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When did you start following motor racing?


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Poll: What year and at what age did you start following F1? (217 member(s) have cast votes)

When did you start following F1?

  1. 2010 or after (0 votes [0.00%])

    Percentage of vote: 0.00%

  2. 2005-2009 (1 votes [0.46%])

    Percentage of vote: 0.46%

  3. 2000-2004 (2 votes [0.92%])

    Percentage of vote: 0.92%

  4. 1995-1999 (6 votes [2.76%])

    Percentage of vote: 2.76%

  5. 1990-1994 (14 votes [6.45%])

    Percentage of vote: 6.45%

  6. 1985-1989 (14 votes [6.45%])

    Percentage of vote: 6.45%

  7. 1980-1984 (16 votes [7.37%])

    Percentage of vote: 7.37%

  8. 1975-1979 (16 votes [7.37%])

    Percentage of vote: 7.37%

  9. 1970-1974 (29 votes [13.36%])

    Percentage of vote: 13.36%

  10. 1965-1969 (28 votes [12.90%])

    Percentage of vote: 12.90%

  11. 1960-1965 (45 votes [20.74%])

    Percentage of vote: 20.74%

  12. 1955-1959 (29 votes [13.36%])

    Percentage of vote: 13.36%

  13. 1950-1954 (14 votes [6.45%])

    Percentage of vote: 6.45%

  14. Before 1950s (3 votes [1.38%])

    Percentage of vote: 1.38%

And how old were you at the time?

  1. 5 or less (20 votes [9.22%])

    Percentage of vote: 9.22%

  2. 6-10 (88 votes [40.55%])

    Percentage of vote: 40.55%

  3. 11-15 (79 votes [36.41%])

    Percentage of vote: 36.41%

  4. 16-20 (18 votes [8.29%])

    Percentage of vote: 8.29%

  5. 21-25 (6 votes [2.76%])

    Percentage of vote: 2.76%

  6. 26-30 (1 votes [0.46%])

    Percentage of vote: 0.46%

  7. 31-40 (0 votes [0.00%])

    Percentage of vote: 0.00%

  8. Older than 40 (5 votes [2.30%])

    Percentage of vote: 2.30%

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#1 Wander

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 16:33

I've been regulating this forum for a short time now, but I noticed that there are quite a few people here who have been into the sport for a long time so I thought it'd be interesting to see how far back some of the people go with the sport and I thought the Nostalgia section would be the right place to ask, so here.

Personally, I'm of the younger generation here, I'd imagine and the first race I can recall watching from start to finish was Hungary 1997, but even though I don't have memories of seeing live races before that, I must have seen some, because I vividly remember being excited after Hungary because someone (Damon Hill) could challenge for a victory in a very much inferior car.

In any case, I was a fan by the end of the season so I think I can proudly say that for me the beginning was 1997 at 5 years old, but I know that a lot of people here go way further back. I was just born too late. :well:


Oh, and please do feel free to share your earliest memories if you can. I'm interested to hear what got you people into it.

Edited by Wander, 23 April 2012 - 17:01.


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#2 Charlieman

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 18:36

Some time around 1970, a friend of the family wrote to Jackie Stewart asking him to send me a birthday card. And he did. I don't know why I deserved the card but it made me a Tyrrell fan.

#3 MartLgn

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 19:56

1985 for me, I was 13 and laid up following an accident I chanced upon the German Grand Prix on the BBC. It seemed perfectly normal for an Italian (Alboreto) to win in a Ferrari although I would subsequently discover this had not sbeen the case for many years previously! For some reason I was drawn to Alain Prost and have been a Mclaren fan ever since. I do sometimes feel I was born too late and would give anything to have witnessed Jim Clark at the wheel.

#4 D-Type

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 20:04

It's hard to say when I first got interested. My grandparents lived near Crystal Palace and I can remember being taken there in 1955 and my dad explaining that Stirling Moss wasn't racing but 'his friend' Mike Hawthorn would be racing his car (the 250F). So at the age of 8 I certainly knew who Stirling Moss was.

