120 replies to this topic

[Mobile_Chicane]

I've followed F1 seriously for 10 years now. Only missed like 3 races. However, never been to a GP. This year I'm going to Melbourne though. FINALLY the wait is over!

[Ray Bell]

Mine was Monaco, 1981, followed by Adelaide in 1985 & 1986.
But the Tasman races of 64-66 had many of the drivers and much of the atmosphere (particularly at Warwick Farm, Sandown and Longford) that must have been at the GPs of the late fifties and early sixties.
I remember them, too.

[Art]

Would you believe that in following GP & F1 for 45 years that I have never seen a race live. In fact it was about ten years ago when we got a sitelite dish that I saw my first F1 race live on TV. I have been to Sebring in 55&56 and Riverside a few times but never an F1 or Gp.

Art

[Ray Bell]

We'll have to give you an appropriate nickname...
But at least you have seen a few World Ch'ship GP circuits...

[Tarnik]

Wow, I thought I was the only one never to have! I probably won't see a race for some time, but I'm having a friend tape some races for me.

[Dennis David]

After many years of watching them on tv or following them in any magazine I could find the first one I saw live was The German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in 1973.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[Fast One]

Watkins Glen, 1968. Andretti on pole! Stewart, Hill and Surtees on the podium! My soul willingly sold on my first walk through the pits. I loved the Matra, too, Kier, but that Honda wailed, too! Sleeping on the ground next to the car, to be woken circa 7 a.m. with the scream of a Ferrari V-12 circling the skidpad, within two feet of my head each time around. I regret exceedingly, that when I die, I will be taking that memory with me. Everyone should have it. I found that skidpad, too, at a visit to the vintage races a decade or so ago.

I am so glad I started going to races then. It was so much more accessible than now. Anyone could walk through the pits. And "security" was loose. In 1970, Pedro Rodriguez and two BRM mechanics hid me behind some tires while the pits were being cleared, and let me stay for practice! I was so nervous, I never said a word the whole two hours! Wished them luck as I left, and Pedro came in second in the race. I still don't know why they did it, but boy were my buddies green with envy the rest of the weekend! Ah, the Glen...everyone should have been there once in October.

[John Nelson]

Wow, Fast One, thanks for sharing those memories with us! An entertaining read for those of us who can only dream about what those days were like. And you added a human face to Pedro Rodriguez whose name I've only known as part of the long list of talented drivers who didn't survive that era. Thanks again!

[Kuwashima]

Well, after following F1 since 1991 - it looks like I may get to see my first GP in Melbourne this year....

I actually won a trip from Sydney to Adelaide in a writers contest in 1995, but I couldn't go to the race because it co-incided with my school's exams - I was so damn angry you wouldn't believe.

Instead I had to visit the 'city of churches' just one lousy week before the race was held. I got to see the track and everything, which was quite interesting. Still, I think I was the most disappointed person in the world ever to win a free trip ;)

I really hope that this year's race will be a stunner for my first live race. My only proble is to try and work out where the best vantage point is in general admission...


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Formula One Rejects
www.crosswinds.net/~f1rejects
Profiles of the WORST drivers and teams in Grand Prix history

[Racer.Demon]

The 1976 Dutch GP. I was about to turn eight years old when my dad took me along to Zandvoort. I was lucky: through his job with the PR department at Esso he got us two free paddock passes.

So there I was: this snotty kid wandering the cramped paddock, making crummy photographs and gazing in awe at the drivers who you could actually talk to... I had Mario say a few words to me, and shook hands with Jody Scheckter (who became an instant hero to me once I saw that awesome P34!). And I got a beardless John Watson to pose for me (unfortunately lost that picture in a move). Jochen Mass was nice as well.

The only one missing was Lauda and the Ferrari. Just weeks before I had seen his fiery accident on TV and knowing I was going to Zandvoort, that really sparked my interest for the sport, instead of putting me off completely (those are the strange workings of the mind of a seven-year-old boy, I guess). Been a tifoso ever since.

