For all those Aussies who get ABC2 (the second ABC digital channel), we are in for a treat next week. ABC2 has recently been screening programming called Late Night Legends, featuring sporting events from the ABC archives. Up until now, it's mostly been cricket and rugby union, but next week...
Tasman Cup legends, 1968
ABC2, Monday January 2 2006, 10:45pm AEDT, repeated Friday January 6 10:45pm AEDT
Life in the fast lane: Graham Hill took the Driver's Championship, and appeared in the Tasman Series, which consisted of four races in New Zealand and four in Australia. 1968 marked the 5th year of the Tasman Championship and the event was at its peak. The major teams, (Brabham, Ferrari, Lotus & BRM) were all present, and so were many of the top drivers. Warwick Farm was the sixth race in the series and the lead was being fought out by two farmers - Jim Clark from Scotland and Kiwi Chris Amon. Clark went on to win the Australian Grand Prix at Sandown, which was destined to be his last title. He was tragically killed in an F2 race in Germany six weeks later. Sadly, over the next few years the same fate befell Piers Courage, Pedro Rodriguez, and Graham Hill. In 1970, the Tasman Cup turned to F5000 regulations, and Frank Matich won back-to-back titles, and was challenging again in 1972, along with David Hobbs from UK, and Graham McRae (NZ).
Terrific Touring Cars
ABC2, Tuesday January 3 2006, 10:45pm AEDT
In 1970....Gary Gabelich broke the 1000kph barrier, hurtling his rocket-powered Blue Flame over the Salt Flats of Utah. Tragically, Jochen Rindt won the F1 title posthumously, having crashed in practice at Monza. By that stage he had won 5 of the year's 10 GPs and held an unassailable lead. Frank Matich won at Warwick Farm, but interest in single-seaters was beginning to wane as touring cars were attracting new fans through television. Norm Beechey in his Monaro, Ian 'Pete' Geoghegan, Alan Moffat and Bob Jane are all revving their Mustangs, as we join commentators Bert Oliver & Graham Howard at the Farm.
Classic Single Seaters
ABC2, Wednesday January 4 2006, 10:45pm AEDT, repeated Saturday January 7 11pm AEDT
In motor racing, The Tasman Cup and the subsequent F5000 series had thrived through the 1960s and early 70s, but by 1978 Touring Cars were becoming more popular, and cheaper, than the single seaters. Nevertheless, there was still plenty of competition for dedicated rev-heads, and plenty of drivers willing to push whatever vehicle they were in. Warwick Brown, Alf Costanzo, John Walker (all in Lolas), Bruce Allison (Chevron), Vern Schuppan (Elfin), Graham McRae, John Goss, Kevin Bartlett - all have started their engines as we cross to Adelaide International Raceway, and commentator Will Hagen.
Australian Grand Prix, 1978
ABC2, Thursday January 5 2006, 10:45pm AEDT, repeated Sunday January 8, 11pm AEDT
The 1978 Australian Grand Prix was held at Sandown. The first had been raced on Phillip Island in 1928, and over the next 50 years the AGP moved around to more than 20 courses in all states of Australia. Initially it was raced on public road circuits and disused airfields, until purpose-built tracks were established in the 1960s. The 1978 Golden Anniversary AGP was the second last under Formula 5000 regulations …
From here: http://abc.net.au/sport/legends/
For Australians: classic motor racing on ABC2
Started by
William Dale Jr
, Dec 30 2005 00:05
89 replies to this topic
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#2
Ray Bell
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 00:45
So how does one access this ABC2 channel?
Sounds like it's too good to miss... and our DVD recorder will ensure that we get to keep it... but how?
Sounds like it's too good to miss... and our DVD recorder will ensure that we get to keep it... but how?
#3
Andrew Fellowes
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 00:49
Many thanks William, I would otherwise have missed that,
Andrew
Andrew
#4
Andrew Fellowes
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 02:24
Originally posted by Ray Bell
So how does one access this ABC2 channel?
Older TV's need a digital set top box, still wont give the quality of a new TV. Sydney, Brisie etc went digital a couple of years ago but the Gold Coast has only just got there. Need to check your area. http://www.dba.org.a...asp?sectionID=7
#5
Lukin
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 02:40
Bummer I'm not back in Melb (where I have a set top box), they would be interesting. Would be great to see the old Formula cars through Dandenong Rd at Sandown (or Rothmas as Jim Richards calls it).
#6
Ray Bell
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 03:12
He calls Dandenong Road 'Rothmans'?
I think it used to be 'Rothmans Rise' at one time... over the top of the hill, under the Lukey bridge...
And yes, I saw many a top open-wheeler go through that area. The 1978 AGP that's mentioned, I watched that from partway between Dandenong Road and the sweep onto the Causeway and the run under the Dunsafe bridge. That was the race where no two cars finished on the same lap... we had major crashes for Walker and Cooper, super-major crash for Hamilton and a lucky-to-escape-from crash for Schuppan.
