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#1 Jimisgod

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 12:55

I was just checking through the news when I saw this article on the carnage caused by fans at a Melbourne darts tournament:

http://mobile.abc.ne...rniture/6010784

I remember the bottle chucking at the fiasco of US GP in 2005, have there been similar events involving rowdy crowds at other races?

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#2 LittleChris

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 13:28

Brands '76 and Mexico '70 immediately come to mind



#3 Jimisgod

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 13:45

http://www.motorspor...can-grand-prix/

Mexico 1970 is described here. A dog was the only injury/fatality.

#4 uffen

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 14:47

Brands '76 and Mexico '70 immediately come to mind

I've heard about Brands '76 before but my friend and I were there, camping over the three days, and we never encountered anything out of the ordinary. Odd, that.

 

Anyway, the Bog People at Watkins Glen were badly behaved for many years.



#5 IanMH

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 15:03

Mansell Mania at Silverstone!!! yuk :mad:



#6 Rob G

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 15:26

Back in its heyday, the Snake Pit at Indy was a habitat for wild behavior, including burning cars, but they never affected any on-track activity.



#7 Mallory Dan

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 15:59

Bay City Rollers Radio 1 Funday at Mallory, May 75



#8 timbo

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 17:29

Back in its heyday, the Snake Pit at Indy was a habitat for wild behavior, including burning cars, but they never affected any on-track activity.

Sounds like the Bathurst campground (for the 1000) after racing has finished for the day. 

 

If you include individuals, I do remember a beer bottle thrown by someone in the crowd at Hume Weir smashing the windscreen of Allan Moffat's Capri RS3100 when he stopped in front of the crowd to be interviewed after a race.



#9 john winfield

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 18:14

Swedish Grand Prix 1978.

 

http://i.kinja-img.c...91hpauenjpg.jpg

copyright protected


Edited by john winfield, 11 January 2015 - 18:21.


#10 alansart

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 18:16

The Bog at Watkins Glen. You bring it, we'll burn it....Frightening for a shy UK lad like me :)

http://www.foxsports...fire-pit-080714


Edited by alansart, 11 January 2015 - 18:17.


#11 kayemod

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 18:38

We're getting dangerously close to Racing Comments territory, but I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the Lewis supporters booing Nico at Spa and subsequent races, not exactly "rowdy", but certainly bad fan behaviour. When I attended UK races more regularly, I don't think that "fans" for individual drivers even existed, we just wanted to see the cars and racing, most of us weren't too bothered who won. That was before any of the drivers started to think of themselves as "celebrities" though.



#12 Sharman

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 22:12

kayemod, on 11 Jan 2015 - 19:38, said:kayemod, on 11 Jan 2015 - 19:38, said:

We're getting dangerously close to Racing Comments territory, but I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the Lewis supporters booing Nico at Spa and subsequent races, not exactly "rowdy", but certainly bad fan behaviour. When I attended UK races more regularly, I don't think that "fans" for individual drivers even existed, we just wanted to see the cars and racing, most of us weren't too bothered who won. That was before any of the drivers started to think of themselves as "celebrities" though.

What do you mean close? What has a darts tournament to do with the History of Motor Racing, equally the other incidents don't involved the cognoscenti so this is no place for them.


Edited by Sharman, 11 January 2015 - 22:13.


#13 ensign14

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 22:29

Bay City Rollers Radio 1 Funday at Mallory, May 75

 

As the late, great John Peel said:

 

"So helicopters are going backwards and forwards, all these girls are struggling through the water and there’s frogmen hopping about, and in the meantime, on the main part of the lagoon, Tony Blackburn is hurtling backwards and forwards in a speedboat, waving to the crowds, in a speedboat driven by a Womble."

 

Something quintessentially British about that.



#14 ensign14

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 22:32

We're getting dangerously close to Racing Comments territory, but I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the Lewis supporters booing Nico at Spa and subsequent races, not exactly "rowdy", but certainly bad fan behaviour. When I attended UK races more regularly, I don't think that "fans" for individual drivers even existed, we just wanted to see the cars and racing, most of us weren't too bothered who won. That was before any of the drivers started to think of themselves as "celebrities" though.

