Bizarre DNSs
#1
Posted 29 March 2001 - 03:25
race, eg accident to driver, mechanical breakdown,
However, during research for the "Strange looking cars"
thread I came across two of the more unusual reasons
why a DNS was recorded. Here they are
1. BRM P207 - 1977 Argentinian GP.
The BRM didn't even make to the track. The
reason was that the car was delivered to an
airline in the UK in a crate that was too big
to fit inside the aircraft's hold!
2. VM car - 1954 GP des Frontieres (Chimay).
One of my favourite GP stories. Viglielmo Matozza
entered a Tatra based car. He put in a few
"all-nighters" to get the car completed.
When he arrived at Chimay, he was so tired
that fell asleep, missed practice and thus the
race! The car never appeared again.
I am sure list members would have their own
favourite DNS's
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#2
Posted 29 March 2001 - 03:36
#3
Posted 29 March 2001 - 04:56
Allan Moffat had his car stolen before the Aidelaide endurance race once, but was loaned Murray Carter's car and went on to win... there's a pattern here... Dan Gurney's BRM was taken for a joyride at the 1961 Ballarat meeting... he also went on to win!
The car was found among the haybales...
#4
Posted 29 March 2001 - 07:05
#5
Posted 29 March 2001 - 15:21
#6
Posted 29 March 2001 - 15:32
Allan Moffat had his car stolen before the Aidelaide endurance race once, but was loaned Murray Carter's car and went on to win... there's a pattern here... Dan Gurney's BRM was taken for a joyride at the 1961 Ballarat meeting... he also went on to win!
Wow Ray,
do you realize that would mean Prost, Senna and Schumacher together must have lost over 130 cars! Or am I missing something.
Marco.
#7
Posted 29 March 2001 - 16:38
#8
Posted 29 March 2001 - 19:16
#9
Posted 30 March 2001 - 10:27
#10
Posted 30 March 2001 - 11:08
#11
Posted 30 March 2001 - 16:17
is this another case of the facts interupting a good story??
#12
Posted 30 March 2001 - 18:19
circuit Brno (CS)
Local driver Josef Bradzil have borrowed money to buy a Maseratie
and when unable to pay back, he had ended up in jail.
Some of the drivers of the GP appealed to authorities to release him, so he could take part in the GP, returning to jail after the race.
On his first practice lap Bradzil spin into a corner with full speed,
and crashed into the woods totally destroying the car.
Bradzil died immediately.
DNS - fatal crash
he had never race a other race..............
#13
Posted 30 March 2001 - 18:33
Also, didn't Ronnie Peterson miss or come close to missing practice at Spa 1970 because he was in a local jail?
#14
Posted 30 March 2001 - 19:07
The story about Eaton is probably too good to be true, I remember almost having to throw up seeing somebody having English breakfast on TV!
#15
Posted 30 March 2001 - 19:21
On race morning, he wanted to put eye-drops in his eyes. Instead, he mistakenly put visor cleaner in them.
He nearly lost his sight.
#16
Posted 30 March 2001 - 20:09
John McDonald's RAM-Brabham BT44's at the Nürburgring, 1976: after the final qualification, Loris Kessel had McDonalds cars seized before the German GP; now Lella Lombardi was not qualified anyway, but Rolf Stommelen was left in the could. but could continue in the third works Brabham-Alfa Romeo, albeit without any practise. Even then, there were regulations to follow; but when Ecclestone (Brabham works team owner for the youngsters out there) was asked if it did not cause problems with the stewards to get Stommelen in the third car, since he practised in a Brabham-Ford, he told: "Why? I just said Stommelen practised in a Brabham, type Formula One". Stommelen started the race at the grid position of the BT44, finished sixth and even got 1 point.
However, history reveals that a much more serious incident took place at that famous race...
#17
Posted 30 March 2001 - 20:32
Also Naninni and Mansell, same track in 1990 when they were let out of the pit lane ahead of the field on the starting grid, then disqualified.....
#18
Posted 30 March 2001 - 22:12
Frank Matich performed a classic act to avoid a DNS once at Warwick Farm... 1972, I think... not a major race, but he was on pole with his A51/52 and had a brake lock on half way round the warm-up lap.
He simply drove into pole position, let force majeure rule as he got the mechanics to change the right front upright completely. Max Stewart was fuming, he could have won the race without Matich in it... and David Bones, Clerk of Course, was fined for letting it happen... as if he had some way of carrying Matich and his car off the grid!
