Take a look at this emotional tribute to the ‘Superswede’.
Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish Born F1 driver who achieved 2nd place in the Formula 1 World Championship in both 1971 and 1978, the latter being posthumously after he lost his life in tragic accident whilst racing at Monza. Peterson was just 34 at the time, however more than 35 years later his legacy lives on. This video pays a fitting tribute to man known as the ‘Superswede’.
Porsche have just revealed its 2014 Le Mans challenger – dubbed the 919 and wearing a very interesting livery. Let’s look back at five of the all time greatest liveries the marque has brought to Le Mans. Porsche 917 – “Pink Pig” – 1971
Simulated meat-cuts made this creative design one for the books. The car crashed out of the race, but survives to this day.
Porsche 917 – Salzburg – 1970
Absolutely beautiful, this car backed up its beauty by winning the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans with Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood behind the wheel.
Porsche 917k – Gulf – 1970
A timeless classic – the 1970 Gulf 917k is arguably ‘the’ Porsche Sportscar to remember.
Porsche 917 – “The Hippie” – 1970
Martini’s 1970 917 sported one of the most creative and eye-catching liveries motorsport has ever seen. Widely known as “The Hippie”, the car became an instant fan favorite – status which it retains to this day.
Rothmans Porsche 956
For us, this is the be-all and end-all of great looking race cars. The Rothmans Porsche 956 was absolutely perfect in every way imaginable. If you don’t agree, or think there’s a machine we’ve missed – be sure to head on over to our Facebook page and drop us a comment!
As at home tackling the gruelling London-Mexico World Cup Rally as it was braving the bumps and bends of Bathurst, Triumph’s 2000/2.5PI sedan was an endurance racing rocket.
It featured a strong chassis, compliant four-wheel independent suspension and discs on the front which, when combined with the 2.5PI Mk II’s 2.5-litre fuel-injected inline six gave it plenty of performance and capable, reliable handling.
At the hands of Brian Culcheth and Johnstone Syer it gave the Ford of Hannu Mikkola Gunnar Palm a serious run for their money in the 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally, and was a fixture of the annual 500 mile endurance race at Bathurst for years. It’s a great story from a varied and exciting period of motorsport, well worth heading over to the Shannons Club to check out Triumph 2000/2.5PI: From Mount Panorama to Mexico City.
Representing the only grand prix victory for the classic Shadow Formula 1 team, this 1977 Shadow DN8 is up for sale at Legends.
In its time it was driven competitively by Riccardo Patrese, Alan Jones, Clay Regazzoni and Arturio Merzario, but its most glorious moment came at the hands of Alan Jones.
In the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix Jones came from 14th to win by a not-inconsiderable 20 seconds in a rain-affected and action-packed race, ahead of pole-sitter Niki Lauda. It was the future Formula 1 World Champion’s first grand prix win, and the first and only win for Shadow.
The car still has its original tub and suspension and was restored in the late ’90s before enjoying some conservative competition in historic motorsport in the United States and Canada.
In 2007 it received an engine rebuild and it’s barely been out on the track since, mostly looked after in climate controlled storage.
In excellent original condition and to be sold with a running set of spares this is a machine with a storied period racing history which looks to be a fun opportunity to go racing in historics.
With just over a week until the lights go out to signal the start of the 2014 Formula 1 season, get revved up with this fantastic video, which will stir your emotions, ignite your adrenalin and kick start some Formula 1 fever!
As a creative person, coming face to face with a blank medium; a piece of paper or an empty digital page, for instance, is often the most daunting part of the creative process. But for Dennis Hoyt a single blank block of wood and a lifetime love of cars are all the inspiration he needs to create an absolutely astonishing work of classic motorsport sculpture.
He’s been doing it for the past thirty years, capturing speed and drama in a way which is truly compelling and exciting from a single block of wood, which he reinforces with metal as he works.
It’s impressive not just because of the captivating sense of speed and power, but also in scale. Sculptures can be almost larger than life, reaching twelve feet long and taking six months to a full year to create.
Enjoy more of his works below, and make sure to head to his website here for more, and to commission one of your own.