Since then, thanks to dad and Esso, I visited every Dutch GP until the final one in 1985, which saw that classic duel between Lauda and Prost. I really grew fond of Zandvoort and its unprofessional paddock atmosphere. And I actually sat in Esso's pit box which was located directly above the Ferrari pit, when Gilles came back in on three wheels... That was the first year they had TV monitors on the track, so I saw the whole thing, from Tunnel Oost all the way back to the pits!

Ever since Zandvoort was slashed from the calendar I haven't been to a GP. No, not even Spa or the Ersatz 'Ring!

BTW, I set up a web page on my memories of those days: http://www.racer.dem...r/memories.html

Cheers,
R.D


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[Falcadore]

Adelaide 1995, The Grand Finale.

It was like the whole city was having one final bash of all bashes to celebrate the passing of the race.

Great racing in the supports, the battle of the Super Tourers of Jim Richards (Ford), son Steven (Alfa Romeo), Brad Jones (Audi) and Paul Morris (BMW) in particular sticks in my head. Laughing at Sam Newman's crash, and laughing even harder at David Coulthard coming to a stop in the pits (as opposed to a pitstop), tears in my eyes from Olivier Panis' dying Ligier (from the acrid smoke the car was giving off, not from the emotion), the sadness of Mika Hakkinen's shunt and being disgusted when the guy next to me caught a cap tossed by Gerhard Berger.

The post race concert (Dogstar sucked, Yothu Yindi ruled and Bon Jovi rocked, particularly when race winner Damon Hill joined them on stage with his own axe.) The whole party atmosphere of the week, the pubs, the clubs, the casino...

Staying in the nurses quarters at Royal Adelaide Hopsital, staying amongst a whole floor of petrolheads, gathered around the TV at nights for the highlight before hitting the town.

Brilliant fun, can't wait for Melbourne this year.

[BRG]

Despite living in Britain, my first GP was Monaco 1970. That was an amazing experience with the noise reverberating off the buildings, although I think it is a daft circuit for a GP. Then I went to most British GPs from 1970 until the late 80s, plus a Canadian GP at Mosport in 73 (or was it 74?).

I agree with FastOne that access was so much better back then, and it is one of the reasons I stopped going to GPs - that and the improved TV coverage.

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BRG

"all the time, maximum attack"

[Keir]

I am also among those that followed F1 for years until I made it to a race.
The year was 1972, the place, the hallowed "Watkins Glen".
My good friend Dennis and I hitched the 375 miles to the circuit. The other details are part of another thread to this forum. My lasting memories are, as others have said, was how accessable the drivers and cars were, in 1975, I spent over half the race right by the UOP Shadow pits. Remember them? Of course, I must mention the Matra, yet again, that sound will forever be locked in my memory banks.
On that first trip, we made it to the circuit in one day and then spent the entire weekend out in the environment that was "Woodstock on Wheels". We slept out in the open, soaked up all the atmosphere, watched the whole race, almost got run over by Mario's Ferrari and then hitched back.
Quite the race weekend, I wish I could do it all over again. But , today the sport is so detached and the "Glen" is but a memory, but still a great one.

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"I Was Born Ready"

[bigblue]

Canada, 1988. In the rain.

[Racer.Demon]

BRG: if it had been Mosport 1973, you'd have remembered the year correctly!

That was one of the craziest races of the past century...

Monaco 1970 as well? You sure picked them.

[BRG]

Ah, Racer.Demon, you are putting me on the spot. I can’t remember the exact year - at my advanced age, it is all getting a bit of a blur! But I’ve got the ticket at home so I will check.

I can’t really pick them. The Monaco expedition was the result of calling the bluff of a friend who was bulls******g in the pub that he was going to drive down to Monte Carlo for the GP. So my mate Phil and I said "great, we’ll come too". Then none of us could back down, so we went. And it was a terrific experience - we celebrated my 21st birthday in Geneva on the way. It was a good race, with Rindt snatching the win after Brabham’s uncharacteristic mistake on the last corner. Then of course, the poor sod ran out of fuel on the last bend at Brands Hatch later that season and lost the British GP to Rindt as well.

