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Home made grandstands

Started by David Beard , Jul 27 2002 13:43

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17 replies to this topic

#1 David Beard

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Posted 27 July 2002 - 13:43

Anyone who visited Silverstone in the 50s and 60s will remember that home made grandstands were all part of the ritual. They were inevitably banned in some sort of namby pamby safety move on the late seventies, I think.

In the early days ours was a very basic affair, utilising two jerry cans and a plank. I stood in the middle between my dad and his friend. The contrivance was insufficiently stable, and tended to be ridiculed by those with more ambitious constructions. (Some people would arrive with carloads of Dexion or scaffolding, or roof racks complete with armchairs) The best we took was a folding step ladderesque concoction built by dad from old pallet wood before we set off in the morning. Unfortunately the securing rope broke and deposited us on the floor as Clark passed us into Stowe on the last lap of the 65 GP, as Hill closed upon him rapidly.

There was also much climbing of advertising hoardings to achieve a better view of Moss, Archie, etc.....and I remember in 1967 a farm trailer piled high with straw bales and "enthusiasts" in the field behind us at Becketts, having appeared from the direction of Stowe School.

And not a Hospitality Unit to be seen. :clap:

Sigh.....

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#2 Catalina Park

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Posted 27 July 2002 - 15:18

I think that the Namby Pamby safety brigade were a bit late for some!

Posted Image

2 killed 40 injured.

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#3 David Beard

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Posted 27 July 2002 - 15:29

Originally posted by Catalina Park
I think that the Namby Pamby safety brigade were a bit late for some!

2 killed 40 injured.

EEK!

No, don't remember any that big at Silverstone...I take your point.

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#4 Catalina Park

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Posted 27 July 2002 - 16:01

Typical Americans always have to have the biggest!

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#5 Tim Murray

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Posted 27 July 2002 - 16:56

At a British GP in the late '70s or early '80s, we were spectating at Club, fairly close to a number of these structures. The 'best' was an imposing three-storey edifice which appeared to be supporting at least a dozen people. On race day the Red Arrows put on a display. I don't know whether it was deliberate, but one of the Red Arrows appeared to be heading directly at this structure at not many feet above the ground and the terrified occupants leapt off it in all directions, much to our delight.

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#6 FredF1

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Posted 27 July 2002 - 21:01

There's still an amount of homemade grandstands to be seen.

Spa has them in plentiful amounts.
We were passed by lots of people carrying ladders, planks and camping equipment on the Saturday evening.

Saw a rather natty one - two aluminium ladders lashed to the fencing with a scaffolding plank between them. The owners had an excellent view of the whole Pouhon section of track - complete with giant screen right opposite.

While at Monza.....

We were at the first chicane - towards the lead in straight to the first Lesmo, there were several homemade grandstands - each more rickety than the last. Three generations (presumably) of one family showed up and began to build a box-like structure out of scaffolding poles and decking. Looked fairly sound - before we knew it they were adding a second storey to it while those on the single-storey ones complained vociferously! The Caribinieri arrived and forced them to keep it as a single-storey construction. No sooner had they done so when a horde of people swamped it! Every time I looked over at it - there seemed to be even more people hanging out of it - the people on top hauling others up - reminded me of that footage of the last helicopters leaving the roof of the US emabassy in Saigon!

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#7 Doug Nye

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Posted 28 July 2002 - 17:47

Monza was the best place I recall for home-made grandstands - except the Italians, being practical people, didn't so much home-make them, as home-adapt them, by kicking out sections of the huge advertising hoardings around the circuit, standing on the framing behind, and looking through the holes created. My photographer pal Geoff Goddard has vivid memories of shooting the GP start from the roof of the main grandstand one year when he heard a grunting and scrabbling from behind him. He turned round to find a couple of lads who'd climbed probably 60-70 feet up an enormous tree behind the stand, swung out along a branch to the drainpiping at the back of the building, and thence to a fantastic vantage point on the roof. First prize for initiative? Booby prize for a sense of self-preservation???

