14 replies to this topic

[nmansellfan]

Apologies if this topic has come up before, I couldn't find anything similar when searching the forum.

 

Reading Moss's Wikipedia entry the other day (which I am well aware may contain inaccuracies!), there is mention of the races with contemporary machinery (outside of historic racing which he maintained a presence in for 40+ years) he entered in the years following his Goodwood shunt.  I know he entered the BSCC in an Audi 80 in '79 and '80, but I wasn't aware of the other one off races such as the Benson and Hedges 500 ATCC race he drove in with Denny Hulme in 1979 in a VW Golf GTI. 

 

What other races did he enter in modern machinery after '62 and how did he fare?

[Gary Davies]

Well, can you say he started in the 1976 Bathurst 1000 with Jack Brabham? Perhaps not. The Torana, in Brabham's hand failed to leave the line. But SM was entered!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[D-Type]

He shared a SAAB with Eric Carlsson in the 1965 East African Safari, but after various problems the pair failed to finish.

Edited by D-Type, 10 April 2014 - 14:16.

[Mallory Dan]

nmf, the BSCC Audis were 80 and 81. The first round of the 80 series got a much larger crowd than normal as a result of his presence. Freezing cold and miserable day at MP in March 

[Doug Nye]

Team Audi...

Biggest mistake he ever made - other than agreeing to drive the BRM V16.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 10 April 2014 - 22:15.

[Eric Dunsdon]

Team Audi...

Biggest mistake he ever made - other than agreeing to drive the BRM V16.

DCN

The G Type ERA was an even bigger mistake!.

[nmansellfan]

Cheers for the replies guys, and thanks for the correction on his BSCC campaign Mallory Dan.

 

I recall reading once that the Audi 80 was Moss's first encounter of slicks and his style was never really suited to them (plus FWD as well) but during a wet practice session he got the car very near the top of the list in amongst the SD1's and Capri's of the larger capacity classes - where and when did it happen or is this something i've misread somewhere?

[Catalina Park]

Well, can you say he started in the 1976 Bathurst 1000 with Jack Brabham? Perhaps not. The Torana, in Brabham's hand failed to leave the line. But SM was entered!

Moss did get out in the car after it received lengthy repairs but the motor gave up.

http://youtu.be/qF7Rm1dsnoA?t=3m28s

Edited by Catalina Park, 11 April 2014 - 08:40.

[kayemod]

Team Audi...

Biggest mistake he ever made...
DCN

 

The Boy knows the value of a pound. I know he's been quoted along those very lines, but I'd say that the magnitude of any "mistake" depended to a large extent on what Audi were paying him.

[Doug Nye]

Actually, while 'fifty quid' would always attract SM's full attention, all he ever really sought was a competitive and reliable racing car which offered advantage...

DCN

[StanN]

In the book Racing and All That by Stirling Moss and Mike Hailwood, published in 1980, Stirling writes about his early experiences with saloon car racing. The first race he mentions is a race at Pukekohe in 1979 with Denny Hulme, racing a 1.6 litre VW Golf GTI. He writes about the fact that slicks were banned helped him make up his mind to race at the event. They finished 50 seconds behind the winner after blowing a front tyre and then having to change both front wheels late in the race. He says he thoroughly enjoyed the experience and resolved to fix a regular drive for 1980. 

He writes about the earlier 1980 races in the Audi 80 GLE that seems to be fraught with problems, persistent throttle cable breakages and clutch failures. He certainly wasn't enamored by the driving standards in the BSCC series and complains about being chopped by larger engined overtaking cars and then them getting in his way in the corners, a general lack of race ethics with much pushing and shoving than he was used to. The change to slicks and front wheel drive meant he had to change his driving technique but, at the time of writing he was looking forward to the 1981 season.

I remember Stirling doing demonstration laps in, I believe, a borrowed Maserati at Shannonville, Canada at a VARAC meeting in the mid 80s, where I attended as a vintage bike racer when we were invited as a support class at the event.

Stan

[nicanary]

God knows what he'd think of the present BTCC and its "standards" !

[BRG]

..all he ever really sought was a competitive and reliable racing car which offered advantage...

DCN

Which kind of begs the question of why he would have chosen to race FWD saloon car in a lower capacity class? Surely he could have raced pretty well anything he wanted to - there must have been people who would have jumped at the chance to have SM in their car.  So why not return to sportscars or Gp5?  Clearly, he had done with single seaters for good but a Porsche 935 or something would perhaps have been a possibility? 

[Glengavel]

In the book Racing and All That by Stirling Moss and Mike Hailwood, published in 1980, Stirling writes about his early experiences with saloon car racing. The first race he mentions is a race at Pukekohe in 1979 with Denny Hulme, racing a 1.6 litre VW Golf GTI. He writes about the fact that slicks were banned helped him make up his mind to race at the event. They finished 50 seconds behind the winner after blowing a front tyre and then having to change both front wheels late in the race. He says he thoroughly enjoyed the experience and resolved to fix a regular drive for 1980. 

He writes about the earlier 1980 races in the Audi 80 GLE that seems to be fraught with problems, persistent throttle cable breakages and clutch failures. He certainly wasn't enamored by the driving standards in the BSCC series and complains about being chopped by larger engined overtaking cars and then them getting in his way in the corners, a general lack of race ethics with much pushing and shoving than he was used to. The change to slicks and front wheel drive meant he had to change his driving technique but, at the time of writing he was looking forward to the 1981 season.

I remember Stirling doing demonstration laps in, I believe, a borrowed Maserati at Shannonville, Canada at a VARAC meeting in the mid 80s, where I attended as a vintage bike racer when we were invited as a support class at the event.

Stan

 

I remember seeing one of the races on television and Moss being interviewed after, and his forthright views on his fellow competitors' tactics.

[nmansellfan]

Which kind of begs the question of why he would have chosen to race FWD saloon car in a lower capacity class? Surely he could have raced pretty well anything he wanted to - there must have been people who would have jumped at the chance to have SM in their car.  So why not return to sportscars or Gp5?  Clearly, he had done with single seaters for good but a Porsche 935 or something would perhaps have been a possibility? 

I've wondered that too - maybe he was averse to driving something with downforce as well as slicks?  Doesn't explain why he wouldn't have chosen to drive a Rover SD1 or 3 litre Capri instead of the Audi in the BSCC though, but maybe the opportunities just weren't there.