On this day in motorsport history...

June 20,
1903
A hundred years ago Barney Oldfield broke 60 mph with the Henry Ford built 999 at the Indianapolis Fairgrounds dirt oval. With a time of fifty-nine and three-fifths seconds, Oldfield became the first to drive a gas-powered auto officially at the "incredible" speed of a mile a minute. From "Barney Oldfield" by William F. Nolan, which you should all purchase as soon as possible. Disclimer: I have a slight vested interest as publisher of said title. (Insert smiley face thing here.)
Mark Godfrey

JUNE 21, 1959 - Terre Haute, Indiana...Driving the Bob Estes #4, Don Branson won the 30 lap USAC Midwest Circuit Sprint Car feature on the 1/2 mile dirt oval at the Vigo County Fairgrounds.

1987 - Edgemont, California...Tim Richmond drove a Rick Hendrick Chevrolet to victory in the 400 mile NASCAR Grand National race at Riverside International Raceway. Ricky Rudd finished 2nd in the Bud Moore Ford and Neil Bonnett was 3rd in the RahMoc Pontiac.

JUNE 22, 1947 - Langhorne, Pennsylvania...After his bitter disappointment over pit signals in the Indianapolis 500, Bill Holland made it two straight in AAA Championship races, taking the 100 miler at Langhorne Speedway. Holland averaged 87.72 mph in his Offy powered Wetteroth on the 1 mile, nearly circular track.

1952 - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium...Alberto Ascari drove his Ferrari to victory in the F1 Belgian Grand Prix. Ascari and Giuseppe Farina made great starts with Jean Behra falling in behind. Behra surprised by passing both Ferraris to lead, only to spin his Gordini at La Source on lap 2 and hand the positions back. Ascari soon pulled out to a big lead over Farina, who in turn pulled well clear of Behra. Piero Taruffi, trying to make up for a poor start, finally reeled in and passed Behra for 3rd on lap 14, only to spin his Ferrari approaching Malmedy. Behra was too close to avoid and both cars wound up in a ditch, fortunately without serious injury to either driver. From there, Ascari cruised home 1 minute, 55 seconds ahead of Farina with Robert Manzon coming home 3rd in a Gordini.

1957 - West Sacramento, California...Oregon's Bill Amick drove his Ford to victory in the NASCAR Grand National/PCLM race on the 1/2 mile dirt Capitol Speedway. The checkered flag flew after 199 of the scheduled 200 laps due to a scoring foul up. It was Amick's first career win. Lloyd Dane finished 2nd, one lap back in his Ford with George Seeger 3rd, another lap back, in the Oscar Maples Ford.

Amick went on to become a NASCAR official, track operator/promoter and drove big bore Sports Cars. And, yes, his brother was Championship Car driver George Amick.

June 21

1981
Jarama... Spain... Jacques LAFFITE with his LIGIER/MATRA is on pole for his 100th Gp ahead of Alan JONES WILLIAMS/FORD... One of the greatest Gp... LAFFITE misses his start and is 11th on 1st lap... JONES is leading ahead of Gilles VILLENEUVE (FERRARI) who rushed like a bullet from 7th position on start, and who is followed by Carlos REUTEMANN (WILLIAMS/FORD).. Alan JONES with a 1'' gap spins and VILLENEUVE takes the lead still followed by Carlos REUTEMANN... But another Opponent is coming... Alain PROST (RENAULT) takes over Mario ANDRETTI (ALFA-ROMEO) and close back ... But he missed one brake and ended in the gravel trap... It's now REUTEMANN, Nelson PIQUET (BRABHAM/FORD), John WATSON (McLAREN/FORD) and LAFFITE who are pushing the canadian helped by an overpowered engine... It's a great come back for LAFFITE and after PIQUET's retirement, he takes over WATSON and REUTEMANN... He is stucked in VILLENEUVE gearbox and tries all the assaults he can... But with his Skill and pushing the FERRARI in the limits, Gilles VILLENEUVE wins (and runs out of gas) ahead of Jacques LAFFITE and John WATSON.. Those 3 are in the same second !!! And only 1 second behind... REUTEMANN keeps his 4th place in front of Elio De ANGELIS (LOTUS/FORD)... What a Finish !!!

1970
Zandwoort... Holland... Jochen RINDT (LOTUS/FORD) is on pole ahead of Jackie STEWART (MARCH/FORD) and Jacky ICKX (FERRARI)... STEWART misses his start and ICKX turns on lead ahead of RINDT and Jackie OLIVER (BRM)... On lap 3 RINDT takes the lead back and drops ICKX... While STEWART takes over ICKX, the other FERRARI driven by the Young Clay REGAZZONI gives a festival and takes over Jean Pierre BELTOISE (MATRA), Piers COURAGE (DeTOMASO/FORD) and John MILES (LOTUS/FORD)... But on lap 22, the DeTOMASO slides of the track, violently crashes, rolls over and gets on fire... Piers COURAGE is killed... It's only when he crossed the finish line and won for his 10th podium that Jochen RINDT discovered that his friend Piers COURAGE was dead... Jackie STEWAR finished 2nd and Jacky ICKX 3rd for his 10th podium

English Piers COURAGE lined up in 29 Gp between 69 and 70 and finished 2nd in Monaco and USA 69 with a BRABHAM/FORD (8th at WC)... After good results in F3 in 64-66, he started F1 in South Africa with a LOTUS/BRM... He also raced in Endurance and won Buenos Aires 1000Km with Andrea De ADAMICH (ALFA-ROMEO)... To honour his name, a team still brings high his name in Le Mans 24h... Team COURAGE is still a serious opponent at Le Mans...

