61 replies to this topic

[john winfield]

Anybody else like watching Ferraris leading the early laps of Grand Prix before it all goes pear-shaped? I hadn't seen this Movietone footage for a while: dodgy voiceover, factual errors, film clips out of sequence....but a delight nevertheless. I now have a little more sympathy for Dean Delamont, who was blamed for messing up the start. He does keep his flag up a bit too long, but half the field has anticipated its drop, Regazzoni has headed off for Copse and Ickx fills the space left by Clay to take second from the third row! Happy days....

 

[Barry Boor]

Ah yes, I clearly remember when Dave Walker stole Reine Wissel's helmet. lol

[john winfield]

Ah yes, I clearly remember when Dave Walker stole Reine Wissel's helmet. lol

Indeed!

And didn't Jo Siffert's BRM have problems with its coil, rather than its cowl? And the reference to Graham Hill's accident seemed odd. The crash had been in 1969, Hill had participated in a British GP since, and had even won an F1 race at Silverstone!

[Allan Lupton]

Ah high speed Silverstone as we remember it and cars with visible competition numbers.

Truly nostalgia isn't what it was.

[2F-001]

I had a memorable day out with my father at that race.

And while we are correcting gaffes in the voiceover… that was surely not 'Alex Soler-Roig' (March, yellow helmet) but Nanni Galli, wasn't it?

[john winfield]

I had a memorable day out with my father at that race.

And while we are correcting gaffes in the voiceover… that was surely not 'Alex Soler-Roig' (March, yellow helmet) but Nanni Galli, wasn't it?

You're right! I didn't even spot that one and I was there too. Soler-Roig raced earlier in the season but that is Galli.

It interests me that Movietone could make mistakes like those of Soler-Roig and Dave Walker. I realise that Movietone were non-specialist and working quickly to have these short films ready for the cinema, but even so. Much of the script is accurate, but the Soler-Roig and Walker errors must stem from the production team using data from the season's earlier Grand Prix, with nobody checking the accuracy. It wouldn't have taken much to get hold of the official entry lists. The press office let this 13 year old have dozens of the official 'Woolmark' practice and results sheets, so I'm sure they would have given a couple to Movietone!

[Slurp1955]

This was my first Grand Prix, and courtesy of my mate's Dad we had tickets on the start/finish line on the outside of Woodcote. Jackie Oliver rammed Hill's Brabham on the Grid and Oliver's McLaren was pushed into the pit lane entrance  to clear Woodcote by the end of the lap. All well and good until Dave Charlton arrived in the pit lane to retire at the end of lap 2, and swerved back on to the racing line to avoid it. Quite an exciting introduction to Grand Prix for 16 year-old Steve and me

[john winfield]

This was my first Grand Prix, and courtesy of my mate's Dad we had tickets on the start/finish line on the outside of Woodcote. Jackie Oliver rammed Hill's Brabham on the Grid and Oliver's McLaren was pushed into the pit lane entrance  to clear Woodcote by the end of the lap. All well and good until Dave Charlton arrived in the pit lane to retire at the end of lap 2, and swerved back on to the racing line to avoid it. Quite an exciting introduction to Grand Prix for 16 year-old Steve and me

Good job the leaders weren't closing on Charlton's tail!

 

I felt sorry for Dave C. That was his first European GP and there he is, trailing smoke from the very start.

[Slurp1955]

Absolutely John, we could have ended up with Regga sat on our laps ! Great days tho' wandering around the Paddock and actually chatting to the drivers. At one point we were in the Ferrari garage having a really close look at those 312B2s, still one of my favourite Formula 1 machines   

Edited by Slurp1955, 27 September 2016 - 10:39.