Phil then emigrated to Canada and it was on a visit to see him that we went to Mosport. It was very cold, and we fell in with a bunch of Italian-Canadians from Toronto after I unwisely abused the marshals for incompetence during the saloon car race (there was a crash over a blind brow, and the marshals failed to flag it allowing lots more people to join the crash). It thought I was going to get thumped by the crowd, but instead they apologised to me for Canadians putting up such a poor display and plied us with wine. Maybe that’s why it’s all a bit of a blur…



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BRG

"all the time, maximum attack"

[ZippyD]

Keir,
I thought we did our first Glen in 1971? Oh well it must have been the drugs. 71, 72 what does it matter?
What a place!!! What an experience!!!! Helping Ken Tyrel and his boys unload their groceries in the pits! Carlos Reutman hanging out and chating in his Fiat 131! Jenks sitting on the back of a picup truck! The BOG! The smell of cars buring! The real Budman!!
Can someone get a time machine working before I die? Just 1 ride, that's all I ask. Well maybe 2. OK, no more that 5 rides in the time machine.

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"Pete, Do you sometimes get tired? Lately I have been getting tired. Very tired."

[Don Capps]

The 1st GP I attended was the GP del Valentino at Torino in March 1955 where I actually got to touch a GP car (and sit in one as well) for the first time: a Maserati 250F. And I got to see Ascari race in a Lancia... the last GP race I attended was the Dallas GP in 1984.



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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

Semper Gumbi: If this was easy, we’d have the solution already…

[Felix Muelas]

Very interesting topic !
One of those that justifies (probably) the name of the Forum, and that gives everybody that weird sensation of time actually elapsing, one of those things that one does not continuosly realize.
A very curious thing that I have noticed so far is that many of you, specially the younger ones, took quite long to attend your first Grand Prix. Expensive stuff it is nowadays, I agree, and not necesarily a good investment.
I guess it must be related somehow to the complete change in philosophy that GP racing has been subject to in the last 20 years or so.
I have been attending races for the last 33 years and, although in the last two my geographical situation is preventing me from live race action (although it places me in a wondeful situation during the winter, as the Jerez track is just a mere two hours away from home and, God knows why, almost everybody likes testing there)I have a good idea of how things have dramatically changed.
I was eight about to turn nine when an uncle of mine drove me to the Jarama track in late 67 to see what we called a "Gran Premio". Of course (but I discovered that only later) it was a non-championship Grand Prix (some of my friends will probably understand why ever since I have been so "devoted" to non-champ GPs!) and Jarama was like a surreal world in the middle of a surreal country, Spain in the sixties. Nowhere. No trees, no fences, no nothing !
But a noise and a smell that (as I see it from today) probably traumatised me. It's a little bit difficult to explain, in a language that is not yours, how that ambiance affected my life ever since. My uncle, an "aficionado" (still not married, thanks God for those small mercies that a kid can find sometimes by sheer luck) that liked to race in amateurish events found enthusiastic company in the small kid I was, and I basically spent all my weekends at the Jarama track as far as I can remember !
OK, I know, this is not the "introductions" posting, so I´ll try to stick to the question.
It was also the first and last time I saw Jim Clark drive. I have to reckon that six months later, when the F1s came back, this time for a Championship GP in the middle of the spring, and Clark was not there anymore, well, I think I found that day about some more rules of the game that nobody had bothered to mention before.
Of course, that did not stopped me from attending, but I have never had any fun witnessing or hearing about racing accidents. In fact, I have never been able to deal with that easily...
I never speak about Clark. Some other icons of mine have also disappeared, but I guess that Jim Clark (who gave no chance to the opposition in that my first GP) had the dubious honour of being one of the most ephimerous childhood heroes of mine, and I find that too hurting to handle.
I have never attended a race live outside my continent, but I am specially happy to have shared with my friend Racer.Demon the presence (that I should have suspected, but never asked) of both of us at Zandvoort in 1985.
I shouldn´t have been there, as at the time I was under military obligations (having been at the University and leaving those until the very last moment) and I had no permission whatsoever to leave the country during my week of holidays !
Of course I couldn´t care less at the time and thinking that, although a soldier, I was old enough to take decissions 8-) I borrowed mum's Fiat 127 and drove non-stop to Zandvoort on a Wednesday in the middle of the summer. Of course it took me something like 22 or 24 hours to arrive there, but once arrived, I found a couple of known people (mainly TV friends and two spanish drivers that were racing in the one of the support races, the Alpines 300 or 310 I think).
I very well remember that race not only because it was Zandvoort's swansong, but because I realized, by Sunday afternnon, that there was no way I could make the trip back in time, as I was expected to be in the Military HQ's by 7AM that following Monday morning ! Of course the panorama was that I would be arrested and the prospects were not looking specially nice from those dunes !
All this story ended up with a night plane flight that one of the TV members luckily arranged for me but, as far as I am concerned, the yellow Fiat 127 was history, as I had to leave it there, parked and abandoned. Of course my mother was less than amused and never lent me again her car ever !
Now that she's not with us anymore, I think she would have enjoyed remembering this story. After all, she was the one that, in my early teens, used to give me money for the bus that I had to take to get to Jarama...
Thanks for reading, my friends.
:-)
Un abrazo
Felix Muelas
The 8W Team