That place had some serious dangers, but that meeting also had Fangio on hand to demonstrate how you drive like the wind in an ancient car on rock-solid tyres and stay in one piece at 73!
Andrew... we have a DVD recorder here, if we get a set top box (around $50 for a 'budget' model, I believe...), then we'll record it as good as it gets. That we can only watch it on a regular TV is just too bad, I suppose. But keeping the DVD, we'll eventually see it in a better form.
I think it used to be 'Rothmans Rise' at one time... over the top of the hill, under the Lukey bridge...
And yes, I saw many a top open-wheeler go through that area. The 1978 AGP that's mentioned, I watched that from partway between Dandenong Road and the sweep onto the Causeway and the run under the Dunsafe bridge. That was the race where no two cars finished on the same lap... we had major crashes for Walker and Cooper, super-major crash for Hamilton and a lucky-to-escape-from crash for Schuppan.
That place had some serious dangers, but that meeting also had Fangio on hand to demonstrate how you drive like the wind in an ancient car on rock-solid tyres and stay in one piece at 73!
Andrew... we have a DVD recorder here, if we get a set top box (around $50 for a 'budget' model, I believe...), then we'll record it as good as it gets. That we can only watch it on a regular TV is just too bad, I suppose. But keeping the DVD, we'll eventually see it in a better form.
#7
Lukin
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 03:56
Originally posted by Ray Bell
He calls Dandenong Road 'Rothmans'?
I think it used to be 'Rothmans Rise' at one time... over the top of the hill, under the Lukey bridge...
And yes, I saw many a top open-wheeler go through that area. The 1978 AGP that's mentioned, I watched that from partway between Dandenong Road and the sweep onto the Causeway and the run under the Dunsafe bridge. That was the race where no two cars finished on the same lap... we had major crashes for Walker and Cooper, super-major crash for Hamilton and a lucky-to-escape-from crash for Schuppan.
Yeah, JR and a few of the other blokes call it Rothmans, bascially referring to the quick left-right downhill kink. Jim is amazing through there, he carries so much speed; he is a bloody legend.
Is/Was the Lukey bridge also named after Len Lukey, the guy who used to own Phillip Island ? (and I assume for whom Lukey Heights is named after).
I guess most people call a corner as it was when they first went or raced there, even if it was based on advertising.
#8
Ray Bell
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 04:54
Usually, yeah...
Len Lukey paid to put the 'bridge' up at the top of the back straight. It's not actually a bridge, just a great big sign that goes across the road and makes the Track Inspection Committee's job a nightmare.
Lukey also paid for a lot of improvements to Hume Weir in 1960 so that he could promote a race meeting there and get Jack Brabham and a couple of other internationals in to blow the locals away.
His purchase of Phillip Island came when the track was destroyed by the Armstrong 500 of 1962. The PIARC had no money to repair it, he bought the property and laid down some rules and they commenced rebuilding so it could be used again. In 1966 I went down there with Bruce McPhee the day after the Tasman meeting at Sandown to sort of gatecrash a day they put on to show what work had been done. It was the first time I'd been into the Phillip Island property, though I'd seen it from the outside the previous year.
Most of the guys had a swim in the pool Lukey had built...
There was a strong bunch of people in the PIARC through that period. Among them was the legendary Phil Irving, engine designer etc. At the New Years meeting of 1974 I was racing there in my Clubman... at the end of practice day I saw that they were out patching the surface, and the day was getting pretty old.
I rocked on up to where a Land Rover was parked with a trailer and a team of guys. They were mixing concrete and filling in the holes, so I (still wearing my race overalls, as I recall) joined in. Phil was impressed, reckoned he hadn't see a driver out to help on the circuit ever before.
As we got to talking, he told me that Lukey was right. "When he saw what we were doing to rebuild it, he just said, 'What you ought to do is get a boatload of Ities out here and concrete the whole lot!'" I think Phil reckoned he was pretty right.
Problem was that the reticulation of water through the paddocks means that a lot of the track is (or was) permanently over some pretty soft ground. Lukey had some prize cattle that he grazed there, and he was pretty upset when the cleaning team didn't get all the rubbish picked up out of the grass.
Apparently once he had an autopsy done on a bull and found something like a can ring-pull had killed it...
Len Lukey paid to put the 'bridge' up at the top of the back straight. It's not actually a bridge, just a great big sign that goes across the road and makes the Track Inspection Committee's job a nightmare.
Lukey also paid for a lot of improvements to Hume Weir in 1960 so that he could promote a race meeting there and get Jack Brabham and a couple of other internationals in to blow the locals away.
His purchase of Phillip Island came when the track was destroyed by the Armstrong 500 of 1962. The PIARC had no money to repair it, he bought the property and laid down some rules and they commenced rebuilding so it could be used again. In 1966 I went down there with Bruce McPhee the day after the Tasman meeting at Sandown to sort of gatecrash a day they put on to show what work had been done. It was the first time I'd been into the Phillip Island property, though I'd seen it from the outside the previous year.
Most of the guys had a swim in the pool Lukey had built...
