81 replies to this topic

[Paul Taylor]

ANY information on these will be useful, even identifying the car model or the circuit. We've been sitting on these for some time with no idea of who/what/where and have exhausted all other forms of research.

 

Note: ALL ID'd photos have been removed from this post. 

 

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T.S. Fotheringham, Bugatti T54, when he lost a wheel at Brooklands. Any idea of year or race?

 

Michael Herman, Brands Hatch.  Seems to be a 500. A Mike Herman is listed on some race results at Brands in the early 1960s, but I can't find anything else. Any ideas?

 

 

Lady driver Bronwyn Burrell crashed in practice for a clubman's meeting at Brands Hatch. The meeting was held on Sun 13th Sept. 1964, she crashed on Friday 11th. She's on Facebook, but I'd respectfully prefer to not message her about this unfortunate incident. It was recounted by herself here, with no further details given: http://motorsport.sp...ronwyn-burrell/

 

The car/it's class would be very helpful, as would any further details.

 

 

 

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Barry Black is thrown out of his vintage car at Brands Hatch. It was dated 11/07/1966. On 10/07/1966 there was also a Clubman's race: http://www.progcover...rands660710.jpg

 

Any details, particularly the vehicle, will be welcome:

 

 

 

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Final one from Brands...Rick Richardson is the driver, the year, 1966, the circuit, Brands Hatch. No further details given:

 

 

 

What we know: Labelled "Lister Jaguar". 

 

 

 

 

What we know: Maybe not a British incident, but it was pictured on the front of "Motor Racing In Safety" by Michael Henderson, published in 1968: http://www.tddejong....osport/3175.jpg

 

 

What we know: Probably 1959. Car is a Peerless GT, reg. no. URK 803. Can't do any better than that. Someone has suggested it might be Albert Gay.

 

What we know: Firey incident at Goodwood sometime in the early-1960s. We suspect it may be Joe Hicks' fatal crash in 1962 but we're not sure.

 

 

 

What we know: And finally...Labelled "Rescue workers after an accident at Castle Combe Racing Circuit, 2 September 1992". We know nothing more.

 

Edited by Paul Taylor, 17 January 2017 - 18:28.

[Tim Murray]

What we know: Beltoise at the 1974 British GP. Did he break down in practice?

According to the late AH in Motoring News, Beltoise had a number of problems during practice. These included ignition failure after only two laps of practice on Thursday, plus other unspecified problems. On the Friday he was 'only seventeenth quickest after he was stranded out at the back with electrical failure'. This sounds to be the most likely occasion for the photo to be taken.

[Allan Lupton]

 

What we know: From Getty. Labelled Dublin, Ireland - 19th Sept 1932. 

That is a 1929 Lea-Francis TT Hyper

According to Barrie Price ("The Lea-Francis Story") that must be 14141, the car formerly owned by J Allan Arnold. F.A. Gannon drove it at Phoenix Park in 1932 "but, whilst in third place in an amateur event, the car caught fire. Fortunately, the damage was not extensive."

Edited by Allan Lupton, 31 March 2016 - 10:27.

[pete53]

The David Piper Ferrari accident was September 9th 1967 during the BARC National Holts Trophy meeting - South Tower Corner.

 

The rolled E-type may well be J.R.Woodbridge who rolled his car at the Esses, Snetterton, May 14th 1967.

 

Reference: Contemporary Autosport reports.

Edited by pete53, 30 March 2016 - 14:21.

[Tim Murray]

What we know: Chevron, Donington Park, 1990. There was a 25th anniversary of Chevron race meeting there in July 1990 but I have no record of events/race results. Clearly says 23/7/1990 on the photo (bottom right hand corner)

This is probably the incident recorded by Marcus Pye in Autosport: 'Bernt Anderson was lucky to escape unharmed when his B16 hit the wall and erupted into flames at the Old Hairpin.'

There are no other mentions of any incidents which might match the photo.

[pete53]

I don't think the sequence of photos with the firey accident at Goodwood involved Jo Hicks. Apparently his fatal accident occured at Woodcote. This scene looks as if it was taken around the back of the circuit, probably St.Marys, going by the commentators box.

[Paul Parker]

The pic labelled Lister Jaguar looks like a D type Jaguar to me, the passenger hatch panel is missing, the curved body side and no door unlike a Lister, could this be OKV 3 after Martin Morris' Snetterton shunt circa early 1970s when it was owned by John Melvile-Smith if I recall correctly.

[Tim Murray]

What we know: And finally...Labelled "Rescue workers after an accident at Castle Combe Racing Circuit, 2 September 1992". We know nothing more.

