June 26

Two quadruple world champions birthday today.......

Mitsubishis greatest sporting hero, dominator of World Rallying in the late 90's but now happily retired, the much loved farmer, Tommi Makinen turns 40 years young today (1964)

The most frustrated man in racing, first by Mick Doohan, then Alex Criville, then Kenny Roberts Jr, then Valentino Rossi, and now perhaps by Sete Gibernau our other champ as not as content with his four 250cc GP titles, the last of which is now almost a decade ago, the Roman Emperor Max Biagi is still questing after a fifth title and he is 33 today (1971)

While never a leading light in Formula One, Philippe Streiff certainly had his moments with Tyrrell, Ligier and AGS. Left paralyzed after a testing accident in 1990, Streiff has followed the path blazed by fellow wheelchair bound racer Clay Regazzoni and has worked tirelessly for the betterment of other with his predicament both within and without the sport. Today Streiff turns 49 (1955)

Firmly resisting the tag elder statesman, NASCAR's Kevin Lepage races on into his 42nd year (1962)

One of the Rally World Championship's early stars, Per Eklund is 58 today (1946)

Carlo Facetti once tried to qualify a Brabham BT42 in 1974, but is more associated with GT cars, and he's 69 (1935)

Formula Nissan racer Ryo Fukuda is 25 (1979)

Konica V8Supercar racer Markus Zukanovic turns 24 (1980)

Australian Sports Sedan racer Laurie Smith is 47 (1957)

Okay ... 25th could be wrong, but remember I just take these data from Auto-Hebdo.

I just double-checked and they list Streiff on the 25th for 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000 and 2002 (can't find the 2001 issue)

So don't blame ME

June 27

A career cut short by injury, Chris Irwin is 62 (1942)

Max Jean turns 61 today (1943)

Australian Touring Car driver Steve Williams is 42 (1962)

Motorcycle racer John Reynolds turns 39 (1965)

Troy Nicholson is a year younger at 38 (1966)

Sportscar racer Xavier Pompidou is 32 (1972)

Rizal Ramli turns 28 (1976)

and Nico Rosberg is 19 (1985)

Before June 28th is over:

Congratulations to two touring car legends from different corners of the world.

Robert Johnson, better known as Junior Johnson, NASCAR icon, turns 73 (b. 1931).

German Dieter Glemser, one of the most successful tin-top drivers of the early 1970’s, is 65 (b. 1939).

Many happy returns.

Also celebrating on June 28

Australian tin top racers

Grant Elliot, racer of modern Falcons is 33 (1971)

Martin Power, racer of Triumph Dolomites is 53 (1951)

June 29

Peugeots new WRC racer, Daniel Carlsson is 28 (1976)

NASCARs Jeff Burton is 37, (1967)

Former Jaguar test driver James Courtney these days races sports cars in Japan and is 24 (1980)

Former factory Nissan New Zealand racer, Graeme Bowkett is 53 (1951)

June 30th

Let's pick ... HARRY KÄLLSTRÖM, winner of the 1976 Rally Akropolis, who is 65 years old today (b. 1939). (Or is his name spelled KALLSTRÖM? )

June 30

Injured Williams driver Ralf Schumacher is 29 (1975) Get well soon Ralf!

NASCAR front runner Sterling Marlin is 47 (1957)

Alfredo de Dominicis is 35 (1969)

and Ozzie tin top racer Kevin Burton is 65 (1939)

July 1

Halfway!

Superbike legend Carl Fogarty is 38 (1966)

Early Japanese F1 driver and long time Nissan racer, Kazuyoshi Hoshino is 47 (1957)

Great British hope F3 Euroseries racer Lewis Hamilton is just 19 (1985)

ALMS racer Peter Cunningham is 42 (1962)

Australian touring car racer Ken Mathews is 64 (1940)

US ALMS racer Larry Connor is 54 (1950)

Källström is correct - nicknamed 'Sputknik'....

Can you teach us how to pronounce "käll"? As in "colour", or as in "calling", or as in "calculate"?

PS. I would think his nickname should be "Sputnik" (only 1 "k").

'Käll' is pronounced (almost) as 'shell' (as in sea shell).

And yes, it is Sputnik... ('fumble-fingers' is my middle name ) ...named after the Russian satelite, for reasons that I have forgotten, if I ever knew them in the first place.

July 2

Sam Hornish Jr turns 25 today

David Saelens is 29

Matteo Bobbi is 26

John Burden is 59

Hi Falcadore.... I have Richard Petty born 2 July 1937.(hope it's correct). 67y/o.

According to my records from Auto-Hebdo, that is correct.

Oops, July 3 has passed us by.

Earliest entry in my list is Donald Healey, noted British rally driver, automobile engineer and speed record holder of Austin Healey fame (b. 1898).

Latest entry is 17-year-old Sebastian Vettel (b. 1987) who currently dominates German Formula BMW-ADAC.

Best known from in between these antipodes is motorsports manager Michael Kranefuß - Mike Kranefuss to the english-speaking world - who turned 66 (b. 1938).