There was a strong bunch of people in the PIARC through that period. Among them was the legendary Phil Irving, engine designer etc. At the New Years meeting of 1974 I was racing there in my Clubman... at the end of practice day I saw that they were out patching the surface, and the day was getting pretty old.
I rocked on up to where a Land Rover was parked with a trailer and a team of guys. They were mixing concrete and filling in the holes, so I (still wearing my race overalls, as I recall) joined in. Phil was impressed, reckoned he hadn't see a driver out to help on the circuit ever before.
As we got to talking, he told me that Lukey was right. "When he saw what we were doing to rebuild it, he just said, 'What you ought to do is get a boatload of Ities out here and concrete the whole lot!'" I think Phil reckoned he was pretty right.
Problem was that the reticulation of water through the paddocks means that a lot of the track is (or was) permanently over some pretty soft ground. Lukey had some prize cattle that he grazed there, and he was pretty upset when the cleaning team didn't get all the rubbish picked up out of the grass.
Apparently once he had an autopsy done on a bull and found something like a can ring-pull had killed it...
#9
Ray Bell
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 04:57
Originally posted by Andrew Fellowes
Older TV's need a digital set top box, still wont give the quality of a new TV. Sydney, Brisie etc went digital a couple of years ago but the Gold Coast has only just got there. Need to check your area. http://www.dba.org.a...asp?sectionID=7
Just went out and bought one... Woolworths had them for $79... apparently Aldi had some a few weeks ago for $50!
#10
275 GTB-4
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 06:44
DVD
Ray....if you drop the video down onto DVD you are better off watching it on your PC...asssuming you have a DVD drive (cheap as) and a display from this century
Ray....if you drop the video down onto DVD you are better off watching it on your PC...asssuming you have a DVD drive (cheap as) and a display from this century
#11
racer69
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 06:51
ABC2 is also on Foxtel Digitel, Channel 126. That is where i will be catchung it 
#12
Ray Bell
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Posted 30 December 2005 - 08:09
Originally posted by 275 GTB-4
.....if you drop the video down onto DVD you are better off watching it on your PC...asssuming you have a DVD drive (cheap as) and a display from this century
I frankly don't understand what you're saying here...
We have a set top box now, we have found ABC2 on that, we have a DVD player/recorder hooked up to the loungeroom system... we're fixed.
Except that I'm not here for a couple of the episodes! So I'm going to have to make sure the stepson sets the timer and puts in the DVDs for me...
#13
Ray Bell
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Posted 01 January 2006 - 00:32
Originally posted by William Dale Jr
.....Australian Grand Prix, 1978
ABC2, Thursday January 5 2006, 10:45pm AEDT, repeated Sunday January 8, 11pm AEDT
The 1978 Australian Grand Prix was held at Sandown. The first had been raced on Phillip Island in 1928, and over the next 50 years the AGP moved around to more than 20 courses in all states of Australia. Initially it was raced on public road circuits and disused airfields, until purpose-built tracks were established in the 1960s. The 1978 Golden Anniversary AGP was the second last under Formula 5000 regulations
Just had a look at this race in RCN... I'd thought it must have been the one where Warwick had his first win after his big crash...
But no. This is something quite different.
In fact, at the time I almost had a problem with this race. A real problem. Regulars will know how passionate I am about the 1965 Australian Grand Prix and how it was the best race I ever saw... well, this one came close to knocking it off that perch.
Things to watch for:
The near race-long battle behind the leader.
Vern Schuppan holding his cockpit bodywork down as he drives down the straight.
Don Breidenbach's best drive of the series.
The raft of neat little F5000s that were here by then... converted F1 Brabham, Lola T430, Chevron B37... oh, that's right, you miss out on the McLaren M23, which was the neatest of all in some ways. But you may see it as it fails in the morning warmup with a broken fuel pump drive (the replacement also broke!)... and then there's the MR8 Elfin that Schuppan drove.
Great race, plenty of action, passing, repassing. It's all there. Wonder if I can get KB to make a comment... according to the report, he faded and Breidenbach passed him. Maybe he can explain more?
#14
zac510
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Posted 01 January 2006 - 01:08
That sounds like great footage!
Pity I live in UK now
Pity I live in UK now
#15
Ray Bell
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Posted 01 January 2006 - 03:37
I do hope they're making a series of all of this... the ABC did televise a lot of races...
One classic was the 1980 Sandown tintop event in which Moffat was doing a guest drive in the HDT and had a pit stop that cost him six or seven laps.
Brock caught up to lap him in the last ten or twelve laps, and nothing he could do would get him by... even though Moffat was visibly slower. Hagon was adamant that on the last lap Brock would just let it run, follow Moffat over the line and claim his victory as Moff went on to run off an extra tour.
No, that's not how it happened! Brock, at the top of his powers at that time, simply demolished Moffat over the top and down into the esses. Hagon was aghast! "Well, I never," he exclaimed to the 25% of Australia that was watching the ABC. "That Peter Brock would do such a thing on the last lap of a race like this... that he would take that chance..."