The immortal Porsche 935, one of the most remarkable sports cars ever built still lives on in the memories of motor sports enthusiasts across the globe.
Despite the fact that the car was originally developed during the mid seventies it is still a crowd puller in classic motor racing events throughout the world. In this article we feature the history and development of the Porsche 935 and its variants. Furthermore we will highlight the several 935’s that appear on the grids in the European classic motorsports scene.
By Marcel Hundscheid/Speed-O-Graphica.com
Impressive as the 935 was thinking about it’s presence, size, power and sound it was even more impressive that this beast originally was based on a standard Porsche 911 road car. However taking a more closer look the position of the driver was extraordinary, as well as the size of the steering wheel, gear shift and the boost controller to adjust the turbo pressure. As a driver you needed special driving skills as the 935 wasn’t the easiest car to drive as quickly as possible. Equipped with a big six cylinder boxer bi-turbo engine producing around 750 bhp directly in the back of the driver, the car loved big tracks like Le Mans including long straights. The car could only be compared with the legendary Porsche 917/10 or 917/30 as overtaking was much more easier than attacking a curve. One of the early problems was the corner speed. The 935 was in comparison to sports cars extremely slow when entering curves. But when the driver positioned the beast in the right direction to exit the corner it launched like a rocket.
For the 1976 motorsports season the FIA introduced a new Group 5 Special Production Car category, a “Silhouette racing car” silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles allowing extensive modifications to production based vehicles which were homologated in FIA Groups 1-4. Norbert Singer, Porsche’s chief engineer was given the task of developing the highly succesful Porsche 911 road car for racing. In doing so Singer created eventually what would be the most successful customer race car that Porsche ever produced, the Porsche 935. Singer build the 935 around a 911 Carrera chassis but changed the position of the driver and steering column. He used special Bilstein shock absorbers and titanium springs and brakes that resembled those Porsche used on their 917. Singer used a 3 litre Carrera engine adjusted the displacement to 2.857 cc and by multiplying the 1.4 FIA turbo rate the engine displacement reached 3999,8 cc. Furthermore Singer used titanium cam shafts, double ignition featuring two spark plugs per cilinder as well as fuel injection system from Bosch giving an initial power of 590 bhp. For the 1976 season two cars were produced; the original chassis was initially used for development but Porsche decided to race both of the cars to score points. Belgian Jacky Ickx and German Jochen Mass were to drive the first 935 during its debut in Mugello, scoring a demanding victory in the first race. Their second consecutive victory scored during the second race in Vallelunga proved to be even more smashing. Porsche’s 935 crossed the finish line first no less than 15 laps earlier as the second placed BMW. The impressive performance of the Porsche 935 saw privateer teams showing a great deal of interest in the car. Amongst the first privateer teams were the Kremer brothers and Georg Loos. Next was the Porsche 935-77, featuring a new suspension, two small KKK turbo chargers and a remarkable larger water/air intercooler. The new configuration proved to be powerful creating no less than 630 bhp. Porsche dominated the German DRM championship in division 1 open to silhouette cars with engine capacity over 2000 cc. German media in those days concentrated on ever lasting fights between Ford and BMW but rarely mentioned Porsche’s domination within the bigger division. In the end Porsche decided to build a 2.0 litre car known as Porsche 935-2/Baby. Besides from significant weight savings Porsche used a special designed 1.4 liter version derived from the well known 911 cylinder boxer engine creating 370 bhp. Where the original 935 used a 4 speed gear box the 935/2-Baby used a 5 speed gear box. The car debuted on June 30th at the Norisring but Porsche didn’t get the success they expected. Almost mid-race Jacky Ickx had to retire. During the next race on the Hockenheimring Porsche showed the true caracter of the 935-2-Baby as Belgian Jacky Ickx dominated the race and claimed a demanding victory over the Group 5 BMW 320i of Marc Surer, Manfred Winkelhock and Eddie Cheever. In the end it turned out that Porsche didn’t intend to use the car for the rest of the season. The 935-2/Baby found a place in their own museum.