1953
Spa Francorchamps... Belgium... On the front rwo, Alberto ASCARI's FERRARI stays between the MASERATI (1st pole) of Juan Manuel FANGIO and of Jose Froilan GONZALEZ... It seems that FERRARI will not win and already after 10 laps, GONZALEZ signed the fastest lap and setted a 20'' gap with FANGIO and 50'' with ASCARI.. But accelerator broke.... FANGIO is in lead, ASCARI is 34'' behind... But the engine of the MASERATI breaks... He stops and take Johnny CLAES's wheel... ASCARI is in lead followed by Nino FARINA (FERRARI), Mike HAWTHORN (FERRARI) and Onofre MARIMON (MASERATI)... FARINA's engine blows up and HAWTHORN has to stop twice for refuelling (Tank is broken)... FANGIO after a huge come back is back in 2nd place after having passed MARIMON and Luigi VILLORESI (FERRARI)... But in the last lap, FANGIO spins, goes off the track, car rolls over at Stavelot... Everybody thought FANGIO was killed.. Fortunately he got only a light commotion... Alberto ASCARI took a secured win, Luigi VILLORESI finshing 2nd and Onofre MARIMON 3rd for his 1st podium

1937
Birth of Canadian John CANNON who finished 14th at USA gp in 1971 with a BRM for his unique Gp... He won Laguna Seca Can Am race in 68 lapping everybody on a wet track... In 69 he entered F. Atlantic finishing 4th and winning the championship in 70... 1971 saw him in F2 and in 72 he entered F5000.



June 22

1986
Detroit... USA... Ayrton SENNA (LOTUS/RENAULT) is on pole ahead of Nigel MANSELL (WILLIAMS/HONDA) for his 10th front row... After the quals, the WILLIAMS/HONDA of Nigel MANSELL and Nelson PIQUET seems to be the only serious opponents of Ayrton SENNA... SENNA took a quiet start and left MANSELL the lead during 5 laps... But on lap 12, here come the LIGIER/RENAULT of René ARNOUX and Jacques LAFFITE coming back over SENNA... 24h after France won against Brazil in the Football world cup, maybe the history will keep the same result in that F1 battle as SENNA enters 1st for tyres change... ARNOUX and LAFFITE stucked together are leading, followed by MANSELL who starts to have brake problems, Alain PROST (McLAREN/TAG) and the FERRARI of Stefan JOHANSSON and Michele ALBORETO... LAFFITE managed to take over ARNOUX and leads now, both digging the gap over MANSELL, PROST, PIQUET and SENNA who just dropped both FERRARIS... LAFFITE will stay 13 laps on lead before following ARNOUX for a tyre change... PIQUET takes the lead and signs the fastest lap... But only for 9 laps.. Tyre change too... And SENNA is back in lead with comfortable gap which gives him the oppotunity to secure a second tyre change... Meanwhile, PIQUET hits a wall and tear off a wheel... ARNOUX was 1 second faster than SENNA...11 Seconds gap... Over 15 laps to go... Was the fott ball result a prediction ???... No... A revange... ARNOUX hist PIQUET's car which was still on the track... Ayrton SENNA took the win ahead of Jacques LAFFITE who managed to take the 2nd place from Alain PROST in the last miles...

1979
Louis Chiron From Monaco left us... He lined up in 19 Gp between 1950 and 1958 (3rd in Monaco 1950 with MASERATI)... He is the oldest drivar who raced a Gp (55years 9 month and 19 days)... In 1928 he won Roma, Marne Italy and Spain with BUGATTI, 1929 won Germany and Spain with BUGATTI and was 7th in Indianapolis 500 with a DELAGE...1930 win in Lyon and European Gp still with BUGATTI...1931, win in Monaco and French Gp shared with Achille VARZI again with BUGATTI...He alson won the Franch Gp in 37,47 and 49... Retired from racing he took a huge part in the organization of Monaca Gp during many years... A legend of racing is gone...

1975
Zandwoort... Holland... Both FERRARI are on the front row with Niki LAUDA (50th Gp) and Clay REGAZZONI... A Gp Starting under the rain... But a short rain... James HUNT (HESKETH/FORD) and Jochen MASS(McLAREN/FORD) stops at lap 7 very early to set on the slicks on a still wet track... But it dries fast... Good choice... HUNT is 19th but tyres are already efficients.... HUNT is already 9th when the leaders LAUDA and REGAZZONI stops for tyres change on lap 13 and 14... 10 Minutes after, everybody has changed the tyres but classification now is HUNT 10 away from Jean Pierre JARIER (SHADOW/FORD), Niki LAUDA, Emerson FITTIPALDI (McLAREN/FORD), Jody SCHECKTER (TYRRELL/FORD), Clay REGAZZONI, Tom PRYCE (SHADOW/FORD), Jochen MASS and Ronnie PETERSON (LOTUS/FORD)... Lap 37... LAUDA starts to attack JARIER... It took him 6 laps for taking over JARIER... Unfortunately, JARIER will retire 2 laps later after a backward run started at 200 Mph due to a deflated tyre... LAUDA came back over HUNT, signing the fastest lap but he couldn't do anything... After resisting 31 laps, James HUNT and Lord HESKETH ('The Boss') celebrated together their 1st win ahead of Niki LAUDA saying sportively 'Today, Hunt was too fast for me !'... Podium was completed by Clay REGAZZONI.. But FERRARI defeat didn't help FERRARI manager Luca Di MONTEZEMOLO to forget his broken leg after Ronnie PETERSON hitted him in the pits with his LOTUS...