[john winfield]

Absolutely John, we could have ended up with Regga sat on our laps ! Great days tho' wandering around the Paddock and actually chatting to the drivers. At one point we were in the Ferrari garage having a really close look at those 312Bs, still one of my favourite Formula 1 machines   

Yes, those Silverstone Ferraris, with the front deflectors, looked very smart. I was there for the whole weekend, enjoying the paddock, walking the circuit, watching the race from Stowe. Good F3 races too. We had a tent, but I can't remember whether that year the campsite was right near the circuit or across the road.But I do associate the weekend with Tami Lynn on the radio. 

[Slurp1955]

My all time favourite Ferrari is the previous year's 312B, but I think (and I stand to be corrected, here of all places) that was the only appearance of those deflectors on the 312B2 at any race. In the Paddock, we chatted to Jackie Oliver (wished him luck!), Jackie Ickx and Henri Pescarolo (in grammar school franglais), amongst others - Henri remains a hero, sad to hear of his health problems lately, JohnP

[JacnGille]

Great video

[mariner]

I am sorry but I've watched that video and another Sliverstone GP paddock one from 1972 or 1973 and there is something I don't understand.

 

People appear to be walking around the paddock and standing right next to the  actual racing cars being prepared and mechanics seem to be driving them around in front of those people.

 

Some of the spectators also seem to be ordinay people

 

Im not sure how to explain that to my children who follow F1 on TV.

Edited by mariner, 27 September 2016 - 18:30.

[David Lawson]

I spent the whole weekend at Silverstone for this grand prix, we arrived in the Morris Minor on Wednesday afternoon and camped in the field opposite the main gate to the circuit until Saturday evening. We wandered freely in the paddock and the pit roof during all the F1 practice sessions, walked the circuit during the various support races practice sessions and watched the race from the Woodcote grandstand. A great few days and got very sunburnt as well.

 

David

[john aston]

My first GP and second F1 race. We stood at Becketts and as I hadn't slept for 36 hours I fell asleep  mid race. Only three memories of the British Woolmark Grand Prix(sexy sponsor eh ?)  - sight and sound of two screaming Ferraris, stuck in car park till gone 8pm and being overtaken by a yellow GT 40 on M1 en route home. Still the fastest moving car I have ever seen on a public road - 150? More?  

[Dick Dastardly]

My 1st GP [my 2nd experience of F1, having been at Oulton Park on Good Friday for the non-championship race]....Aged 17, I hitch-hiked down from Cumbria and camped in the field opposite the main entrance. Got Ronnie Peterson's autograph on my program [which I've still got somewhere]. Thoroughly enjoyed walking through the paddock, mingling with drivers and mechanics etc.....I helped push Peter Hull's white F3 Brabham [I think, but stand corrected] in the paddock. I watched the GP from Club, saw the Ferraris leading then once Sir JYS took the lead, that was it....

The variety of support races helped make it an occasion....supporting races for the main British championships...Shell / Motor Sport F3, British Saloon Cars etc....When I attended the 2003 Champ Car Race at Brands, supporting races there brought back memories of early 70s British GP meetings.... 

[Charlieman]

Only three memories of the British Woolmark Grand Prix(sexy sponsor eh ?)

Maybe not a very sexy sponsor but a very sensible deal. At the time, Woolmark was a trademark owned by the International Wool Secretariat (IWS) which promoted the interests of sheep farmers in NZ, Australia and former colonial Africa. IWS lobbied for rights to sell wool products in the UK (a controlled market) and Europe; sponsoring the British GP showed that IWS had ambitions.

 

Five of the 24 drivers at the 1971 British GP came from IWS member nations. 18 other drivers came from European countries that mattered to IWS. Just think how many people in F1 in the 1960s and 1970s had connections with sheep farming...

 

Disclaimer: I did some research for IWS in the 1980s.

[john aston]

Ewe certainly  know your stuff; and you had the good grace not to ram your points home . Did William Woollard do the race commentary ? 

[pete53]

Looking at Silverstone then compared to now you wouldn't know it was the same place.

 

I do remember there was some derogatory comments in the motoring press at the time about the distance of the race - only 68 laps compared to the 84 laps of 1969,when the event had last been at Silverstone.