Before Porsche decided to withdraw from motorsport the company presented the ultimate expression of what started as the Porsche 911. Norbert Singer acted once again as Porsche’s chief engineer and designed an radical evolution of the Porsche 935 featuring a larger size and huge overhangs. The car was nicknamed ‘Moby Dick’ as it resembled a whale. The Porsche 935/78 was the third and final version of the 935. Porsche dediced to part with their long tradition of air cooled engines and introduced water-cooled cylinder heads in the 935/78 engine. Singer used a brand new 3200 cc 6 cylinder boxer engine featuring four valves per cilinder including two small turbo’s. Although the weight increased to 1030 kg, it wasn’t a problem for Porsche as the car generated a high top speed on the long Le Mans straights. Singer replaced the floor and lowered the car by 75 mm. Both front and rear panels were redesigned allowing the car to reach a maximum speed of 366 km/h.. The 935/78 was designed to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours race and despite the heigher weight of the car, the new engine produced up to 845 bhp, enough to reach top speed on the Mulsanne straight! Although it set the fastest lap time amongst several sports cars, the car was hit by engine trouble and finished in eight spot. Before the car was moved to the Porsche museum it appeared in Vallelunga in Italy and on the Norisring in Germany. Two German brothers, Erwin and Manfred made history with their evolution models created by themselves known as Kremer Racing. In 1976 they built their first privately Porsche 935 K1, parallel to the factory 935. In 1977 they modified their customer 935 to the 935 K2. A derivative of the succesful 935 K2 appeared in 1979, known as the 935 K3. This car won the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans. Kremer Racing’s final 935 evolution was the 935 K4 that appeared mid 1981.
Let’s take a look at some of the 935’s still in action in the European historic motorsports scene! This Porsche 935 K2 with chassis number 007 0016 was a car modified by Kremer from 1977 in cooperation with Design Plastic (DP). The car crashed during a race on June 18th 1978 at Mainz-Finthen of the Deutsche Rennsportmeisterschaft, driven by Louis Krages. Kremer rebuilt the car and appears nowadays in the German historic motorsports scene. This is the legendary Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick, chassis number 935-007, produced by Porsche for the 1979 season. This car was to be the last factory team 935 but as the partnership between Porsche and Martini came to a close, the programme ended and the chassis was put into storage. In september 1988 the car was sold to the United States. Twenty years later, the car was sold to Manfred Freisinger Jr. After assembling the car, chassis 935-007 appeared in 2011 during a Classic Endurance Racing event, part of the Spa Classic held at Spa-Francorchamps. During that particular weekend Moby Dick was driven by the well known French GT driver Stéphane Ortelli. Porsche 935 K3 chassis 0010 020 was the twentieth and last K3 built by Kremer in 1981. The car first appeared at the 1981 Le Mans 24 Hours in the hands of Don and Bill Whittington and Ted Field. After the car failed by engine failure, Kremer decided to enter the car for the German DRM (Deutsche Rennsportmeisterschaft) championship. After his racing life in 1982, the car was sold to the Collection Rosso Bianco, in Aschaffenburg (Germany). In 1999 the car was sold to the United States and was sold back to Europe in 2004. The car was seen on different historic motor racing events throughout Europe between 2011 and 2013. Porsche 935 chassis 930 890 0016 appeared for the first time at th 1978 DRM race in Zolder, driven by Reinhold Joest. Between March 1978 and June 1982 this 935 appeared in the German DRM Championship. Bill and Don Whittington raced the car at the 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours together with Franz Konrad. Until the car’s final appearance it appeared in the DRM championship as well as the Interserie. German Michael Föveny pictured here above discovered this 935 in Sweden before getting the car to Germany. This 935 is one of the regular entries in the European historic motorsports scene. Porsche 935 Kremer K3 chassis 930 009 0005 was one of the two 935 K3’s entered by Bob Akin for the 1980 Daytona 24 Hrs. The car was driven by Bob Akin, Roy Woods and Bobby Rahal and managed to qualify 19th. Unfortunately both cars retired, this chassis suffered from a broken engine. This car was originally built by Porsche as chassis 930 770 0911, but was later converted