1952 (too lazy to cut it Jim )
Spa Francorchamps... Belgium... MASERATI is not present... Alberto ASCARI (FERRARI) is in good shape and after having missed th Swiss Gp and his defeat in Indianapolis 500, he takes the pole ahead of his teammates Nino FARINA and Piero TARUFFI... Under rain and cold, Jean BEHRA took the lead with His GORDINI... But after the 1st lap, a big slide opened the way to ASCARI and FARINA... BEHRA managed to get back on track just in front of the Young Mike HAWTHORN (COOPER/BRISTOL), Robert MANZON (GORDINI) and TARUFFI... Alberto ASCARI digs the gap with FARINA and signs his 1st fastest lap and in lap 14, TARUFFI takes over BEHRA... Trying to drop the french driver, TARUFFI looses control, BEHRA couldn't avoid the collision and both cars impressivly rolled over at high speed, drivers being ejected... With luck, none was severly injured...Alberto ASCARI took the win in front of Nino FARINA while Robert MANZON secured the 3rd place for his 1st podium

1917
Birth of American George FONDER who raced 2 Indianapolis Gp in 1952 (15th with SHERMAN/OFFENHAUSER) and 1954...Died in 1958

1915
Birth of British Robert 'Robin' MONTGOMERIE-CHARRINGTON who retired with the ASTON/BUTTERWORTH for his unique Gp (Belgium 1952)

Oooops June 21 1992

Le Mans 24 h...The Peugeot 905B drive by Derek Warwick, Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell take the win

June 23rd

1985
Detroit.. USA.. For his 100th Gp, Nelson PIQUET is 10th on Grid with his BRABHAM/BMW, 3'' away from poleman Ayrton SENNA (LOTUS/RENAULT) who also built a 1'' gap with the second Nigel MANSELL (WILLIAMS/HONDA)... Ayrton SENNA will sign the fastest lap before his accident leaving the win to Keke ROSBERG (WILLIAMS/HONDA) finishing 1minute ahead of the FERRARI from Stefan JOHANSSON and Michele ALBORETO... PIQUET finishing 7th with 1 lap gap, MANSELL finishing in a wall...

1976
Death of American Paul RUSSO who raced 8 Indianapolis Gp between 1950 end 1959 (2nd in 1955 with a KURTIS-KRAFT/OFFENHAUSER)

1974
Zandwoort... Holland... Emerson FITTIPALDI (McLAREN/FORD) for his 50th Gp has to leave the front row to the FERRARI of Niki LAUDA and Clay REGAZZONI... Untouchables, FERRARI takes the win in that same order still ahead of FITTIPALDI... Ronnie PETERSON offering LOTUS Ford Powered their 50th fastest lap...

1968
Zandwoort .. Holland... Under big rainy clouds, Chris AMON (FERRARI) is on pole ahead Jochen RINDT (BRABHAM/REPCO) and Graham HILL (LOTUS/FORD)... And after good results in the previous races, the MATRA/FORD of Jackie STEWART is 5th while Jean Pierre BELTOISE's MATRA/MATRA is only 16th... Rain started a short moment before race... Luck for MATRA, DUNLOP tyres are great on the wet tracks...Graham HILL took the lead followed by RINDT but already on lap 3 STEWART takes the lead... BELTOISE is already 11th on lap 1....5th on lap 3... 3rd behind Graham HILL on lap 4.... Lap 11.. He takes over the LOTUS and is coming back over STEWART... He is 17'' behind... Lap 23... Ony 12'' behind STEWART and HILL is already 1 minute behind... At that moment BELTOISE lost the race... Spin.. Gravel trap... Back in pits to clean of the sand from the accelerator command... He is back on track in 7th position behind STEWART who just lapped him.... But it's a demonstration for BELTOISE now... In 10 laps he takes successively over Dan GURNEY (BRABHAM/REPCO), Jacky ICKX (FERRARI), Chris AMON and Pedro RODRIGUEZ (BRM)... Grahma HILL still 2nd is only 20'' ahead... 1'' to 2'' faster, BELTOISE signs the fastest lap and takes over HILL on lap 50.... And takes over STEWART 7 lap later... He is back in the same lap... But his arm starts to hurt again and on lap 72, STEWART managed to lap him again while HILL was getting down in the classification... In the last lap BELTOISE managed to get back in the same lap than the leader and Jackie STEWART offered MATRA their 1st win... Jean Pierre BELTOISE was 2nd for his 1st podium... Pedro RODRIGUEZ 3rd was the only driver to finish with 'only' 1 lap gap... In DUNLOP's van, a bottle of champagne waited 2 years to be opened... It was drunk that day...

1963
Zandwoort... Holland... Jim CLARK (LOTUS/CLIMAX) is on pole in front of Graham HILL (BRM) abd Bruce McLAREN (COOPER/CLIMAX).. An easy race for Jim CLARK dominating everybody and signing the fastest lap... After the retirements of McLAREN, Jack BRABHAM (BRABHAM/CLIMAX) and Graham HILL, Jim CLARK signed the 10th win for LOTUS.. Followed at 1 lap away by Dan GURNEY (BRABHAM/CLIMAX) and John SURTEES (FERRARI)...

1927
Birth of American Herbert McKAY-FRASER who retired during his unique Gp (France 1957 with a BRM).. Killed in 1957 during a sports car race in Reims..

1916
Birth of British William Roberts Leslie THORNE who finished 14th for his unique Gp (Great Britain 1954 with a CONNAUGHT/FRANCIS)... Died in 1993

June 23,

1916, Ralph DePalma set a flying mile world record of 35.2 seconds in a Mercedes at Des Moines Speedway in Iowa.

