18 replies to this topic

[Racer.Demon]

This is an announcement.

There's a new Special on 8W, covering the life and times of Carel Godin de Beaufort, the Dutch nobleman who is often regarded as the last of the real amateur Grand Prix drivers.

This is your direct link: http://www.racer.demon.nl/8w/cgdb.html

Enjoy,
R.D


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[Don Capps]

Outstanding! What a loss it was to racing when we lost de Beaufort. It seems his kind may never grace our grids any time soon. He is the sort of driver I have a weakness for in the way others look at the Super Stars...

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

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

[Ray Bell]

We tend to forget, don't we?

The results he achieved with that old Porsche were in fact quite remarkable..

In forty years there'll be nobody like that to look back forty years ago about!

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Huw Jenjin]

i am no expert on genialogy (Spell?) but wouldn't Ricky Von Opel have been considered a nobleman?
Ok not so great........

[Eagle104]

How about a Rob Walker. He sure 'looked' the part, to me. I have his book but have not yet fully read it. Am proud to say that I got his autograph at the '87 Detroit GP.

[Ray Bell]

If you include Rob, you simply have to also include Jack Durlacher...

[Eagle104]

When looking in the index to "Rob Walker", by Michael Cooper-Evans, I found Jack's name twice. Unfortunately, all I know of Mr. Durlacher is that he was, for a time, Rob's partner.

I also saw, within Stirling's "Forward" to the book, that Rob was, above all, a gentleman...as was listed on his passport.

[Huw Jenjin]

Wasn't Durlacher amongst the consortium that backed Mike Beuttlers March in the 70's?
Can anyone remember all of them?

[Ray Bell]

All I know was that Jack Durlacher was a Swiss stockbroker and that he shored up the Seppi backing when Rob was running short and/or the cost of racing got too high for him.

[Eagle104]

There's a picture of Durlacher and Walker together timing Moss in '61. And as Rob's "racing partner", in 1968, he did pay for a Lotus49 that Colin provided after Rob "lost everything" ... first from a practice crash at the Race of Champions and, later, a fire that completely destroyed his shop. Even before these things happened BP, Rob's major backer, left the scene following the '67 season. That particular 49 was the one Clark used in the Tasman. Then, just before the British GP, Rob took delivery of a new 49B which Seppi won in.

[Racer.Demon]

Huw: the guys who initially backed Mike Beuttler in 1971 and 1972 were Ralph Clarke, David Mordaunt and Alistair Guthrie, before Jack Durlacher joined them for 1973. They fielded a (this might take a minute to read...) Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie-Durlacher March-Cosworth 731 for Egypt-born soldier boy Beuttler. Clarke and Mordaunt were London stockbrokers, so the link with Durlacher is plainly obvious. The two supported Beuttler since in his 1969 days in F3. Guthrie joined the team as they tried a serious hand at F2 in 1971, with March works support. A win at Vallelunga created his F1 break.

Beuttler is of course best known for being the journeyman driver to expose the shortcomings of Robin Herd's disastrous 'low polar moment' 721X design, which nearly destroyed Niki Lauda's F1 career before it properly got underway - and before he was able to return the huge loan with which he bankrolled the March works drive in the first place! The CMGD squad had the bright idea to upgrade a 722 F2 design to F1 spec (called the 721G), after which Beuttler managed to embarrassingly outpace Peterson and Lauda on many occasions. It caused March to ditch their revolutionary design and fit some Cossies in their 722s as well. After that, practically all following Marches were based on the F2 platform.

Here's a picture of Beuttler at his last Grand Prix: the 1973 US GP at the Glen.

http://www.forix.com...73/15015_8W.JPG

Cheers,
R.D

[Huw Jenjin]

Thanks for that, it brings it all back. I remember the team having a huge name.What was the link between Beuttler and these stockbrokers originally, ie why Mike Beuttler?
Once March got the 721G (G for what?)strung together, Ronnie managed some pretty good performances, notably the French at Clermont if I remember correctly.i don't remember Niki Lauda shining particularly in the car, or am i wrong about that?

[Don Capps]

The "G" was for "Guiness"since the 721G was produced in such a short time....

[Ray Bell]

I recall exciting looking pictures of them coming off the grid at Clermont Ferrand.
Don, if the G was for Guinness, what does the LG stand for in Hewlands?

[Don Capps]

Hewland LG = Large Gearbox... simple once you think about it!

[Roger Clark]

Originally posted by Don Capps
The "G" was for "Guiness"since the 721G was produced in such a short time....

Guiness Book of Records, not Ireland's greatest export

[Ray Bell]

And what about the FT in FT200?

[Huw Jenjin]

If G was guiness, then shouldn't LG have been a "large Guinness" and FT merely "Frothy Top"?

[Eagle104]

After seeing the Speedvision special about the life and times of Briggs Cunningham, and by all accounts therein, I'd like to add his name to the list. A passion and fierce determination coupled with a sincere good nature and respect for others is what was conveyed by the likes of John Fitch and the late Phil Walters, among others. Walters said, "He was the most decent man I ever met".

Eagle104

ps: I am the proud bearer of a piston that came from the 1953 Sebring winning Cunningham C4-R. Am I bragging?..you betchya!