14 replies to this topic

[pacerman]

In 1962 on this day John Hough was Accidently killed at Lowood after his Cooper Maserati flipped in the air and he fell out. Thank God for all the safety that is now a part of Motorsport. John had no seatbelt and it was the first time he had worn shoes in a racing event. Thank you to all the people who have pushed for a safer sport.

 

[Ray Bell]

There certainly been some changes...

Dr. Michael Henderson could probably be said to have been the one who made the most difference.

[JacnGille]

Thank you to all the people who have pushed for a safer sport.

[rghojai]

Remarkably, he and I share a surname (and, some would say, the same amount of sense) and I was born in the year of his death.

Thank you for posting that.

Edited by rghojai, 10 September 2014 - 13:56.

[Ray Bell]

pacerman has sent me this pic for posting...



John Hough is at the left carrying his helmet, Ralph Hough is at the right with the jack. The pusher nearest John Hough is Pat Crowe, from the Grafton workshop which helped prepare the car.

They are heading for the grid of the last race John would start.

[TerryS]

By coincidence yesterday I was trying to recall who he was.

On the Rennmax thread in post #65 there is the starting lineup for the 1962 Bathurst 100.

There amongst the ultimate cream of Australia's top drivers of the time was J Hough in his Cooper Maserati.

[TerryS]

Because it was so long ago I thought it might be appropriate to note a newspaper report of his death.

From The Canberra Times of Monday 10 September 1962:

" Racing driver John Hough, 25, of Woodford Leigh, via Grafton, died after being hurled from his catapulting 4,000 pound racing cat at Lowood, 47 miles from Brisbane today.
The tragedy was witnessed by 3,000 people.
The accident occurred when the car was travelling about 80 miles an hour in the straight, 500 yards from the start of the champions' scratch race.
Hough in his Cooper Maserati, veered left suddenly from the outside of the track and hit the back left wheel of Clive Nolan's Lotus 20.
Hough's car flew 15 feet into the air and crashed down on the boot of a Lotus driven by Charlie Whatmore of Southport.
Hough's hurling car then travelled 300 yards before crashing into the back of a parked car containing three people in the spectator area.
None of the spectators was injured.
Hough is believed to be the first person killed in Queensland road racing,"

[Ray Bell]

As Richard noted in another thread...

The whole incident was precipitated by the drive shaft to the fuel pump breaking. John was in the middle of the pack and the engine shut down.

[pacerman]

John Hough is at the left carrying his helmet, Ralph Hough is at the right with the jack. The pusher nearest John Hough is Pat Crowe, from the Grafton workshop which helped prepare the car.

Hi Ray, I may not have explained myself well. Pat is the one carrying the helmet and John is next to him pushing. I think Dad still has the goggles and the shoes somewhere. It's hard to see in this photo but the Lowood start tower is just behind them.

[pacerman]

By coincidence yesterday I was trying to recall who he was.

On the Rennmax thread in post #65 there is the starting lineup for the 1962 Bathurst 100.

There amongst the ultimate cream of Australia's top drivers of the time was J Hough in his Cooper Maserati.

Hi Terry, to help you place John a little better he also drove the Ex Lex Davison HWM and Noel Halls Ralt.
They didn't make it to Bathurst in 62 due to the crown wheel and pinion giving up, which is not out of the ordinary but the story of how they got a replacement is down right bizarre!! My father Ralph (Johns brother) was driving trucks from Seperton to Melbourne at the time and so the job to find a replacement fell to him. He tried Stan Jones first who had a complete spare transaxle but wanted big money for it and would not split it. John and Ralph had spent all they had on the car and we're making payments on top so a complete new transaxle was out of the question. Stan said "there is only one other person in town who might have one but if he has, there is only one way you will get if out of him. Go to Bib Stillwell and ask if he has one, when he says no then say that you heard that Stan Jones has one but you don't like him and you don't really want to deal with him. If he has one its your only chance at getting it". So Ralph goes around to Bib's yard and asks to speak to Mr Stillwell. He is told that mr Stillwell is busy to which he replies in a loud voice "oh ok, I'm looking for some Cooper Climax parts, I heard that Stan Jones has some but I hear he's not a nice man to deal with so I was hopeing me Stillwell might have some". All of a sudden Bib comes out of an office "come in son, sit down son, tell me what your looking for". After telling Bib about the crown wheel and pinion Bib thinks for a while and says "I haven't got one, but I will put you in contact with the right people". He gave Ralph the address of a place called Qualis (not sure of the spelling) engineering. When he arrived there with the broken diff they said that Mr Stillwell had contacted them and told them to make sure he was looked after. Ralph returned about a week later and they had cast and cut a brand new crown wheel and pinion. Rather nervously, Ralph asked how much he owed them. They replied "Mr Stillwell instructed us to charge his account for the work".