1930, Indycar driver, Bob Harkey was born.

1963, Zandvoort… Jim Clark cleaned house in his Lotus. Sat on Pole, set fastest lap and whooped the field by one at least a lap! Dan Gurney had a splendid drive though in his Brabham coming from 14th to finish 2nd one lap down. Surtees was third in the Ferrari after starting 5th, Innes Ireland in his BRM was fourth coming from 7th, teammate Ginther followed in 5th after starting 6th, and Scarfotti was 6th 2 laps down in his Ferrari.

1968, Zandvoort, Chris Amon displayed his quickness as he took his Ferrari to the Pole position. Though in the race he ended up finishing 6th, five laps down from the eventual winner Jackie Stewart in the new Matra. Stewart started 5th. His teammate had a fantastic drive as well. J-P Beltoise took his Matra MS11 from 16th on the grid and set fastest lap of the race to finish 1:33 behind Stewart, the only driver to finish on the lead lap. This was the first GP win for the Matra MS10-Ford. Pedro Rodriguez in the BRM was third after starting 11th, Jacky Ickx was 4th in his Ferrari, he started 6th and Silvio Moser was 5th after starting 17th.

1974, Zandvoort again, The Ferraris were the class of the field this time as Niki Lauda took his to Pole with teammate Clay Regazzoni along side. Fittipaldi in the McLaren was third on the grid, his teammate Mike Hailwood next to him and the Tyrrell of Jody Scheckter 5th on the grid and his teammate, Patrick Depailler was 8th at the start. At the finish, they all came in as they started, except for Depailler who followed Schecter in for sixth! Ronnie Peterson set the fastest lap of the race in his Lotus but was 2 laps down in 8th at the end.

1985, At the USGP Detroit, It was Ayrton Senna in the Lotus on pole with Nigel Mansell in the Williams next to him. Both would retire however, Senna also set fastest lap but was out due to a crash on lap 51 and Mansell out on lap 26 for (???) At the end, it was Mansell’s teammate, Keke Rosberg who started 5th in his Williams coming across the line in a time of 1:55:39. Stefan Johansson was 2nd in the Ferrari after starting 9th. His teammate Michele Alboreto was third , right where he started. Stefan Bellof in the Tyrrell was 4th having a great drive from 19th. Elio de Angelis was 5th after starting 8th and Nelson Piquet picked up the last point in 6th, 1 lap down from the winner.

1991, Mario Andretti started his 350th Indy car race, at Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon.

1992, NASCAR stockcars run for the first time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in testing for the Brickyard 400.

1996, Alex Zanardi won his first CART race, at Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon.

2002, at the GP of Europe held at the Nurburgring, Polesitter Juan Pablo Montoya couldn’t make it last as he crashed out on lap 27 with David Coulthard. Both retired. 4th place qualifier, Rubens Barrichello got to take the honors ahead of his teammate Michael Schumacher. Schumacher, who set fastest lap, gave RB the win. Kimi Raikkonen in his McLaren finished 3rd after starting 6th. Ralf Schumacher in the other Williams was fourth after starting next to JPM and Jenson Button had a good drive from 8th to finish 5th. One lap down from the winner, Felipe Massa grabbed the last point for 6th after starting 11th.

June 24th

1990
Hermanos Rodriguez Track... Mexico... For his 100th Gp, Ayrton SENNA (McLAREN/HONDA) leave the front row to his team mate Gerhard BERGER and to Riccardo PATRESE (WILLIAMS/RENAULT)... Alain PROST (FERRARI) 13th on grid drives of of his greatest race.. Lap 12 he is already 6th... But the track is hard for the tyres... Half way, BERGER stops leaving the led to SENNA who has 16'' gap over Nelson PIQUET (BENETTON/FORD) and Nigel MANSELL (FERRARI).. PROST is 23'' away... PIQUET stops too... SENNA has a gap of 17'' over MANSELL and 22'' over PROST... 10 laps later gap is reduced a lot... SENNA is only 11' from MANSELL and PROST who came back like a rocket... As they were lapping another driver, PROST takes over MANSELL...Lap 55... PROST is only 9'' behind SENNA... With tyres in a better shape, PROST is flying back over SENNA, signing the fastest lap and takes over the brazilian 2 laps later...MANSELL also took over SENNA with dying tyres and tried to come back over PROST but a spin made him loose 18'' and putting him under BERGER's pressure who did a great come back in 3rd... Battle was huge... Late braking... wheels bumped ... FERRARI slides and BERGER is now second...But MANSELL replied... Entering the fastest curve MANSELL takes over BERGER on the outside at about 140mph... Incredible...Alain PROST took the win ahead of Nigel MANSELL and Gerhard BERGER...

1984
Detroit...USA... Nelson PIQUET (BRABHAM/BMW) is on pole ahead of Alain PROST (McLAREN/TAG)... A hard track for the cars and the drivers.. With a lot of retirements, only 6 cars will end the race... Winner is Nelson PIQUET with the fastes lap (25th podium) ahead of Martin BRINDLE (TYRRELL/FORD) but who will be disqualified... Elio De ANGELIS (LOTUS/RENAULT) is then 2nd in front of Teo FABI (BRABHAM/BMW) signing there his 1st podium and who started only 23rd on grid...

