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Everso Biggyballies
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#1096

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Bottom post of the previous page:

On this weekend in 1971


Tyrrell’s first F1 win: the 1971 Spanish GP


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Jackie Stewart took Tyrrell's first victory as both a team and constructor


A thrilling duel through Barcelona’s Montjuïch Park ended with Jackie Stewart claiming the first Formula 1 win for a Tyrrell car 50 years ago this weekend.


This is how Denis Jenkinson reported it in MotorSport Magazine
The Tyrrell’s first victory

Barcelona, April 18th.


For the second time in the current Formula One, the Spanish Grand Prix was held on the remarkable circuit in the Montjuich Park in the heart of Barcelona, the first time being in 1969, when front and rear aerofoils were at their greatest height and lots of them fell off, some right in front of officialdom, so that an instant rule was passed which banned high aerofoils and movable ones. Consequently the lap record was considered by some to be an ultimate, they feeling that the new aerofoil rules were stunting progress. That was nonsense, of course, and two years of development and progress in engine-power, brakes, road-holding and handling have more than made up for any advantages that the high aerofoils might have given. The 1969 lap record was left at 1 min. 28.3 sec. by Rindt with a Lotus 49, and practice in 1971 was barely half-way through before anyone who was anyone in Grand Prix racing was way below this figure, and everyone was there to have a go, right from the moment that practice began on the Thursday evening before the race.

As the paddock gate was opened the cars and drivers came out one by one and set off for practice, and it was a sight to enthral any regular racing enthusiast, let alone the thousands of locals who probably had not seen or heard a Grand Prix car engine since 1969. Amon (Matra V12), Andretti (Ferrari flat 12), Stewart (Tyrrell V8), Rodriguez (BRM V12), Regazzoni (Ferrari flat 12), the Lotus 72 cars, the March 711 cars, the Surtees cars, they were all there, and were all ready to go, all that is except Gethin whose McLaren M14A was in the paddock with leaking fuel tanks. The way the numerous 12-cylinder cars moved away up the hill from the pits, with the relatively flat-sounding V8s intermingled with them, was stirring stuff and started the whole meeting off on a keen note, like the first bull into the ring being a real brave one. Some were really ready to go, like Amon with the first of the 1971 Matras, and Stewart with last year’s Tyrrell which he was using as a spare car having a brand-new Tyrrell car all ready for him whenever he wanted it, this being the third car from the Tyrrell team.

At the opposing end of the field were numerous newcomers, who were not only feeling their way along in the Grand Prix scene, but were also discovering the twists and turns, up and downs, humps and bumps of the Montjuich circuit for the first time, and others like Stommelen, who was sitting in his brand-new Surtees for the first time and finding that nothing really fitted him, though the car was basically all right as Surtees had bedded it in at the Easter meeting at OuIton Park. The Lotus team had converted both of their 72 models to the new arrangement of oil tank, single-piece aerofoil and twin oil radiators at the rear, and had built aluminium ducts to scoop air into them, as Ferrari did on his 1970 models and BRM on this year’s models. Fittipaldi was in 72C/R5 and had alternative nose cowlings available, last year’s with the NACA ducts taking air to the front brakes, and the 1971 nose with a smooth top and waisted sides taking cooling air into the inboard brakes from the sides. Wisell was in 72C/R3 with the 1971-type nose. The strong Ferrari trio of Ickx, Andretti and Regazzoni were all in 1970 Ferraris, respectively No. 3, No. 2 and No. 4, and were expecting a 1971 car the following day. Hill had the odd-looking Brabham BT34 with the outrigger radiators, and Schenken had the BT33 he had driven for the team at Brands Hatch. Hulme had the 1971 McLaren and Gethin the 1970 model he drove so well at Oulton Park.

Stewart’s official car for the race was a brand-new Tyrrell, making its first appearance, and he had the original car as a training car, while Cevert was in the rebuilt second car. The BRM team had four cars, two 1971 models and two 1970 models, with Rodriguez in P160/01, Siffert in P160/02 and Ganley in P153/03, with P153/07 as a spare in case anyone did any serious damage to his own car. The STP-March team were out in force with three 711 models, all with the front brakes mounted on the hubs instead of inboard, and all lacking the fancy covers over the side radiators and the engine. Andrea de Adamich had the first car, with an Alfa Romeo V8 engine, Peterson had the second car, with a Cosworth V8 engine, and Soler-Roig had the fourth car built, also with a Cosworth V8, all three being painted STP red, (but not Reflectagto red). The third 711 to be built was being driven by Pescarolo for Frank Williams, and it had been severely modified with stronger front wishbones, strengthening gussets here and there, a stronger rear suspension frame under the gearbox, and hub-mounted front brakes, and was painted in its usual dark blue.

