Jim Crawford
#1
Posted 13 November 2003 - 12:59
Advertisement
#2
Posted 13 November 2003 - 13:51
Dan
#3
Posted 13 November 2003 - 14:20
Originally posted by ian senior
Just read somewhere that Jim Crawford made his debut in F1 after only competing in 25 car races. I didn't know it was as few as this, although I know he hadn't done many. Has any other driver come to F1 with so little experience? I don't call karts as experience, by the way.
Kimi Räikkönen did just 12 car races before he entered F1, Jarno Trulli 26, Jos Verstappen 52 - all without karts.
#4
Posted 13 November 2003 - 15:35
Originally posted by Racer.Demon
Kimi Räikkönen did just 12 car races before he entered F1, Jarno Trulli 26, Jos Verstappen 52 - all without karts.
Pardon,
Kimi started in Karts in 1999 before he went on to Formula A and F Renault. Trulli had European and National crowns in Karting. And, ol' Jos, well he started in '82 and won the 1989 European Kart championship and in 1991, he became the Belgian Kart champion.
Karting, it's the foundation...
#5
Posted 13 November 2003 - 15:40
Of course I meant to say, "without counting their kart races"...;)
#6
Posted 13 November 2003 - 15:54
Originally posted by Mallory Dan
Jim C was an early hero of mine, in those lovely SDC March 73Bs, then the Chevrons. As I remember he started at a Croft Libre race in a B25 in late 73, so given that he raced through 74 in Atlantic, then say half of 75 before getting the Lotus drive, its very possible that he'd only done 25 races before. Anyone know why it didn't work for him at Lotus, I know they were in an awful state in 75, and Henton struggled there too. Was Jim not quite quick enough at that level, or maybe his lack of experience coaught him out ??
Dan
Dan,
Mattijs and Rainer have a good story about Jim Crawford, it spells out the "W's" - as usual.
From the 8W website
And just to comment on Ian's opinion of not counting Karting as experience... I'd be willing to bet that Kimi, Jarno and Jos would.
The kids that run our IKF 125cc pro classes, you could throw a blanket over the top 8 as they bump-draft down the straights. The competitiveness is ingrained from the start, if that's not "experience" I don't know what else would qualify.
#7
Posted 13 November 2003 - 16:19
#8
Posted 13 November 2003 - 16:40
Dan
#9
Posted 13 November 2003 - 20:02
#10
Posted 13 November 2003 - 21:12
#11
Posted 29 April 2005 - 20:02
Originally posted by ghinzani
Apparently when Lotus were going thru their who do we run saga at the begining of 76 Henton was in line to maybe drive again, however Peter Warr was quoted in Autospurt when asked about Crawford something along the lines of "we wrote to him offering to renew his contract at the end of last season (75) but we havent heard back" if thats true I wonder why Jim didnt want anything more to do with them? Bob Evans ended up getting the ride, alomg with Gunnar. Sadly we can no longer ask Jim. Is his initial sponsor and fellow Chevron'ite Stephen Chouralton (?) still about? maybe he knows.
Just read this - via an idle search, during an idle moment...
What absolute nonsense. I cannot believe that Warr allowed himself to be quoted as above. (Or did he?)
Any memories, anybody, of one of the greatest - totally under-utilised - driving talents in British motor racing?
Mark
#12
Posted 30 April 2005 - 00:10
One of my earliest personal encounters with him would have been in 1981 and the Spa F2 round springs to mind, when his Plygrange team and the team I was staying with (Docking Spitzley) shared a small-ish hotel.
Jim and I managed to get a truly ridiculously favourable BF/GBP exchange rate from our hosts, and then persuaded them to let us serve ourselves at the bar after they'd gone to bed! Silly buggers. At the final race of the season, the post-race evening involved food fights and then hire car races - in reverse, and on wet cobblestones - between Plygrange, Docking Spitzley, March and Maurer! F2 was just brilliant in those days...
Over the next few years I saw him at several US races, including Indy. In 1984 he tried to tell me and Kenny Acheson that he was taking turn 1 flat, despite the fact that we were watching from pit lane and could clearly hear him lift... No matter, he's not alone in that respect.
The last time I saw him was when I spent a weekend at Jim's place in Sarasota (spl?) with Tommy in 1988. By then he's had at least one massive shunt at Indianapolis, and could no longer walk properly - in fact his legs looked like a railway map of the UK, like Eliseo's ended up years later.
We had a great weekend playing on jetskis and the like, plus 'big' nights down at the local Irish bar. However I wasn't too impressed to hear back from Tommy's [ex] wife one morning that Jim had reportedly boasted to his missus that the previous evening he'd ate, drank and been merry and not spent a penny! It was true, because I'd paid, but it was a slightly odd reaction.