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[f1nut]

My first GP was British in 92 or 93 the one that Mansell won. My funniest memory of it was being the only one in the crowd wooping it up when Patrese came around leading on the first lap. I was surrounded by Mansell maniacs. Boy did I get some sidelong glances. Since then I've been to the Canadian GP several times. Always wanted to go there as a kid but it always happened around exam time.

[Eric McLoughlin]

I have a vague recollection of seeing the 1968 British Grand Prix on BBC. I think it was the first time I saw wings on an F1 car and, boy, did I think they were ugly. The race was won by Jo Siffert in Rob Walker's blue and whie Lotus 49 (of course, the TV picture was black and white at the time). The first race I have an absolutely clear memory of is the 1974 Monaco GP. Initially led by Lauda and Regazzoni in the new Ferrari 312B3's but both succunbed to mechanical problems and the race was one by Ronnie Peterson in the JPS Lotus 72.

I've been to one GP "in the flesh", the 1995 San Marino GP, won by Damon Hill in the Williams. Although it was a great experience, where we were standing (on the bank just as the cars climb up from the Tosa cotner)the PA system was non-existant so we had to work out for ourselves what was happening. The support races were lame, a round of the Porsche 911 Supercup and a round of a Renault Clio championship. We also had a flypast by two Italian Air Force Tornadoes - big deal. Give ne Goodwood any day.

[karlcars]

First GP? It was Monaco in 1958, only three months or so after an Army Signal Corps private had arrived in Europe. My wife and I hopped into our Renault Dauphine and drove to the sunny south from Munich, where I was stationed. This was my first chance to see cars like the Vanwall, Maserati etc. that I'd already described in SCI without actually setting eyes on them. I sent a story to SCI on the cars and Jesse Alexander wrote the race report, a spot of teamwork that we continued as possible through the season. High points were the new space-framed BRM with which Behra led the race early, the Coopers, the first appearance of a Lotus in an F.1 race and the Ferrari Dinos driven by Musso, Hawthorn and Collins -- not a bad lineup.

My first proper road race of any kind? Watkins Glen in 1951.

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Karl Ludvigsen

[Ray Bell]

If you guys don't stop posting these interesting stories I'll never get to work!

[John Nelson]

>>It was Monaco in 1958, only three months or so after an Army Signal Corps private had arrived in Europe.<<

Karl, you don't mean Elvis, do you?

[PDA]

First GP was the British GP 1961.