by Kremer to a K3 chassis, using chassis number 009 0005. The original owner was German Georg Loos. Porsche 935/77A with chassis 930 890 0024 was entered for the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans by Dick Barbour Racing. The car in bright red Hawaiian Tropic livery was driven by Brian Redman, John Paul and Dick Barbour. The appeared also at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nowadays this bright 935 is owned and race by Frenchman Jean Miloe. This car was originally bought by Georg Loos in 1978 and appeared in different international events. Manfred Schurti and Hans Heyer finished the qualifying session for the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours in fourth, but didn´t manage to finish the race. Since 2011 Belgian Stephan Meyers owns this 935 in the legendary Gelo Sportswear livery. This 935 was independently built and first owned by Jan Lundgarth in 1980. The car appeared between 1980 in 1984 in different international events such as the German DRM championship, 6 Hours events in Belgium, Great Britain and France. In 1981 the car entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying 51st, but didn´t manage to finish the race due to engine problems. Swiss driver Christian Traber acquired the car in 2004. Last year it appeared at the Spa Classic as it was entered for the Classic Endurance Championship, driven by Christian Traber and Marc Devis. Chassis number 930 990 0029 was a Porsche 935/79 used by American Interscope Racing in 1979. The car participated in legedarry American events such as the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours, Road Atlanta 100 Miles, Watkins Glen 6 Hours and Portland 100 Miles. Amongst the drivers in that particular year were Ted Field, Danny Ongais and Hurley Haywood. The car appeared at Spa-Francorchamps in 2013 during the Spa Classic, driven by Erik Maris. The German Kremer brothers built this legendary Porsche 935 K3/80 in the well known orange Jägermeister livery. The car appeared between March 1980 and March 1982 in different international events such as the German DRM championship, the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the 1981 & 1982 24 hours of Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring and many other events in the United States. Nowadays the car is back were it originally was based, in Cologne in Germany at the Kremer garage. This car was originally built in 1977 for Brumos Racing. In the hands of Rob McFarlin, Bob Akin and Roy Woods it claimed victory at the 1979 12 Hours of Sebring. Nowadays the car is based in France and owned by Jean-Marc Merlin.
Porsche 935 chassis 930 890 022 was a built 935 chassis and used by Porsche Kremer in 1978 for the Silverstone 6 Hours, the Nürburgring 1000 kms (both driven by Bob Wollek and Henri Pescarolo). Kremer Racing also entered the 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours, but Martin Raymond and Mike Franey didn´t finish the race. Kremer Racing entered the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours also with this car, as Philippe Gurdjian and John Winter finished in 13th place. In the livery illustrated in this picture, the car was raced by Charles Ivey Racing from the UK and appeared in Spa-Francorchamps at a race of the Classic Endurance Racing championship in 2009, driven by Peter Garrod. This Moby Dick had a long lasting international career featuring several races in Europe and the United States, scoring multiple top ten finishes. German Jochen Mass scored the only victory with the car at a race of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft in Hockenheim in 1981. German Reinhold Joest asked Porsche permission to build two new Moby Dick´s, dubbed 935/81. Frenchman Yvan Mahe appeared with chassis JR-001 at Spa-Francorchamps in 2009 during a race of the Classic Endurance Racing championship. Chassis number 930 009 0030 was originally a Porsche 935/79 but in 1980 rebuild to a 935 K3. Dick Barbour Racing entered the car for the 1980 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Allan Moffat, Bobby Rahal and Bob Garretson. Although they didn´t finish the race at Le Mans, Rahal, Garretson and Brian Redman won the Daytona 24 Hours that year. The car illustrated was seen at the 2011 Oldtimer Grand Prix, driven by Austrian Armin Zumtobel.
Williams has officially launched its 2014 Formula 1 livery, with the legendary Martini stripes taking pride of place along the flanks of the FW36.
The Williams’s deal is a boost for F1 with the Martini colour scheme a favourite amongst fans, even though the brand has not appeared in Formula 1 since it backed Lotus in 1979.