I do have some nice pics from that fun weekend, but am currently unable to link my laptop to my scanner. When that's sorted, I'll post them.
#13
Posted 30 April 2005 - 06:29
John Surtees?Originally posted by ian senior
Just read somewhere that Jim Crawford made his debut in F1 after only competing in 25 car races. I didn't know it was as few as this, although I know he hadn't done many. Has any other driver come to F1 with so little experience? I don't call karts as experience, by the way.
#15
Posted 10 May 2005 - 13:42
Both great talents sadly overlooked in an era of cash-above-ability.
Simon Lewis
Transport Books
www.simonlewis.com
#16
Posted 10 May 2005 - 13:57
Originally posted by ensign14
John Surtees?
Probably quite true. Read an old Motor or Autocar a little while ago, and it seems there was a bit of a hoo-hah going on about Big John being granted a full car racing licence when he hadn't done anything like enough qualifying events to get one - I think you needed about 6 before you got past the "restricted" stage. Would he have been the only F1 driver to taken part in a race with the obligatory novices cross on the back of the car?
BTW - Perhaps I didn't put my original point across too well. What I was really looking for was a driver who reached F1 without much in the way of ANY racing experience. I suppose karts do count, although how the close racing you find in karting would stand in you in good stead for present day F1 is anyone's guess. Gives you the right mentality, though - if all you have known since leaving the womb is racing, you're going to want to go on and do it for as long as possible.
#17
Posted 10 May 2005 - 20:08
Mark
#18
Posted 10 May 2005 - 21:05
Originally posted by MCS
Formula Atlantic March 73B - Oulton Park, 1974...
This brings back such happy memories of those times. As a schoolboy I pestered my dad to take me to Oulton early on Saturday mornings so as I could watch the practice sessions as well as the racing.
Maybe looking back through rose tinted lenses, but racing was good back then.
Paul.
#19
Posted 10 May 2005 - 22:37
That's a great shot, Simon - I don't recall ever seeing a pic of the two of them together at that GP before...Originally posted by simonlewisbooks
And that's also a lovely shot of Jim, Mark
Advertisement
#20
Posted 02 June 2005 - 12:48
#21
Posted 02 June 2005 - 15:02
He had some money (nowhere near enough) from a Swiss backer initially and then ran with some extra resources from Mike Peers (a Bolton steel stockholder, I think).
Yes, I genuinely believe a combination of the type of car, lack of finance, chassis, engine, etc. were the main reasons for his unusually uncompetitive showings.
The only time he set the cat amongst the pigeons was in a wet early morning at Mallory where he claimed provisional pole - but then the heavy rain had equalised the field. It quickly dried out for the later session and the race and I think he came home about fifth or sixth
I still rate him as one of our best "lost" talents...
Mark
#22
Posted 02 June 2005 - 15:06
He was awesome in an F2 Chevron and in Atlantic so F3 wasn't that much different. As Mario once said "if you can drive - you can drive" and Jim most definately could.
Simon Lewis
Transport Books
www.simonlewis.com
#23
Posted 02 June 2005 - 17:37
He started with an old B38 which he rolled at Thruxton on Easter Monday
I remember that race - it was televised, and the accident was played out right in front of the cameras. He sort of slid off the circuit, caught a ditch sideways, and flipped. The wide open spaces of Thruxton saved him from potential serious injury.
#24
Posted 02 June 2005 - 20:13
I had the opportunity to meet Jim in Trinadad in '82 when we were both invited
by the local car club to race,he in a Jamacan prepared formula B. It was interesting to listen
to the differance between Jim and the "regular guys" (it was an airport track, so it was difficult to see any differances).His downshifts were so much faster and precise than anyone elses.Bernard Devaney was also invited but was driving a locally prep'd car that had the brake calipers on upsidedown,the second element of the wing was on backwards and the car had chicken sh... goo all over it, so it wasn't a fair comparison with Jim.
Jim spoke of his driving for Lotus but only as a tester;"My job was to bounce the cars off curbs to see what broke".
Next time I saw him he was driving a Can-Am-ised Ensign F1 car at Mosport.He was very impressive!
Scott
#26
Posted 03 June 2005 - 19:10
#28
Posted 04 June 2005 - 09:21
It was actually built up by Stephen Choularton's team from 73B spares at the start of 1974 - wasn't a works built car, a year old against all the new Chevrons and Lola T360s that year. After a big accident in practice at Brands in late September SDC purchased a spare tub from March, for the princely sum of £45 [according to Autosport] and rebuilt it in a week to keep him going.
#29
Posted 04 June 2005 - 14:52
Originally posted by MCS
...He then built up the somewhat recalcitrant B43 at the factory...
Early test, Oulton Park - May (?) 1978.