The Matra team had their two 1971 cars, designated MS120B, with Amon in the first one, which has a very similar monocoque to the 1970 model, and Beltoise, back in the fold after having his licence returned, following the unfortunate Buenos Aires crash incident, in the second one. Their numbering follows on from 1970, being 04 and 05, respectively, the second car having smooth, sloping sides to the monocoque instead of the angular, shelf-like layout of the earlier cars. Amon had one of the 1970 cars as a spare, and both the new cars were using the high intake duct that looms over the driver’s head like a bird’s beak. The final team was the Surtees duo, with the owner in TS9/001 and Stommelen in TS9/002. This race should have seen the whole entry carrying their obligatory red rear lights, but for some obscure reason the idea has been postponed until July.

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Ickx took pole for Ferrari

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The race gets underway

The race was due to start at 11.30 a.m. on Sunday morning, by which time the skies were very clear and the sun was blazing down on the enormous crowd that lined the circuit. After some confusion and chaos in the marshalling area the cars were wheeled out, and along with the drivers were presented to the grandstands of honour, before being sent away one at a time on a warm-up lap. Ickx used the opportunity to try his Ferrari as if in the race, and he could not have breasted the hill after the start any quicker had he been racing. The twenty-two starters lined up on the grid, there only being two Cosworth V8-powered cars in the first three rows, Stewart’s Tyrrell in the second row and Gethin’s McLaren in the third row, ready for the start of the 75-lap race, a long and gruelling 284 kilometres round the difficult and exacting 3.79 kilometre circuit, with little or no room for error, under a blazing sun.

Up and over the hill the whole pack roared, with Stewart hard on the heels of the Ferraris of Ickx and Regazzoni, the young Belgian boy obviously being out to win. As they all crowded up at the first hairpin the leaders swept round, but in the mid-field someone chopped across the front of Hill’s Brabham and clouted a front wheel so hard it took the steering wheel out of his hands and he found himself almost stationary on the apex of the hairpin. This caused a chain-reaction among the tail-enders, and Surtees, Stommelen, Soler-Roig and one or two others were forced to stop completely, while Schenken and Wisell went round the outside. This little fracas deranged the steering on Hill’s Brabham, and Surtees crumpled a nose tin. Hill was forced to give up, Surtees later stopped and changed his crumpled cowling for the one off Stommelen’s car, as the second Surtees would not run properly due to bits of metal finding their way through all the filters and jamming the fuel pressure relief valve open, so the German driver had retired.

Siffert came in to retire with damaged gear-change linkage on the gearbox, thought to be due to being involved with someone on the first hairpin nonsense. Meanwhile, Ickx and Stewart were soon out on their own and there began one of the better Grand Prix races. The old lap-record went almost instantly, and Stewart was hounding Ickx mercilessly and got by on lap six, but his lead was neglible. For the whole race these two battled it out, lapping faster and faster, and Stewart was on the limit all the time, with Ickx driving equally as hard and keeping Stewart right on his toes. Diving, twisting and turning round the park these two kept at it in a masterly display of driving, leaving all the opposition behind, and lapping all the slower cars, some of them twice. In and out of the traffic Stewart tried all he knew to get rid of the Ferrari, but there was no hope, Ickx kept pressing all the time, but towards half-distance Stewart’s stamina began to tell, and little by little he opened up a gap and it got to as much as nine seconds, but then Ickx seemed to get a second wind, and as the fuel load was going down the Ferrari was handling better and better.

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Ickx leads Stewart

The gap now began to close and bit by bit Ickx was closing it, all the while the lap-record being broken time and time again by both drivers. There was no relaxation for Stewart, he was driving at his absolute best, on the limit of everything all the time, and the brand-new Tyrrell was holding together. Closer and closer the red Ferrari got, until Ickx had the dark blue Tyrrell in sight down the twisty hill. As the Ferrari landed after the jump at the top of the hill past the pits, Ickx got a broadside view of the Tyrrell driving into the left-hand hairpin. They were both lapping faster than ever they had gone in practice, running consistently around 1 min. 25.5 sec., and on lap 69 Ickx recorded 1 min. 25.1 sec., an all-time record lap. In the closing laps they blasted past some back markers, but Stewart made no mistakes, and he finished the 75th lap going as hard as he has ever had to drive, with the red Ferrari in hot pursuit. Both cars had been driven to their absolute limit and both had responded perfectly, neither one missing a beat or failing in any way.