But I think my interest really started in 1958 when at the age of 11 I bought a copy of Motor Sport and made the acquaintance of DSJ's writing.

#5 Wander

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 20:06

1985 for me, I was 13 and laid up following an accident I chanced upon the German Grand Prix on the BBC. It seemed perfectly normal for an Italian (Alboreto) to win in a Ferrari although I would subsequently discover this had not sbeen the case for many years previously! For some reason I was drawn to Alain Prost and have been a Mclaren fan ever since. I do sometimes feel I was born too late and would give anything to have witnessed Jim Clark at the wheel.


Oh man, I would've been happy if I had even seen the Senna vs. Prost thing as it unfolded. Luckily you can of course these days find footage and all sorts of information about those days with the internet. Becomes a bit harder as you go further back though.

#6 E1pix

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 20:10

Charlieman, I love that!!! I wrote to NASA in 1969, to see if they could send me one of their space suits "just lying around." They sent me a decal. :)

I think I first read about F1 in around 1968, in Autoweek. Dreams of seeing the beasts were rampant, even daydreams where I constantly drew Elf logos and the like while Can-Am filled the void admirably.

My first USGP, at Watkins Glen, was in 1976. I distinctly recall wiping away a tear when they first flew past me. I was 16.

#7 ryan86

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 20:31

Mine is always slightly morbid because I believe it was the increased attention that the sport received (probably along with me get my first TV at Xmas 1993) after Senna's death that made me aware of the sport, and 1994 is the first season I remember, especially the title fight as it reached Adelaide.

#8 David M. Kane

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 20:47

1970 Watkins Glen was my 1st live race; I remember the sound of the engines as we headed up the hill. It made me shiver! BRM, Ferrari, Cosworth and Matra.

I started reading and following in my early teen years...say 1951, 1952? My dad took to see Midget race when I was 7 or 8? He also took me to some motorcycle races in Southern Maryland around the same period.

It all started when I was real young and let me sit on his lap and steer his LaSalle on the way to the Beach at Bay Ridge in Annapolis, Maryland.

#9 doc knutsen

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 20:47

My first F1 race was the German GP at the Nurburgring in 1958, I was 9 at the time. My father had taken us to several local races,on frozen lakes in the winter, and on horse-trotting tracks in the summer. In 1957 and 58 I studied his copies of "The Autocar", "Motor" and "Motor Racing" (the yellow one) magazines, and gradually picked up the English language. My father had travelled to Le Mans in 1952 (in a Model T Ford!) and again in 1955, and came back from the year of the Levegh catastrophe with a lot of enthusiasm for Jaguars and for Mike Hawthorn, with whom he had exchanged a few words. In July of 1958 we packed a WWII surplus tent and rudimentary camping equipment into the family 1939 Studebaker, and set sail for the Eiffel mountains. I was very much a Hawthorn fan by then, and my father had told me to look for the Ferrari driven by a man in a green jacket and a black helmet with a white peak. So, imagine my surprise when we entered the Nurburgring paddock, and I spotted a black-helmeted driver in an Osca sports-racer....turns out it was a young Dan Gurney, another all-time favourite.
Later that evening, I was to witness Ivor Bueb describe the suspension characteristics of the Lotus 12 to Chapman in the Lotus Fahrerlager garage, using both hands and making funny sounds...amazing how such details stick in the mind, over 50 years later. The race for sports cars featured a brilliant drive by Cliff Allison in a Lotus, among the hordes of Porsches and Borgwards, although he did not finish. And in the GP itself, I remember how Moss went out after 4 laps with a duff magneto, after which mes amis mates seemed to have everything under control...until brilliant Brooks caught them in a re-make of the Fangio effort of the previous year, and Collins lost ut fatally at the Pflanzgarten. As Mike passed us at the Nordkurve after the pits,Id believe I saw Mike turn his head and look behind him, as if he were expecting to see Pete somehow having recovered from his somersault, and back in the chase.
At that stage, I was well and truly hooked. The passion remains to this day.