And for July 4
I found these gentlemen in Auto-Hebdo:

René Arnoux (1948)
Steve Robertson (1965)

Been real busy away at the Queensland 300, 'pologies.

July 3

French sportscar racer Sylvain Boulay is 49 (1955)

Touring car racer Markus Oestrich is 41 (1963)

Formula Nissan racer Jose Manuel Perez-Aicart is 22 (1982)

Australian Touring and Production Car racer, Calvin Gardiner is 55 (1949)

July 4

Independance Day

The mercurial Frenchman Rene Arnoux is 56 (1948)

Another F1 racer of recent times, these days sports and touring car racer for hire, Dane Jan Magnussen is 31 (1973)

Kiwi motorcycle racer turned touring car driver Graeme Crosby is 59 (1945)

Long time Australian Sports Sedan racer, Des Wall is 53 (1951)

Former Australian Super Truck racer and these days Aussie Racer (or Legends in the US) Bill Sieders is 49 (1955)

ALMS racers Niclas Jonsson (37 [1967]) and Marc Lieb (24 [1980])

Two Superbike racers turn 30 (1974), American Ben Bostrom

and Japanese Takeshi Tsujima

Australian racer of many vehicles Christian D'agostin is 29 (1975)

and today two racers should have been celebrating birthdays today but sadly gave their lives to their sport

Austrian Formula One racer Roland Ratzenberger should have been celebrating his 44th birthday but for the second of three very dark days at Imola in May 1994

and Japanese MotoGP racer Daijiro Kato should have been 28 but for an afternoon at Suzuka last year.

July 5

Australian dirk track speedway legend, Garry Rush is 60! (1944)

Formula Nippon racer Yuji Tachikawa is 29 (1975)

Danish sportscar race Allan Simonsem is 26 (1978)

Formula 3 Euroseries competitor Robert Kath is 19 (1985)

Strangely considering how many dates I have in early July, my July 6 is blank. But I only have around 1600 drivers on my list.

I can only add two off hand:

Ian Burgess is 74

and garage owner & some-time racer Cuth Harrison was born on this day in 1906.

July 7

A few weeks ago he equaled one of the sports holy grails, taking his sixth Le Mans 24 Hour victory, today Tom Kristensen can honestly say 'who needs Formula One?' at his 37th birthday party (1967)

He won the controversial 1989 Japanese Grand Prix only to have his F1 career ended almost 12 months later in a helicopter accident, went on to a succesful touring car career with Alfa Romeo, Sandro Nannini is 45 today (1959)

Formula 3 Euroseries driver Philipp Baron is 18 (1986)

Inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour victor, Nathan Pretty is 31 (1973)

BTCC racer Carl Breeze is 25 (1979)

Rally driver Manfred Stohl is 32 (1972)

V8Supercar battler, entrepeneur and originator of 'Planet Mork', Richard Mork is 57 (1947)

Sportscar racer Mark Mayall is 27 (1977)

And popular Grand Prix racer, Swiss Jo Siffert was born on this day today. He won the British Grand Prix for Rob Walker in 1968 as well as winning for BRM the year he died in 1971. (1936)

July 8

21 today! 21 today! Mercedes DTM racer Jaroslav Janis is 21 (1983) All the very best to you and may a long career be ahead of you!

Motorcycle racer Regis Laconi is 29 (1975)

July 9

Early 90's Australian touring car racer, David Sala is 47 (1957)

July 10

A man not necessarily knownaffectionately as 'Jumper', Jean-Pierre Jarier is 58 (1946)

New Zealand touring car driver Brian Bradshaw is 54 (1950)

Sportscar racer (I think) Brendan Gaughan is 29 (1975)

Taxi driver, fines would say.

Brendan graduated to NASCAR Nextel Cup this year from the Craftsman Trucks series...

CJ: ahh, he was on my list without annotation and I don't get towatch very much NASCAR, because of time differences, I need what sleep I can get.

July 10

Noted Maserati engineer Giulio ALFIERI would have been 80 years old (b. 1924).

German Formula 3 and sportscar racer Uwe SCHÄFER was born in 1963 but sadly died some weeks ago after a long illness.

Fourth-generation NASCAR driver Adam PETTY would have turned 24 (b. 1980) but died in a crash at Loudon/NH in 2000 while still in his teenage years.

But the thread is called "Happy Birthday" so let's congratulate lower-class-racers Richard WESTBROOK (b. 1973), Dirk ADORF (b. 1969) and Ralf MARTIN (b. 1967).

July 11

Sharing his birthday is 1986 Bathurst 1000 victor Graeme Bailey. (1943)

Tasmanian Torana touring car racer and these days Tim Schenken's right hand man at CAMS, Garth Wigston is 65. (1939)

and Konica Minolta series V8Supercar racer Ben Eggleston is 24 (1980)

It is alsothe day of Rolf Stommelen birth in 1943. He died just over 20 years ago at Riverside.



Thanks Reinhard for the catch.