And so it was. I think that would make a great re-run today. They also televised the WF International 100 a couple of times in the earlier sixties, I'm sure I saw some practice footage the day before going out to the race. That must have been 1964, because I was out there myself every time after that.
One classic was the 1980 Sandown tintop event in which Moffat was doing a guest drive in the HDT and had a pit stop that cost him six or seven laps.
Brock caught up to lap him in the last ten or twelve laps, and nothing he could do would get him by... even though Moffat was visibly slower. Hagon was adamant that on the last lap Brock would just let it run, follow Moffat over the line and claim his victory as Moff went on to run off an extra tour.
No, that's not how it happened! Brock, at the top of his powers at that time, simply demolished Moffat over the top and down into the esses. Hagon was aghast! "Well, I never," he exclaimed to the 25% of Australia that was watching the ABC. "That Peter Brock would do such a thing on the last lap of a race like this... that he would take that chance..."
And so it was. I think that would make a great re-run today. They also televised the WF International 100 a couple of times in the earlier sixties, I'm sure I saw some practice footage the day before going out to the race. That must have been 1964, because I was out there myself every time after that.
#16
275 GTB-4
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Posted 01 January 2006 - 10:39
Originally posted by Ray Bell
I frankly don't understand what you're saying here...
We have a set top box now, we have found ABC2 on that, we have a DVD player/recorder hooked up to the loungeroom system... we're fixed.
Except that I'm not here for a couple of the episodes! So I'm going to have to make sure the stepson sets the timer and puts in the DVDs for me...
Lots of PC Monitors these days have a higher resolution than the average TV....which can be limited to the old 30 frames per second standard...(I can hear em lining up to have a go at these statements
)
#17
Ray Bell
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Posted 01 January 2006 - 10:44
Oh, I see...
Well, it's okay, we're getting a good picture on the TV, even though it's not a digital. And the DVD will be inscribed permanently, so when we get a digital TV in 19 years time we'll see it in a slightly improved format.
Well, it's okay, we're getting a good picture on the TV, even though it's not a digital. And the DVD will be inscribed permanently, so when we get a digital TV in 19 years time we'll see it in a slightly improved format.
#18
Catalina Park
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 11:21
A quick reminder to all everyone that can pick up ABC2 digital.
I have just finished installing a set top box and a DVD recorder.... With half an hour to spare! I hope it works.
I have just finished installing a set top box and a DVD recorder.... With half an hour to spare! I hope it works.
#19
Ray Bell
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 11:42
That makes two of us have spent up big for this...
Well, not really... just had to buy the set top box... $79 at Woolworths... stepson had the DVD recorder already.
What do you reckon we should charge for copies, Mountain Man?
As for making it work... you could be in strife if you've got the wrong blank DVDs... I bought some the other day, seemed to be the right ones by the labelling, but they simply wouldn't be recognised by the recorder. Had to buy some more.
And it now appears that Queensland programming is according to the same time as NSW etc... in other words, we get it an hour after you lot!
Well, not really... just had to buy the set top box... $79 at Woolworths... stepson had the DVD recorder already.
What do you reckon we should charge for copies, Mountain Man?
As for making it work... you could be in strife if you've got the wrong blank DVDs... I bought some the other day, seemed to be the right ones by the labelling, but they simply wouldn't be recognised by the recorder. Had to buy some more.
And it now appears that Queensland programming is according to the same time as NSW etc... in other words, we get it an hour after you lot!
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#20
Catalina Park
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 13:50
Just finished watching the first episode. (and more importantly my DVD recorder worked!)
Wow! I was just too young to see the Tasman Cup in its heyday and I now realize just what I missed. The 1968 Warwick Farm race was a beauty! Clark, Hill, Amon, Courage, Gardiner, Brabham, etc. Dicing, drifting, sliding, throwing up dust. What a great race.
I can't wait for tommorrow nights effort.
Wow! I was just too young to see the Tasman Cup in its heyday and I now realize just what I missed. The 1968 Warwick Farm race was a beauty! Clark, Hill, Amon, Courage, Gardiner, Brabham, etc. Dicing, drifting, sliding, throwing up dust. What a great race.
I can't wait for tommorrow nights effort.
I think they may be priceless!What do you reckon we should charge for copies, Mountain Man?
My machine came with two blank DVDs and it will copy to all formats. (I hope)As for making it work... you could be in strife if you've got the wrong blank DVDs...
#21
Gary C
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 14:30
I would LOVE copies of these programmes! Can anyone help me?
#22
Ray Bell
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 14:39
Oh, you can't afford it!
Like the Mountain Man said, it's just priceless... he might not have seen it, but I did... but with the passage of time you tend to forget just how good it really was! Pedro getting twitched out of the esses, Courage nearly losing it off the Causeway, the 30 laps he and Amon spent in mortal combat, then there was one lap one of these blokes got dead sideways under brakes at Creek.
And they followed it up with the '72 Adelaide round of the Tasman. Not nearly as good, but a reminder that the F5000s were spectacular things.