Team founder Sir Frank Williams said: “Williams and Martini share a rich history in the world of motorsport, and the values of our two brands and our shared passion for racing make this partnership a natural fit.”
The Williams-Mercedes was the fastest of all runners in the Bahrain test and comes into this weekends F1 season opener in Melbourne with a real shot of a victory. Fans of Formula 1 will be hoping that Frank Williams’ team of racers, can indeed return to their winning ways.
Clive James is absolutely hilarious in his frank approach to F1.
We love Clive James’ way with words – and being able to sit here in 2014 and enjoy his commentary on Formula 1 of 1997 is a true gift. We really enjoyed this four-part series, lifted from his self-titled television talk show. Even if you’ve only got time to check out the first few minutes of Part 1, we highly recommend it.
Iconic global tuner AMG began life as an after-work pastime for a pair of small-town racing nuts. This is their story.
It is very difficult to believe that the global engine tuner AMG, began life as an after-work pastime for two motorsport enthusiasts. The company, known today for its worldwide successes in touring cars, sportscars, GT racing and ultimately Formula 1, began simply as a hobby for two racing mad engineers in a quiet town in Germany.
BY ANDY HALLBERYLike many of the world’s great ventures, AMG was borne out of two guys with a passion racing, for tinkering and tuning cars – and discovering that together they had a natural skill for it. It was the early 1960s, and the men were Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, better known as the ‘A’ and the ‘M’ of AMG. (‘G’ is for the small Swabian town of Großaspach, Germany.)The pair worked together as engineers in the Daimler-Benz development department, their focus on the 300 SE race engine. Then came a major setback, especially for the motorsport mad duo. “I had hardly joined the company when they pulled out of racing altogether…” Aufrecht recalls.
Their dream wasn’t over though, and they continued to refine engines to improve them for privateers in competition after work, and talked of forming their own company. Melcher was prepared to take the risk: “We saw an ad in the local paper for a mill in Burgstall,” says Erhard. “I had to go and look at it on my own as Hans Werner had just got married and was building a house. I was a bachelor and could take the risk. If things worked out, he would then join me later. Business went well, and we grew rapidly…”
Aufrecht: “To begin with we only focused on motorsport and its private teams, but then the drivers began to come to us and suggest, ‘wouldn’t it be great if you could build one of those motors of yours for street use?’ So we started to build engines for road-going cars. And then gearboxes, transmissions…” Melcher interrupts, “and piece by piece we got into tuning!”
This work allowed them to get their first true AMG project underway, the modified 300 SE. When it was finished, they went and presented their project to Rudolf Uhlenhaut (designer of the F1 championship-winning W196 for 1954 and ’55), who by then was the Mercedes-Benz board member for development. His decision? If the car turned out to be good, Aufrecht and Melcher would be allowed to run it in competition, if not, they would both be asked to leave the company.
Driven by Manfred Schiek, the 300 SE won six out of eight rounds of the German series and Schiek posthumously won the 1965 German circuit racing championship title after a fatal rally accident. The foundations for AMG were in place, and in 1967, AMG was officially formed in the Old Mill.
“We didn’t have any contracts because everything was done by word of mouth,” remembers Melcher. “On the business side of things we were pretty inexperienced. We usually even forgot to write down the names of the customers.”
The premises didn’t quite live up to the standard or quality of their work either. “We had no money, so we had to improvise,” laughs Aufrecht. “We even dug out an earth pit so that we could work beneath the cars. Customers would come in and asked us if we knew where AMG was!”With backing in place, success came spectacularly in July 1971. The breakthrough at that year’s Spa 24 Hours put AMG on the map. The famous event was then a round of the European Touring Car Championship which catered for the ‘cars on steroids’, like Ford’s works RS Capri 2600s and Escorts, BMW’s 2002 and 2800, and Alfa Romeo GTAs – all powered by 250-300hp units. There is no doubt the cars were mesmerising to watch. AMG’s entry was the heavy, red, luxury-looking Mercedes 300 SEL 6.8 litre sedan! With the size came the power, all 400+hp of it. It was nicknamed the ‘Red Pig’ (or sow depending on your translator).Just the mention of the race brings a grin to Aufrecht’s face, and rightly so. The car was highly unfancied as its creator admits. “Everybody was so surprised that the car ran at all, that every minute of the race was a triumph for me. But then again, at AMG we didn’t doubt for a second that the Mercedes would make it.”The Red Pig did more than ‘make it’. In the hands of Hans Heyer and Clemens Schickentanz were class winners, and came an incredible second overall. The heavy luxury sedan had pulled a fast one on the lighter rival race cars – it caused a sensation, and the name AMG began to spread throughout the world.