#10 Sharman

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 21:00

I don't like the idea of the forum being regulated except by the modulators and then only for abusive posts.

1951 at Silverstone was my first, we went, if memory serves in a Suede Green MkV 21/2 on which I later took my driving DFV548.

#11 Wander

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 21:00

My first F1 race was the German GP at the Nurburgring in 1958, I was 9 at the time. My father had taken us to several local races,on frozen lakes in the winter, and on horse-trotting tracks in the summer. In 1957 and 58 I studied his copies of "The Autocar", "Motor" and "Motor Racing" (the yellow one) magazines, and gradually picked up the English language. My father had travelled to Le Mans in 1952 (in a Model T Ford!) and again in 1955, and came back from the year of the Levegh catastrophe with a lot of enthusiasm for Jaguars and for Mike Hawthorn, with whom he had exchanged a few words. In July of 1958 we packed a WWII surplus tent and rudimentary camping equipment into the family 1939 Studebaker, and set sail for the Eiffel mountains. I was very much a Hawthorn fan by then, and my father had told me to look for the Ferrari driven by a man in a green jacket and a black helmet with a white peak. So, imagine my surprise when we entered the Nurburgring paddock, and I spotted a black-helmeted driver in an Osca sports-racer....turns out it was a young Dan Gurney, another all-time favourite.
Later that evening, I was to witness Ivor Bueb describe the suspension characteristics of the Lotus 12 to Chapman in the Lotus Fahrerlager garage, using both hands and making funny sounds...amazing how such details stick in the mind, over 50 years later. The race for sports cars featured a brilliant drive by Cliff Allison in a Lotus, among the hordes of Porsches and Borgwards, although he did not finish. And in the GP itself, I remember how Moss went out after 4 laps with a duff magneto, after which mes amis mates seemed to have everything under control...until brilliant Brooks caught them in a re-make of the Fangio effort of the previous year, and Collins lost ut fatally at the Pflanzgarten. As Mike passed us at the Nordkurve after the pits,Id believe I saw Mike turn his head and look behind him, as if he were expecting to see Pete somehow having recovered from his somersault, and back in the chase.
At that stage, I was well and truly hooked. The passion remains to this day.



Wow, that's amazing. I can hardly even imagine seeing those races live... To me that seems like so long ago. And the sport has changed so much, it's just really amazing to me that there are people here who experienced that stuff first hand.

Edited by Wander, 23 April 2012 - 21:01.


#12 GMACKIE

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 21:01

1955, age 14 for me......although I didn't see a [live] Grand Prix until Adelaide, 1985.

#13 David McKinney

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 21:27

In spite of the thread title, I'm sure most of us who got "hooked" before about 1980 were into motor racing or even motor sport, rather than F1 only

#14 pete53

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 21:50

My first Grand Prix was the first one at Brands in 1964. I was just about to turn 11. I remember the thrill of being able to see all the top drivers of the time in one place in one race.
I still have the programme, which, I believe, came free as part of the admission cost - you couldn't imagine that happening now could you?

#15 Wander

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 22:27

In spite of the thread title, I'm sure most of us who got "hooked" before about 1980 were into motor racing or even motor sport, rather than F1 only


Yeah, in hindsight I think maybe I should've gone with motor sport in general, because for a lot of people it was quite possibly not even possible to follow F1 back in the day even if they were interested in motor sport. Sorry about that.

#16 David M. Kane

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 22:27

My first Grand Prix was the first one at Brands in 1964. I was just about to turn 11. I remember the thrill of being able to see all the top drivers of the time in one place in one race.
I still have the programme, which, I believe, came free as part of the admission cost - you couldn't imagine that happening now could you?


No you could not! God Bless John Webb. He did a good job putting Brands Hatch together.

#17 David M. Kane

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 22:28

My first Grand Prix was the first one at Brands in 1964. I was just about to turn 11. I remember the thrill of being able to see all the top drivers of the time in one place in one race.
I still have the programme, which, I believe, came free as part of the admission cost - you couldn't imagine that happening now could you?


