Remembering the fallen

[erwin greven]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Sadly not only drivers or old-drivers pass away. This time a marshal passed away. While the race ran at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, a 52 year old marshal passed away while doing his job track side. That is why there was no champagne ceremony after the race.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Rest in Peace to the unknown Marshal.. So very young to die from 'natural causes' too.

[Everso Biggyballies]

SIMON DIFFEY RIP



Very sad to have to report the death of Simon Diffey in a road traffic accident last Saturday gone, 14th May 2022. Sadly he was driving his beloved Bugatti Brescia when he was involved in a collision with a Paramedic Ambulance on an emergency call. Simon died at the scene.

Simon was an enormously talented driver of all types of historic vehicles worldwide. A huge favourite at Goodwwood, he was also a larger than life highly popular and liked individual. He will be sadly missed by the Historic Car community.

Condolences to his family and many friends.

A number of tributes have been posted, this one on the Bugatti Owners Club.

PRESCOTT SPEED HILL CLIMB
Established 1938

by The Bugatti Owners' Club

SIMON DIFFEY
We are so sorry to have to announce that our beloved Simon, everybody’s friend in historic racing paddocks, the ever-friendly, larger-than-life character who knew everyone and was known by everyone, tragically died on Saturday night in a road traffic accident while driving the much-loved little vintage Brescia Bugatti that he campaigned so well.


Simon was a very talented racer, and a consistent winner in a variety of cars. He lavished meticulous care and preparation on the Bugatti, his Lotus Formula Juniors, the Connaught that he raced for a friend, and his self-built Humbug and Austin 7. Then he drove them to the maximum, whether in a VSCC trial or in the highest-profile races at Goodwood and in Europe.


But more than that, he was a one-off: a hugely generous-spirited man who would help out a fellow-competitor, a friend or a stranger without a second thought. This was not only in motorsport but also in business, for his firm Merry Printers was the go-to supplier when teams, restoration firms, race promoters, clubs and private owners in the car world needed anything printed.


Without effort, Simon could not help being an entertainer, generating outrageous fun wherever he went. With his warm generosity, and his skill and sportsmanship behind the wheel, small wonder that he was one of the best-known and best-loved people in historic motor sport. Suddenly all that has come to an abrupt halt, leaving only a gaping hole on the track and in the paddock, and a legion of friends with a burden of regret and sadness.


A much loved husband, Son, Father, brother-in-law and very proud Grandfather, who cannot be replaced and will be forever in our hearts.


Sarah and the Diffey family


Funeral arrangements will be announced as soon as they are known.

https://www.prescotthillclimb.co.uk/post/simon-diffey


Simon with his Bugatti.

And Goodwood, where he would regularly hop from car to car over a weekend

Simon was also involved in this short humour clip playing the Caretaker, who takes a rare Aston DBR4 for a 'secret' spin.




I always remember Simon bump starting a Maserati 250F singlehandedly after a spin at Goodwood.




Another angle of it here and also Simon in action. Race start is at 4:15 in and Diffey is on the outside of the front row.







RIP Simon Diffey

[Everso Biggyballies]

SIMON DIFFEY RIP



Very sad to have to report the death of Simon Diffey in a road traffic accident last Saturday gone, 14th May 2022. Sadly he was driving his beloved Bugatti Brescia when he was involved in a collision with a Paramedic Ambulance on an emergency call. Simon died at the scene.

Simon was an enormously talented driver of all types of historic vehicles worldwide. A huge favourite at Goodwwood, he was also a larger than life highly popular and liked individual. He will be sadly missed by the Historic Car community.

Condolences to his family and many friends.

A number of tributes have been posted, this one on the Bugatti Owners Club.

Sadly, as more details become known of the circumstances of Simon Diffey's tragic passing, it seems the crash was simply one of wrong place wrong time, and no fault was with Simon.

Apparently he was driving his vintage Bugatti Brescia on a dual carriageway (or divided road as we refer to them here) in broad daylight, when an ambulance on an emergency call sounded its siren as it approached from behind. The car in front of Simon braked sharply (and quite unnecessarily, it seems), Simon without the same braking capacity swerved to avoid the car, and the passing ambulance clipped the Bugatti, and Simon was thrown out.

It just goes to show how fine the line is between life and death.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Niel Allen RIP 4th Sept 1943 - 6th August 2022

(Yes that is how Niel spelt his name.)

Sad to report that 60's and 70's Australian icon Niel Allen passed away on the 6th August. Sadly he suffered from dementia in his later years.



A brave and fearless driver. Niel is the only driver I know who set an outright lap record for a track (Symmons Plains) having spun and crossed the finish line backwards setting the outright lap recpd in the process..

He also came within a bull's roar of winning the Tasman Championship in 1971. He was leading the final race of the championship with just a few laps to go when a water hose split and resulted in his DNF allowing Graham McRae to win the title.