It had been a memorable battle which kept everyone on their toes the whole time, and had completely overshadowed the rest of the runners, some of whom were doing good things, while some were best overlooked. Regazzoni’s initial spurt fizzled out when the low-pressure fuel pump down by the gearbox cracked and let the fuel pressure fluctuate, with a result that the engine ran on a weak mixture and began to seize up, so it was pulled out of the race before it wrecked itself completely. Andretti got into a good three-cornered battle with Rodriguez and Hulme, battling it out for fourth place behind Amon’s Matra. This went on until lap 43, when Andretti had to stop with a small fire going on at the back of the car. His fuel pump had also cracked, and sparks from the pump had set fire to the leaking fuel, but luckily with the power on the petrol was sucked away from the leak and the fire went out, but on the over-run into corners it would leak out and ignite again.

Hulme could see this happening and finally managed to alert Andretti’s attention to the hazard, and he stopped at the pits. Another pump was fitted and he went off again, but as with Regazzoni’s car, the weak mixture had been playing havoc with the inside of the engine, and as it was about to break Andretti stopped, with yet another fire started from the replacement pump. A well-meaning fireman covered everything with foam, including the driver, and that was the end of the American’s race.


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BRM's Pedro Rodriguez leads the Ferrari of Mario Andretti

Rodriguez ran right through in a steady fourth place, with Hulme fifth after a very satisfactory afternoon’s drive, except that he didn’t win. Amon had taken third place from Regazzoni on the third lap, and he held that position throughout the race, never looking like losing it, nor improving on it, the Matra running strongly apart from a hesitant pick-up from the slow corners. Gethin profited from his good starting position but gradually dropped back, and was relegated to a steady eighth place behind Beltoise and Cevert. The Matra driver went well, but Stewart’s young team-mate drove even better, and gradually closed on Beltoise until he got to the point of making a bid to snatch sixth place. Just at that moment, on lap 64, Stewart appeared behind him, at the height of his battle with lckx, so dutifully Cevert got out of the way to let Stewart by and lost all hope of taking sixth place from Beltoise.

As at the Race of Champions, Schenken in a Brabham, and Ganley in a BRM were remarkably evenly matched and ran in close company throughout the race, even recording identical fastest laps at 1 min. 28.9 sec. This time Schenken led all the way, and made no mistake at the end, so that they finished ninth and tenth. The Lotus pair were never in the picture, Fittipaldi having no faith in his brakes, especially after the warning light had come on, indicating low fluid level, but a stop at the pits made no improvement after bleeding them and adding more fluid. The car continued to swoop about under heavy braking, and after the race a break was found in part of the rear suspension cross-member assembly.

Wisell was equally unimpressive, suffering most of the time with a recalcitrant gear-change, due possibly to it being out of correct adjustment after repositioning the gear lever, when he decided in practice to adopt a different driving position. Pescarolo’s apparent burst of speed in the first practice did not develop into anything better, and in the race his engine was never on full song. In the opening stages he was in twelfth place and just about hanging on to the mid-field bunch, but could not have been too pleased when he was lapped first by Beltoise on lap 47, and then by Cevert, on lap 49. Shortly after that the front mounting of the rear aerofoil broke, and that was sufficient to call it a day with the dark blue March. The three red March 711 cars ended the day spread round the circuit, Peterson’s engine dying from electrical trouble quite early in the race, when he was just ahead of Pescarolo, while the Alfa Romeo-powered March wrecked its final drive unit and Soler-Roig was in twelfth place when a fuel pipe broke and brought him to rest.



Image
Jackie Stewart stands on the podium with his wife Helen after winning the 1971 Spanish Grand Prix


For the first two cars it had been a brilliant race, hard-fought and won by sheer driving ability on Stewart’s part, for the other twenty cars it had either been steady and dull with unsatisfactory results, for everyone would like to win or be an honourable second, or it had been disastrous and a miserable failure. For the huge and excitable crowd it had been a day to remember, with sights and sound they may not see again until 1973.—D. S. J.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... and-prix-4

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#1097

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

On this day 22nd April 1946

Luigi Villoresi won the first major post-war race on this day in 1946 at Nice.

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From the Motorsport Magazine Archive of March 1997. Villoresi was still alive, and just short of his 88th Birthday when the article was written. At the time one of the few remaining pre-war Grand Prix racers, Luigi Villoresi remains among Italy's most distinguished figures.