1934
Birth of British Thomas 'Tom' BRIDGER who retired for his only Gp (Morocco 1958 with a COOPER/CLIMAX)... Tom BRIDGER was an excellent F2-F3 drivers between 1956 and 1959... Died in 1991

1911
Birth in Argentina of Juan Manuel FANGIO... In 51 Gp from 1950 til 1958, he signed 24 wins, 35 podiums, 29 poles, 48 front rows and 23 fastest laps... Uncontested champion with 5 WC titles (1951,1954,1955,1956 and 1957).. he nearly died of pleurisy in 1927... He started racing in 1936 under the name of RIVADAVA to hide his activity from his parents... Helped by his hometown population, he became Argentina Champion... The meeting with Achille VARZI and Luigi VILLORESI was decisive and in 1949 he went in Europe where the successes came immediatly... His acting and his talent forced everybody to respect and admiration... The history of racing is indelebilitly marked by the Maestro... He retired from racing in 1958 and went into business... Still near of the F1, his shadow and his personnality hanged around the paddocks until 1995..

Originally posted by fvebr
Birth in Argentina of Juan Manuel FANGIO... In 51 Gp from 1950 til 1958, he signed 24 wins, 35 podiums, 29 poles, 48 front rows and 23 fastest laps... Uncontested champion with 5 WC titles (1951,1954,1955,1956 and 1957)... The history of racing is indelebilitly marked by the Maestro...

Originally posted by fvebr
1911.....Birth in Argentina of Juan Manuel FANGIO... In 51 Gp from 1950 til 1958, he signed 24 wins, 35 podiums, 29 poles, 48 front rows and 23 fastest laps... Uncontested champion with 5 WC titles (1951,1954,1955,1956 and 1957).. he nearly died of pleurisy in 1927... He started racing in 1936 under the name of RIVADAVA to hide his activity from his parents... Helped by his hometown population, he became Argentina Champion... The meeting with Achille VARZI and Luigi VILLORESI was decisive and in 1949 he went in Europe where the successes came immediatly... His acting and his talent forced everybody to respect and admiration... The history of racing is indelebilitly marked by the Maestro... He retired from racing in 1958 and went into business... Still near of the F1, his shadow and his personnality hanged around the paddocks until 1995..

Do you think we could have details of his three non-front row positions, please?

An intriguing statistic...

For sure... Great Britain 1957 and France 1953....

I think the 3rd was Germany 1951...

If anyone can confirm...Or correct me ....

(Note At that time you could have 3 - 4 or 5 cars on the front row....)

Also born on this day (Jun 24) are Formula 2/3000/Nippon drivers Dilantha Malagamuwa (1963, Ceylon's greatest, also a succesful motorcycle racer), Takao Wada (1953) and Vittorio Zoboli (1968), as well as F3 driver Horst Farnbacher (1961). F3 driver Csaba Kesjar died on Jun 24, 1988, at the Norisring F3 race.

Some other tidbits found for recent days in motorsports history….

June 22,

1970, Filming of staged racing sequences for the movie "Le Mans" began.

June 23,

1991, Volker Wiedler, Johnny Herbert, and Bertrand Gachot drive a Mazda 787B to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This was the first Le Mans win for a Japanese auto manufacturer and for a Wankel engine.

…and for today, June 24 ,

1951, The Peter Walker entered Jaguar 120C driven by Walker and Peter Whitehead won that year’s Le Mans 24 hour race. Pierre Meyrat, and Guy Mairesse finished second in a Talbot Lago T26GS while the Aston Martin DB2 of Lance Macklin and Eric Thompson came in third. This was Jaguar's first victory at Le Mans.

1956, George Amick won the USAC Championship race at Langhorne, Pennsylvania. This was the first win for an Andy Dunlap prepared car.

1960, NASCAR driver, Jim Bown was born.

1961, NASCAR driver, Hut Stricklin was born.

1962, Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien drove a Ferrari 330 TR/LM to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Second overall and first in the GT class was the Ferrari 250 GTO of Jean Guichet and Pierre Noblet.

Non-Racing Related:

1956, The last 1956 Packard automobile was produced, marking the end of production at Packard’s Connor Avenue plant in Detroit, Michigan. Packard would continue to manufacture cars in South Bend, Indiana until 1958, but for those familiar with Packard, the last 1956 model is considered the last true Packard car.

In 1902, a group of Detroit investors led by Henry Joy purchased Packard from its founder James Ward Packard and moved the company to Detroit. The following year Joy hired industrial designer Albert Kahn, the pioneer of reinforced concrete, to build a new production facility for the Packard Motor Company.

The first Packard cars--including “Old Pacific,” the first car to travel across the United States--were affordable, durable single-cylinder vehicles. But Packard quickly moved up the pricing ladder, offering four-cylinder engines. By the 1916 release of the revolutionary V-12 Twin Six,

Packard had established itself as the country’s leading luxury car manufacturer, renowned for its hand-finished attention to detail. The release of the Twin Six allowed Packard to quadruple output over a period of one year, and Packard quickly became the largest truck supplier to the Allied Forces during World War I. The 1920s were the company’s hey-day. Huge, sleek Packards were a perfect fit for the decadent U.S. market. Conversely, the Depression heavily damaged Packard’s part of the market. By the middle thirties Packard sales had dropped dramatically, leading Packard

President Alvan Macauley to make the drastic decision to develop and produce a lower-priced car. Although the move would initially bolster Packard’s sales considerably, historians argue that producing lower quality cars heavily damaged the most valuable brand reputation in the automobile industry. World War II saw Packard convert to war production earlier than most companies. Packard’s Twin Six was adapted into the Liberty Aircraft engine, by far the most important single output of America’s war time “arsenal for democracy.” Though Packard was only the third largest producer of the engine, the Liberty enhanced Packard’s reputation considerably.