Hey, MM... did you like the lap where Brabham went off in his chase of Courage? Right out into the dirt coming onto Hume Straight... then bounding over the piles of sand at the Northern Crossing, like a horse jumping over a fence.
It's just too good... shame they haven't got the '68 AGP from Sandown the following week... and wouldn't Keir love it? All the camera time that Amon got!
Like the Mountain Man said, it's just priceless... he might not have seen it, but I did... but with the passage of time you tend to forget just how good it really was! Pedro getting twitched out of the esses, Courage nearly losing it off the Causeway, the 30 laps he and Amon spent in mortal combat, then there was one lap one of these blokes got dead sideways under brakes at Creek.
And they followed it up with the '72 Adelaide round of the Tasman. Not nearly as good, but a reminder that the F5000s were spectacular things.
Hey, MM... did you like the lap where Brabham went off in his chase of Courage? Right out into the dirt coming onto Hume Straight... then bounding over the piles of sand at the Northern Crossing, like a horse jumping over a fence.
It's just too good... shame they haven't got the '68 AGP from Sandown the following week... and wouldn't Keir love it? All the camera time that Amon got!
#23
Catalina Park
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 15:16
I thought Jack was going to get thrown from the saddle! I think he kept a very tight grip on the reins.Originally posted by Ray Bell
Hey, MM... did you like the lap where Brabham went off in his chase of Courage? Right out into the dirt coming onto Hume Straight... then bounding over the piles of sand at the Northern Crossing, like a horse jumping over a fence.
#24
Ray Bell
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 15:27
Just to get some perspective from my point of view...
If you follow the cars past the point where jack went jumping, they go past a pump house... then moments later flash past a flag point. Thats me... and Bob and I think Bob's father. And it all looks so straight there with the camera at that angle... but it's a long ess bend in reality, right off the crossing turning to left to head for the Causeway and still not quite straight when they start braking... you know, the braking point where Jack went in too deep... that was another good moment from the footage.
So we had a good view of Jack doing that rough riding thing.
Notice the lack of cameras, too. There was one on top of the grandstand, or maybe one each end of the grandstand, these being the cameras that covered from the Northern Crossing to Homestead Corner (which the commentators never named... woeful lack of knowledge there), then there was a camera at Creek Corner looking straight up the straight, covered them from Homestead to Creek and around Creek and just into the first lefthander of the esses.
There was another camera that covered them through that lefthander and then the righthander, but mostly we saw that from the camera that covered the whole of the esses and up to the Northern Crossing. Five cameras in total. If it was today, there'd be at least another half dozen, plus the ones in the cars.
But that's not as bad as the '72 Adelaide... two cameras. One covered down the straight, back up and around the back of the oval, the other one the top corner of the oval and onto the straight, this one also doubling up to cover the pits, I think.
If you follow the cars past the point where jack went jumping, they go past a pump house... then moments later flash past a flag point. Thats me... and Bob and I think Bob's father. And it all looks so straight there with the camera at that angle... but it's a long ess bend in reality, right off the crossing turning to left to head for the Causeway and still not quite straight when they start braking... you know, the braking point where Jack went in too deep... that was another good moment from the footage.
So we had a good view of Jack doing that rough riding thing.
Notice the lack of cameras, too. There was one on top of the grandstand, or maybe one each end of the grandstand, these being the cameras that covered from the Northern Crossing to Homestead Corner (which the commentators never named... woeful lack of knowledge there), then there was a camera at Creek Corner looking straight up the straight, covered them from Homestead to Creek and around Creek and just into the first lefthander of the esses.
There was another camera that covered them through that lefthander and then the righthander, but mostly we saw that from the camera that covered the whole of the esses and up to the Northern Crossing. Five cameras in total. If it was today, there'd be at least another half dozen, plus the ones in the cars.
But that's not as bad as the '72 Adelaide... two cameras. One covered down the straight, back up and around the back of the oval, the other one the top corner of the oval and onto the straight, this one also doubling up to cover the pits, I think.
#25
MattFoster
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 23:01
Watched it last night too and WOW was that good. This Tasman Series was one of my first memories as a toddler and helped make me the revhead I am now.
I have to say I was pretty impressed with the speed Frank Gardner's Brabham-Alfa.
The show just emphasised what a great tragedy it was when they closed Warwick Farm and that the Tasman Championship folded too, imagine if they did it now, nah lets not, it wouldnt be half as good eh?
I have to say I was pretty impressed with the speed Frank Gardner's Brabham-Alfa.
The show just emphasised what a great tragedy it was when they closed Warwick Farm and that the Tasman Championship folded too, imagine if they did it now, nah lets not, it wouldnt be half as good eh?
#26
Gary C
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 23:46
lads, I repeat my plea : I would LOVE copies of these programmes! Can anyone help me?
#27
smithy
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Posted 02 January 2006 - 23:57
I watched it too and it made me realise what I take for granted now in TV coverage.
For example, the hand drawn grid held up in front of the camera (occasionally you saw the thumbs of the holder), the crooked titles superimposed at the beginning and no action replays (we never saw why Amon dropped back from Courage so badly).