 

Not as bad as Rosberg's behaviour in driving without caring about the wellbeing of his fellow competitors. 

 

And incidentally I don't think they were all Hamilton supporters.  Despite Rosberg seemingly thinking there were more Britons at Spa in 2014 than there were in Belgium 1914.  I think Rosberg put a lot of people off with his Schumacher impressions.  It was more about them not wanting to see Rosberg profit from his misdemeanours than any particular driver win. 

 

If you've paid Bernie the best part of two weeks' salary to see a motor race get ruined on lap 1 by an unrepentant 'victor' I think you're entitled to show some emotion.



#15 Rob G

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Posted 11 January 2015 - 22:40

Digging deeper into history, there was the infamous Miramas riot of 1927, which was precipitated by the withdrawal of the three-car Talbot team and then by Robert Benoist plowing his Delage into perhaps the only other remaining top-level entry before the race even started. The fans went berserk, invading the track, destroying the Talbot pit, and trying to attack the team's drivers.



#16 BlinkyMcSquinty

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 03:45

One year in the '70's at Mosport the bikers (the real deal, patches and all) had taken over Moss Corner, and they did their thing. At that time track security had gone with some hippies, called "Perry's Merry Men". Once the complaints started rolling in, Perry sent two individuals down there to ask the bikers to play nice. They sent them to the hospital. Next morning the stewards spent most of the morning sweeping broken beer bottle glass off the track. The cops refused to come onto the track property.

 

That was remedied next year, the track hired husky farm boys from the surrounding area, put a few baseball bats in the back of a half-dozen pickup trucks. Any complaints, six trucks showed up, each filled with six big guys. Thirty six big guys suddenly showing up and carrying baseball bats somehow placate rowdy behavior.

 

Back in those days tracks usually had some area where the rowdy types collected, got very drunk, and out of control. The Talladega infield got so bad that the general consensus was not to go there at night.



#17 john aston

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 08:27

Brands 76- I was there and it was lively but good natured. Was that the year we broke the fence down to get in because our gate wasn't open on time ? Felt the right thing to do as securing a spot on the banking at Clearways was important.

 

I was at Mallory Fun Day too- not so much  bad behaviour as collective craziness- just hysterical girls running across the track .

 

Most offensive were Sun  reading Mansell fans waving two fingers at Senna - every lap- Silverstone 92; also drunk and offensive Geordie BTCC  attendees at Croft  pushing and shoving etc (I reported them to security they were so awful)   and the bloody countless idiots who watch stage rallying. eff and blind at max volume and then leave great piles of litter in pristine forests.The last are by far the worst.     



#18 Stephen W

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 10:20

Brands 1976 shouldn't be even mentioned in the same breath as the rioting darts fans. As far as I am aware there were no missiles thrown onto the track just a lot of booing and cat-calling all of which was directed at the authorities rather than the drivers concerned.

 

As for the Mallory Park so called Bay City Rollers Fun Day one shouldn't look at this as a riot of motor racing fans more the hysterical actions of pre-pubescent girls stirred up by some talent-less nobodies.



#19 ensign14

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 10:45

To be fair, "Bye Bye Baby" was a tune.



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#20 chunder27

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 12:56

I can give you a belter here.

 

Stock car racing in Ireland.  I bet you can guess the outcome. Protestant, Catholic, relationships, girlfriends, racing in Eire one day, the North the next, donuts in front of opposing fans.

 

Jeez

 

Oh and the bright sprak who bought a case of peaches to a big short oval meeting in the sun, and the brighter one who decided to start lobbong them on the track, in fairness the drivers took it in their stride and used it as an incentive to hit their rivals harder!

 

You get classier fans at short oval meetings x


Edited by chunder27, 12 January 2015 - 12:57.


#21 jonpollak

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 15:47

Brands 76- I was there and it was lively but good natured. Was that the year we broke the fence down to get in because our gate wasn't open on time ? 

I too was there..

6 of us crammed into a Mini and drove in from Guildford.

