15 replies to this topic

[Huw Jenjin]

One thing that often springs to mind in these threads are the non championship races.
They really threw up some interesting facts figures and results.
Wish they still had them now.Can't see the current crowd getting out of bed for an NC race, let alone crossing the world for one.
The Questor GP won by Andrettis ferrari, There was an F1 race at Hockenheim wasn't there in about 1970? and a Buenos Aires one (won by Chris Amon!)
Graham Hills last victory in the International Trophy in the BT34 Lobster Claw. What other NC races were there?

[Eric McLoughlin]

In the 1960's and into the 1970's Britain had quite a few NC F1 races each year. The International Tourist Trophy at Silverstone you've already mentioned. Brands Hatch used to hold the International Race of Champions (usually in the "other" year when it wasn't hosting the GP). Oulton Park had the Gold Cup and Goodwood always had a Formula 1 race at its Easter Bank Holiday meeting. The last NC F1 race (for current GP cars) held in BRitain was the 1983 Race of Champions - won by Keke Rosberg in the Williams. BBC TV showed it live. The grid was a bit thin as a number of the big teams staid away (Renault and Ferrari). The star of the race was Danny Sullivan in the Tyrell who gave Rosberg a hard time for quite a while.

[Ray Bell]

There was also the Aintree 200 in England, while in Sicily there were races at Enna, round Lake Pergusa. There was Syracuse, wherever that was, Pau and Albi in the early fifties - Albi ran F1 races when the title was for F2! Solitude, of course, and Roskildering... don't forget some places had to hold a non-title F1 race before they could qualify for a title race (that was basically a rule, Warwick Farm's race was to be sanctioned in 1970 because of the successful running of Tasman events) and that added a few... I could come up with more if I could find the Monkhouse book...
Someone else add a few..

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[This message has been edited by Ray Bell (edited 04-15-2000).]

[Felix Muelas]

It might not be the case, but just if it is, there's a basic list of races "F1 Non-Champ" in Forix, http://www.forix.com...asp?z=0&k=0&l=0

If you prefer to check them by years, then the url is http://www.forix.com...asp?z=0&k=0&l=0

Felix Muelas

[Roger Clark]

In the 60's there were many non-championship races because the championship itself was shorter and the F1 cars of the time were relatively cheap. To give an example, in 1963,4 qnd 5 Jim Clark drove over 20 F1 races each year. Fewer than half were championship races. Most of these races had fields of almost championship standard.

THere was a definite British season in the early part of the year, usually Snetterton, Goodwood, Aintree and Silverstone. THe Silverstone race was a week before the Monaco GP, the first championship race of the year. The field at Silverstone was virtually the same as at Monaco.

Syracuse is in Sicily. Their non-championship race was a regular on the calendar in the 50s and 60s. There were some significant results there, notably Tony Brooks' win for Connaught in 55 which was the first small step to British supremacy, and Baghetti's win for Ferrari in 61 which gave some foretaste of what was to come. Ferrari usually supported the race, using it to try out new cars. The V8 1.5litre and the V12 3litre both had their first races and wins there.

[Don Capps]

Don't get me started! I am having enough problems hammering out all the projects I already have!! However, the loss of these events was the Final Sign that the Apocalypse Was Upon Us....

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

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

[Zepeteus]

Sometime ago, I saw a documentary about Juan Manuel Fangio. What stirred me was that they held a NC race in Cuba in 1958. Before the race, Fangio was kidnapped by the Castro revolutionists, so he couldn't make the start! He was released a couple of days later, unhurt. Anyone heard/ has more facts about this?

[Don Capps]

It was sports car event and DD has some info on that if I recall...

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

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

[Ray Bell]

Twenty? I don't see this figure - although there was, I seem to recall, a non-title race at Rheims the years of the GP's defection (more like natural placement!) at Rouen...
perhaps the Tasman got counted in in 65/66?
The World Ch'ship was eight or nine races... four or five others in England, Solitude, Enna, Pau? what others made 20?

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Psychoman]

Zep--if I remember the R&T article right, he was kidnapped by pro-Castro revolutionaries with the intent of gaining awareness to their cause, not to harm him; however, that particular interview with one of the kidnappers said that the government in place at the time was going to kill Fangio and make it look like the kidnappers killed him, scoring a propaganda victory at the cost of one of the greatest drivers ever. Whether that was really the plan or not, we'll never know. Anyvays, they held him during the race, but let him watch the race on a TV there, and he watched until a bad startline crash at which point he turned the TV off. He later credited the kidnappers with saving his life--he believed he would have died if he started the race... this is what I've got. Can anybody clarify???

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[Don Capps]

Ray, in 1961 there were, by my count, 39 "F1" races with one race shared with the Inter-Continental cars but not including 4 additional races for the I-C cars. And I intend to cover every damn one in my next several (dozen) RVM columns...

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

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

[Ray Bell]

I bow to your superior knowledge (and library) Don, please don't think I'm trying to be smart about this... I could go through the Monkhouse book circuit by circuit - if I could find the thing again.... I've posted elsewhere about the 39 races in 61 prior to seeing this post. It just shows how little information we got about these races in the magazines we had at the time.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Roger Clark]

Motor Sport for January 1962 lists 8 chamionship and 18 non-championship races in 1962. 2 of the non-campionship races were run as 3 heats. THere was atleastone south African race, the Natal GP which was not included in the Motor Sport list Autocourse also lists the Fairfield 100 which took place on January 2 as a formula 1 race, but misses several in the Motor Sport list. I assume from the list of drivers that the Fairfield 100 was in South Africa. It was won by W (Bill?) johnstone in a Cooper-Alfa.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Don gets to 39 races. In fact, I'm looking forward to the whole article. 1961 is the first season I can remember following the whole championship as it happened.

[Ray Bell]

There were a couple of Alfa-engined cars in SA. It was in one of these 1962 races (Rand?) that the Rob Walker car claimed its second victim for the year (the same year Stirling had crashed in its predecessor), Gary Hocking.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Roger Clark]

Moss was driving for UDT-Laystall not rob Walker wen he crashed at Goodwood. It was a very bad year for Walker, as Ricardo Rodriguez also died in one of his cars. A lesser man would have given up.

[Ray Bell]

Sorry, I'd forgotten Stirling was in the light car... but I wasn't referring to him as the first victim of that car, anyway (I did say 'its predecessor' for Stirling), I was referring to the Mexico City banking. I think the fatalities were at consecutive races, at that.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[This message has been edited by Ray Bell (edited 04-22-2000).]