I don't think this date is correct. 2 September 1992 was a Wednesday, and the size of the crowd in the photo means that it has to have been taken at a race meeting.

[Paul Parker]

I don't think this date is correct. 2 September 1992 was a Wednesday, and the size of the crowd in the photo means that it has to have been taken at a race meeting.

 

Forgot to mention the drop down rear panel for the spare tyre, another D type feature.

[Paul Parker]

Forgot to mention the drop down rear panel for the spare tyre, another D type feature.

 

Sorry Tim I was posting to myself I thought!

[Collombin]

I don't think this date is correct. 2 September 1992 was a Wednesday, and the size of the crowd in the photo means that it has to have been taken at a race meeting.

Presumably the August Bank Holiday event, although if so I would have been spectating at that very corner, but it doesn't ring any bells - maybe it wasn't as serious an incident as it looks.

[Vitesse2]

That is a 1929 Lea-Francis TT Hyper

According to Barrie Price ("The Lea-Francis Story") that must be 14141, the car formerly owned by J Allan Arnold. F.A. Gannon drove it at Phoenix Park in 1932 "but, whilst in third place in an amateur event, the car caught fire. Fortunately, the damage was not extensuve."

Date is correct. The race was called the Senior Fifty and was a handicap for cars over 1100cc. Incident occurred at Mountjoy Corner.

[alansart]

 

What we know: Featured in the Havoc series, 1981/2 at Silverstone. Apparently a Brazilian driver, who immediately returned home never to race again. Can't seem to find a record of who he was.

 

Ducados is a Spanish Cigarette so I guess it's Spain rather than Brazil. Antonio Albacate was sponsored by them.

[bradbury west]

The rear panel on the car of Whitehead at Mallory looks a bit Ginetta G4-ish from the lights. Also Ginetta had their own wheel centre design so there may be a clue there.
Roger Lund

[Garsted]

Picture number 4 (car 57) is a Lotus 7 (no prizes for spotting that !)  There is a copy of the book Motor Racing Safety for sale on ebay, which shows the page from the book where the photo is captioned.  Unfortunately, apart from confirming the incident was at Mallory park, and that the driver escaped with chest and arm injuries, it sheds no further light on it.  The photo credit appears to be David S Lowndes.

 

Steve

[Roger Clark]

In the last of the Fiery incident photos, the number of the stricken car appears to be 1B.  I know of no such number used in a Goodwood race.

[D-Type]

The pic labelled Lister Jaguar looks like a D type Jaguar to me, the passenger hatch panel is missing, the curved body side and no door unlike a Lister, could this be OKV 3 after Martin Morris' Snetterton shunt circa early 1970s when it was owned by John Melvile-Smith if I recall correctly.

I can confirm that it is NOT Tony Dennis's fatal accident at Goodwood.

Edited by D-Type, 30 March 2016 - 19:56.

[Vitesse2]

In the last of the Fiery incident photos, the number of the stricken car appears to be 1B.  I know of no such number used in a Goodwood race.

750 MC Birkett Relay at Snetterton, perhaps?

[Roger Clark]

750 MC Birkett Relay at Snetterton, perhaps?

 

 

Could be.  I wondered about the Shell signs in the background.

[Allan Lupton]

750 MC Birkett Relay at Snetterton, perhaps?

With numbers like that and the general look of the track and ambulance, I'd agree it is 750MC Six Hour Relay (later named after Holly Birkett) which was held at Silverstone in those days,

[bradbury west]

Allan, I agree. The marshalls' tower looks like the one at Maggotts on the approach to the tight rt hander onto the club straight. I will check early 60s 6hr programmes.
Roger Lund

[LittleBertha]

What is the rear suspension on the Mk1 Cortina? - looks very different to standard 

[LittleChris]

Presumably the August Bank Holiday event, although if so I would have been spectating at that very corner, but it doesn't ring any bells - maybe it wasn't as serious an incident as it looks.

Could it be the Ian McArdell accident - October 92 ?

[2F-001]

If the "Whitehead" pic is Mallory, I think that could be a short circuit meeting from the shape and scale of the road — which might narrow down the possibilities a little.

[bradbury west]

Fiery shot at Silverstone could be  1960 when 1B was R Wrenn in a Lotus 17 for the Mixed Climax team, or 1961  the Fury Team with Brenda Dickinson in a 1098cc Lola, both sports racers, but the wobbly webs go with the 17 bodywork I suspect. If the Mini is carrying a no34 it is part of the Downton team, and the Eleven behind is probably Evangelista's car for Club Lotus Climax. My interest in that race was Team 5. These old programmes make wonderful reading.