No you could not! God Bless John Webb. He did a good job putting Brands Hatch together.

#18 Allan Lupton

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Posted 23 April 2012 - 22:31

In spite of the thread title, I'm sure most of us who got "hooked" before about 1980 were into motor racing or even motor sport, rather than F1 only

I'd go along with that - moreover young 'uns wouldn't credit that not only did the 1958 British Grand Prix last 2 h. 9 m. (short, sharp as Motor Sport's report described it, being only 75 laps) there were three supporting races 25 laps (44 m. odd) for Sports Cars, 17 laps (35 m) for saloon cars and 17 laps (33 m) for Formula 3. That was four hours of racing in the day and you could get hooked by other categories even if you started at the top. What's more some of the top drivers did other races.
Most of us became keen followers of/spectators at/marshalls at/officials of club racing when we were not racing, sprinting or rallying ourselves.

Edited by Allan Lupton, 23 April 2012 - 22:32.


#19 arttidesco

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 00:46

I have recollections of seeing a report about the 1967 Italian GP on steam powered B&W TV when I was 8, the following year I watched the British GP on Grandstand, I first attended a race meeting in Zambia in 1970 aged 11, attended first non championship Race of Champions in 1973 which is when my interest really kicked off. By the German GP in 1976 which was the first championship race I attended I was completely addicted buying every issue of Autosport, Motor Sport, and Rallye Racing to keep the blues away in between events :-)

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#20 Ray Bell

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 01:11

When I first started work I started buying magazines...

Racing was obviously in the mix, but when I got to know Mike Kable and he recommended I start reading Denis Jenkinson I bought the August 1962 issue of Motor Sport. That made it a lot easier to follow F1 closely, though I had already been taken in by reports in magazines like Road & Track, Car & Driver and Sports Car Graphic, where they were featured much more than in Australian magazines.

The first reports were from the early races of the '62 season... Zandvoort and Monaco, but the SCG report on Spa grabbed me with that huge photo that headed the report.

#21 RonPohl

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 03:04

1963. Some of the races were partially televised by "wide world of sports" on ABC. Fantastic!

#22 markmanroe

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 03:39

Phil Hill, 1961 and the unforgettable sharknose Ferrari. My family subscribed to Sports Illustrated back in the day when it covered more than just football, baseball and basketball. In addition to some Formula 1 coverage, the magazine had excellent Indy 500 stories and photos.

#23 rdrcr

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 05:43

In spite of the thread title, I'm sure most of us who got "hooked" before about 1980 were into motor racing or even motor sport, rather than F1 only


Yep - for me, I was around 7-8 years old watching the Stock Car races, jalopies or beaters to be more accurate in Northeastern Ohio. After that, I was into anything that burned gas - Bought and read every Hot Rod and car model magazine there was. I began following GPs in the early '70's but the first attended race in '76 at the Glen, really set the hook in me - I was 18.

#24 philhitchings

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 05:54

1967, I was 4. I seem to recall my dad getting very excited about some guy called Jim, whilst I was impressed by Jackie :) . We didn't get the wall to wall coverage that we do now and I was really disappointed to find out that there were other races on that weren't shown on TV. My dad started keeping cuttings of race reports from the papers (you could say F1 taught me to read :lol: ). My first race was Brands Hatch in 1976. Growing up in the welsh borders, a trip to any circuit was a mission in itself and Brands was a journey of several hours. I arrived on Wednesday (I think) as a Tyrell fan. Jackie really was my hero and even though he'd retired from the sport, I still followed his former team. However, as soon as I heard the roar of the Ferrari engines as they pulled out of the pits and headed down Paddock Hill my head was turned and I've never looked back :)

Edited by philhitchings, 24 April 2012 - 05:55.