We climbed up over the fence outside Paddock Hill Bend.

Never used our tickets !!

 

Once the rumor was rumbled that James was to be DQ'ed the crowd there went ballistic.

Had the stewards not re-instated him I am absolutely positive there would have been a track invasion.

 

Jp



#22 Michael Ferner

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 17:34

Brands 1976 shouldn't be even mentioned in the same breath as the rioting darts fans. As far as I am aware there were no missiles thrown onto the track just a lot of booing and cat-calling all of which was directed at the authorities rather than the drivers concerned. 

 

As if that was a good thing! Let's not forget that this behaviour gave us the stupid "first race start null and void" rule, that allows every ******** to start again in a spare after smashing his car up the back of one of his rivals.



#23 Doug Nye

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 18:45

Swedish Grand Prix 1978.

 

http://i.kinja-img.c...91hpauenjpg.jpg

copyright protected

:)  :up:



#24 Paul Hurdsfield

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 19:39

I too was at Brands 76' we left Manchester at midnight and got home at daft o'clock Monday morning just it time for work.....
We were in stand 5, the open air one between the main stand and the Paddock bend stand, when all the shouting and 'we want Hunt' chanting started I think a few banana skins and apple cores got lobbed in the direction of the track, but I doubt they made it to the tarmac, reports said beer cans as well but I didn't see any.

#25 Tim Murray

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 20:03

I was at Druids, and as I've posted here before, thought at one stage I was going to be assaulted:

During all the hoo-ha a gang of Hunt supporters took great exception to my Ferrari T-shirt, and told me so in no uncertain fashion. At one stage I thought they were actually going to tear it off me, but they eventually moved on when I pretended that I didn't understand English. :well:



#26 pacificquay

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 20:04

As if that was a good thing! Let's not forget that this behaviour gave us the stupid "first race start null and void" rule, that allows every ******** to start again in a spare after smashing his car up the back of one of his rivals.


Not now, though

#27 f1steveuk

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 20:09

Brands 1976 shouldn't be even mentioned in the same breath as the rioting darts fans. As far as I am aware there were no missiles thrown onto the track just a lot of booing and cat-calling all of which was directed at the authorities rather than the drivers concerned.

 

 

I can't recall where I saw this, it may have been "1" the recent film documentary on F1 narrated by Michael Fassbender (but don't hold me to that), but there was a bit in there about Brands 76, and it clearly showed bottles being thrown on to the start/finish straight, which up until seeing, I never thought had happened, just the calling of Hunt's name. I have the film somewhere, and I'll try and check



#28 john winfield

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 20:34

I can't recall where I saw this, it may have been "1" the recent film documentary on F1 narrated by Michael Fassbender (but don't hold me to that), but there was a bit in there about Brands 76, and it clearly showed bottles being thrown on to the start/finish straight, which up until seeing, I never thought had happened, just the calling of Hunt's name. I have the film somewhere, and I'll try and check

Steve, I think this was the McLaren mechanics playing for time.

 

Tim, I was at Druids too, supporting Ferrari, but wearing a plain (grubby) white t-shirt.  Cowardly but safer!



#29 f1steveuk

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 20:46

Possibly, but from memory I am sure it actually shows some bottles coming over the debris fence. I will look at the film, just to make sure, but I can't say I'm keen to revisit it, it's not that good!!



#30 alansart

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 22:18

I too was at Brands 76' we left Manchester at midnight and got home at daft o'clock Monday morning just it time for work.....
We were in stand 5, the open air one between the main stand and the Paddock bend stand, when all the shouting and 'we want Hunt' chanting started I think a few banana skins and apple cores got lobbed in the direction of the track, but I doubt they made it to the tarmac, reports said beer cans as well but I didn't see any.

I was a Marshal at Bottom Bend and saw the underside of James Hunts car as it flew through the air at Paddock. Denis Jenkinson happened to stroll by as the crowd started to protest and after a brief chat with us sat in the middle of the track for a few seconds orchestrating the Bottom Bend throng withy a big smile on his face.