Roger Lund

 

BTW We never hear about the 4 and 5 hour relays at Oulton Park, nor the Aston Martin 4 hour at Silverstone in the 60s.

[bradbury west]

If the Mallory car is a G4 then TNFer Geoff Butcher, H4887 ?  might know.

RL

[Paul Taylor]

Excellent stuff so far guys   The FF1600 and FF2000 crashes have now been identified elsewhere (will tackle those later in this post).

 

Re: Whitehead/Mallory - are we certain the circuit has been labelled correctly? As 2F-001 says, it would have to be using the oval circuit rather than the 'long' circuit to see a corner of that radius. I would have otherwise guessed it was Clearways at Brands. 

 

LittleChris - Re: Castle Combe '92, McArdell has been discounted, because that happened on Farm Straight on the approach to Old Paddock, and this is at Quarry Corner. My friend remembered there was a lady spectator hit by a Formula Ford tyre at Quarry one year and wondered whether this was it. She wasn't badly injured, he says...

 

Re: The FF2000 crash, we've managed to identify it as Martin Boyle in the BBC Grandstand Winter Series, although we're not sure what year. It can't be the one held in late-1986 because that had multi nationalities and this five-race series was purely for British drivers. If you click the following link, you can see a video of it: 

 

Alansart - One of my fellow researchers has consulted the Heroes of FF1600 page on Facebook and have found a post regarding the incident. It's now been ID'd as Manuel Angel 'Michel' Lopez at Silverstone in 1983. According to someone who ran him in his native Portugal, he won his first race on his 16th birthday in 1982, bought the Lola and then wrecked it in this shunt five days later. This picture was attached:

 

[Paul Taylor]

The pic labelled Lister Jaguar looks like a D type Jaguar to me, the passenger hatch panel is missing, the curved body side and no door unlike a Lister, could this be OKV 3 after Martin Morris' Snetterton shunt circa early 1970s when it was owned by John Melvile-Smith if I recall correctly.

 

I would say not, the policemen/gentleman on the left would suggest it was early-1960s, perhaps earlier.

[pete53]

The inverted Lotus Cortina I think would be that of Richard Burton who raced such a car around 1965-1966 including a few BTCC races. I don't know on which circuit, or date, this unfortunate incident took place.

[Vitesse2]

The inverted Lotus Cortina I think would be that of Richard Burton who raced such a car around 1965-1966 including a few BTCC races. I don't know on which circuit, or date, this unfortunate incident took place.

The only event he shows up in on Frank de Jong's site is Crystal Palace in 1966. But as #74. Is anyone else reading the Cortina's race number as 215?

[nexfast]

 

Alansart - One of my fellow researchers has consulted the Heroes of FF1600 page on Facebook and have found a post regarding the incident. It's now been ID'd as Manuel Angel 'Michel' Lopez at Silverstone in 1983. According to someone who ran him in his native Portugal, he won his first race on his 16th birthday in 1982, bought the Lola and then wrecked it in this shunt five days later. This picture was attached:

 

Just for the record Michel Lopez is not Portuguese but Spanish.

Edited by nexfast, 31 March 2016 - 22:53.

[Bill Becketts]

Excellent stuff so far guys   The FF1600 and FF2000 crashes have now been identified elsewhere (will tackle those later in this post).

 

Re: Whitehead/Mallory - are we certain the circuit has been labelled correctly? As 2F-001 says, it would have to be using the oval circuit rather than the 'long' circuit to see a corner of that radius. I would have otherwise guessed it was Clearways at Brands. 

 

LittleChris - Re: Castle Combe '92, McArdell has been discounted, because that happened on Farm Straight on the approach to Old Paddock, and this is at Quarry Corner. My friend remembered there was a lady spectator hit by a Formula Ford tyre at Quarry one year and wondered whether this was it. She wasn't badly injured, he says...

 

Re: The FF2000 crash, we've managed to identify it as Martin Boyle in the BBC Grandstand Winter Series, although we're not sure what year. It can't be the one held in late-1986 because that had multi nationalities and this five-race series was purely for British drivers. If you click the following link, you can see a video of it: 

 

Alansart - One of my fellow researchers has consulted the Heroes of FF1600 page on Facebook and have found a post regarding the incident. It's now been ID'd as Manuel Angel 'Michel' Lopez at Silverstone in 1983. According to someone who ran him in his native Portugal, he won his first race on his 16th birthday in 1982, bought the Lola and then wrecked it in this shunt five days later. This picture was attached:

From memory Lopez had the misfortune of having his Mother in the Woodcote Grandstands and after the accident she took him straight back to Spain, never to be seen again.

