scruffy but I put that down to his anti establishment attitude.

These days things are a lot different and you would not get a current F1 driver having pie & chips with the riff raff! Although on this occasion it was a test day rather than a full blown GP.

Ah well that’s reminded me about my time with Mike Wilds but that’s another story!

Not F1, but I couldn't see a better thread than this one to post this;

McLarens in their orange livery dominating in a 1967 Can-Am race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRlcOnccfgg

That must have been so nice to chat to James H informally. I was shocked to read of his death, but subsequently read that Jame's lost his money in investments that went wrong, and was desperately poor after 1991. Sounds as if the stress could have caused his early death?

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This day, 32 years ago, I was waiting for the report from qualification, and instead, I got chills and cried in my bed. I was just 10 years old.
Bad day to announce that Jacques Villeneuve Sr. a brother of Gilles battles with an advanced cancer.

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/204145/1/j ... ancer.html

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Whilst having a cappuccino in a local coffee shop two names just popped into my head for no apparent reason!

Well the Monaco GP is approaching so that may have something to do with one of the names, as I seem to recall that Johnny Servoz-Gavin left a Matra? with less than its full compliment of wheels in the middle of the track whilst trying to qualify in the principality. He got out of the car walked away never to be seen again!

The other name George Eaton a Canadian playboy BRM driver who also sank without trace.

Hmmm the memory is a strange indeed.

TBWG

The bold M. Servoz-Gavin's last F1 hurrah was at Monaco in 1970, when he failed to qualify his March. Given that as an F1 rookie two years earlier he'd stuck his Matra MS10 on the front row (whilst deputising for the injured Jackie Stewart), his excuse that he was suffering from the effects of an eye injury seems a reasonable one. He still holds a unique place in F1 history as the only man ever to have scored a world championship point in a four wheel drive car, the Matra MS84.

He didn't fail to qualify, he just quitted the track, F1 and motor racing during the qualifications... It was also said (and he said it too) that he had less and less pleasure driving race cars and that he felt that the pleasure couldn't compensate the danger anymore.
Anyway a very fast "play boy" driver. At the rainy Le Mans 1968, he stopped his Matra at the end of the first lap because the wipers didn't work, returned to the track last and gave back the car to Pescarolo at the ninth place. He died in 2006.

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As my brother said : "I've got the brain of a four year old. I'll bet he was glad to be rid of it".

Anyone willing to discuss 1982 season with me? Where there is a discussion about it, I hear how Ferrari was the best car that year. Yet, I clearly remember that Renault dominated that season, and that it lost only due to bad reliability. Did I missed something about it, and what is the truth? I start doubting myself and mine own memory.

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Few interesting oldies at Festival of Speed, Goodwood 2014

I must dig out my copy of Johnny Servoz-Gavin's autobiography, "Mes Excès De Vitesse". It's probably typical of the man that the cover of the book has a picture of a horse-drawn caravan on it!

Interview with Alain Prost. What a legend:

http://bbs.hupu.com/5113933.html

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Another piece of insight at Imola 1982, I never knew before, from the mouth of the witness from the Ferrari box, namely the Antonio Tomaini - race engineer of Gilles Villeneuve at Scuderia Ferrari.

http://f1classic.blog.hu/2014/01/11/you_never_ge

"His reaction was reasonably furious, not for the race itself, but for his team mate's behaviour who not only ''stole'' his race, but he felt he cheated on their friendship which until that point Gilles was convinced was beyond question. Previously the two showed amicable behaviour. To confirm his idea of what friendship was, still in Imola, during qualifying, Gilles had showed us already by his actions, considering that usually drivers are very selfish particularly while they are fighting against their own teammate who is their worst opposition It was real proof. It was the first era of turbo engines when they were strong but weak. In Didier's car the engine was broken very soon. Gilles, in friendly and collegial way, let us give him the spare car which was supposed to be his. Pironi, after a few laps, had that one break down as well. In the meantime Gilles got his best time. He then came to help his teammate to qualify at least. He gave him his own car. We quickly made the necessary adjustments for Pironi and he shot out to get something in the remaining time of qualifying. So Pironi could manage to put the car beside Gilles on the second row. That was Villeneuve. He would do almost the impossible for a friend. This is how one can understand the reaction of Gilles after his team mate's eventual performance."

The legend of Gilles just grew on me.

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I was just wondering, why was DC replaced by Mansell in the last 3 races of 1994 season?

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“I'm happy, but there's nothing to jump around about.”

Renault insisted on having a big name driver in the Williams! They paid Nigel a huge amount, DC was furious, and some in the team said DC'd have done about as well as Nigel did.

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Great quote; and very accurate regarding Gilles' openness and Pironi's duplicity and ruthless ambition.

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Completely agree with you that he Renault was the fastest car and only lost because of poor reliability (17 retirements from 32 starts); by my reckoning Prost/Renault was the fastest package, but equalled by the Gilles/Ferrari, then very close behind the Arnoux/Renault and Piquet/Brabham-BMW tied. The Brabham-BMWs retired 15 of 22 races! The Ferraris (Gilles,Pironi, Tambay, Andretti) retired 4 times of 22 races, plus one dsq for Gilles at Longbeach. While the Ferraris were slower than the Renaults, they were much more reliable.

It was a really intense, exciting and very close season, with many top drivers and the very fast new turbo cars. But some Cosworth cars were competitive.

The good performances of the new carbon-fibre tub McLaren-Cosworth seems overlooked: driven by Watson and Lauda, they were almost as fast as the Williams-Cosworth , but got superior results: 4 wins to Williams/Rosberg's's one. McL retired 11 of 29 races, Williams 8 of 29, so Williams scored on reliability. Piquet and Patrese scored 2 wins from 7 races in the Brabham-Cosworth, retired 3 times. Tyrrell-Cosw and Lotus-Cosw also won a race each.

Imo Gilles and Piquet were the fastest drivers, Prost and Pironi next and close behind.

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Good to have Prost's side published. I'd not put money on Fangio, Ascari, Moss, Clark or Schumacher to beat Prost in same-cars! The number of wins he racked up against Senna in 88-89 was amazing. To me Prost and Stewart seem to be most similar as drivers, smooth and thinking.

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I stumbled across this picture today and got stunned how beautiful were the cars back in 1984 compared to that of today both in design and in livery. On the picture are Nigel Mansell (Lotus) and late Michelle Alboreto (Ferrari).



Copyright unknown, taken from http://i.kinja-img.com
Appears also on http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/

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