His esteemed status as such was recognised in October 1996 during the annual Ferrari Day race meeting at Mugello. It was there that he received an impressive prancing horse trophy from Niki Lauda to mark his many victories with Ferrari, and spent the afternoon signing autographs and chatting to all his old pals.

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Villoresi prepares for Britain's first international car race at Crystal Palace in 1937

Sadly in August 1997 he died, some 6 months after this article appeared. Graham Gauld visited him in Modena for the article.
Luigi Villoresi: the old master of Modena

In May, Luigi “Gigi” Villoresi will be 88 years of age, and after a remarkable career he is now the last of the great pre-war Italian racing drivers. His esteemed status as such was recognised last October during the annual Ferrari Day race meeting at Mugello. It was there that he received an impressive prancing horse trophy from Niki Lauda to mark his many victories with Ferrari, and spent the afternoon signing autographs and chatting to all his old pals.

Today, Villoresi lives in the Santa Catherina nursing home in Modena. This may sound like a sad postscript to a motor racing career as a factory driver with the likes of Maserati, Ferrari and Lancia, but you only have to sit for a while with this charming and friendly old man to see that he is still full of life. There’s still a twinkle in his eye and he has lost none of his great sense of humour.

A few years ago Villoresi’s legs began to fail him (possibly as a result of a crash in Italy years before), and he arrived to meet me in his wheelchair, pushed by Don Sergio Mantovani, the local priest who set up and runs the Santa Catherina nursing home. Don Sergio (no relation to the Sergio Mantovani who used to race for Maserati) first came to Modena in 1953 as a young clergyman and was adopted as the priest to the Maserati factory and racing team. He told me that Villoresi still nurtures his love of racing, and that he has a special wheelchair with a racing seat. “He’s the terror of the nursing home in that chair!” says the priest.

The Villoresi family was well known in Milan. When Luigi was born in 1909 his father ran a company generating electricity for the city, but it was his grandfather who was the most famous member of the family. He built a large canal taking water from the river Ticino near Milan’s present-day Malpensa airport to irrigate that part of Lombardia. In recognition of this it was called Cana le Villoresi and the name is still marked on maps of the area.

Lady Howe puts a wreath around Luigi Villoresi in his Maserati racecar after he won the International Grand Prix.

ImageCongratulated after winning the 1948 International Grand Prix at Silverstone

Luigi’s father, Gaetano, and mother, Esther, had five children but sadly the family was dogged by misfortune. Luigi’s brother Emilio was killed testing an Alfa Romeo Alfetta at Monza, his sister Rosa died in a road accident and, perhaps more tragically still, another brother committed suicide. His last brother, Eugenio, died of cancer. As Luigi never married he wistfully declares, “You see, I am the last Villoresi.”

His first motorsport endeavours were in local rallies in 1931 with a Lancia Lambda, but two years later he bought a Fiat Ballila a model which opened the door to racing to many young Italians. It was in this that he competed in the Mille Miglia with his younger brother Emilio as passenger.

They finished a creditable fifth in the hotly contested 1100cc sportscar class and from then on the Fiat was used in a number of events including the 1935 Coppa Ciano where he came third. That year he was so successful he became Champion of Italy in the 1100cc sportscar class, and the door to a career-long affair with Maserati was opened.

For 1936 he bought one of the ex-factory 4CMs and immediately rocked the establishment by taking sixth place in the Voiturette race supporting the Monaco Grand Prix; his first race in the car!

He shared the car with brother Emilio who proved to be a particularly quick driver. Quick enough, in fact, to be snapped up by Enzo Ferrari to drive the Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeos in the 1937 season. In the meantime, Luigi and the Scuderia Ambrosiana which he had helped form with Count Johnny Lurani bought a 6CM Maserati (C/N 1541).

By 1938 Villoresi was a full member of the Maserati team and, recalling those years, the car he remembers more fondly that any other is the fabulous 8CTF (Eight cylinder Testa Fissa – fixed head) of which only three were ever built. This had an in-line 3-litre, eight-cylinder engine with twin Roots superchargers, one driven off the crank and the other geared to the camshaft. It produced over 350bhp and was Maserati’s answer to the Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union cars which were dominating Grand Prix racing at the time. Had it not been for the war, the car might have developed into a true race winner. As it was, one of them went to the States and, as the Boyle Special, dominated Indianapolis, while one of the others appeared at the Goodwood Festival last year.

In 1949 Villoresi bought a 4CLT Maserati and came to race in Britain. It was while in England that he had a big surprise: “I received a message from Enzo Ferrari,” he remembers, “saying he had sent a single-seater Ferrari to Brussels for me to race in the Brussels Grand Prix, and a sportscar to race in Luxembourg. I won both races and when I got back to Milan I had a telephone call from a journalist called Corrado Fillipini telling me that Enzo Ferrari wanted me to drive for him.”