He also still (technically) holds the outright record at the old pre Caltex Chase layout (added in 1987 for the WTCC round) at Mt Panorama, Bathurst. Running a McLaren M10B Chev in the Easter 1970 Formula Libre race. It was never beaten prior to the track being reconfigured and added in 1987 for the WTCC round.

He was a bit of an all-rounder, Sports cars, Touring cars and eventually open wheelers where he found his niche. Typical of the era Niel did quite well in business, made a few quid and turned to motor racing away from work.







He used to call the F5000 McLaren Big Mac! He also had a 1600cc F2 McLaren he called little Mac.





RIP Niel Allen.




Edit just found a nice tribute here with pictures.
https://www.v8sleuth.com.au/vale-niel-allen/

[Everso Biggyballies]

Bill Brown laid to rest

Australian motorsport legend Bill Brown passed away on Friday September 23rd after losing his battle with cancer at the age of 81.


Bill Brown back in the day.... the guy on the left is a very youthful Dick Johnson!

Many outside Australia will not remember his name.... however few will forget the almighty crash he had at Bathurst in 1969 when his Falcon GTHO blew a tyre and rolled along the barrier.... one which most feared for his life having seen it. He walked a way with a grazed shin and a bloodshot eye. (Video follows the tribute)

While it is the two huge crashes at Bathurst in Ford Falcons that Bill Brown is widely known for, it was his success in sports car racing in the late 60’s and early 70’s that he was most proud of.

It all began for Brown competing in some club racing in Sydney during the early ‘60’s, racing a Porsche 1600 Speedster at the Homebush and Warwick Farm circuits in NSW.

As a young man, Bill Brown was great mates with Spencer Martin, and indeed they remained close friends right up till his passing.

Brown was a leading competitor through the 1960s and 1970s, winning his class at Bathurst in 1964 driving a Vauxhall Velox with Spencer Martin and taking outright victory in the Surfers Paradise 12 Hour race in 1967 driving a Ferrari 250LM alongside Greg Cusack. He also won the Queensland Tourist Trophy.

The Surfers Paradise 12 Hour win over F1 driver Paul Hawkins made headlines in Europe, but Brown’s notoriety back home would be the result of two huge accidents at the top of Mount Panorama in The Great Race driving Ford Falcon GT-HOs – both of which were caught on the live telecast.

In 1969, Brown flipped his Falcon at Skyline on the opening lap, blocking the track and eliminating a quarter of the 63-car field, then in 1971 his leading privateer GT-HO Phase III blew a tyre and slammed into the bank at McPhillamy Park at an estimated 175km/h.

Everyone watching the accident live had good reason to fear for his life because the Falcon rolled three times along the fence, slicing the car down the middle where the driver sat, yet he miraculously escaped with nothing more than a grazed shin and bloodshot eye.

“I was pretty lucky,” Brown told Speedcafe.com in 2012.

“I walked away from it and drove home that evening.”

But Bathurst wasn’t finished with Brown because, the following year, he ended up on his side in a Torana XU-1, making it three inversions in four Bathurst 500s – and all within the same 300-metre stretch of road from McPhillamy Park to Skyline.

Brown was always interested in cars but didn’t start racing until he was 21 and through his good friend Martin was soon contracted to David McKay’s professional Scuderia Veloce team.

The association saw him race two glorious V12-powered Ferrari sports cars – the 250LM and a P4 Can-Am 350 that set an Australian speed record of 294.5km/h at Longford in Tasmania.

Brown raced a Monaro 327 GTS for McKay’s factory-backed Holden Dealer Racing Team alongside Hawkins at Bathurst in 1968 and qualified on the front row but they retired with a broken wheel after running in the top three for most of the day.


Brown in a Ferrari 250LM

During the early 1970s, Brown raced Porsche 911s for McKay and then friend Paul Ramsay, who went on to head Prime Television.

Brown almost won the rich 1973 Toby Lee Sports Sedan Series at Oran Park in Sydney driving a Grace Brothers-sponsored Porsche Carrera, losing by a single point to John Harvey in Bob Jane’s Torana-Repco.

Brown’s final top-level outing was in the 1978 Bathurst 1000, when he again made headlines, sharing a Ford Capri with his by then ex-wife Sue Ransom.

In recognition of his unfortunate history at Bathurst, Bill’s name on the windscreen was written upside-down.

Although only a self-confessed hobby racer, the Sydney newsagent took the sport seriously and became a high-profile star.

Aside from his first tentative steps driving a Porsche Speedster, he was usually entrusted with other people’s cars, including some of the most famous in the sport’s history.

In addition to the rare Ferrari sports prototypes, at Bathurst Brown raced the most iconic Aussie muscle cars ever built – the first GT Falcon, the Holden Monaro GTS, Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase III, Holden Torana XU-1 and Chrysler Charger E49 – a rare achievement.

“I’ve had some great cars to drive,” he proudly said a decade ago.

“Although we were total amateurs, we were able to achieve a bit of success.”