 

I also remember a meeting at Combe where an errant Wheel did hit a lady in the early 90s and the Ambulance was scrambled trackside to take her to the Med Centre

[Michael Ferner]

What have we learned today? When going motor racing, leave your mothers at home!

Michel Lopez, almost World Champion 1988, and many times thereafter.

[h4887]

 

ANY information on these will be useful, even identifying the car model or the circuit. We've been sitting on these for some time with no idea of who/what/where and have exhausted all other forms of research.

 

Note: Some of these are thumbnails so click on them if they look tiny. Also, some of these are potentially serious crashes.

 

 

What we know: Labelled "Whitehead, Mallory Park"

 

This was Mike Whitehead, who was sadly killed in this accident in 1964 at Mallory. No other car was involved but he was described as 'driving erratically' ... He is one of only two I know to have died in a Ginetta on the track. I would be interested to know where you came across this photo?

[Vitesse2]

That fatal accident isn't listed on Motorsport Memorial, Geoff. And consulting Ancestry suggests that rather than 1964 it was in June 1965, when there's a Michael Whitehead, aged 22, whose death was registered at Leicester.

[Carl R.S.]

That fatal accident isn't listed on Motorsport Memorial, Geoff. And consulting Ancestry suggests that rather than 1964 it was in June 1965, when there's a Michael Whitehead, aged 22, whose death was registered at Leicester.

 

 

This accident happened at the B.A.R.C. meeting held at Mallory Park on 28th March 1965.

 

From Autosport - 2nd April 1965;

“The only serious incident occurred in practice when M. Whitehead (Ginetta-Ford) struck the retaining barrier coming out of Devils Elbow and was thrown out when the car overturned. He suffered serious injuries and was taken to Leicester Hospital.”

[Paul Taylor]

Apologies for my quietness, I've been in Spain for the past week. Discovering the Whitehead crash was fatal is a rather significant find, especially considering it wasn't listed on MMORG. Good work.

 

Since last week, some additional info has come to light with some of the other crashes.

 

Firstly, the E-Type crash into the bank at Snetterton occurred in April 1963 and was by a driver called "D. Howard". Any idea on the event or the full driver's name?

 

Secondly, some additional photos of the Burton crash have come to light. It seems it was at Brands Hatch in 1966 and the driver's name was Richard Burton. Any further details of this? See pictures below:

 

 

 

[pete53]

The E-type is David Howard. The incident happened at the BRSCC meeting at Snetterton on 28th April 1963. Howard escaped injury apparently.

[Vitesse2]

Whitehead apparently succumbed to his injuries some time later, which is probably why Motorsport Memorial missed it: http://forums.autosp...62#entry7494076 Might not even have been reported by the specialist press?

 

On further research on Frank's site, 215 looks to be a legitimate number for a Brands Hatch race, although it's not apparently a BSCC round. Big crowd though.

[Paul Taylor]

Whitehead apparently succumbed to his injuries some time later, which is probably why Motorsport Memorial missed it: http://forums.autosp...62#entry7494076 Might not even have been reported by the specialist press?

 

On further research on Frank's site, 215 looks to be a legitimate number for a Brands Hatch race, although it's not apparently a BSCC round. Big crowd though.

 

I just found a very brief obituary for "Michael Whitehead, 22" in The Times, April 14th 1966 saying he crashed in practice at Mallory on 28 March and succumbed "yesterday" (ie. 13th April). Nothing else was added.

 

Another stock photo site gave a date of 30th May 1966 for the Burton. Motorcycles were racing all day that day, but the previous day this was going on and so presumably happened during one of the events here:

 

Edited by Paul Taylor, 07 April 2016 - 23:18.

[Tim Murray]

I've checked the report of that meeting in Autosport and there's no mention of this incident. The race it could have occurred in was the last race of the day for saloon cars over 1,000cc, won by Doc Merfield in the Fraud Cortina 4.7 litre. Race numbers in the hundreds obviously featured, as there's a photo of John Markey's Emery GT wearing #147.

[Paul Taylor]

Thanks for checking Tim. Perhaps the race programme itself would be of use, if anyone has a copy? Although surely the date is wrong - I just found "R. Burton" racing at Crystal Palace in a Ford Cortina #74 on 30th May 1966 here: http://touringcarrac...tal Palace.html So, Burton's crash must have been an earlier or later event. 

 

n.B. Jimmy Clark raced a #215 Cortina at the Guards Trophy in 1966 but it was a different car.

 

h4887 - I missed your earlier question re: the Whitehead picture, they were published in L'automobile Magazine of August 1973. The article title: "Sans mal mais pas sans peur'. I don't have the magazine, someone supplied me with the photos some ten years ago. Also depicted was Bobby Bell's crash at Brands in 1966, Leif Hallgren at Crystal Palace and Bev Bond at Karlskoga.