[charles r]

Proper cars, proper drivers, proper racing. She(a)er enjoyment.

Edited by charles r, 30 September 2016 - 16:50.

[JacnGille]

Proper cars, proper drivers, proper racing. She(a)er enjoyment.

Sing It Brother!

[Charlieman]

Ewe certainly  know your stuff; and you had the good grace not to ram your points home . Did William Woollard do the race commentary ? 

Baah. I almost feel sheepish.

[David Lawson]

 

A snap I took of the almost deserted paddock on the Wednesday evening as Team Lotus prepared their cars.

 

I can't quote posts since the software update but responding to John Aston's comment in post 15 about the screaming Ferraris being his memory of this grand prix, My vivid memory is of standing next to the Lotus 56B with the whistling turbine engine in the paddock on the Wednesday evening when they fired it up and gave it a run up and down the runway in the middle of the circuit. I also remember in practice as the 56B when the car was running on its own with almost no sound apart from the rasp from the tyres as Wissel ran over the kerbs.

 

David

[David Lawson]

 

Pete53 in post 19 said that you wouldn't think Silverstone is the same place nowadays compared to the original layout.

 

My photo of Peter Gethin on the Hangar Straight illustrates that, with the crops in the infield, you almost felt like you were out in the country at this point of the circuit - sadly nowadays this straight has all sorts of buildings cluttering up either side of the track and has the feel of an industrial estate.

 

David

[B Squared]

Neat photo of a favorite car - well, actually two. Thanks for posting.

I got to see the Lotus 56 at the Speedway in 1968 during practice, qualifying and race (thanks Dad & Mom), but the 56B has always fascinated me; would have liked to have seen it run like that too.

[john winfield]

Neat photo of a favorite car - well, actually two. Thanks for posting.

I got to see the Lotus 56 at the Speedway in 1968 during practice, qualifying and race (thanks Dad & Mom), but the 56B has always fascinated me; would have liked to have seen it run like that too.

Brian, I was thirteen at the time of this Grand Prix, and I had never seen (or heard) anything like the 56B before. In practice it whooshed quietly around, with a heat haze hovering over the rear end, and I seem to remember Wisell driving it very smoothly. Presumably you had to!
I'm glad it raced, and that I saw it, but am also happy that the rest of the field were raucous Ferraris, BRMs, Matras, Cosworths etc!  Also, the Lotus looked a bit cumbersome compared to the others, probably due to all four wheels being the same size.

[MCS]

Once upon a time there was variety, which made everything - and anything, for that matter - so much more interesting...

[Slurp1955]

I remember Wisell whistling around in the 56B, right to the end of the race. Plenty of time to take it in too, as by then he'd been lapped 11 times and was unclassified in 13th place

[B Squared]

The view I had of Joe Leonard's more impressive outing at Indianapolis. This shows the car taking off on the parade/pace laps. Al Unser in the Lola 4wd turbo Ford went off sixth. I'd not like having a full field of turbines, but the whoosh intermixed with the Offys and Fords was pretty amazing. Sorry for the side note.

[E1pix]

Very entertaining video, Thanks for posting it, John!

From the comments above, it appears the production company got some things wrong... but at least the engine notes are authentic Kent 1600s! ;-)

Great stuff regardless of our pedantry. :-)

[Odseybod]

Did someone mention the whistling Wisell?

 

 

 

[David Lawson]

 

A lovely shot of Joe Leonard on the warm up lap Brian (post 29), turbine Indianapolis cars were so close to victory in both the 1967 and 68 "500" weren't they. While we are talking turbines rather than just the 1971 British Grand Prix here is another photo I took of 56B on the Thursday or Friday, now ready for Wisell and with its Silverstone race numbers on it rather than the Zandvoort numbers as in my picture taken on the Wednesday evening.

 

David

[foxyracer]

Here's a pic of Emerson...