#19
Posted 30 March 2001 - 22:21
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#20
Posted 30 March 2001 - 22:29
i remember that otto stupacher he was at the 1976 canadian gp at mosport he qualified 15 second slower then the pole.in the seventies we were used to see some quiet slow privateer in f1 but that was too slowOriginally posted by Racer.Demon
I guess Otto Stuppacher's story also deserves a mention here. His private ÖASC Tyrrell did not even get close to qualifying at Monza in 1976, as was to be expected. But then Messrs Hunt, Mass and Watson saw their practice times disallowed by officialdom due to their use of illegal fuel - that was one for the Italians in 1976's Ferrari-McLaren protesting match. For Stuppacher it meant that he moved up the order and onto the grid! Sadly, poor Otto had already got onto the Saturday evening flight to Vienna and thus missed his big chance to start a Grand Prix...
#21
Posted 30 March 2001 - 22:38
NB – When it was all over someone pointed out that Vittorio Brambilla had not been seen since Friday afternoon. John Surtees had been so busy looking after his new driver, Vern Schuppan, that he hadn’t noticed, and had assumed that Vitt waas “just getting on with it and not complaining”. A search on Monday morning found the Beta Surtees down at the bottom of a ravine and a note from Brambilla saying he had gone home as he could not see any way of retrieving the car.
Courtesy of Roger Clark, recently on another thread.
#22
Posted 30 March 2001 - 22:56
#23
Posted 31 March 2001 - 17:27
"Once again an entry list flattered only to deceive. This time, the cyclecar enthusiasts were the losers with the defection of the entire Salmson team. The non-starters were the losers because they missed one of the strangest motor races in the history of the sport. Despite the absentees, there was still enough to ensure a good meeting at the Miramas track with a full Talbot team (Albert Divo, Jules Moriceau, "Williams") and the solitary Delage of Benoist as well as many excellent private entries.
The organisers were not helped when there was torrential rain during the morning. The start of the heats was postponed until 12 noon when the rain was easing off and the heats were shortened to 5 laps (50 km). The first heat featured the combined 2 and 3 litre classes and won easily by Louis Chiron backing off. The 1.5-litre heat was dominated by the Talbots with Benoist surprisingly far back possibly taking it easy...
All the heat finishers qualified for the Final but Talbot decided the conditions were too bad and withdrew all 3 cars. In addition of this Benoist did a fast warming up lap and arrived on the final straight to find the track blocked. He ran into 3 cars including the Amilcar of Arthur Duray (2nd in the cyclecars qualifying heat) and the Buc of Jean de Maleplane, the latter car being too damaged to take part. Benoist sustained a leg injury and also withdrew.
The final got under way with Chiron leading the way easily from André Morel (Amilcar 6C). The crowd thought they were being cheated of their race and suddenly invaded the track and stopped the charade after only 5 laps (50 km). They also attacked the Talbot pits and tried to find the drivers as well; Luckily this seems to be the only time this has happened. The results were declared as the time of the stoppage..."
#24
Posted 01 April 2001 - 04:05
39 cars entered
8 cars starts
and 31 cars did not start
Fiat had won the GP de l'ACF with Nazzaro
and Ballot, Sunbeam, Bugatti, Mercedes, Bianchi, Benz , Talbot,
Rolland, Delage wont not again lose of the Fiat
and Austro-Daimler give forfet when driver Kuhn was killed in the practice
#25
Posted 01 April 2001 - 08:52
Having seen the engine fail in August, we had sat around forlornly with the engine stripped down and no money to mend it. Then David Purley came along with his Dad's Lec Refrigeration money, paid for the rebuild and the re-paint and the car was entered for the end of season Victory Race at Brands in the October.
During the Rothman's race (where our engine had failed) Purley had suffered a stuck throttle on his March and had received a major fright! He insisted that we fit a button on the steering wheel that would stop the engine should such an event re-occur. We did.
The wiring for said button wound around the steering column and disappeared into the depths of the car to connect to, amongst other things presumably, the battery. As David was cruising around on the parade lap, naturally turning the wheel to go around the corners, the wires snagged on something, pulled out of the button and the engine died.
car #22 David Purley, Connew Ford PC.1. DNS
I am often given to wondering if he had had a reasonable race, would he have come on board for '73 as he said he wanted to, and where would we all be now? Oh well..................