I was also a Marshal at the Mallory Fun Day, near the startline. Crazy!



#31 La Sarthe

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Posted 12 January 2015 - 22:42

Not particularly bad-natured, but the track invasion at (or rather before) the end of Le Mans was pretty stupid. People forgot that, even if most of the cars were touring round, being a safe distance apart, there were often one or two still battling for position. I remember in the early noughties when a couple of Porsches came to blows at the Dunlop curve on the last lap. One got round to the finish, the other was beached in the gravel.

 

Probably the rowdiest it got during the race was 1988, when a bit of the Jaguar equivalent of Mansell Mania hit the place. Fortunately they ebbed away after that.



#32 D28

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Posted 13 January 2015 - 01:24

One year in the '70's at Mosport the bikers (the real deal, patches and all) had taken over Moss Corner, and they did their thing. At that time track security had gone with some hippies, called "Perry's Merry Men". Once the complaints started rolling in, Perry sent two individuals down there to ask the bikers to play nice. They sent them to the hospital. Next morning the stewards spent most of the morning sweeping broken beer bottle glass off the track. The cops refused to come onto the track property.

 

That was remedied next year, the track hired husky farm boys from the surrounding area, put a few baseball bats in the back of a half-dozen pickup trucks. Any complaints, six trucks showed up, each filled with six big guys. Thirty six big guys suddenly showing up and carrying baseball bats somehow placate rowdy behavior.

 

Back in those days tracks usually had some area where the rowdy types collected, got very drunk, and out of control. The Talladega infield got so bad that the general consensus was not to go there at night.

Interesting. I attended most of the International races and always camped above corner 5, but I never have heard of this event. Can you recall if it was one of the local races, or perhaps a USAC meet?  Any idea of the race?



#33 Stephen W

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Posted 13 January 2015 - 10:18

To be fair, "Bye Bye Baby" was a tune.

 

Certainly was but not penned by the Scottish twerps but by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio.



#34 ensign14

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Posted 13 January 2015 - 10:45

Bob "Four Seasons" Gaudio, of course, but even he had a very bubblegum start, he wrote "Who Likes Short Shorts?".

 

The Rollers could at least play live and wrote most of their albums, it was more in the late 80s that the production lines moved to total non-talents, usually Australian soap stars.



#35 Glengavel

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Posted 13 January 2015 - 10:58

Bob "Four Seasons" Gaudio, of course, but even he had a very bubblegum start, he wrote "Who Likes Short Shorts?".

 

The Rollers could at least play live and wrote most of their albums, it was more in the late 80s that the production lines moved to total non-talents, usually Australian soap stars.

 

Very decent of them to take the blame.

 

Getting back to the topic, the Scientologists briefly sponsored the Spice team back in the 80s; I recall one race report which mentioned spectators getting p'd off by a bunch of their supporters screaming and yeling every time 'their' car went past.



#36 D-Type

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 09:37

Nobody has mentioned early Argentine 'Temporada'.  Are they too early - even for this forum?



#37 Spaceframe

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 13:22

Nobody has mentioned early Argentine 'Temporada'.  Are they too early - even for this forum?

I seem to remember reading about riots at the 1953 Argentine GP - track invasion, Farina hitting spectators, several deaths, the authorities turning stumm...



#38 Michael Ferner

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 16:29

I don't think "riots" is the word... more like stupidity. Human crash barriers buckling under a wayward car... :(



#39 pete53

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 16:39

Enough said about Mansell mania. However I did witness a fight between two "gentlemen" at Le Mans at about 10 o'clock on the Saturday night of the race in 1979. I think they were both French and I haven't the faintest idea what their disagreement was about. It was one of those scraps where you think it is over and then one of the combatants says some thing and it starts all over again. I think they were both too drunk to do each other much harm though.



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#40 BRG

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 17:17

If they were French. it was more likely about politics or a woman, rather than anything to do with Le Mans.



#41 JacnGille

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 02:20

Gordon Johncock ran the '75 SCCA F500 season in his Sinmast Lola T332. Here at Road Atlanta a fan provided Gordon with a cold adult beverage...during the race. The Lola's airbox was knocked askew as a result.