After the war, Packard had a difficult time converting back to passenger car production. The post-war “seller’s market” kept Packard alive, but it soon became clear that the independent car companies without specialization were doomed by their relatively high production costs relative to the so-called “Big Three” of auto production (Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler). Had Packard remained strictly a luxury car company, it may have been able to catch hold of a post-war niche, but instead, by 1954, Packard’s output had fallen to a dismal low. General Motors and Ford were engaged in a brief price war that took its toll on the independents.

Packard merged with the much larger Studebaker Corporation with the hope of cutting its production costs. Together, Packard-Studebaker was the fourth largest manufacturer of cars. The merger failed to help the fate of either company, however, and in 1956 Packard-Studebaker President James Nance suspended Packard’s manufacturing operations in Detroit.

June 25th

1964
Birth of British John 'Johnny' HERBERT who has lined up now in 162 Gp since 1989... 3 Wins (Great Britain and Italy 1995 with a BENETTON/RENAULT and Europe 1999 with the STEWART/FORD), 7 podiums, he has been 4th at WC in 1995...Supported by Paul NEWMAN and Mike THOMPSON, Eddie JORDAN lent him in 1987 and he won the British F3 championship... The day he signed for a F1 drive and when he was about to win the F3000 championship, a bad accident in Brands Hatch seemed to stop his racing carreer.... With tenacity, Johnny came back on top and finished 4th for his 1st F1 race in Brazil with the BENETTON/FORD... Experienced driver, he races today in SportsCars

1949
Birth of French Patrick TAMBAY who lined up in 123 Gp between 1977 and 1986... 2 Wins (Germany 1982 and San Marino 1983 with FERRARI), 11 podiums, 5 poles, 9 Front rows and 2 fastest laps, he ended 4th in 1983 WC... Between 73 and 76 he raced with good results in F.Renault and F2... He also was CanAm Champion in 77 and 80 with LOLA... He still races today in Ice-Races and manages a lot of promotions missions in Racing world when his political missions leaves him time... Consultant for Tv Channels, he tries actually to build a Tv Magazine about Mechanical races.... Happy birthday Patrick and best wishes from a neighbour ...

1932
Birth of British Tim PARNELL (Son of Reg PARNELL) who lined up in 4 Gp between 1959 and 1963 (10th in Italy 1961 with a LOTUS/CLIMAX)... Tim PARNELL managed BRM Team in the early 70's...

June 25,

1939 Spa-Francochamps, "Belgium had not seen rain for 40 days but on race day as the cars lined up for the start the rain was pouring down. As the grid was in a downhill there was a risk for false starts. The Mercedes team solved the problem by putting pieces of chalk in front of the wheels. No such thing had been done to Farina's Alfa and it started to roll down towards Eau Rouche long before the flag was dropped. Then the German cars led by Müller caught the Alfa and passed on the fast parts of the track and after the first lap the order was Müller, Lang, Nuvolari, Caracciola, Farina, Seaman, Hasse, von Brauchitsch, Sommer and Meier. While the German drivers were fighting to find a way past Farina, who was holding up the midfield, Müller in the front was holding up Lang. The Auto Union driver was running in the middle of the road and blocking any attempts to pass, seemingly unaware of the Mercedes driver's fist shakings. Neubauer's protests to the organizers only resulted in that the marshalls started to show blue flags to Lang instead of Müller!

On lap 3 Seaman managed to pass Farina and started the pull in the gap to the leaders. Lang finally got enough and waved both Caracciola and Seaman by so that the two rain specialists could have a try on Müller. Caracciola was also blocked and got so frustrated by the Auto Union that he on lap 9 made a mistake and spun in the La Source hairpin. The Mercedes stalled in the grass and Caracciola was out of the race. On lap 11 Müller had problems and went into the pits leaving over the lead to Seaman, who immediately started to make some really fast laps, opening up a gap to Lang and Nuvolari.

On the 14th lap Meier in sixth place was forced into a ditch as he was trying to lap Mandirola's Maserati at Blanchemont. The rain had stopped for some time but the track was still slippery. Both of the top Mercedes cars went in for fuel and tyres on lap 17. Seaman lost a few seconds with a jamming wheel nut and Lang came back to the track in front of his teammate.

On the next lap Seaman was back in the lead and continued to pull away at a incredible rate. After 21 laps Seaman led by half a minute over Lang, followed by Nuvolari, Hasse and von Brauchitsch. Coming to Club Corner just before the La Source hairpin Seaman came in too fast, missed the entry point and left the track sideways. The Mercedes car hit a tree and then wrapped itself around another tree with a broken fuel line. 250 litres of fuel rushed into the cockpit and over the exhaust and in the next moment the car was an inferno. Seaman's right hand was broken and the driver was trapped behind the steering wheel. After a minute of futile rescuing efforts a Belgian soldier walked right into the fire and released the driver.

Lang made an extra stop to tell the team what had happened and asked if he could retire. Unaware of the seriousness of the crash, Neubauer asked Lang to go on. On lap 28, Nuvolari made a mistake and spun off and the order was now Lang, Hasse and von Brauchitsch. A carburettor error made Lang's car heavy on fuel consumption and with just one lap to go Lang went out of fuel before La Source. He managed to roll down into the pits but the fuel lines were empty too and the car refused to restart. Lang 's car rolled down the hill to Eau Rouche and finally just as he reached the uphill and was passed by Hasse the engine started. Lang went away at full speed to retake the lead and opened up a 17 seconds gap on just one lap to take a joyless victory.

After the race the drivers went to the hospital where Seaman had recovered consciousness for a short time. He had however suffered burns on 60 percent of the body and Britain's greatest pre-war driver died before midnight..."

Originally posted by rdrcr
.....The following year Joy hired industrial designer Albert Kahn, the pioneer of reinforced concrete, to build a new production facility for the Packard Motor Company.....