July 12

Former Formula One privateer racer, former Formula One team owner, Guy Ligier is 74. (1930)

Belgian touring car racer, Jean-Francois Hemroulle is 35 (1969)

Australian speedway's biggest current name, Max Dumesny is 45 (1959)

and Formula 3 Euroseries racer, Jan Seyffarth is 18 today. (1986)

July 12
Let's not forget a TNF member from Chicago, IL, starter of 27 threads, author of 897 posts (7 of which in this thread), who turns 60 today.

Just forgot his name.

All the very best to you Mike!

July 13

Recently given a quick kick in the pants and his 2005 Renault contract suddenly in doubt, then a huge stack at Silverstone to underline the drama, but otherwise, Jarno Trulli can celebrate his 30th birthday today. (1974)

Three GP wins, a man who promised but ultimate became a rather good journeyman, Thierry Boutsen is 47 today. (1957)

Career long CART/OWRS journeyman, Oriol Servia is also 30 today. (1974)

British Formula 3 racer Lars Sexton is 24 (1979)

and one of the all time best, champion when Formula 2 was Formula 1, and one of a very small list capable of outracing Fangio, Alberto Ascari was born on this day in 1918. He died at Monza in 1955, potentially robbing the mid-50s of some great battles with Fangio which by circumstance had been extremely rare to that point.

July 14

Two young talents share the same day today.

DTM racer Mattias Ekstrom,

and New Zealand open wheel hopeful Matthew Halliday, are both 26 today (1978)

Falcadore,

Auto-Hebdo's list for July 14 also includes Wayne Taylor (1960)

Some more names on Auto-Hebdo's birthday list:


July 5: Peter Oberndorfer (1956)

July 8: David Dussau (1971)

July 9: John Fitzpatrick (1943) & Dudley Wood (1946)

July 10: Jacques Heuclin (1946)

A very happy 75th birthday to our Ian Stewart

July 15

Everyone, except Steve Soper, favourite mad Scot, dual British Touring Car Champion, John Cleland is 52 today. (1952)

July 16

Minardi reserve driver Bas Leinders is 29 (1975)

Germany rally driver Armin Schwarz is 41 (1963)

Australia's most achieved rallyist, Ross Dunkerton, is 59 (1945)

Japanese Sportscar sensation Hiyanari Shimoda is 20 (1984)

and 1960 Indy 500 Champion, Jim Rathmann, is 76 today (1928)

'pologies, been ill. Won't buy a curry from that resteraunt again.

July 17

One of the longest careers in Australian racing, which saw him raicng in the Gold Star up to the mid 90's, 1975 Bathurst 1000 champion, Brian Sampson is 69 (1935)

Sydney based touring car racer, Tony Kavich is 52 today (1952)

July 18

Veteran of touring cars and sprintcars,, and these days sprintcar team owner, Barry Lawrence is 55 (1949)

July 19

Controversial South Australian Ford touring car driver and one-off ALMS podium winner at the Race of A 1000 Years, Alan Heath is 46 (1958)

According to Auto-Hebdo:

July 17: Jean-Bernard Bouvet (1969)

July 20

Big Day

TNF's favourite thread subject, or rather subject of TNF's favourite thread is probably better wording, Chris Amon is 61 today (1941)

Multiple DTM champion and former Zakspeed F1 driver, Bernd Schneider is 40 (1964)

The last woman to try her hand at Formula One, Giovanna Amati is 45 (1959)

The first Malaysian to make it to Formula One, now V8Supercar driver, Alex Yoong is 28 (1976)

Recent Formula 3000 runner, Marcelo Battistuzzi is the same age (1976)

Touring car racer Kris Nissan is 44 (1960)

Sharing the same birthdate, former Eurobrun racer, Claudio Langes (1960)

IRL racer, Robby McGehee is 31 (1973)

July 21

Head of PWR Performance products, and his race teams No. 2 driver, Australian V8Supercar runner Paul Weel is just 25 (1979)

Former up an comer on the US scene, but these days V8Supercar driver, David Besnard is 27 (1977)

Long time Mitsubishi lead driver in the Australian Rally Championship, and dominator of Group N at Rally Australia, Ed Ordynski is 47 (1957)

Former Australian touring car driver, now race car preparer Wayne Park is 41 (1963)

Tasmanian touring car driver Tim Shaw is 33 (1971)

2003 V8Supercar co-driver, Kerry Wade is 25 (1979)

July 22

IRL's reigning champion, New Zealand's Scott Dixon is having a difficult year and turns 24 (1980)

N-GT Porsche hot shot Lucas Luhr is 25 (1979)

Disqualified from winning the 1997 Bathurst 1000, New Zealands Craig Baird is still looking for another opportunity as good at the age of 34 (1970)

Formula 3 Euroseries runner Eric Salignon is 22 (1982)

Auto-Hebdo states she was born in 1962.

I guess it's just a typo, but his last name is Nissen, not Nissan

BTW: I've seen references to one Nils-Kristian Nissen. Is that the same guy, or someone else?

My Auto-Hebdo list also includes:

Anthony Beltoise (1971)

"Pierre Chauvet" a.k.a. "Friedrich Glatz" a.k.a. ... (1943)

Luis Villamil (1955)

ahhhhh my speakatisation is having enuff porblems without my sepellin goin to.