#26
Posted 01 April 2001 - 09:54
#27
Posted 09 July 2009 - 16:59
British Grand Prix 1979.
I watched this race from Copse grandstand - Clay Regazzoni’s famous first win for my all-time favourite team, Williams. About half-distance, just as Jochen Mass was exiting the pits in the Arrows A1B, a smallish whirlwind or “twister” made its way – taking a perfect racing line and picking up loads of debris from the track – from Woodcote, all the way along the straight, to Copse. Jochen must have noticed it too as before rejoining the circuit he stopped at the pit lane exit to let it by!
Rothmans F5000 meeting Brands Hatch September 1971
As a BRSCC member, I used to marshal as often as possible – mainly because it was the cheapest way to see races – and I was on “yellow” flag just prior to Westfield. Practice for the race was over two sessions (I think) in the morning and it was before the second session that the following “incident” happened. Just as we could hear the cars exiting the pits and heading into Paddock, much to everyone’s astonishment, a humble Morris Minor was seen joining the circuit from behind the post just up from Hawthorn’s! As it motored majestically past us and into Westfield, we could hear the first of the F5000s approaching Hawthorn’s. Whilst the Observer frantically telephoned Race Control, I put out a waved yellow (Hawthorn’s responded too) and we hung out just about every other flag too. I think Alan Rollinson was first through in the Surtees TS8. He must have passed the Morris somewhere approaching Dingle Dell and apparently the humble Minor got as far as Clearways before he could be stopped!
Spring Bank Holiday F2 Crystal Palace May 1971
I was reminded of this by Colin Bennett’s mention at a recent Northern TNF gathering in Cheshire of what he regarded as one of Emerson Fittipaldi best races with Emerson winning this race on a (mostly) three-cylinder Lotus 69. I can still remember the sound now. For practice (on the Saturday) and race day, I was marshalling at South Tower which is before the main start/finish straight. This incident relates to the Saturday. Practice had gone well but I think that it was the second session (again!) that was interrupted by water suddenly appearing on the track (on a sunny and warm London day) and trickling at an increasing rate back down the hill (Maxim’s Rise – named after the site where Sir Hiram had experimented with his steam-powered aeroplane). This meant that as the cars approached us at speed they could be in a bit of bother. I noticed the bubbling water next the track – it was a broken water main believed to be from the original Crystal Palace building (moved to Sydenham Hill from Hyde Park following the Great Exhibition of 1851) that burst just at the wrong moment - and alerted the Observer who then ‘phoned Race Control. Again, flags were hung out hurriedly including the yellow/red slippery surface one of course. First car through was Graham Hill in the Rondel Brabham BT36 and he promptly spun and continued. To our amazement, and before Race Control could stop the session, Graham continued around for a second lap and spun again! Very unfortunately, he got collected by Hannelore Werner in the Eifelland March 712M and received a very nasty bang on the head. I was also marshalling at Brands on the Sunday and Graham was driving a Ford Capri in the “celebrity race”, still suffering I think from the Saturday incident. I always meant to ask him why he had done another lap after having spun the first time but I thought better of it as he was clearly in some discomfort. The incident was reported in the following edition of Autosport and there’s even a picture of me looking at London’s newest river!
Hopefully, someone else may recall these incidents. I am sure there are many more such stories out there.
#28
Posted 09 July 2009 - 18:08
At this year's Le Mans, Narain Karthikeyan DNS because he fell and injured his shoulder when jumping over the pit wall to visit the rest room, shortly before the start of the race. His two team mates shared the 24 hours between them as a result.
Edited by Rob Semmeling, 09 July 2009 - 18:11.
#29
Posted 09 July 2009 - 19:49
Jesper
#30
Posted 10 July 2009 - 19:42
It happened during Rally of Poland in Wroclaw, I think it was 1989.
Rally headquaters was in Hotel Wroclaw, with Parc Ferme on a big parking place ahead of it.
Jerzy Wierzbolowski, a driver from Wroclaw finished first leg on a unexpected good position, and he walked into the Hotel, and met one of his sponsors. This sponsor was so happy because of the result so he offered a room in the hotel for the night for the driver. There was a problem during checking in because the driver did not have any document. This problem was solved by lending and id from a fan and friend of Jerzy.
I must add that Jerzy W. was well known among friends that he liked to sleep long.
So when he woke up the following morning, preparing for final day of the rally and looked through the window on the Parc Ferme he thought:
"OMG! All cars from Parc Ferme has been stolen! Only my car is left!"