[Lee Nicolle]

Because it was so long ago I thought it might be appropriate to note a newspaper report of his death.

From The Canberra Times of Monday 10 September 1962:

" Racing driver John Hough, 25, of Woodford Leigh, via Grafton, died after being hurled from his catapulting 4,000 pound racing cat at Lowood, 47 miles from Brisbane today.
The tragedy was witnessed by 3,000 people.
The accident occurred when the car was travelling about 80 miles an hour in the straight, 500 yards from the start of the champions' scratch race.
Hough in his Cooper Maserati, veered left suddenly from the outside of the track and hit the back left wheel of Clive Nolan's Lotus 20.
Hough's car flew 15 feet into the air and crashed down on the boot of a Lotus driven by Charlie Whatmore of Southport.
Hough's hurling car then travelled 300 yards before crashing into the back of a parked car containing three people in the spectator area.
None of the spectators was injured.
Hough is believed to be the first person killed in Queensland road racing,"

Typical newspaper. 4000lb car? and the boot of a Lotus?  I hope the racing cat is a typo of yours!

And yes I do agree that safety has come a long way, sometimes I feel too far but that is another subject. Road racing was well behind the times,with my speedway background who were wearing at least body belts and more often harnesses with proper roll bar rules. yet road racing happened was racing far faster cars with no restraints.

Though I do remember amidget driver [on a hot night] in shorts and short sleeve shirt. But a harness and footwear. That was changed though about that time, probably 63. And yes he is still around, selling cars in Murray Bridge. Another race driver [and solo competitor] Max Monk.

[Ray Bell]

Lee, I think you've read that wrong...

The '4000 pound car' would have been a '£4,000 car'. Not enough people know how to find the '£' sign on their computer.

[Dick Willis]

I was there that day, my first race meeting, in a Humpy Holden, went with Tom Weir and Les Weily also from Grafton who were racing a Sprite and TC. While I didn't see the Hough accident it certainly put a damper on our racing. I have always been sceptical that the accident was caused by fuel pump failure.

[TerryS]

Lee, I think you've read that wrong...

The '4000 pound car' would have been a '£4,000 car'. Not enough people know how to find the '£' sign on their computer.

£

[pacerman]

I was there that day, my first race meeting, in a Humpy Holden, went with Tom Weir and Les Weily also from Grafton who were racing a Sprite and TC. While I didn't see the Hough accident it certainly put a damper on our racing. I have always been sceptical that the accident was caused by fuel pump failure.

Hi Dick,

It is true that we will never know exactly what happened in the accident as it all happened so quickly. I have read the Inquest from front to back and there are no less than six differing versions of what happened that day by witnesses who saw it. Even some of the witness interviews vary wildly from what they are reported to have said by the newspapers. What the inquest does say though is that the car came to rest in neutral, which suggests that the car was purposely taken out of gear immediately before or during the accident.  As to the fuel pump the motor has not been started since the accident. The fuel pump was shaft driven and when removed from the motor in the late 60’s the shaft came out in pieces (the pieces have since been lost). The drive on the pump itself is broken and the pump is still seized. I can’t quite remember but I think the drive on the motor is also damaged. I can’t remember if the fuel lines are still attached to the pump now but they were a few years ago and while there was lots of white powder (from the methanol) caked in the supply to the pump the fuel line from the pump was much cleaner. That was enough for us to be confident that the pump had seized just before the accident and had undoubtedly played a role in the cause of the accident. This, of course, was not known by anyone at the time. You are more than welcome to come and have a look for yourself anytime as you are not far away. I will be there this weekend (and also the entire week before Easter, hopefully putting the HWM’s front suspension back together) so feel free to stop by if you like. The carbies are still untouched on the motor so we can always pull the top on one of those and have a look inside, as the car was running on Methanol  we should be able to get a good idea of if there was fuel in the carbies or not when the accident happened.