DCN

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#8 David Beard

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Posted 02 May 2006 - 17:14

In 1965 it would appear that the home-made stand was actually encouraged …this photo appeared in the programme for the International Trophy!

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#9 Kpy

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Posted 02 May 2006 - 17:30

Originally posted by David Beard
In 1965 it would appear that the home-made stand was actually encouraged …this photo appeared in the programme for the International Trophy!

Note the happy spectators

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#10 Barry Boor

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Posted 02 May 2006 - 17:57

Well, it IS Silverstone - arctic, even on a sunny summer's day!

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#11 Frank S

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Posted 02 May 2006 - 19:31

"The pair in the air are Edward C. Roth and Jack Brossart. Roth made this viewing platform for $30 and ten hours of labor. He intended marketing it. The chairs swiveled 120° and the whole thing collapsed into a bundle small enough to stow in the trunk of Roth's Alfa Romeo Giulietta."
—Sports Illustrated November 18, 1957, in a story about big-time racing at Riverside International Raceway.

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#12 ray b

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Posted 02 May 2006 - 19:33

at the Miami cart race which was run in a park
there were small stands, 6 level wood and iron
set up at the baseball diamonds but faceing the wrong way
so we picked them up [30+people] and caried them to the track
under a huge tree and sat in the shade in the best seats in the place
and lauffed at the guys in the paid stands in the sun who paid 4 times more
then our general admit ticks for worse seats

F-troop had the best towers at sebring befor they were outlawed
we did get to climb up on the roof of a warehouse near the warehouse corner
thanks to a buddys brother who worked there

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#13 bigears

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Posted 02 May 2006 - 22:22

Those type of grandstands are still very popular at the Nordschleife especially for the 24 Hours race.

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#14 Mischa Bijenhof

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Posted 02 May 2006 - 23:32

Imola still has some home made grandstands in the backyards of the houses surrounding the track.

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#15 Stephen W

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Posted 03 May 2006 - 09:49

When I went to the Osterreichring, not the truncated & emasculated current version, the Italian spectators would arrive with saws and axes. They would then build, using the trees round the circuit, lean-to shelters in which they slept whilst affixing seats 15 to 20ft up in the trees from which to spectate. It was all fantastically well organised and relatively safe as they also fitted safety ropes! I used to take a collapsible chair which doubled as my personal grandstand, that way if I arrived late I could stand at the back and see over the crowds.

:wave:

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#16 adminj

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Posted 03 May 2006 - 12:06

Here is one at the Norisring in the 70s. It was located in the Dutzendteich near the Dutzendteichkehre. By the way: "Dutzendteich" means "a dozen ponds".

Regards!

Juergen

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#17 Alan Cox

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Posted 03 May 2006 - 17:27

Not really a homemade grandstand, nor one of the classic Monza "both feet through a panel of advertising hoarding" stands, but gregarious tifosi will take advantage of any unoccupied 'off-limits' area - this, I think, was a loudspeaker tower, from the '75 GP.

Posted Image

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#18 David Beard

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Posted 03 May 2006 - 17:31

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Monza was the best place I recall for home-made grandstands - except the Italians, being practical people, didn't so much home-make them, as home-adapt them, by kicking out sections of the huge advertising hoardings around the circuit, standing on the framing behind, and looking through the holes created. My photographer pal Geoff Goddard has vivid memories of shooting the GP start from the roof of the main grandstand one year when he heard a grunting and scrabbling from behind him. He turned round to find a couple of lads who'd climbed probably 60-70 feet up an enormous tree behind the stand, swung out along a branch to the drainpiping at the back of the building, and thence to a fantastic vantage point on the roof. First prize for initiative? Booby prize for a sense of self-preservation???

DCN

Anyone who has the Geoff Goddard / DCN book "Track Pass" should have a look at pages 204 & 205 to see how mad the Italian spectators were...clambering 50ft up wooding hoardings just had to stop, I suppose :