#25 Lee Nicolle

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 06:12

My interest started in F1 really in the late 70s when Alan Jones was starting to do well. I am an Aussie!
Though I had been aware of Black Jack and his team way before that.
My motorsport upbringing has been on speedway and motorcycle endurance events via my father. I was literally a babe in arms at Rowley Pk Speedway.I never went to a circuit meeting until 71 at the end of Mallala. And I competed at the reopening in 82

#26 David Beard

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 06:19

I went to Prescott in 1948 to see Stirling Moss in a Cooper, before I was born.

#27 Repco22

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 07:17

In spite of the thread title, I'm sure most of us who got "hooked" before about 1980 were into motor racing or even motor sport, rather than F1 only

Australians were at a disadvantage until the advent of regular TV coverage, and then the full F1 circus came to Adelaide in '85. Newspaper coverage had been traditionally very thin---unless someone lost his life, of course.
So, motor racing; 1946 aged four at the Bunbury Flying Fifty 'around the houses' race in WA's south west. The images, sounds and smells made a big impression and have stayed with me. Formula One and other European, Australian and American racing was devoured by the magazine-full from 1957, Fangio's last full year. Saw Amon, Brabham, Clark, Hill and the rest of the Tasman gang in '68 then F1 proper at Monaco, Brands and Silverstone in '74.


#28 COUGAR508

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 07:32

My real interest was triggered after watching the TV coverage of Gilles Villeneuve's triumph at Monaco in 1981, when I was 11 years old....

#29 Hamish Robson

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 07:45

Well I've put 1970-74 as I believe some races were shown on British TV then, and I was born in 1968. I've been immersed in motorsport since I was a twinkle in the eye though, having been to rallies since I can remember. The first GP I attended was Germany 1986.

#30 Stephen W

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 07:53

In spite of the thread title, I'm sure most of us who got "hooked" before about 1980 were into motor racing or even motor sport, rather than F1 only


I first went to an F1 race in 1959 - the Oulton Park Gold Cup. However I had been fascinated by racing cars of all sorts before that due to my collection of Dinky Toys. Due to my father working on Saturdays (pretty much the norm back then) my trips to race meetings were limited to one a year (usually Oulton Park). It was only in my second year at work (1968) that I started to make more frequent visits.



#31 Eric Dunsdon

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 07:55

As a kid I developed an early love of cars (although nobody in our road was rich enough to own one!). My mum worked for people who owned a 'big house' in Grange Avenue, Totteridge and it was there, in the late 1940's that I first read copies of The Motor and Autocar and fell in love with motor racing through race reports and pictures of 4CLT Maseratis. It was all motor racing to me, not just F.1. I still have my love for those days and that kind of motor racing and thoroughly enjoyed the recent VSCC Silverstone, although I found it to be rather tiring and was glad of a snooze during that televised F1 event in the Desert the following day.

#32 Lola5000

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 07:58

1968 aged about 10 reading "The Herald " paper in Melbourne,full page story about the life and death of Jim Clark,can still remember certain parts of the story.

#33 plutoman

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 08:15

I was fascinated by cars in general, and was given a subscription to Motoring News on my 10th birthday in 1976, but didn't really get fully immersed in racing until '78 when the South African Grand Prix was televised. The first race I went to was the 1981 British GP, by which time it was my all-consuming passion. Although I'm still very much an armchair enthusiast, 1978-82 remains the era which interests me the most, as this was the time I spent learning about the sport's history.

#34 Julian Roberts

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 09:37

My first race was Brands Hatch in 1976. Growing up in the welsh borders, a trip to any circuit was a mission in itself and Brands was a journey of several hours. I arrived on Wednesday (I think) as a Tyrell fan. Jackie really was my hero and even though he'd retired from the sport, I still followed his former team. However, as soon as I heard the roar of the Ferrari engines as they pulled out of the pits and headed down Paddock Hill my head was turned and I've never looked back :)


My very first race also ! :wave:

My father owned some petrol stations. He rented the workshop of the one I worked in, to a chap called Steve Stringer. He had a contract to customize Ford Transit vans for FoMoCo. He was required to bring the latest creation to the Grand Prix to park outside the Ford hostility suite on the outside of Paddock Bend. He simply asked me if I wanted to come along for the ride. I was 17 and much more interested in being a passenger in highly customized van than going to a motor race. I remember the Touring Car race - Hammonds Chop Sauce sponsoring one of the Capris (Chris Craft ?) sticks in my mind, I remember the Escort race, and of course I remember the GP. I experienced my first feelings of nationalistic pride watching Hunt & Lauda racing. Such a great introduction to our sport.