“After Spa, we became famous overnight,” Aufrecht continues. “AMG was the firm that had finished second in the most famous 24 hour race for touring cars, and we had beaten the works teams. We made it into all the newspapers, and we were even on the evening news.”
Their lives changed, customers were now the more ‘professional’ lawyers and doctors who wanted high end product, and not the previous customers who would live with bone-hard suspension in a trade off for speed. Aufrecht again: “We had to stop simply adjusting the cars they already had, and start creating them.”As with any perfectionists, opinions differed in how AMG should progress and expand, and not for the first time, Mr A and Mr M disagreed.
“We had 12 employees at the time,” says Aufrecht, and I remember the day Erhard turned round and said quite simply: ‘It’s too much for me, I don’t want all this responsibility.’”
Melcher explains: “I’m someone who needs to work ‘individualistically’. I need to be on my own in order to design, to think and to weigh up options.” A deal was done, and Melcher became a freelance member of AMG, and still a crucial part of the company. By 1978 the staff was 40, and by 1992, 25 years after its inception, more than 400 people worked at AMG.AMG had already become the official Mercedes works team in 1988 following many further achievements, it’s road car business flourished worldwide and in 1999 DaimlerChrysler acquired the majority share. The team’s DTM record includes 14 drivers’ titles with Bernd Schneider, Klaus Ludwig, Gary Paffett, Timo Scheider and Paul Di Resta. Further championship wins include the 1997 and 1998 titles with the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR in the FIA GT Championship.Customer AMG E Class Mercedes compete in the Australian V8 Supercars Championship, while the Formula 1 Safety Car and Medical Car have been provided by AMG since 2000, and for 2014 is a Mercedes Benz SLS AMG F1 Safety car. And, of course today the Mercedes Formula 1 team of Nico Rosberg (who’s father F1 world champion Keke was also a DTM winner for AMG Mercedes) and Lewis Hamilton, is officially branded Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1.Not bad for two driven guys who started tinkering in an old mill almost 50 years ago.
Many thanks to AMG AG and Mercedes Benz-Motorsport for their help.
Follow Andy Hallbery, @hallbean on twitter, and www.romaceofracing.com
10 McLarens, and you can only pick one – which would it be?
It’s a question that Concourse Dates posed recently, and after scratching our heads and having a think about it for a little bit longer than we probably should have, we decided it was much easier to pass the decision onto our audience than make our minds up ourselves…
As many would no doubt have realized by now, McLaren’s 50th anniversary has been a pretty big deal. The landmark was acknowledged most recently at the 19th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegence, with fine examples of amazing McLaren Race cars parked out in the sun for all to admire.
So, which one would you be taking home?
1965 McLaren-Elva M1A
1966 McLaren M1B
1967 McLaren M6A
1967 McLaren M6A
1968 McLaren M6B
1969 McLaren M6B GT
1970 McLaren M8 E/D
1971 McLaren M8F
1974 McLaren M16C (Indy 500 winner)
1977 McLaren M23 (Marlboro)
Thanks again to Concourse Dates for bringing forth this question!
Holden’s LC Torana GTR XU-1 may be the local hero, but don’t count out its gentler little brother, the LC Torana GTR, which had plenty of competition chops of its own.
Weighing in at just 1018 kilograms, the GTR’s lithe and athletic frame supported a big two-barrel Kingswood in-line six, which put out 125bhp and made it a manoeuvrable little rocket.