Perhaps more interesting, as it shows the difference between racing then and now - the first race I attended was the Aintree 200 in 1960, a formula 2 race. After the race finished, I walked down the circuit to the paddock and obtained autographs from Graham Hill, Innes Ireland, Bruce Maclaren, Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Denny Hulme and a load of others that you maybe haven't heard of. That's 4 world champions, including the then reigning champion.

[Jonathan]

The United States Grand Prix held at the Indianapolos circut in the fall of 2000 (Hopefully).

[Incal]

The first three years of the Adelaide Grand Prix and wonderful it was. And every year the damn airforce managed to scare the living daylights out of me by arriving unexpectadly.
The last year I went the race finished and I thought fantastic the airforce didn't get me, then as we are standing on our seats cheering the drivers on there down lap the bloody F111 arrived directly overhead and I ended up three rows below my designated seat.
Still there is nothing quite like the F1's, the noise they make is quite unbelievable, everything just screams, engines, gearbox, tyres etc. And that smell, mmmmmmmm.
As an aside there was a blind fellow from Tassie who went to Adelaide for just that reason. As a further aside is anyone going to Adelaide for the New Years Eve race this year it should be brillant as I have to admit to being very partial to endurance racing and around Adelaide the Panoz etc. should be just awesome.

[Ray Bell]

Karl,
Have you seen what Phil Hill has said about Longford, and his references to the similarity he felt with "the old Elkhart Lake?"
I feel certain that his performance at Longford, which he rates as the best of his career, was connected with this familiarity. In turn, Watkins Glen (the original, 1951 etc) must have been somewhat similar to Elkhart Lake. Anyone got any real ideas on this?

[Uncle Davy]

My first was the 1968 German GP at the old Nurburgring; the year of the Great Deluge.

Also managed to attend Monaco in '69 & '70,
the '69 Dutch GP at Zandvoort, and the '69 German GP, also at the 'Ring (dry and sunny, thank goodness).

Next up is the 2000 USGP; thirty years is way too long between Grands Prix!

[Leo Landman]

Zandvoort '59 or thereabouts. I remember Stirling Moss in a Vanwall. Bit vague, I was only 8 or so.

To those who've never seen a real life grand prix, I'd like to say that a track is about the worst place to watch a race. TV is much better. BUT...
You must have been there at least once in your life! The smell of racing oil and hot rubber is one you'll never forget. The engine sound is not only much louder but also much deeper than you'd imagined, it's literally earth shaking. And no TV can convey the ehm... violent nature of F1 cars. The way they brake from full speed to say 80 mph must be seen to be believed. Ditto for the acceleration - you can just sense the incredible power. It's an experience you'll never forget, even if you don't have a clue who won the race and what happened to the other drivers...<g>

Bye,
Leo

[Uncle Davy]

Leo,

I agree it must be seen first-hand to be truly appreciated...although I am probably in for the shock of my life come September at IMS.

My last in-person F1 experience was Monaco 1970. Because of favorable currency exchange rates and the happy fact that F1 was only yet teetering on the brink of its imminent plunge into full-blown commercialism, a family of four could actually scrimp and save enough to afford (barely, but that's enough, innit?), on a Lt. Colonel's pay, to rent a second floor balcony room at the Bristol, overlooking the front stretch with the start/finish line, and the entry to Ste Devote.

By then, the Cosworth DFV was clearly the engine of choice, but I will never forget the impression the Ferrari V-12 made with its high-pitched wail; even more memorable, painful yet enjoyable, was the absolutely demonic SCREECH of the Matra-Simca V-12s.

I can only imagine what the current high rev engines sound like now; guess I'll find out in September.



[This message has been edited by Uncle Davy (edited 02-19-2000).]

[Ray Bell]

On the subject of vivid memories of individual experiences (I have previously detailed what happened to Piquet at Monaco in 81), I have to relate that out of chicane after the first straight on the waterfront at the Gold Coast I witnessed something really great.
The Indy cars come off the turn in second gear, all revs, noise and bluster, then change to third. Then they take off! Really TAKE OFF! The acceleration in second is negligible (relatively), probably because of wheelspin, but in third, man oh man!