Interestingly, Derek Warwick was testing the works March in the same session (the chassis as pedalled by Nigel Mansell up to that point in the season) with a view to swapping his Ralt...
Mark
#30
Posted 04 June 2005 - 15:33
#31
Posted 04 June 2005 - 18:22
Originally posted by fines
Well, he (Warwick) did a few races in the March, didn't he?
Yes, he did race the March - suitably decked out in yellow "Warwick's Trailers" colours - but reverted back to the Ralt very quickly.
But how quickly, Michael?
I saw him race it at Mallory Park certainly, but did he race it again???
And if so, how many times?
Mark
#32
Posted 04 June 2005 - 21:06
Twinny - note Jim's RED-striped helmet (as opposed to the yellow-striped one in the picture I posted recently of him in his debut drive in the B25)...
Mark
#33
Posted 05 June 2005 - 06:14
Yep, clocked that! That shot is from 'my' place on the bridge, isn't it? A great place, that old assembly area...Originally posted by MCS
Twinny - note Jim's RED-striped helmet (as opposed to the yellow-striped one in the picture I posted recently of him in his debut drive in the B25)...
Love the b&w shot too, Mark
#34
Posted 05 June 2005 - 11:47
Originally posted by Twin Window
That shot is from 'my' place on the bridge, isn't it? A great place, that old assembly area...
Yes, indeed.
There isn't even a bridge anymore, is there?
Mark
#35
Posted 05 June 2005 - 13:15
Nope. A real shame...Originally posted by MCS
There isn't even a bridge anymore, is there?
#36
Posted 06 June 2005 - 13:53
Originally posted by MCS
Yes, he did race the March - suitably decked out in yellow "Warwick's Trailers" colours - but reverted back to the Ralt very quickly.
But how quickly, Michael?
I saw him race it at Mallory Park certainly, but did he race it again???
And if so, how many times?
Mark
Mark, purely from memory, I think Warwick raced the 783 perhaps 4-5 times that year, before he realised it was a blind alley. I think he got a bit spooked by how much faster Piquet was in his RT1, so decided to try an alternative. DW must have thought he was going to dominate F3 that year over here given his experience and start to the year. Given that he also switched cars the year before, in '77, maybe it hinted at a sign of desperation in how his career was panning out.
#37
Posted 06 June 2005 - 14:55
Originally posted by Mallory Dan
....a sign of desperation in how his career was panning out.
That comment could be applied to every F3 driver in history.. even those winning most of the races, often the most desparate of the lot!
Simon Lewis
Transport Books
www.simonlewis.com
Purveyors of Motor Sport Books and Photos since 1985
#38
Posted 07 June 2005 - 22:45
I think this is Nicholson leading Mallock and Crawford at the start of the race.
Crawford
Tony Brise won and Crawford lost his nosecone during the race although I can't remember the incident in detail.
David
#39
Posted 08 June 2005 - 08:50
Nice photos!
Simon Lewis
Transport Books
www.simonlewis.com
#41
Posted 19 July 2008 - 15:38
#42
Posted 22 July 2008 - 11:36
Originally posted by Mallory Dan
Jim C was an early hero of mine, in those lovely SDC March 73Bs, ..
Dan
Here's the very team complete with transporter and a very young looking Jim. Someone told me years back the Steve Choularton was a 'something in the city' and positively rolling in cash at the time.
Wonder what became of him?
#43
Posted 22 July 2008 - 15:02
Steve's Dad wasn't short of few quid either. I believe it was thanks to him that Steve was able to start racing.Originally posted by simonlewisbooks
[B] Someone told me years back the Steve Choularton was a 'something in the city' and positively rolling in cash at the time.
Wonder what became of him?
#44
Posted 22 July 2008 - 16:03
There's a politician in Australia called Stephen Choularton...Originally posted by simonlewisbooks
Wonder what became of him?
#45
Posted 19 August 2008 - 22:37
Choularton stayed local and got involved in some retail venture I have been told. What, I have no idea.
#46
Posted 20 August 2008 - 01:26
He was a good one!
ZOOOM
#47
Posted 22 October 2008 - 19:16
#48
Posted 22 October 2008 - 19:25
#49
Posted 23 October 2008 - 11:08
Originally posted by MCS
Nope.
Choularton stayed local and got involved in some retail venture I have been told. What, I have no idea.
I heard the other day that Steve Choularton was based at "somewhere Brook" (Norton?), just off the M56 at the A49 turn? Wasn't he a Property Developer of some kind?
#50
Posted 26 October 2008 - 17:26
Originally posted by Mallory Dan
I heard the other day that Steve Choularton was based at "somewhere Brook" (Norton?), just off the M56 at the A49 turn? Wasn't he a Property Developer of some kind?
http://maps.google.c...snum=1&ct=title
Dan could this be the place?
Kind regards
Phil