It was an extremely competitive package, and was instrumental in launching the early careers of legendary racers Peter Brock and Dick Johnson. Find out how in Holden LC Torana GTR: Born to Fly! at the Shannons Club.
With the 78th Australian Grand Prix coming up this weekend, let’s take a look at the 10 wildest moments the event has ever seen.
The Australian Grand Prix was first run way back in 1928, making it the most senior racing event in the country. It’s been run as an official Formula 1 race 29 times so far, with many looking back fondly upon the GP for the exciting times between 1985 and 1995, when it was run as the thrilling season finale in Adelaide. Now held at the Melbourne GP circuit as the debut Formula 1 event, the Australian F1 GP continues to be one of the most exciting spectacles the sport brings to the table.
We’re starting to get F1 fever over here at Motorsport Retro in the lead-up to the commencement of the 2014 season this weekend, so we’ve decided to put together this list showcasing 10 Australian Grand Prix moments which we could never, ever forget. Enjoy.
1993 – The end of an era: Alain Prost‘s last Formula 1 race ever, Ayrton Senna‘s last win and final race for McLaren.
1986 – Heartbreaker: Nigel Mansell blows a tyre and as a result loses the F1 World Championship.
1996 – Fender bender: Martin Brundle has a terrifying crash in the opening moments of the first race of the season.
1989 – Rain Man: An absolute torrential downpour in Adelaide saw Alain Prost complete just one lap before retiring.
1994 – Memorable Moment: Nigel Mansell‘s last ever Formula 1 victory.
1995 – Heartbreaker Part II: David Coulthard crashes straight into the pit wall whilst leading.
1995 – Lifesavers: Mika Hakkinen has gigantic, life-threatening shunt in Adelaide. His life is saved by quick thinking medics.
2009 – Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello take first and second place during the debut race of their team, Brawn GP. Jenson would go on to win the 2009 season for Brawn.
1994 – Accident by name: Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill come together in a collision many argue was awfully convenient for Schumacher, who took the 1994 F1 World Championship as a result.
Incredible driving caught on camera during the 1981 Canadian Grand Prix.
The brilliance of Gilles Villeneuve was often seeing shining brightest when odd driving conditions were encountered – such as having the front end of one’s race car broken in a fashion that completely obstructs forward vision! This is what happened during the very wet Canadian Grand Prix of 1981, and in true Gilles fashion he continued to race the car for as absolutely long as possible – he ended up placing third.
This digital recreation of Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver’s Le Mans winning machine is truly epic.
These nine photos bring back to life the legendary #6 Gulf GT40. They were crafted by a Turbosquid user named Squir, and feature stunning detail.
…Inside and out!
We think it pays fantastic tribute to the 4.9L V8 monster which topped the best that Europe had to offer, and we hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we did.
Jan Magnussen had the world at his feet when he made is F1 debut for McLaren in 1995, but for one reason or another failed to make it all work in the big league. Now, 19 years later, his son, Jan V2.0, better known as Kevin, Magnussen is ready to make his debut… also for McLaren.
By Andy HallberyJan Magnussen won’t be in the Melbourne pitlane in 2014 to witness his son Kevin following in his dad’s footsteps when he makes his Grand Prix debut with McLaren. Jan was 22 years old when he substituted for the unwell Mika Hakkinen in the Pacific Grand Prix at the then named Aida Circuit. Kevin is currently 21. Like father like son.
