Page 55 of 99

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 20:23 pm
by Michael Ferner

Bottom post of the previous page:

Well, I don't like to disagree with a legend, but "you are just like James"???? He may look like him, and sound like him, but otherwise he's so not-James!

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 08:00 am
by John
Michael Ferner wrote:Well, I don't like to disagree with a legend, but "you are just like James"???? He may look like him, and sound like him, but otherwise he's so not-James!
Murray was very close to James, and, I can imagine, he's met Freddy a fair few times. I think he knows the kid well enough to make that assessment.

Better than us here anyway, as most of us has probably never even met any of the three.

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 15:11 pm
by John
On this day in 2013, Maria de Villota passed away.

Image

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 01:39 am
by erwin greven

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 13:11 pm
by kals
Today is the 40th anniversary of James Hunt's championship triumph in Fuji.

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 07:13 am
by MonteCristo
Image

RIP Greg :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

17 years ago today, and that day is still as fresh in my mind now as it was then.

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 06:18 am
by Everso Biggyballies
13th November 1994.

On this day Michael Schumacher showed his ugly side when he took Damon Hill out of the Australian GP in Adelaide to tie up his first WDC.
22 years ago now. I still remember it like yesterday. The day I went from being a Schumacher fan to anyone but....


Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 13:46 pm
by John
Everso Biggyballies wrote:13th November 1994.

On this day Michael Schumacher showed his ugly side when he took Damon Hill out of the Australian GP in Adelaide to tie up his first WDC.
22 years ago now. I still remember it like yesterday. The day I went from being a Schumacher fan to anyone but....

Echoed.

I'm still a bit pissed about Hill not waiting for just a few more seconds to overtake him instead of going for it at first sight.

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 14:31 pm
by erwin greven
He did not know that Schumachers car was damaged. Nor even he knew why he was suddenly that slow.

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 11:12 am
by John
erwin greven wrote:He did not know that Schumachers car was damaged. Nor even he knew why he was suddenly that slow.
I know, I know.

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 01:40 am
by Everso Biggyballies
5th March.

5th March 2017 is the 40th anniversary of Welshman Top Pryce's tragic crash at Kyalami.
Since the death of Tom Pryce, from North Wales, in the 1977 South African Grand Prix, not a single Welsh driver has made it onto the Formula One grid.

Image

The Tom Pryce Memorial in Ruthin, Wales, the town he was born in.
Image

From the BBC website, an article posted in 2012 to mark the 35th Anniversary.

The tragedy of Tom Pryce, Wales' Formula One hero
The 5th March is the anniversary of the death of Welsh Formula One driver Tom Pryce. The man from Nantglyn near Ruthin was tipped for F1 championship glory by many of his contemporaries, but at the age of just 27 his life and career were cut short in one of the most bizarre, tragic accidents in the sport's history.

The dashing but unassuming Pryce was a popular figure in the paddock, but it was his speed and car control that had everyone talking.

At the 1975 British Grand Prix he became the first and only Welshman ever to take an F1 pole, driving the little-fancied Shadow. An accident brought his race to a premature end, but earlier that year he had shown what he was really capable of.

"He did it with a malfunctioning clutch, and a hitherto unseen smoothness in place of his trademark oversteering style," says journalist David Tremayne, author of The Lost Generation, a thrilling, forensic account of Pryce's career.

"The race marked another milestone for Tom: the only time a Welsh driver led a Grand Prix. He ran in the top three initially, as Ferrari's Clay Regazzoni led from Pace, but overtook the Brazilian on the 17th lap and went into the lead on the 19th when Regazzoni slid into the wall at Club Corner.

"He stayed there on lap 20, too. But on lap 21 he was the first to encounter an unexpected pool of rain at Becketts. This was deeply ironic, for he had a reputation as a genuine rainmaster. The Shadow twitched and slithered off into the catchfencing, and he was momentarily stunned as a pole struck his helmet. It was a sad end to a wonderful drive.

Pryce was one of many to crash that day as the heavens opened, but in the races that followed his stock rose with a podium place in Austria, a fourth in Germany and the following year in 1976, he claimed a third place in Brazil and some promising drives. Things were looking good for 1977, until tragedy struck.

At the annual non-championship Race of Champions, in his black Shadow emblazoned with the Welsh flag, he started from pole position. He slithered on the damp and cold Brands Hatch circuit, the famous, undulating stripe of Kentish tarmac, and beat some of the greatest names in the history of motor racing, including the likes of Emerson Fittipaldi, Jacky Ickx and Ronnie Peterson.

Rival, friend and five-time Grand Prix winner John Watson confirms Pryce's reticence towards the jet-setting world of Formula One. "Tom was possessed of a huge talent," remembered Watson. "We spent a bit of time together because we both did Formula Two in 1974 and traveled around a bit together.

"I remember one time having dinner in Italy, and what Tom wanted was chicken and chips. And there in Italy you had the choice of the most incredible food - but that was all he wanted."

Pryce was killed aged just 27 in baffling circumstances in the 1977 South African Grand Prix. He fell victim to the decade's lackadaisical approach to safety in one of the most horribly bizarre accidents ever to befall motor racing. Cresting a rise at Kyalami, he was unable to dodge a teenage marshall running across the track to attend a small fire on his team-mate Renzo Zorzi's Shadow.

Jansen van Vuuren, the 19 year old marshall, was killed instantly. Pryce was struck on the head by the heavy fire extinguisher van Vuuren was carrying, also killing him instantly. His car carried on down to the next corner, collecting Jacques Laffites' Ligier and knocking him out of the race, before coming to a halt.

As Grand Prix racing is now a safer and more affluent world, it will forever be poorer for the absence of one of Wales' greatest and most unassuming sportsmen many tipped as a future world champion.

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 06:51 am
by Andy
... back in 2003 the motorcycle racing world lost Barry Sheene to cancer
:rip:

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 08:30 am
by Everso Biggyballies
On this Day

31st March 2002.

Michael Schumacher notched his 100th podium with victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Image

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 09:24 am
by PTRACER
49 years yesterday since Jim Clark died. Practically fifty years since his death and people are still talking about him.

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 08:24 am
by erwin greven

Re: On this day in Motor Racing's past

Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 19:42 pm
by Everso Biggyballies
On this day, May 5th 2016 Max Verstappen was promoted from Toro Rosso to the main RBR team, replacing, or swapping positions with Daniil Kvyat who had endured a less than average start to the 2016 season, culminating in taking out Sebastian Vettel at Daniil's home GP in Russia. Verstappen famously repayed Red Bull for the promotion by winning his debut RBR race in Spain the following week, and has since gone with minor blemishes to become one of the most feared and fastest drivers on the grid.