This brought a dilemma for Villoresi; he had disliked Enzo Ferrari since the day of the accident which killed his brother Emilio at Monza: “On that day, June 28 1939, Enzo Ferrari put on a lunch actually on the circuit to show the new Alfetta.” he recalls. “After lunch, they cleared the tables off the track and my brother ‘Mimi’ went out in the car. He did two laps with no problems and on the third lap he crashed into a tree and was killed.

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At Monaco in 1950

“I asked Enzo if I could see the remains of the car but he refused, and when I asked him what had happened he told me he thought my brother had eaten too much at lunch and perhaps had indigestion which had caused him to go off the road. Then I asked him about insurance and he told me there wasn’t any, so I was very upset. After that, my brother’s road car, an 80 Alfa Romeo 2300 disappeared and some time later Consalvo Sanesi, the Alfa Romeo test driver, told me that the steering had broken on the car. So I really did not like him. However, I decided to go and see what he had to say.”

When he arrived at Ferrari’s house he was ushered upstairs to the great man, who was ill in bed. He immediately made his feelings known: “I told him I knew he didn’t like me and I didn’t like him, but let’s talk. At the end of the conversation I left Modena not only with an agreement to join Ferrari but also with two other contracts which I was to pass to my friends Alberto Ascari and Nino Farina. All three contracts were exactly the same.”

His career was now into full stride, but despite his brilliance Villoresi was to have a number of accidents, the two most serious being in Geneva. One was in a Maserati when his mechanic put new tyres on the car and he shot off the road on the first corner. The second, when driving for Ferrari in 1950, was much more serious.

“As soon as the race started the car was not running well and I could only get 10,000rprn when I should have been able to take 11,000. What I think had happened was that my mechanic Meazza in changing the plugs from soft to hard had missed two of them, and this was why the car was misfiring. I was down the field and someone up front blew his engine and spread oil over the road. I spun, hit the straw bales and overturned. Luckily I was thrown out of the car, but was lying in the middle of the road. Nino Farina actually saved my life as he saw me in time to swerve, but he too hit the oil, went off the road and crashed.”

Villoresi was taken to hospital in a coma, lost the top of one of his fingers and admits today he was lucky to be alive. “You know, in all my racing I broke 24 bones in my body. Most of them were in that crash at Geneva.”

Despite his horrific injuries, Luigi recovered in time for the 1951 Inter Europa Cup meeting at Monza, where Enzo Ferrari entered him in a Ferrari 340 Coupe. Not only did he win the race but he enjoyed it so much he asked Ferrari if he could race the Coupe in the Mille Miglia. Ferrari refused, saying he would have a Barchetta like Ascari, but Villoresi persisted. Eventually he was allowed to race the Coupe, and won the event.

Image1951. In the Ferrari pits

“Enzo Ferrari didn’t understand that the Coupe was actually a better car for the Mille Miglia. The race was wet, but I felt comfortable and was very happy to win.”

When you ask Villoresi about Ferraris in those days he is blunt and to the point: “Ferrari made really good engines but the chassis were never up to the job. In fact, by the end of 1955 and the period of the Squalo and Super Squab, Ferrari was lost. Then he got the Lancia racing team, changed the colour of the cars and went out to win the Championship in 1956.”

Asked about his last season with Ferrari in 1953, Villoresi shoots his eyes up to the ceiling in a look of despair. Why did he leave? “I was tired,” he says, but goes on to reveal the real reason: “At the end of 1953 Alberto (Ascari) and I drove to Maranello from Milan to see Enzo Ferrari about our contracts for 1954. As was typical of the man, Ferrari took Alberto into his room while I was left to go with team manager Ugolini to his office where he and I discussed contracts.


“When we finished, Alberto and I said goodbye to Ferrari and Ugolini, got into the car and set off to drive back to Milan. While Alberto drove he reached inside his pocket and pulled out two sheets of paper, handed them to me and said ‘read this’. The first one was a contract from Gianni Lancia for Alberto to race for the new Lancia Grand Prix team in 1954 which he had already signed. The other was an identical contract signed by Gianni Lancia with my name on it and Alberto said ‘sign it’. I couldn’t believe it: Alberto had had this long discussion with Enzo Ferrari about a contract for 1954 knowing he had already signed for Lancia and left me to talk to Ugolini not knowing what had been going on!”