Dad Magnussen’s own commitments mean he will be racing for Corvette in the famous Sebring 12 Hours – an event he where has already won his class three times. Sure he’d like to be in Australia to watch Kevin, but right now that’s as far as it goes. “I don’t want to be his manager,” smiles Sr. “I want to be his dad, and that’s it. We’ve become very close in and I want to be a good dad to him and be there when things go well but also stand right beside him when things go wrong. That’s all I want to do. McLaren has people there to do the rest.” Jan’s own F1 debut came on the back of a meteoric rise that seemed destined to be heading for stellar superstardom. By his F1 debut he’d already been three time karting World Champion (2 x Junior, 1 x Senior), British F3 champion (breaking a record for the number of wins in a season, previously held jointly by Sir Jackie Stewart and Ayrton Senna), had finished runner-up in the FIA ITC series for Mercedes, and made that Grand Prix debut with McLaren. By the summer the following year, the Dane had added a race for the legendary Marlboro Team Penske in CART Indycars. Kevin was three years old. In some ways – and Jan today is the first to admit it – looking back, he was almost too good. The opportunities landed at his feet: With what seemed like little obvious effort he was always at or near the front. He was still a smoker, for instance. “I was individual,” he says. “I did it my own way – I had nobody telling me what to do. And in doing so I let myself down.” Ron Dennis knew he had the talent and was adamant – despite being sponsored by Marlboro – the cigarettes had to stop. While to the outside world they had, those that knew Jan well also knew that the sales of Nicorette patches had gone through the roof! “Yes, that is true,” he admits. “I always had to keep my overalls done up…” Dennis didn’t entirely give up on Jan though, and he remained the team’s test driver. In 1996 Magnussen had a call from his touring car employer Mercedes telling him to give Ron a call, as he “had something to say,” Jan recalls. “So I rang Ron, he never really gets hyped up and he just asked me in a matter of fact way whether I’d like to do the last three races of the season in the Indycar series? That came as a surprise to me!”
The chance came up after Penske and Hogan Penske drivers Paul Tracy and Emerson Fittipaldi had been injured at Michigan. For Fittipaldi, it was a career-ending crash. “I’d never really considered Indycars,” Magnussen says. “I’m from Europe and all I ever thought about was Formula 1.” That F1 chance did come through another of his long-term supporters, and ended with that supporter – Jackie Stewart – also frustrated with Jan. The new team for 1997 was Stewart Grand Prix, evolved from the team he’d dominated the F3 championship with.
“Ron advised me against leaving McLaren,” Magnussen recently told the Danish press. “I wanted to be an F1 driver and I couldn’t see myself in a McLaren with the driver lineup they had at the time. I should have stayed one or two more years, to have all the things I should have learned rammed into me by them.” There was only frustration for Jan at Stewart GP. “My biggest problem was that I didn’t have enough time in the car. It always blew up. We had a lot of mechanical failures. I remember sitting down watching the car burn too many times.”
Today, there’s no regret, just frustration. He still has a great career in sportscar racing with four class wins and three second places at Le Mans and the wins at Sebring. He was also twice a class champion in the American Le Mans Series. And he’s still only 40 years old. “I let myself down,” Jan says, honestly reviewing his brief F1 career. “I wish I’d had another chance but Kevin is where he is today because of what happened to me. He can learn from my mistakes.
“Since my time, McLaren has a fantastic programme for young drivers to learn in, like Lewis Hamilton did, and Kevin has too. He is part of the McLaren family. Any situation, any question there’s a guy to go to, someone to teach him. When I was there as test driver with Mika and David Coulthard, there was no coaching – just me and they hoped I’d figure it out.”Jan also sees the irony in his situation now, as a racing dad. “Yes, it’s strange,” he laughs. “It used to be that Kevin was the son of Jan Magnussen. Now, I’m known as Kevin’s dad! The really funny thing was this last week. I was asked to name the top three Grand Prix drivers of all time. Without hesitation, I said, ‘Kevin. Senna. Kimi.’ The writer laughed at me. He said ‘Kevin?’ I said yes, Kevin. Number one, Kevin….” The guy then laughed again and said: ‘I guess I understand. Kevin IS you, Senna and Kimi are like you…Individuals with minds of their own. Or are you just towing the line for McLaren Grand Prix drivers past and present?’! “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”
Many thanks McLaren F1, Wolfgang Wilhelm/Mercedes Benz-Motorsport, tv3.dk for their help. Follow Andy Hallbery, @hallbean on twitter, and Romance Of Racing.
Take a trip back in time with this awesome piece of retro treasure
Sebring International Raceway puts each and every component of both driver and machine to the test. It’s a grueling venue which has been in operation for more than 60 years, during which time it has seen some of the world’s greatest races. This video reflects on the greatest years the track has seen to date.
Take a look at this emotional tribute to the ‘Superswede’.