[Eric McLoughlin]

As I've said previously, the actual reallity of attending a modern Grand Prix can be a little bit dissaponting. However, the experience is vastly different compared to watching it on TV. What struck me wes not so much the loudness of the cars, but all the extra low frequency bangs and growls that emanate from modern F1 engines,transmissions and brakes but which the TV audio doesn't tend to pick up at all. The BANG, BANG BANG sound the gears make as the drivers change down on deceleration into corners was amazing. How the gear-boxes stay together for a whole race is anybody's guess. Smells I didn't really notice, I think the crowd are too far removed from the action to pick that up.

I still maintain that the best place to feel the raw power of a modern GP car is at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. There, you can literally touch the cars even as they being revved up in the paddock. And the sight and sound of Nick Heidfeld in the McLaren as he smashed the hill climb record on the Sunday was simply awesome. THe scream of the Mercedes Ilmor was totally manic as the car twitched and darted up the hill. He knocked nearly 5 seconds of Jonathan Palmer's old record. For those of you who seem to consider the Matra V12 as the most exciting sounding racing engine, there was a collection of F1 and Sports Car Matra's at Goodwood in 1998. Chris Amon took the F1 car up the hill. He said that when he raced it he used to think it was underpowered - now he thinks it has far too much power. Thats age for you.

[Keir]

Eric,
You are right on those two points.
Simply stated, the best place to watch a race is at home on the TV.
But the best place to experience a race is
in person.
There are so many sights and sounds that are part of a Grand Prix, that TV simply can't offer. And the smells!!! Try explaining the smell of overheated Castrol over the tube.
I haven't been to Goodwood, but it gets more tempting every year. Back in the old Watkins Glen days, even 1980, you could touch the cars and get right up to the drivers.
The atmosphere at Goodwood must be great for drivers and fans alike, who come to be close to the legends that made up racing.

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"I Was Born Ready"

[karlcars]

No, I didn't mean Elvis, but in fact he and I served in the Army in Europe at about the same time. Needless to say it was quite a big deal when he came over.

I doubt that the original Watkins Glen circuit resembled any in the world, except perhaps Lake Garda. It was hugely challenging with twists, steep gradients, the famous Stone Bridge, a grade crossing and a railroad viaduct where passing was prohibited. By contrast the original Elkhart Lake circuit (I was there in '52) was a cakewalk, relatively straightforward. This could also be said of the second Glen circuit, the one first used in '53 as I recall.

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Karl Ludvigsen


[This message has been edited by karlcars (edited 02-20-2000).]

[Ian McKean]

The British GP at Silverstone in 1960 (but I had seen other F1 races before that as my Dad always took me to the Easter Monday meeting at Goodwood). Brabham was on a roll that year and the Lotus 18s were also quick - Ireland had won the pre-season non-championship races at Goodwood and Silverstone. Sure enough Brabham sped off into the distance, pursued by the Ireland / Clark / Surtees Lotuses, and the rest. Hill in the BRM was left at the start and got away about 30 seconds after everyone else. Until then the rear-engined 2.5 litre BRM had not been particularly impressive. But after a few laps Hill caught the backmarkers and started to move up. After about twenty laps we realised he was pulling in the leaders at a second a lap. Hill caught up and passed the entire field to lead until failing brakes put him off the circuit near the end. So Brabham won and I managed to get a good picture of him driving into the paddock sans helmet after the race. No telephoto lens for me then! His back wheel nearly ran over my big toe. You can't get that close these days, can you?

[Ian McKean]

Further to my last post, it was about then (1960) that the Herefordshire Motor Club discovered that Innes Ireland lived not too far away and invited him to be guest of honour at their annual dinner dance. Following which, my parents invited the Irelands to dinner. I expect the Irelands found my parents pretty boring, but that was how a thirteen year old boy came to race Innes Ireland on his Scalextric set. (Yes, I must be about the same age as Ray, but I think I'm still younger than Stig Blomqvist).