Ray, why was Warwick Farm closed? It looked quite a good track.
For example, the hand drawn grid held up in front of the camera (occasionally you saw the thumbs of the holder), the crooked titles superimposed at the beginning and no action replays (we never saw why Amon dropped back from Courage so badly).
Ray, why was Warwick Farm closed? It looked quite a good track.
#28
Andrew Fellowes
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 00:23
Originally posted by MattFoster
I have to say I was pretty impressed with the speed Frank Gardner's Brabham-Alfa.
Just been told that the Brabham-Alfa's rebuild is nearly complete, with Alfa engine? I've gone blank about this car, I guess I should have googled first,
I am having a real seniors moment
Gary can't help on the copy at the moment but will see what I cant do later,
#29
275 GTB-4
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 00:46
Originally posted by Gary C
lads, I repeat my plea : I would LOVE copies of these programmes! Can anyone help me?
A little early Gazza...give people time to get the four nights worth....also have a look here for a future DVD sale and maybe send badgering emails
http://shop.abc.net.au/Only watched the opening laps, loved the faithfull reproduction on digital TV of all the scratches and jerks from the original video tape!! Could not believe the slack approach to safety...but thats another story....
I was 19 year old and keen as mustard on motorsport......for this meeting I was around the back near the overbridge....just wish I had taken a camera more often AND knew how to use it
#30
2Bob
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 02:46
Loved it - didn't fall asleep - not like I usually do in the F1 races these days even with the great coverage we get now!
What approach to safety? The sight of the photographers nearly on the track at the start (I thought they must have been about to do a warm up lap - but no it was the start. Then the shots showing the horse track railings in the background - scary stuff indeed.
The commentary was 'interesting'. At least some things have improved...
Boy, it certainly brought back some memories, wasn't at the Farm for that meeting (living in Tassie then) but as a school boy did take the train from Orange (and back) for the an early 1960s race - the one which was really hot and Stirling Moss drove a Lotus without the side body panels to try and keep cool!
I assume that I was at AIR to see the F5000 race but don't remember it, can't image that I wasn't there seeing I lived in Adelaide then!
Looking forward to more nostalga tonight!
What approach to safety? The sight of the photographers nearly on the track at the start (I thought they must have been about to do a warm up lap - but no it was the start. Then the shots showing the horse track railings in the background - scary stuff indeed.
The commentary was 'interesting'. At least some things have improved...
Boy, it certainly brought back some memories, wasn't at the Farm for that meeting (living in Tassie then) but as a school boy did take the train from Orange (and back) for the an early 1960s race - the one which was really hot and Stirling Moss drove a Lotus without the side body panels to try and keep cool!
I assume that I was at AIR to see the F5000 race but don't remember it, can't image that I wasn't there seeing I lived in Adelaide then!
Looking forward to more nostalga tonight!
#31
Catalina Park
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 04:32
Wait till we get them all on disc and then we can talk.Originally posted by Gary C
lads, I repeat my plea : I would LOVE copies of these programmes! Can anyone help me?
#32
Frederick
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 05:14
well that was emotional
As a 13 year old "ten pound pom" that was the first meeting I went to in Australia,
I started out standing at Polo and walked slowly around to the esses and found my new home,
I had just started 3rd year school at Cabramatta High, (walking distance from the Farm) and from that day to the time I left school, 4 years later I never missed a meeting, usually at the esses, sometimes at Creek when I felt like a change, which wasn't often
so long ago now that those memories feel like someone elses
As a 13 year old "ten pound pom" that was the first meeting I went to in Australia,
I started out standing at Polo and walked slowly around to the esses and found my new home,
I had just started 3rd year school at Cabramatta High, (walking distance from the Farm) and from that day to the time I left school, 4 years later I never missed a meeting, usually at the esses, sometimes at Creek when I felt like a change, which wasn't often
so long ago now that those memories feel like someone elses
#33
Ray Bell
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 05:41
Originally posted by smithy
.....the hand drawn grid held up in front of the camera (occasionally you saw the thumbs of the holder), the crooked titles superimposed at the beginning and no action replays.....
I was going to raise this... just simply forgot! They were great, weren't they? Nothing like the graphics of today... must get a screen shot and post it, wonderful stuff!
What happened to Amon? If you play it again you might be able to pick it up, but I don't think they did capture it. Remember, as I outlined above... only five cameras!
.....Ray, why was Warwick Farm closed? It looked quite a good track.
CAMS did it, basically. There were other issues, but nothing was worth pursuing while CAMS were going to give them the hard time they always did.
There were noise complaints from the people who moved into Chipping Norton in the decade after it was built, there was the lack of motivation from the AJC, the major joint venture partner in the place, because they'd been in receipt of very nice moneys (thank you!) from the TAB since the mid-sixties to keep the place going. It all added up, then the weather fouled up two or three meetings in the last year.