#35 john winfield

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 09:41

Enjoyed Scalextric and televised coverage in 1963 (aged 6), went to some club races in 1964, Formula 1 at Silverstone in 1965, F2 and big sportscars 1967-69, saw first Grand Prix, at Brands Hatch, in 1970. Hooked completely in the seventies, still quite interested.

Edited by john winfield, 24 April 2012 - 09:42.


#36 Pamphlet

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 09:59

1997 season finale, age 3 and a quarter or so. 1998 was my first real season, and I'd say it more than made up for missing the "sweetness" of the previous eras.

Then again, unlike most others, I don't follow F1 for the excitement itself. "That" Villeneuve vs Arnoux duel just doesn't cut it for me, and I'll be damned if that's not one of the best duels of all time. I'm more interested in the mechanical and the psychological stuff.

Edited by Pamphlet, 24 April 2012 - 10:00.


#37 kayemod

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 10:52

I went to Prescott in 1948 to see Stirling Moss in a Cooper, before I was born.


A womb with a view?


#38 fpbecker

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 12:54

Monaco 1982. Age 9.

I've been following the sport ever since, with all of its ups and downs. The current season looks like it could be on the ups side.

#39 BRG

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 12:58

The (current) 70 or so % that started following F1 between 6 and 15 years of age indicate so clearly why the tobacco companies loved the sport so much.

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#40 alansart

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 13:05

A womb with a view?


My daughter went to the 1986 German GP when she was -6 months :)

I was given a Scalextric for Christmas in 1963. That's what started this mad motor racing adventure for me.

Edited by alansart, 24 April 2012 - 13:08.


#41 kayemod

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 13:11

My daughter went to the 1986 German GP when she was -6 months :)


I saw the great Juan Fangio race at Silverstone at roughly the same age, but the view wasn't too wonderful.

Family legend has it that I kicked as the cars came past.

Edited by kayemod, 24 April 2012 - 13:27.


#42 Pat Clarke

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 13:22

I was a motor racing fan, inherited from my Dad, from a very early age. I saw and vaguely remember, Mike Hawthorne's first win in the Riley in the Leinster trophy and quite well remember David Piper's win in the same event a year or two later.

I witnessed the death of Don Beauman and can still see the fire through the tree tops, my first real awareness that this stuff could be dangerous. My disinclination with religion started when, under direction from the Vatican, the Parish Priest railed against motorsport after the Le Mans disaster.

I listened to the BBC reports from Grand Prix on our big Pye radio. I remember Ascari's dip at Monaco and in usual rebellios youthfullness, hated Fangio because he beat my favourite Moss regularly, so Imagine my delight listening to the GP from Aintree that fabulous afternoon.

My interest technically was aroused by the Mercedes Silver Arrows, that were clearly in a different league to everything else.

Been interested technically ever since, though in the last decade or so, I suspect my interest is more a habit than a real interest. Sports Prototypes are much more interesting these days and Formula SAE cars sometimes even moreso!

Cheers

Pat

#43 nicanary

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 13:41

This thread could run for ever ! I watched racing on the TV from about 1955 - I can definitely remember seeing a saloon race with a Jag Mk.VII and an LMB Pop. My brother and I kept a scrapbook of cuttings of Sir Stirling until that fateful day in '62, and then we switched to Graham Hill. Went to my local track at Snetterton in (I now think) 1961, and then regularly from 1964 on. No Fi though, I couldn't afford the entrance fee.