I thought Ireland was a fine driver and hard done by Lotus. After loosing the Lotus seat he was perhaps tempted to overdrive inferior machinery and consequently developed a reputation for spinning. There was also that embarassing incident at Mallory Park when he was demonstrating the new Mercedes 600… But I remember watching him drive the special-bodied Aston Martin DB4GT in the TT at Goodwood in (I think) 1964. Bruce McLaren was his team mate. The scrutineers decided after the first day of practice that the Astons could not use their rear wheels because they were too wide (and not homologated). The narrower wheels they were forced to revert to made the cars quite tail-happy and affected the lap time significantly. But Innes was determined to fight the GTO Ferraris no matter what. He was very committed. McLaren, on the other hand, could not get within a second and a half of Ireland in the other team car, identical so far as I know. I bet Ireland would have been spectacular in a CanAm McLaren!

Ireland also made a damn good Sports Editor at Autocar (or was it Motor?)

[Igor DC]

my first Live GP..

Spa 1992 .. Ok I am young!

But I have many good memories.. I won the ticket in a game hosted by Shell. It was the perfect track and Schumachers's first ever win (not that that matters so much)..

Just the weather was crap.. but it usually is in Spa.

Igor.

[Ray Bell]

Bad weather often makes for stunning races, memorraces, heroic drives, all that stuff. Look back at an old thread, Dennis David's 'Circuits I Know and Love) and get an idea of Spa in 66. As partly depicted in "Grand Prix."

[Leo Landman]

Eric,
No smells? Heck, in the sixties there were no safety regulations (worth their name) yet. So you could almost touch the cars as they went by! My favourite place was the exit of the Tarzan corner at Zandvoort. That's where they really opened up the throttle. After every car a waft of burnt rubber and Castrol would hit your nostrils.
If there's ever going to be another Grand Prix at Zandvoort, that's where you will find me :-)

Bye,
Leo

[Eric McLoughlin]

Speaking of smells, my wife and I were strolling through the paddock at Goodwood a couple of years ago when one of the Auto Unions fired up. We were positioned right behind the exhaust pipes and got a faceful of fumes that nearly knocked us out. How the drivers and mechanics put up with this poisoning on a regular basis is beyond me.

[Rich]

Kyalami 1971, and a memorable win by Mario Andretti in the Ferrari. I was nine at the time, and regret that my dad didn't take us one year earlier. It was in the 1970 SAGP at Crowthorne (our favoured spot) that Jochen Rindt touched wheels with another car on the first lap, launching him into a wild two-wheels-in-the-air stunt from which he apparently recovered control and continued. That was the year that Rindt won the Championship posthumously, after winning every race (five of them) in which he made it to the finish. It was also Jack Brabham's last year in F1. I regret not having seen either of them.

Come to think of it, if I had the choice, I'd have started watching from '67 onwards. That was the year that local hero John Love almost aced the SAGP in a totally outdated, uncompetitive and privately-entered Cooper. He was helped by the fact that the works teams were hopelessly unprepared for the season-opener, and most retired. But it was still a magnificent drive and I'd love to have witnessed it. The bonus of seeing Jim Clark live in action would have been the cherry on top.

[Rich]

Just as an afterthought, it's a wonder that I fell in love with racing at all. For entrance to that first Kyalami GP, I had to lie under a blanket in the back of the car, sucking my thumb and pretending to be both asleep and under the age of six. Under-sixes were allowed in for free, y'see Pretending to be under six and having to suck your thumb when you are NINE (dammit!) is humiliating in the extreme. Odd then that I should have found the whole affair so enjoyable.

[This message has been edited by Rich (edited 02-24-2000).]