Brown in a Ferrari P4 350 Can-Am

https://www.speedcafe.com/2022/09/28/bi ... d-to-rest/

Bill Brown Bathurst 1969





RIP Bill Brown

[erwin greven]

Longtime Engineer Greg Fordahl Passes Away

Veteran of Alex Job Racing, Brumos Racing, 311RS Motorsport dies suddenly…



Renowned race engineer Greg Fordahl, who had worked for some of the top sports car racing teams in North America, passed away suddenly on Monday.

Fordahl, who was a founding member at Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by The Cayman Islands squad 311RS Motorsport, held a long and storied past engineering Porsche and Porsche-powered race cars, most notably with Alex Job Racing and Brumos Racing.

More recently, he had worked with the likes of 311RS, Magnus Racing and others, having engineered cars to victories in all of the major endurance races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex 24 at Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

“Today we woke up to the terrible news of Greg Fordahl’s passing,” a statement from 311RS Motorsport read.

“He was our team engineer, but was so much more than that. Greg was an absolute legend in the sport having won just about everything in sports car racing. He was a class act and always had a great story to tell and wisdom to share.

“Greg was a founding member of our team and we’ll be forever grateful to him for the mark he left on all of us.

“Our final memory with Greg was at Road Atlanta where he orchestrated an amazing comeback to win the last race of the season, our first as a team.”

311RS driver Leh Keen added: “I first worked with Greg Fordahl at the 2010 Twelve of Sebring when I had the opportunity to drive with Alex Job. In this race I was on pole and we won our class by three laps. It was the most hooked up amazing car I had ever driven.

“Greg of course was the engineer and doing strategy as always for AJR. After that weekend all I wanted was to drive for Alex and have Greg the engineer.

“I worked with Greg for the next 12 years with multiple teams. Most recently when he came on 311RS Motorsport and we hit the ground running the very first weekend last year.

“He was humble and confident. He had a special ability to talk with a driver and know what the car wanted and make the car better. He was also incredibly gifted with race strategy which sometimes can be the most difficult thing.

“Greg was just great to have under your tent. Conversations, stories and jokes. His last race he won [in the Porsche] Carrera Cup NA at Road Atlanta just one month ago. I will mis him dearly. He was a Legend. It was a honor to work with him.”

Magnus Racing has also paid tribute to Fordahl, who helped turn around the team’s fortunes.

“We brought Greg in during a difficult 2018 season, and he was a very welcome addition to the group,” said team owner/driver John Potter. “He had a great penchant for recognizing a team’s strengths and weaknesses and using his experience he was very helpful in identifying key areas for improvement.

“Most importantly, he was a very straightforward and honest character, and I always respected his no BS way of working with us.

“Greg was so instrumental in my 2020 driver season, too. He deserves huge credit for 2020 successes and, most importantly, me keeping my sanity on a drama filled year! For that, I will always be grateful. He’ll be missed and we wish his family and friends our sympathies.”

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/long ... sses-away/

[acerogers58]

RIP Coy Gibbs, 1972 - 2022.

[erwin greven]

[erwin greven]

[Everso Biggyballies]

Thread already opened for Streiff tributes here: http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk/forums/vi ... hp?t=17858

[Vassago]

Michel Ferte passed away at the age of 64 after a long illness.

[Microsprinter18]

Trevor Boys, best known for his aerobatics at the 1984 Talladega 500, has went to the great beyond at the age of 65.

[erwin greven]

[erwin greven]

[Everso Biggyballies]

Tommy "Slim" Borgudd 1946-2023







Swedish Formula 1 driver Slim Borgudd, who also worked as a session musician for 1970s supergroup ABBA, has died at the age of 76.

Borgudd started 10 races in 1981-82 with the ATS and Tyrrell teams, with a best finish of sixth at the 1981 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, in what Autocourse described as a "steady drive".

A late bloomer, Borgudd's Formula 1 debut didn't come until the age of 34.

He was also a professional drummer, working with a number of Swedish groups, including ABBA, who he knew though his friendship with Björn Ulvaeus. Borgudd ran ABBA stickers on his Formula 1 car.

Less than a year after his debut, his Formula 1 career came to an abrupt end when he was dumped by the Tyrrell team three races into the 1982 season when his sponsorship money ran out.

Borgudd also briefly drove in the British Touring Car Championship in the 1990s, and enjoyed a great del of success in truck racing. He won the European Championship in FIA Truck Racing in 1995.

In 2022, Borgudd was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

"So sorry to hear Slim Borgudd has died," motor racing author Richard Jenkins wrote.

"A charming, engaging man, he was in fine form in June 2022, but sadly he became ill thereafter. Our 2 hr chat for the Tyrrell book was a real delight & I'm glad his memories are recorded for posterity."

Slim Borgudd in his ATS at the 1981 British Grand Prix.

It has not been good news for our past F1 drivers of late. We have lost some good names in the last few months, including Philippe Streiff, Patrick Tambay, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and now Slim Borgudd. .

RIP Slim Borgudd