With what Bernie's done with the sport, people may not realise that society's perception of it has also changed. Today it is just another item to be covered in the tabloids, next to the football and horse-racing. When I was a kid, it was an impossibly glamorous thing, and the drivers were regarded as fun-loving daredevils. My local daily rag was the Eastern daily Press, which was full of grain and livestock prices, but they always had a column on the front page with a resume of the previous day's GP. It was really big news.

I subscribed to "the Motor" when I was about 12, and then discovered Jenks, and after that nothing was ever the same again. The "Motor" stopped, and I can't move in my flat for old Motor Sports. If you've only followed the sport since the 90s or so, you missed the best years, sorry. You've no idea how much BCE has changed everything. I regularly fall asleep during the races now.

#44 Wander

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 16:20

I know I missed the best years and the more I've researched the subject, the clearer that has become to me. From what I've heard though, Formula 1 broadcasting wasn't that great or regular in Finland before Keke started to gain success in the 80s and even then the progress was gradual before regular live broadcasting started in the late 80s. As such, I can take some solace from the fact that even if I missed many decades of great racing, it would not have even been possible to really follow the sport properly over here more than 15 years before I actually was old enough to do so.

#45 GMACKIE

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Posted 24 April 2012 - 22:03

This thread could run for ever ! I watched racing on the TV from about 1955 - I can definitely remember seeing a saloon race with a Jag Mk.VII and an LMB Pop. My brother and I kept a scrapbook of cuttings of Sir Stirling until that fateful day in '62, and then we switched to Graham Hill. Went to my local track at Snetterton in (I now think) 1961, and then regularly from 1964 on. No Fi though, I couldn't afford the entrance fee.

With what Bernie's done with the sport, people may not realise that society's perception of it has also changed. Today it is just another item to be covered in the tabloids, next to the football and horse-racing. When I was a kid, it was an impossibly glamorous thing, and the drivers were regarded as fun-loving daredevils. My local daily rag was the Eastern daily Press, which was full of grain and livestock prices, but they always had a column on the front page with a resume of the previous day's GP. It was really big news.

I subscribed to "the Motor" when I was about 12, and then discovered Jenks, and after that nothing was ever the same again. The "Motor" stopped, and I can't move in my flat for old Motor Sports. If you've only followed the sport since the 90s or so, you missed the best years, sorry. You've no idea how much BCE has changed everything. I regularly fall asleep during the races now.

How very true.....however, I regularly fall asleep during almost anything, now.ZZZZZZZZZZ


#46 nicanary

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Posted 25 April 2012 - 12:11


That'll be the stuff they put in our tea.

#47 Jack-the-Lad

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Posted 25 April 2012 - 14:10

I was about 13 in 1959 when I started paying attention. My first race was the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1963, which had a phenomenal entry, including my hero Phil Hill leading the first laps in the works Cobra.

Edited by Jack-the-Lad, 25 April 2012 - 14:11.


#48 RCH

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Posted 25 April 2012 - 15:04

I had been aware of motor sport since the mid-fifties when I was 6 or 7, and by '59ish there were regular ITV broadcasts of club races from Silverstone on Saturday afternoons. I remember following Le Mans 1959 on the radio. I certainly watched all the racing I could on TV from 1961 on, Monaco '61 sticks in my memory but then I guess it does in a lot of peoples' memories! The first F1 race I attended was the International Trophy at Silverstone in 1971, the sound of the Matras will stay with me forever.

I went to the '74 and '75 British Grands Prix but somehow I came away slightly disappointed and I think it was from around that time that my interest in F1 started to wane. I had always followed sports cars and that interest never waned although the current impenetrable GT championships leave me distinctly underwhelmed. Anything else modern just doesn't do it for me any more, although I follow F1, probably from habit.

#49 David Beard

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Posted 25 April 2012 - 15:47

The first F1 race I attended was the International Trophy at Silverstone in 1971, the sound of the Matras will stay with me forever.


That's seems like a good excuse for me to give this old thread a bump...
http://forums.autosp...ilverstone 1971


#50 GMACKIE

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Posted 25 April 2012 - 22:23

Family legend has it that I kicked as the cars came past.

That now happens to me too, if they wake me up.