[Barry Lake]

I first saw motor racing at Mount Panorama, Bathurst at Easter 1951; first discovered the existence of grand prix racing through an Australian magazine in 1953, began buying "Motor Sport" magazine (walking to and from school to save the bus fare to buy it) from the June 1955 issue (Monaco GP, Moss/Jenks victory in the Mille Miglia), and watched re-runs of 1952 and 1953 GPs on a neighbour's television in 1957. But I didn't get to a GP "live" until the San Marino GP in 1981.
For the rest of the 1980s I made it to two or three GPs per year. I attended all 11 Australian GPs in Adelaide and now (four, is it?) GPs at Albert Park in Melbourne.
Like Ray Bell, I saw the Tasman Series races (and their predecessors) in Australia from 1960, which was pretty close to seeing a GP. I got to talk to such stars as Jack Brabham, Denis Hulme, Stirling Moss, Pedro Rodriguez, Bruce McLaren, Phil Hill, Tim Mayer, Graham Hill, Innes Ireland, Piers Courage, Jim Clark (who asked politely was it all right if he had a look at my car!), Chris Amon and all the rest.
The difference between the opportunities to see the cars and drivers at close hand in the 1960s Tasman races to a current day GP is like night and day. Even in the 1980s the drivers were far more accessible than they are today. What a tragedy.

[Dennis David]

Eric, The other drivers complained about just that fact that they were being poisoned by the fumes which is about as close as most of them got!


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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[Ray Bell]

What Barry fails to mention is that the car Jim Clark wanted to look at was a racing car.
He really should post something of his history in the 'new to this forum' or 'how old are you' or some other similar thread.
He also didn't say how he weaseled his way into my job at Racing Car News!

[BRG]

Speaking of exhaust fumes, I remember an occasion at Brands Hatch when Brett Lunger (I think he was in a private Chesterfield Mclaren M23, so it may have been the 1977 British GP) complained in the press room after practice about the Brabham-Alfas using nitro. As an American, he was familiar with the fuel and reckoned that when he was behind the Brabhams, it made his eyes water. These were the cars with the flat 12 Alfa engines which rarely ran properly, quickly or for long enough so perhaps the team were desperate enough to "bend" the rules. Nothing official ever came of it, so perhaps he was persuaded to keep quiet. Anyone else ever heard of this?

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BRG

"all the time, maximum attack"



[This message has been edited by BRG (edited 02-28-2000).]

[buddyt]

United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen
in 1975


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"Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?"

[sterling49]

Originally posted by Fast One
Watkins Glen, 1968. Andretti on pole! Stewart, Hill and Surtees on the podium! My soul willingly sold on my first walk through the pits. I loved the Matra, too, Kier, but that Honda wailed, too! Sleeping on the ground next to the car, to be woken circa 7 a.m. with the scream of a Ferrari V-12 circling the skidpad, within two feet of my head each time around. I regret exceedingly, that when I die, I will be taking that memory with me. Everyone should have it. I found that skidpad, too, at a visit to the vintage races a decade or so ago.

I am so glad I started going to races then. It was so much more accessible than now. Anyone could walk through the pits. And "security" was loose. In 1970, Pedro Rodriguez and two BRM mechanics hid me behind some tires while the pits were being cleared, and let me stay for practice! I was so nervous, I never said a word the whole two hours! Wished them luck as I left, and Pedro came in second in the race. I still don't know why they did it, but boy were my buddies green with envy the rest of the weekend! Ah, the Glen...everyone should have been there once in October.

What a great description of a bygone era, obviously I read the report of the race in MN, but to experience that! My 1st GP was the 1964 European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, Clark, Hill and Surtees occupied the top spots, Graham chasing Clark for most of the race.The description seems so similar to my experiences albeit different sides of the Atlantic Ocean. I cyclyed to Brands on my faithful Claude Butler...........and my anticipation was immense, the noise, the spectacle, the colours, those beautiful racing E-Types........the works Minis..... and then the ride home, luckily all downhill....no data logging, or laptops in sight, just good old fashioned stopwatches and pit boards, gearchanges and overtaking on the track, not tactically in the pits

[David M. Kane]

I got to see Emmo get his 1st win at Watkins Glen; and poor Pedro get a splash and go that cost him the race. We sat in the seats opposite the pits. Magically stuff, there's nothing like Watkins Glen in October...the changing leaves, the air is almost sweet.

Thanks for the memories Bernie.