Aussie Geoff Brabham failed to pre-qualify twice for the Life team in 1990. At Phoenix he was 26 seconds off the pace. The team was so bad he just left. He went onto being an IMSA champion in the US, a Super-Touring Champ, and won Le Mans. He was also one of only 12 finishers (out of 33) in the 1992 Indy 500. he runs a BMW driver school not far from where i live (Sandown racetrack, just out of melbourne).
Also, when Martin Donnelly had his crash at Jerez, G Brabham was supposed to take his Lotus spot for the race, but politics intervened.
His brother David went onto competing in the 94 season for Simtek.
On the subject of Emmanuel Collard, I have an old F1 book which was written between the 94/95 F1 seasons and featured very heavy input by Benetton, forward by Briatore etc etc. The name escapes me and I can't find the book.
Anyway, it seems to allude to the fact that he was both highly rated by the team, and in line for at the very least a permanent testing position and perhaps a race drive with the team in 95 or 96. Anyone know why this didn't work out? Seems he ended up testing for Prost down the track, but nothing else on his "maybe" Benetton days.
"Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin, unless this is the action, which it is."
- MW
Collard Had been a World Kart Champion and was a stunning talent [still is!] without enough backing to give him real momentum. It would be good if anyone knew why it didn;t work out for him at Benetton? Was there a Renault connection?
.....PT has mentioned the Lola T97/30 elsewhere. Those bastards at Mastercard didn't only screw over Eric Broadley [I still haven't forgiven them, I remember just what they weren't doing in early 1997] but they also screwed over Vincenzo Sospiri's career. He really was a car-control phenomenon to watch and he would have been seriously good in Formula One; superior in ability to both Trulli and Fisichella!!
Richard Johns was recently slated to drive the #60 for Wyler Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, but sponsorship fell through, and Johns was left without a ride.
Edgar Jessop wrote:Dave Coyne tried to get Gachot's Jordan seat for the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. I can think of about 93,000 reasons [out of 100,000] why he lost out to Michael Schumacher
Allan McNish was offered the Jordan seat for Belgium before Schumi. He was advised by his management to turn it down...
Oliver Gavin was due to drive for Pacific at the 1994 Australian GP before politics issues got in the way.
Edgar Jessop wrote:Dave Coyne tried to get Gachot's Jordan seat for the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. I can think of about 93,000 reasons [out of 100,000] why he lost out to Michael Schumacher
Allan McNish was offered the Jordan seat for Belgium before Schumi. He was advised by his management to turn it down...
On a season review somewhere Eddie Jordan said that the decision was between Stefan Johansson and Schumacher in the end.
***Some say you should live each day like it was your last... but who wants to live each day in wild panic and extreme death anxiety?
The universe, look at the hugeness of it... it is a dizzying thought that little ol' me is the centre of it all!***
David Pearson Tested a Wood Bros Ford in 1989 after Neil Bonnet got injured, but decided to retire officially.
Matt wrote:The 1981 Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix had a surprising winner, merely due to the fact that they're the only races in history to have been won by a World War 2 tank disguised as a Formula One car.
Edgar Jessop wrote:Dave Coyne tried to get Gachot's Jordan seat for the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. I can think of about 93,000 reasons [out of 100,000] why he lost out to Michael Schumacher
Allan McNish was offered the Jordan seat for Belgium before Schumi. He was advised by his management to turn it down...
On a season review somewhere Eddie Jordan said that the decision was between Stefan Johansson and Schumacher in the end.
Really? I don't recall Stefan's name being ever mentioned with that seat but I'm not going to dispute what Eddie Jordan has said. The information about Allan McNish came from an interview he did with Autosport a few years ago.
Don't forget that Steve Johnson was Eddie's great mate from way back in the Racing for Ireland days ... and anyway he was almost certainly still contracted to Eddie Jordan Management - certainly he had been up till 1989!
I happen to know that inevitably everyone was on the phone after that gig at Spa!
Mikko Kozarowitzky (sp?) from Finland drove for March in 1976 or 77 two races but failed to qualify.
What happened to Kimmo Liimatainen or Thomas Enge? I remember something about Liimatainen from 2000, and Enge IIRC did some races for Prost in 2001 but neither really didn't take off...