#34
275 GTB-4
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 06:04
Originally posted by Frederick
I had just started 3rd year school at Cabramatta High, (walking distance from the Farm)
Ummmm thats quite a hike there Fred....it would have taken you a couple of hours at the least.....geez, I was in L'pool and still rode/drove over
(lazy bastard ??)
#35
Ray Bell
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 06:22
Originally posted by 275 GTB-4
Ummmm thats quite a hike there Fred....it would have taken you a couple of hours at the least.....geez, I was in L'pool and still rode/drove over
Come on!
2.5kms by the road, shortcuts make it less...
#36
Ray Bell
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 06:46
Originally posted by Gary C
lads, I repeat my plea : I would LOVE copies of these programmes! Can anyone help me?
Gary... isn't it true that I already have to send you a DVD?
Can't they come together?
And on a lighter note... an inclusion in the broadcast was the practice day interviews with the drivers. Piers Courage first, then I think it was Amon... who else was there?
The broadcast, by the way, probably wasn't made live originally. I suspect that it had to be wrapped up in an hour and that this was done by cutting laps out of the closing stages. They certainly couldn't afford to chop any of the first two thirds out! And so that's why those laps were missing last night.
Commentary was corny, really. Norman May, the prime presenter, is okay at swimming and athletics and so on, but was way out of his depth in motor racing. Who was the pom who was brought in to help? Not much better, if you ask me... and the joker in the pits, shouting to Brabham, "What's the problem, Jack?" when there was no chance he would either respond or be heard if he did. Very poor, but that was all we had those days!
#37
Catalina Park
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 07:08
I think it was Paddy McNally in the pits.
#38
Frederick
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 09:35
Originally posted by 275 GTB-4
Ummmm thats quite a hike there Fred....it would have taken you a couple of hours at the least.....geez, I was in L'pool and still rode/drove over
Out the bottom gate of the school, along the road to the railway line and under the bridge, a short walk, (past Gough Whitlams house - whose letterbox I blew to bits one cracker night) and past the Sunnybrook, across the Hume and over the fence near Homestead- didn't seem that far at the time,
I would probably have to rest a while at the Sunnybrook these days - if it's still there
#39
Gary C
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 09:51
no problem then, Ray, send the whole lot together !
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#40
Catalina Park
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 11:00
For those that missed last nights 1968 Tasman race from Warwick Farm and the 1972 Tasman from Adelaide, it will be re-run on friday night.
#41
Ray Bell
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 12:16
There should be a thread about this on Racing Comments...
Some of the guys there would appreciate it, I'm sure. And by the way, I've just spoken to Bob, he can't believe how excited I was telling him about it. Now he knows he simply has to see it himself... the problem being that he's in Cairns.
Another thing... thinking about it, and I should look at some pics for background clues, the camera taking the cars from the Northern Crossing to Leger Straight would have been on the Tote building.
Some of the guys there would appreciate it, I'm sure. And by the way, I've just spoken to Bob, he can't believe how excited I was telling him about it. Now he knows he simply has to see it himself... the problem being that he's in Cairns.
Another thing... thinking about it, and I should look at some pics for background clues, the camera taking the cars from the Northern Crossing to Leger Straight would have been on the Tote building.
#42
smithy
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 12:45
Hmmm.... not as good as last night.... but still pretty good!
#43
275 GTB-4
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 12:53
Originally posted by Ray Bell
There should be a thread about this on Racing Comments...
Some of the guys there would appreciate it, I'm sure. And by the way, I've just spoken to Bob, he can't believe how excited I was telling him about it. Now he knows he simply has to see it himself... the problem being that he's in Cairns.
Another thing... thinking about it, and I should look at some pics for background clues, the camera taking the cars from the Northern Crossing to Leger Straight would have been on the Tote building.
Nah leave it here people...Bob who??....ledger?? I spotted a cherry picker at one stage.
I cannot believe the speed of Courage in the March (1.6 Litre as we were told a thousand times)
The bucket of bolts BRM Pedro was manhandling around
JB ran wide...often
The nose diving under brakes and the porpoising under power......shyte, Amon hit the upper bump stops once
"Franticly waved blue flags" (tee hee)
It probably was an edited package....appalling audio recordings...and the ABC cameramen still managed to save one of their favourite shots of an empty track
"Bermuda" Shorts and long socks, the mechanic pushing the car, engine running with his shirt off!
magic stuff.....but the camera angles didn't get me standing at my favourite spot!!!
#44
Ray Bell
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 13:55
Three separate ten lappers at the 'Farm tonight... for touring cars...
Ian Geoghegan demolished the field in the first, on a track that was drying to begin with, then getting wet again, won by a country mile. Did you like the "...you can draw your own conclusions..." comment from Graham Howard regarding the dents in the front of Moffat's Mustang when Bob Jane disappeared?
That race was from the International meeting of February 1970... and Jane was still in a Mustang. The second and third races were from the AGP meeting in November of the following year.
I know that Joe Fan would love to see that first race!
275... Bob... Bob Levett, of course, my flagwaving companion of those times. Fellow traveller to distant racing circuits. And the corner onto the Pit Straight was Leger Corner.