As we now know, the Lancias were not ready for most of the 1954 season, so Villoresi was loaned out to his old friends at Maserati and drove 250Fs. At the Spanish GP the Lancia appeared but Villoresi retired from the race with failing brakes. During the 1955 season he drove solely for Lancia, scoring a fifth place at the Monaco Grand Prix, the highest placing ever scored by a Lancia Corse-entered Lancia.

In addition to his Grand Prix work Villoresi raced Lancia sportscars he and Ascari won the Sestrieres Rally in a Lancia B20 saloon. “You know,” he confides, “some years later when Sandro Munari won the Sestrieres Rally for Lancia the company made a big show of the fact that it was the first time Lancia had won that event. They forgot about Ascari and me!”

“Gianni Lancia handed over his cars to Enzo Ferrari, but without Villoresi”
At the end of the season Gianni Lancia handed over his cars to Enzo Ferrari and the Lancia-Ferraris triumphed in the 1956 season, but without Villoresi. He returned to the Maserati fold and finished fifth in the Belgian GP in a Centro Sud 250F and sixth in the British GP in Luigi Piotti’s 250F. It was therefore only fitting that Villoresi should end his Grand Prix career at the Italian GP of 1956 in a factory Maserati; sadly, it retired.

His racing days over, Villoresi lived quietly in Modena. But he remained a fine ambassador for Maserati and was always present on the company’s stand at motor shows.

Explaining how Luigi is supported in the nursing home by a number of his racing friends, Don Sergio is quick to point out that many members of the VSCC in England have contributed. That very appropriate, as some of Villoresi’s very happiest memories came from places like Silverstone. Goodwood and Snetterton.

Many a glass will be raised to the white-haired Villoresi on his 88th birthday on May 16. He was truly one of the great Italian racing drivers.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... -of-modena




Pathe News report of the 1946 Nice GP.





Villoresi won four GPs in 1947 with this Scuderia Ambrosiana Maserati 4CL, seen here below during that yearÕs Swiss Grand Prix

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Villoresi, The Grand Prix de Reims 1947,

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#1098

Post by erwin greven »

@Everso Biggyballies Thanks for this great article.
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#1099

Post by FedBet57 »

On 28 April 1974, 47 years ago, Niki Lauda won his first F1 GP of his career at Jarama
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#1100

Post by Michael Ferner »

Why then post a picture of his second GP win? :wink:
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#1101

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Michael Ferner wrote: 2 years ago Why then post a picture of his second GP win? :wink:
Yes I am very sure that pic is indeed Zandvoort not Jarama.

Edit: In fact that picture first appeared in the Motorsport Magazine Zandvoort 1974 GP report. :wink: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... and-prix-6

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#1102

Post by acerogers58 »

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#1103

Post by erwin greven »

acerogers58 wrote: 2 years ago
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
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#1104

Post by FedBet57 »

Michael Ferner wrote: 2 years ago Why then post a picture of his second GP win? :wink:
I found that picture in an article published by Autosprint. I was wondering if Niki was in Spain or Netherlands but then I thought Autosprint was right :nuts:
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#1105

Post by erwin greven »

Everso Biggyballies wrote: 2 years ago
Michael Ferner wrote: 2 years ago Why then post a picture of his second GP win? :wink:
Yes I am very sure that pic is indeed Zandvoort not Jarama.

Edit: In fact that picture first appeared in the Motorsport Magazine Zandvoort 1974 GP report. :wink: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... and-prix-6
The marshals are from the OCA, Officials Club Automobielsport Zandvoort.
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
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#1106

Post by Mawerick »

Everso Biggyballies wrote: 2 years ago(FYI Walter Lewis in the US is the longest surviving, having been paralyzed from the neck down in a car crash back in 1959 aged 19. SFW is a year younger than Walter Lewis, although Lewis has been a quadraplegic for many years longer than SFW, who suffered his injuries in 1986. I know Lewis was still alive at Christmas time.)
[offtopic]
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/wo ... adriplegic
[/offtopic]
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#1107

Post by erwin greven »

Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
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#1108

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

erwin greven wrote: 2 years ago
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To add to those tweets posted by @erwin greven I saw this compelling article in Motorsport Magazine archives first published in the May 2019 25th anniversary of 'that weekend' magazine, so thought others might enjoy it. I know we have a lot of Roland fans on the board here.

It remembers Roland Ratzenberger, who lost tragically lost his life in a crash at Imola on this weekend in 1994. In tribute to a true racer. It highlights trivia of Roland I did not know. This is an interview with Roland's father: I have highlighted one phrse regarding the memory of their son in the post. Sadly I believe they are right. Without the Senna incident later in the weekend Roland would have been forgotten by most.