[h4887]

h4887 - I missed your earlier question re: the Whitehead picture, they were published in L'automobile Magazine of August 1973. The article title: "Sans mal mais pas sans peur'. I don't have the magazine, someone supplied me with the photos some ten years ago. Also depicted was Bobby Bell's crash at Brands in 1966, Leif Hallgren at Crystal Palace and Bev Bond at Karlskoga.

Thanks Paul. It was apparently a Belgian magazine, and the picture was used for a time on the cover of the magazine of the original (short-lived) Ginetta Owners' Club, until it was realised that Mike Whitehead had died.

 

Incidentally the Motorsport Memorial site has also missed the only other person I know to have died in a Ginetta, Ronnie Woods, who was killed in his G15 in the Silverstone 6 hr Relay on 26 October 1985. I had the misfortune to witness this accident.

Edited by h4887, 08 April 2016 - 19:54.

[Paul Taylor]

A few more X-Pics from the stock photos sites.

 

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Lady driver Bronwyn Burrell crashed in practice for a clubman's meeting at Brands Hatch. The meeting was held on Sun 13th Sept. 1964, she crashed on Friday 11th. She's on Facebook, but I'd respectfully prefer to not message her about this unfortunate incident. It was recounted by herself here, with no further details given: http://motorsport.sp...ronwyn-burrell/

 

The car/it's class would be very helpful, as would any further details.

 

 

 

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Barry Black is thrown out of his vintage car at Brands Hatch. It was dated 11/07/1966. On 10/07/1966 there was also a Clubman's race: http://www.progcover...rands660710.jpg

 

Any details, particularly the vehicle, will be welcome:

 

 

 

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Final one from Brands...Rick Richardson is the driver, the year, 1966, the circuit, Brands Hatch. No further details given:

 

[Tim Murray]

Barry Black is thrown out of his vintage car at Brands Hatch. It was dated 11/07/1966. On 10/07/1966 there was also a Clubman's race: http://www.progcover...rands660710.jpg
 
Any details, particularly the vehicle, will be welcome:
 

There's no mention of this incident in Nick Maskrey's report of the meeting in Autosport. The race in which it occurred was almost certainly a ten-lap handicap for MG cars, as the cars in the photo would have been very out of place in any of the other races on the programme. So the car has to be some type of MG. Over to the MG experts.

[pete53]

There's no mention of this incident in Nick Maskrey's report of the meeting in Autosport. The race in which it occurred was almost certainly a ten-lap handicap for MG cars, as the cars in the photo would have been very out of place in any of the other races on the programme. So the car has to be some type of MG. Over to the MG experts.

No mention in Motoring News either.

[Allan Lupton]

 

Barry Black is thrown out of his vintage car at Brands Hatch. It was dated 11/07/1966. On 10/07/1966 there was also a Clubman's race: http://www.progcover...rands660710.jpg

 

Any details, particularly the vehicle, will be welcome:

That looks like an MG TC, so a pedant he say not just not Vintage but post-war!

 

As it was an MGCarClub meeting it would have been the race for MG T types which always featured in their programmes. The inverted car wears the combination of original-size front wheels and 650 × 16 back wheels that was fashionable at the time, but still has the swept front wings which real racers did not have. (as can be seen on the car behind ).

By the time I was involved with MGCC races (mid 1970s), Barry Black was not a competitor, and this accident may be why!

 

ETA I am assuming the programme cover and the photo refer to the same meeting. The photo date is, of course, a Monday, so may be the processing date as they wouldn't have raced on a Monday in July.

Edited by Allan Lupton, 23 April 2016 - 09:22.

[Doug Nye]

The unfortunate Ms Burrell's accident seems to have been suffered in a Cooper from the shape of the roll-over structure and dash panel. The late-generation Dunlop tyre tread pattern is certainly 1964-65ish - 'R7'?

 

DCN

[Peter Morley]

The unfortunate Ms Burrell's accident seems to have been suffered in a Cooper from the shape of the roll-over structure and dash panel. The late-generation Dunlop tyre tread pattern is certainly 1964-65ish - 'R7'?

 

DCN

 

Looks to be a Formula Junior T59 but Junior had stopped by 1964.

[Paul Taylor]

Peter - That would be fine as it was Clubman event rather than an official championship race. I don't have a full biography, but it seems that Bron Burrell had abandoned circuit racing in favour of rallying by the end of the 1960s.

 

Thanks Allan, I think the identification as an MG TC should be enough to satisfy the ID