Warwick Farm names, from the beginning:
Pit Straight
Paddock Bend (around the bottom end of the paddock area)
Western Crossing (across the horse track at the western end of the circuit)
Homestead Corner (onto the straight, with the 'homestead' at the corner)
Hume Straight (longest straight, alongside Hume Highway)
Creek Corner (if you miss it you could finish up in Cabramatta Creek)
The Esses
Northern Crossing
The Causeway
Polo Corner (there's a Polo field between there and Leger and the pit area)
Leger Corner
There was never any name given to the area where we flagged, alongside the lake, the fast sweeping ess. No names on the circuit ever changed.
Ian Geoghegan demolished the field in the first, on a track that was drying to begin with, then getting wet again, won by a country mile. Did you like the "...you can draw your own conclusions..." comment from Graham Howard regarding the dents in the front of Moffat's Mustang when Bob Jane disappeared?
That race was from the International meeting of February 1970... and Jane was still in a Mustang. The second and third races were from the AGP meeting in November of the following year.
I know that Joe Fan would love to see that first race!
275... Bob... Bob Levett, of course, my flagwaving companion of those times. Fellow traveller to distant racing circuits. And the corner onto the Pit Straight was Leger Corner.
Warwick Farm names, from the beginning:
Pit Straight
Paddock Bend (around the bottom end of the paddock area)
Western Crossing (across the horse track at the western end of the circuit)
Homestead Corner (onto the straight, with the 'homestead' at the corner)
Hume Straight (longest straight, alongside Hume Highway)
Creek Corner (if you miss it you could finish up in Cabramatta Creek)
The Esses
Northern Crossing
The Causeway
Polo Corner (there's a Polo field between there and Leger and the pit area)
Leger Corner
There was never any name given to the area where we flagged, alongside the lake, the fast sweeping ess. No names on the circuit ever changed.
#45
David Shaw
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 21:27
I loved the bloke attacking Jane's front guard in the pits with a crowbar, wearing shorts and thongs!
#46
MattFoster
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Posted 03 January 2006 - 22:18
Last night's action was great also, and the commentary was much better.
Would be nice if they showed some racing from some of the other lost tracks like Surfer's or heaven forbid Catalina Park!
Would be nice if they showed some racing from some of the other lost tracks like Surfer's or heaven forbid Catalina Park!
#47
Ray Bell
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Posted 04 January 2006 - 03:27
Looking at those prospects, write off Catalina Park...
The only races televised there were Rallycross. Surfers, on the other hand, had a few Tasman-type races televised, I'm sure. Also some touring car races, probably. There were no doubt some film packages done of 12-hour events too, probably paid for by Rothmans.
One standout would be the 1975 AGP, in which Leffler was winning in the Bowin P8, but which ultimately went to Max Stewart. A very wet race, the kind of thing that would be good to see today.
There is movie about of Longford, lots of TV and movie from Sandown. Wouldn't it be marvellous if somebody had kept a copy of the 1958 AGP at Bathurst? I think it's highly improbably, however.
Phillip Island was often televised by Channel 10 into Melbourne only, Amaroo was virtually always televised by Seven. There'd be bucketloads of that stuff around. I know that the ARDC had Beta tapes of every meeting that was televised.
The only races televised there were Rallycross. Surfers, on the other hand, had a few Tasman-type races televised, I'm sure. Also some touring car races, probably. There were no doubt some film packages done of 12-hour events too, probably paid for by Rothmans.
One standout would be the 1975 AGP, in which Leffler was winning in the Bowin P8, but which ultimately went to Max Stewart. A very wet race, the kind of thing that would be good to see today.
There is movie about of Longford, lots of TV and movie from Sandown. Wouldn't it be marvellous if somebody had kept a copy of the 1958 AGP at Bathurst? I think it's highly improbably, however.
Phillip Island was often televised by Channel 10 into Melbourne only, Amaroo was virtually always televised by Seven. There'd be bucketloads of that stuff around. I know that the ARDC had Beta tapes of every meeting that was televised.
#48
Andrew Fellowes
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Posted 04 January 2006 - 04:03
Joker or not he drove some great cars in the 60's and now, .....well I wouldn't mind his bank balance. (I agree Ray that was not the best pit stop reporting!!)Originally posted by Catalina Park
I think it was Paddy McNally in the pits.
#49
Ray Bell
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Posted 04 January 2006 - 04:41
Originally posted by Andrew Fellowes
.....(I agree Ray that was not the best pit stop reporting!!)
No, it was just a little worse than May's and the other guy's, really... it was all terrible...
Graham Howard really made sure that the stuff we saw last night was a lot better. But he still had to contend with May.
Would be nice if Graham joined in here to expose us to some of the issues he had to face back then!
#50
Catalina Park
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Posted 04 January 2006 - 07:46
March? It was a Mclaren. (as they also said a thousand times)Originally posted by 275 GTB-4
I cannot believe the speed of Courage in the March (1.6 Litre as we were told a thousand times)
Piers drive was one of the better drives of his career.