FIA president, Max Mosley, attended the funeral of Ratzenberger, while the world of motorsport and worldwide media were giving overwhelming attention on Senna's funeral.

In a press conference ten years later, Mosley said, "Roland had been forgotten. So, I went to his funeral because everyone went to Senna's. I thought it was important that somebody went to his."[20] Other members of the Formula 1 community who went to the ceremony were teammate David Brabham, Johnny Herbert, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and Ratzenberger's compatriots Karl Wendlinger and Gerhard Berger: in all, only five F1 drivers attended the funeral.

Good on you Max. Its not often you get a pat on the back (sic) but in this case....

It wasn't just Senna who was lost that weekend at Imola. Dennis Van Louenhout spoke to Roland Ratzenberger's father about a driver who deserved better

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Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger Tribute Weekend: The parents of Roland Ratzenberger, Rudolf Ratzenberger (AUT) and Margit Ratzenberger (AUT) at the spot where Roland was tragically killed. Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger Tribute Weekend, Imola, San Marino, Italy, 1-4 May 2014.
'My son Roland Ratzenberger'

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The image of Roland Ratzenberger’s Simtek-Ford coming to rest after its heavy crash in the fast Villeneuve kink is haunting to this day. Rudolf Ratzenberger, now 85, saw it on TV, at home in Salzburg, Austria. “When I saw his head, I knew it was over,” says Rudolf. He still feels the shock of that day, 25 years ago.

Rudolf had become a father for the first time on July 4, 1960, when his wife Margit gave birth to their son Roland. She still remembers how her little son would spend hours at the window, watching cars go by. “His first word was ‘car”, she says. Roland was nine when, near the family home, the Salzburgring opened. Little Roland would worm his way through the gates so he could watch the cars go round. A little later he came home announcing: ‘I’m going to be a racing driver.’

“We weren’t necessarily happy with his choice,” says Rudolf, who worked as a civil servant. “We couldn’t support him financially and we were worried about him having a decent future. Of course we also knew the risks, but we were never afraid for his safety. Racing was a faraway world for us. Of course, the successes of Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda made me aware of Formula 1, but I’ve never been a fan of motor sports. Roland caught the bug all on his own. I still remember how he had a poster of Rindt on his bedroom wall.”

When the new Simtek team first presented itself to the world early in 1994, it introduced David Brabham and the unknown Austrian Roland Ratzenberger as its drivers. Those who did know Ratzenberger might have seen him in an episode of popular children’s TV show Roland Rat, which briefly made him famous in the UK. Others knew him from the 1986 British Formula Ford Championship, or a lost season in British F3 in 1988 which resulted in him turning his attention to the BTCC in which he drove a BMW M3. A year later he finished third in British F3000, winning at Donington Park. More importantly, it is around that time that Ratzenberger got in touch with Toyota. That brought him to Japan, where he’d be Toyota’s first European factory driver. In the land of the Rising Sun, Ratzenberger would be able to restore his career and his confidence, combining racing for Toyota in sports cars – including Le Mans – with stellar performances in touring cars and Japanese F3000. It rekindled his long-cherished dream: racing in F1.

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Roland’s recovered helmet

Ratzenberger got close to an F1 deal once before. If a Japanese sponsor hadn’t hit trouble, the chances are that it would have been Roland instead of Bertrand Gachot debuting the Jordan-Ford in 1991. Roland would have to wait three more years for his chance. It was Barbara Behlau, a part-Dutch sports manager, who coughed up half a million dollars in order to get Roland in the Simtek for the first five races of 1994. Rudolf and Margit were happy for their son, and they never feared for his safety: “Roland assured us that racing in Japan, with so many inexperienced drivers on track, was much more dangerous, and that the cars in F1 were the safest of all…”

Even though he had achieved his dream, that doesn’t mean Roland Ratzenberger was a happy man when he arrived at Imola for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the third race of the season. He failed to qualify his Simtek-Ford at the first race in Brazil, issues with his Ford V8 leaving him trailing his team-mate by over a second. He did qualify for the Pacific Grand Prix a fortnight later, making use of the fact that he was the only driver to have previously raced on the TI Aida circuit. He brought his Simtek home in 11th, and last, place, but on the same lap as the much faster Ligiers. Coming to Imola he was determined, but he was also aware that his car wasn’t going to make it easy for him. A friend who made mountain bikes had joined Roland at Imola and presented some bikes to the team, on which Roland, David Brabham and Nick Wirth pedalled around the paddock. But on Saturday things got more serious. Austrian journalist Gerhard Kuntschick had been following Ratzenberger’s career for years at that point, and was talking to him just before qualifying. “I’ll never forget him asking me to continue the interview later as he had to get into his car,” says Kuntschick. “As he walked away he said ‘I have no more time.” Minutes later it would become obvious how little time he had left. A broken front wing would end his dream, forever.