#42 uffen

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 13:58

Gordon Johncock ran the '75 SCCA F500 season in his Sinmast Lola T332. Here at Road Atlanta a fan provided Gordon with a cold adult beverage...during the race. The Lola's airbox was knocked askew as a result.

How the heck did a fan manage to get close enough to Johncock to give him a beverage (of any sort). While the race was on?!

Also, what the heck was Johncock doing... sitting around at track side in his Lola? This needs more explanation!



#43 JacnGille

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 16:05

How the heck did a fan manage to get close enough to Johncock to give him a beverage (of any sort). While the race was on?!

Also, what the heck was Johncock doing... sitting around at track side in his Lola? This needs more explanation!

The fan evidently wasn't a Johncock fan as the beer bottle was thrown from the spectator area. :cool:



#44 DerFlugplatz

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 17:41

I remember a couple of years ago when i was at the German gp at the Nurburgring. There were some dutch fans who had been drinking a bit too much Heineken and smoked a bit too much weed as well. Man were they louuuuuuuuud!.



#45 Michael Ferner

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 21:29

Oh, and wasn't there a relatively recent German GP at Hockenheim, when the "red caps" cheered loudly after a very violent crash of one of the McLarens?



#46 LotusElise

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 21:38

I've seen some very uncouth behaviour on rally stages: a group behind me whooping and laughing at accidents on a bend, and loudly jeering at one driver who was trying to push their car back onto the road. 

 

And then there were the two men behind me at a BSB meeting a few years back, looking at pr0n on their phones and giving a running commentary. Highly embarrassing, as I was sitting next to my dad.



#47 uffen

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Posted 16 January 2015 - 18:28

The fan evidently wasn't a Johncock fan as the beer bottle was thrown from the spectator area. :cool:

Aha! Makes sense now. I read it as Johncock got tipsy and crashed, leading to the broken bits.



#48 Dick Dastardly

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Posted 16 January 2015 - 23:56

I was a Marshal at Bottom Bend and saw the underside of James Hunts car as it flew through the air at Paddock. Denis Jenkinson happened to stroll by as the crowd started to protest and after a brief chat with us sat in the middle of the track for a few seconds orchestrating the Bottom Bend throng withy a big smile on his face.

I was also a Marshal at the Mallory Fun Day, near the startline. Crazy!

 

I too was a marshal at that Mallory Radio 1 Day, on Devil's Elbow......agreed, it was crazy !! Remember being told that we had to do anything to keep the crowd away from the track, even if it meant using the extinguishers on them.

 

....and I spectated with brother and a couple of friends at that Brands GP, on the downhill exiting Paddock. Can't really add anything to what has already been said...but when we got back to our car, we were close to a gate that wasn't being opened , they expected everyone to leave by 1 exit at the other side of the field.......so I just opened that gate, and we got straight out !!

 

What about the speccies on last year's Trackrod Rally who "sabotaged" stage furniture so that Steve Bannister and several others wrecked their cars. I've no idea if anything has come of the police investigation...... ):

 

No mention yet of Spanish [read Alonso] fans who racially abused Lewis during testing at Barcelona following the 2007 season.... 



#49 john aston

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 06:50

You are right to mention the Trackrod disgrace- and adding to what I said above I would say that rally fans are by far the worst behaved spectator. It's a minority of course, but too big a one, of idiots who p**s off the locals by driving stupidly fast through villages , littering wherever they go , even pulling down  saplings to get a better view. Portable BBQs  - great fire risk- and stupid parking 



#50 FredF1

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 09:53

I recall watching footage of a classic rally from West Cork. Some 'fans' had diverted a stream running in a ditch so that it flowed across the road just after a 90 degree right turn. They then hooted with delight as the cars fishtailed wildly on the wet patch of tarmac. One MK II Escort ended up rather bent after clouting the outside ditch. The driver was furious afterwards at the vandalism and lack of marshalling. The commentary was rather lame as well in a "(Shrugs) Sure what can you do?" manner.