This one caught my eye, Richard, and I did a bit of a google search...

I see he also contributed to other automotive plants such as Fiat, but I'd challenge the statement that he was 'the pioneer' in the use of reinforced concrete.

I worked once in a building that was constructed in 1865, and it used reinforced concrete... Kahn wasn't born until 1869. It is possible, however, that he did pioneer some particular forms of reinforced concrete in construction, perhaps prestressed beams?

Love those Packards...

June 26th

1992 death of Peter Hirt, Swiss Driver who entered 5 Gp between 1951 and 1953 (Best finish was 7th at Bremgarten 1952 with a ESPADON/FERRARI
Different sources gives either 26th - 28th

1955
Birth of French Philippe STREIFF who lined up in 54 Gp between 1984 and 1988... 1 Podium (3rd in Australia 1985 with a LIGIER/RENAULT), he raced in F3 and F2 between 1980 and 1984... He also raced in F3000 in 1985... During free trials for the Brazilian Gp in 1989, the Suspension of His AGS broke at very high speed... Broken neck and with a lack of medical organization, he was operated only 10 hours later...Philippe STREIFF today is now paralysed in a medic chair... This french young promising driver still haunts the F1 paddocks and forces his old mate's admiration with his willings... He is the Bercy's Karting Masters and french indoor Karting instigator ...He takes care of caritative association for handi sports... Hats Off... Our best wishes Philippe...

1952
The 1st car powered by a Turbin reaches 152Mph..It's a Rover and a World record...
http://www.rover.org...es/jet/jet5.htm

1935
Birth of Italian Carlo FACETTI who didn't qualify for his unique Gp (Italy 1974 with BRABHAM/FORD)...

1932
Birth of British Rodney NUCKEY who finished 11th for his only Gp (Germany 1953 with a COOPER/BRISTOL)... F3 driver in 53, he had good results in non championship races and other series... Didn't start Great Britain GP in 54 leaving the wheel to another

1906
First Race Meeting at Le Mans... Winner Francois Szizs (RENAULT)...
http://www.katylon.c...zisz/1stgp2.htm

June 26,

1906, To expand a bit on Fevbr’s menion of the first race at Le Mans. It was the first French Grand Prix and the first race of its kind to be held anywhere. It was staged by the Automobile Club of France. And as mentioned, Hungarian driver, Ferenc Szisz took first place in a ninety horsepower, thirteen-liter Renault. While the Renault’s drive shaft was less advanced than others in the race, the car boasted the important innovation of removable tire-carrying rims. Tire changes with removable rims took around four minutes to change, as opposed to fifteen minutes required to change fixed rim tires. Szisz stopped his car nine times to replace tire punctures, but he was still able to finish thirty-two minutes ahead of second place driver Nazzaro’s Fiat. The French Grand Prix was run over a 64 mile course with 12 laps being completed by the winner. When Szisz crossed the finish line the following day, he had covered 769 miles /1200km at an average speed of 62.88 mph, and was run under a new set of rules that would become a standard element of Grand Prix racing.

The Automobile Club of France stipulated that all cars were to weigh no more than 2,204 pounds; three cars could be entered by each manufacturer; and each car could be operated by a two-man crew. The rules regarding the weight of the cars encouraged the entry of lightweight cars with absurdly large engines.

The Panhard entry, for example, had a four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 18,279cc and pistons the diameter of pie plates. While the leading cars were all hitting speeds close to 100 miles per hour, their nose-heavy weight distribution, lightweight chassis, and primitive tires made them nearly impossible to handle. By 1908 the Automobile Club of France had finally worked out a sensible set of rules to govern the car entries.

1921, Jimmy Murphy won the ACF Grand Prix at Le Mans in a Duesenberg. Ralph de Palma's second place makes it an American 1-2 finish. This was the first win for an American driver and first win for an American car in a European grand prix.

1939, Motorsports performance parts manufacture and racetrack operator, Dick Moroso was born.

1947, West Surrey Racing team manager, Dick Bennett was born.

1949, Chinetti and Selsdon drove a Ferrari 166MM Barchetta to victory at Le Mans. This was Ferrari's first Le Mans victory.

1954, Marco Lucchinelli, 1981 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion, was born in Caparana, Italy.

1986, Bobby Rahal won the Labatt's Manitoba Challenge Formula Atlantic race, (at Mosport I presume).

1994, Nigel Mansell took a "break" from driving CART Indy cars to race in the French Grand Prix on July 3rd. He DNF’d.

1947, West Surrey Racing team manager, Dick Bennett was born.--------

That a name i have not heard in many years ? What the latest news on DICKEY BOY.

Thanks in advance DOUG

Originally posted by rdrcr
June 26,

[1986, Bobby Rahal won the Labatt's Manitoba Challenge Formula Atlantic race, (at Mosport I presume).

That must be 1976, and being the 'Manitoba Challenge' it must have been Gimli (Manitoba, so it can't be Mosport).

In addition to the continuing good work by Richard, fines and fvebr, I also wanted to thank Mark Godfrey and DOHC for their contributions

(Sigh) I thought I would have more time about now, but my project majuer has thrown one defiant last gasp my way (more like an upraised digit).

If the Ramones can do a song "The Job That Ate My Brain", then I can have "The Racing History Project That Ate My Life"

I have a few additional entries from this week, which I've been trying to find time around TRHPTAML to post, but so far...

I hope no one minds if I can finally throw them out tomorrow.