Of course it was well after start of the leg.
In the meantime his co-driver was trying desperately to find his driver, but according to hotel documents a person of that name did not stay in the hotel... (remember - id)
#31
Posted 10 July 2009 - 20:49
#32
Posted 21 June 2011 - 05:24
#33
Posted 21 June 2011 - 06:37
#34
Posted 04 July 2011 - 00:52
Reed, Terry "Indy - The Race and Ritual of the Indianapolis 500", Potomac Books 2005, page 31.
#35
Posted 04 July 2011 - 04:38
#36
Posted 04 July 2011 - 06:18
The local hero whose name escapes me at present (Nev/Len Smith??) had a pretty quick EH Holden and he was behind me in P5.
Lined up on the grid, the last words of my mate , who was an experienced racer, ran through my mind ..."Just make sure that you are in first gear - not 3rd..."
So - with the flag raised and ready to drop, I took it out of gear, pushed hard to the left and forward....just as the flag dropped!
I gave it everything it had and dropped the clutch............and went backwards...!!!
Needless to say - local man hit me fair up the clacker, and then compounded the fair bit of damage (that I couldn't afford) by giving me a very embarrassing earful afterwards, and several of his mates also gave me a sound haranguing downtown later.
None-the-less, it was still a fairly successful weekend with placings in each of the 5 races I started in.
Edited by seldo, 04 July 2011 - 06:20.
#37
Posted 04 July 2011 - 07:04
We also understand your phraseology of " a sound haranguing downtown later" . Many a good man has been lost at the Canobolas Hotel
And, just before the awful moment, I am somehow reminded of a lovely story on a starting grid like the person in Your Local Orange Hero's position as he saw those/ your reversing lights come on, at top revs. That 18 year old earned the abuse he copped
#38
Posted 05 July 2011 - 01:52
Huh? ...Eastern Suburbs?...."I know nothing...!"So, David Seldon, if we are to include not merely embarrassing and other DNS but "Almost Started at Towac and Brought Down the Local Hero" particularly since some of us know of your earlier Eastern Suburbs activities, I will (again) provide the wonderful Team Party House support for Barry Sharp in his Wolseley 6/80 as he sat on an Oran Park starting grid for his first race WITH HIS HELMET ON BACKWARDS.
We also understand your phraseology of " a sound haranguing downtown later" . Many a good man has been lost at the Canobolas Hotel
And, just before the awful moment, I am somehow reminded of a lovely story on a starting grid like the person in Your Local Orange Hero's position as he saw those/ your reversing lights come on, at top revs. That 18 year old earned the abuse he copped
I also received an anonymous note on my windscreen overnight from some local sage -
"Don't knock The Kid,
When on the grid,
Select first,
Not reverse."
Oh - the embarrassment...
I wish I could remember the poor bloke's name...
#39
Posted 05 July 2011 - 05:40
In a sad twist of fate, Adcox's withdrawal allowed Tiny lund to take part as an alternate entry when the race was run later due to rain. Lund was killed in an accident early in the race.
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#40
Posted 05 July 2011 - 20:47
There's an interesting aside to this. For the one race Team Lotus engaged a young Scot named Jackie Stewart which is how it comes about that he made his Formula 1 debut in a Lotus and started from pole, the only occasion that he drove one.
#41
Posted 06 July 2011 - 23:50
#42
Posted 07 July 2011 - 17:33
#43
Posted 07 July 2011 - 23:02
#44
Posted 08 July 2011 - 19:16
1961 Safari: One driver at the start line with the car keys, other driver at home with the car.
They managed to unite the two but started 28 minutes late. They pulled out all the stops and made the first control only 3 minutes late! They went on to finish the rally and, I think, were 2nd in their class.
#45
Posted 06 April 2012 - 00:51
http://www.formula2.net/F279_20.htm
Can anyone provide any reason why Necchi was involved in the fracas?
#46
Posted 06 April 2012 - 07:20
#47
Posted 06 April 2012 - 08:16
Or doesn't that count ?
#48
Posted 06 April 2012 - 09:08
It was the '96 French Grand Prix. Damon Hill's Arrows also retired on the parade lap for the following year's Australian GP.Wasn't there a case in the 1990s when Michael Schumacher's Ferrari F1 car blew up spectacularlly on the Parade Lap ?
#49
Posted 09 April 2012 - 10:39
#50
Posted 28 September 2012 - 08:45