“It’s clear to us that without Senna’s death, Roland would have been long forgotten”

Ratzenberger’s accident deeply affected Ayrton Senna, who saw it unfold on the monitors in the Williams garage. He commandeered a course vehicle to inspect the accident scene. The stories of Senna calling his girlfriend Adriane in tears and Professor Sid Watkins trying to convince him not to drive have been told before. Rudolf Ratzenberger confirms the rumour that Senna was carrying an Austrian flag in his Williams, with which he planned to honour Roland after winning the grand prix: “Josef Leberer, Senna’s Austrian physiotherapist who also knew Roland, told me that Ayrton did indeed carry an Austrian flag with him.” Ratzenberger’s friend Harald Manzl speaks of a budding friendship between Senna and Ratzenberger, and says that Senna meant to visit Ratzenberger in Salzburg: “There’s a large meadow in Salzburg where many model aeroplane flyers gather. Senna was a keen model flyer, so he wanted to see this. The plans to come to Salzburg were already in place, but it wasn’t meant to be”

A day later F1 lost an icon when Senna crashed at Tamburello. His death would not only immerse the world in mourning, it would also ensure that Roland Ratzenberger would be forever overshadowed. Rudolf doesn’t quite agree with that view though. He says: “What happened to Roland was a tragedy, but it was an accident for which nobody is to blame. Compared to Ayrton and his three world titles Roland – despite his years of experience – was a total nobody in F1. We felt the way Ayrton reacted to Roland’s crash was an honour in a way; he recognised what the loss of Roland meant. That he died only a day later made Ayrton and Roland twins, in that they died simultaneously, chasing their ideals. To us it is very clear that without Ayrton’s death, Roland would have been long forgotten.”

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Rudolf and Margit Ratzenberger still live in their son’s house

After Imola the F1 fraternity made a booklet for Roland and Margit, signed by every driver on the grid. The most touching entry came from Mika Salo, who wrote ‘For my best friend.’ Salo remembers all the parties he and Roland went to while racing in Japan: “We had so many drinks and did loads of stupid, unprintable stuff. Roland loved to have fun. I didn’t really follow his exploits in F1; I knew he’d signed with Simtek but I also knew it was a worthless team. He deserved better. Racing made him his living. It was the best job in the world, but it was his job nevertheless. He earned good money in Japan, and he’d save every last cent. You could always count on Roland to help you, but he never bought me dinner because he was saving up everything to buy a house in Salzburg.” He did do so, just before his death.

Today Rudolf and Margit live in the home, overlooking the mountains, of which Roland received the keys a week before his death. In the basement Rudolf keeps his son’s trophies. There’s also a box which was given to Rudolf at the end of 1994 by the Italian police. It contains Roland’s belongings, the gloves and also the helmet he was wearing when he crashed at Imola. The left side of his helmet is badly damaged but the right side is undamaged. You could look at it and believe nothing ever happened. Rudolf points out it is the only helmet he has from his son’s F1 career. That very helmet embodies the dream his son had, the dream he got to live only so briefly. Rudolf sighs: “I’ll be happy when April 30 has passed. The emotions are still so strong. But I feel it’s my duty to keep Roland’s memory alive, but at 85 it’s becoming difficult. You know, we were never the euphoric kind of parents. That’s just not us. I’m not good at giving praise. I feel like I only learned after his death to value what my son achieved by making it to F1. Sometimes I worry that I didn’t praise Roland enough during his short lifetime.”
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... son-roland

Just another piece of Roland trivia I read today.....Bernie Ecclestone persuaded the Simtek team to take part in the race the following day, the 1st of May, to overcome the shock. That we all knew, but this I certainly did not.....

Out of respect, Ratzenberger's spot on the starting grid was left empty. ESPN SpeedWorld's race coverage on race day reported that the fastest non-qualifier, Paul Belmondo, had been offered the final position on the grid but had declined to take it, out of respect for Ratzenberger and on the grounds that he had not earned that race spot while Ratzenberger had.

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#1109

Post by erwin greven »

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Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
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#1110

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RIP Champions :rip:
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#1111

Post by erwin greven »

Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
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