Jim Thurman

June 27th

1999
Magny Cours... France... Nearly 2 hours of a great show which started before the rain with the 1st pole of a STEWART/FORD drove by Rubens BARRICHELLO ahead of Jean ALESI (SAUBER/PETRONAS) signing his 10th front row... Favourites were far on grid as the rain appered quite soon during the qualifications... The race started before the rain with BARRICHELLO in lead for 6 laps before David COULTHARD (McLAREN/MERCEDES) starting 4th took over and digged a huge gap signing the fastest lap... (Over 7'' in 3 laps)... But an electric problem stopped the car... Meanwhile, Mika HAKKINEN (McLAREN/MERCEDES) who started 14th was coming back like a rocket in 3rd right behind ALESI... Lap 21... A storm of rain falls down.. Good tactician, Eddie JORDAN sent back Heinz Harald FRENTZEN with the maximum of gas... But the safety car came a bit too late for ALESI... A spin took off his chances... lap 36, Safety car free the drivers... HAKKINEN is attacking BARRICHELLO but a spin costed him 5 positions... FRENTZEN is 2nd but Michael SCHUMACHER managed to take over and finally take the lead despite BARRICHELLO's skill who is now followed by FRENTZEN, Olivier PANIS (PROST/PEUGEOT), Ralf SCHUMACHER (WILLIAMS/SUPERTEC) and Eddie IRVINE (FERRARI)... With electrical problems, SCHUMACHER enters again the pits and is back in 6th.. HAKKINEN is back in 3rd place but like BARRICHELLO he has to re-fuel... IRVINE respecting the team orders stays behind Michael SCHUMACHER .. Both are passed by the little brother Rafl who misses for a tenth of second the podium... Results being Heinz Harald FRENTZEN, Mika HAKKINEN and Rubens BARRICHELLO..

1994
Death of American Samuel 'Sam' HANKS who raced 8 Indianapolis Gp from 1950 until 1957... 4 Podiums including 1 win (1957 with EPPERLY/OFFENHAUSER)... He retired just after that win..

1965
Charade... France... Jim CLARK offers LOTUS their 25th pole on that 'Little Nurburgring' ahead of Jackie STEWART (BRM) and Lorenzo BANDINI (FERRARI)... CLARK made a pure perfect demonstration during the 2 hours and a half of racing through the 51 curves of that fantastic track.. STEWART was the only driver to follow him... Jim CLARK signed the fastest lap and took the win in front of Jachie STEWART (30'' behind).. John SURTEES (FERRARI) finishing 3rd...

1942
Birth of British Christopher 'Chris' IRWIN who raced 10 Gp in 66-67..( 4th in French Gp with a BRM)... He started in single seater in 64 and had good results in Tasman series in 67... Won Nurburgring F2 race in 68... On that same track, a severe crash during practice for a sports car race made him retire from racing..

Thanks for the correction Jim, and for checking in from time to time. We'll be looking forward to your additions when you're able. I suppose with TRHPTAYL, you didn't have a chance to go to the HSR event at Fontana... :

Fevbr, I assume that Charade, France is the town where the circuit Clermont-Ferrand is located? Or is it the other way round? And I echo Jim's appreciation for your continued assistance in this thread. Keep up the great work.

About all I can additionally offer for June 27, is,

1947, Clemente Biondetta drove his Alfa Romeo to victory in the first post-WWII Mille Miglia, at an average speed of 69.9 mph/112.2 kph. This win was his second of four consecutive Mille Miglia victories.

1963, NASCAR driver, Johnny Benson Jr. was born.

1976, Al Unser Sr. drove a Parnelli-Cosworth to victory in the Pocono 500. This was the first USAC championship victory for a Ford-Cosworth engine.

1998, Ronald "Skip" Hudson, US sportscar racer in the '50s and '60s, lost his fight with cancer.

BTW, Stefan Örnerdal's excellent Le Mans / Targa Florio Site has all the stats surrounding those races from March until late June.

Originally posted by rdrcr
I assume that Charade, France is the town where the circuit Clermont-Ferrand is located? Or is it the other way round?

Charade... Is a mountain issued from a volcano (there are plenty of them in that part of france) and they are called 'PUY'

Charade track goes around the 'Puy de Charade'... A wonderful race track you can still drive 'nearly' around... Nearly... because of too many accidents, they put barriers in the middle of the straight.... But you can Go up there, turn back, and drive a full lap on the old track... Arriving back to the barriers... turn right and keep on the new part for a ride on the 'short' track... (map is on darren site)...

It's where i saw my 1st F1 Gp (1972) and where i began a fan... It's also where i did my first slides with my brother's car...(DON'T TELL HIM !!!) Even a kid with his plastic Kart can enjoy it downhill from the Golf down to gravenoire

If anybody use Gp3-Gp2 You have a great charade track as add-on... And you'll appreciate then how were the Men and which kind of skill they had to drive there...

Ahhh... merci pour cela. J'ai noté qu'il est près de l'aéroport de Clermont-Ferrand. Pourrait-il également désigné sous le nom de ce nom ? Ou y a-t-il un autre circuit près de ce village ?

CLERMONT-FERRAND is the city... East is the Airport located in the city of AULNAT...


Going WEST you cross the little peripheral towns of CHAMALIERES, ROYAT... And climbing the mountain you reach the curve of GRAVENOIRE wich is the lowest part of the track and also the mid distance from starting line...

Charade is nearly a 'lieu dit'... Smaller than a village... Just 4-5 constructions

About 20 Miles south of Clermont you have the City of ISSOIRE with a small Airport which has also been used for some racing...

Want the map ?

No thanks, I've checked it out and found its location.

BTW, the Circuits de Charade website has their locale at Puy-de-Dôme.... They have a fine map of the area that shows the circuits.