 

https://postimg.cc/image/4ckm38s77/

Edited by foxyracer, 05 October 2016 - 12:22.

[E1pix]

TNF to the rescue again, I never knew any turbine ever ran in F1!

[bill p]

TNF to the rescue again, I never knew any turbine ever ran in F1!

 

Hi E1pix 

 

Check, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_56   

 

Bill P

Edited by bill p, 05 October 2016 - 13:47.

[2F-001]

That Wikipedia entry is a bit misleading on one point: at the 1971 International Trophy the 56B did indeed retire very early in Heat One, but Emerson had put it on the front row of the grid and in the Heat Two came through from the very back of the field to finish third. Yes, there were some retirements but he overhauled a good few F1s plus the likes of Hailwood and Gardner in F5000s (in a 26 lap race) which I thought at the time was a decent performance for both car and driver.

Edited by 2F-001, 05 October 2016 - 14:02.

[E1pix]

Hi E1pix

Check, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_56

Bill P

Thanks Bill, great info.

Sad to realize the early demise of all who drove the Indy version. :-(

(Edit: Love your 'guna avatar, by the way!)

Edited by E1pix, 05 October 2016 - 14:27.

[Tim Murray]

The 56B was also entered for Dave Walker at the non-championship Rhein-Pokalrennen at Hockenheim in June 1971, alongside 72s for Reine Wisell and Tony Trimmer. After going very well in first practice the 56B then had a serious engine problem, so Walker took over Trimmer's 72 leaving poor old Tony without a drive.

[2F-001]

I think it ran again at Hockenheim, with Emerson the wheel, (in what I assumed was essentially an F5000 race) finishing second to Frank Gardner's Lola T300 (or 330?) - can't remember other details.

[B Squared]

Joe Leonard gave it its first road course outing at Riverside in December 1968 in the final Indy Car race of the season. He qualified third - Pollard qualified another 56 in 10th. Mario relieved Leonard around lap 60 in attempting to clinch the championship and crashed both cars out within a few laps, if I remember correctly.

[Tim Murray]

I think it ran again at Hockenheim, with Emerson the wheel, (in what I assumed was essentially an F5000 race) finishing second to Frank Gardner's Lola T300 (or 330?) - can't remember other details.

Spot on, Tony - I'd forgotten that one:

http://www.oldracing...php?RaceID=E71N

[bill p]

(Edit: Love your 'guna avatar, by the way!)

O/T apologies....

E1pix, after 550 posts you're the first to notice my wife's mascot at Laguna Seca!

Regards, Bill P

[E1pix]

It's a gift. ;-)

[2F-001]

Bill's avatar pic was lost on me, despite having visited the place some years ago - with my mother; there was some sort of race school event taking place, I think.
After Mum died earlier this year (mown down by someone cycling on the sidewalk) I found, in the bottom of one of her handbags, a ancient till receipt from the souvenir shop at Laguna Seca - so despite not having seen racing there, it has an odd, but special, place in my heart.

[2F-001]

Spot on, Tony - I'd forgotten that one:

http://www.oldracing...php?RaceID=E71N

Something's amiss with those results - Emerson's heat times don't add up to his 'total' time for the event.

[Tim Murray]

Looks like a possible mistranscription somewhere along the line. The event results in Autosport give Fittipaldi's aggregate time for the two heats as 1hr 0min 39.0sec, which fits with the times for each heat in the ORC results.

[E1pix]

Bill's avatar pic was lost on me, despite having visited the place some years ago - with my mother; there was some sort of race school event taking place, I think.After Mum died earlier this year (mown down by someone cycling on the sidewalk) I found, in the bottom of one of her handbags, a ancient till receipt from the souvenir shop at Laguna Seca - so despite not having seen racing there, it has an odd, but special, place in my heart.

Very sorry for your loss, 2F.

[David Lawson]

 

Definitely my last photograph of the 56B as we have veered away from the 1971 British Grand Prix. I took this very poor quality slide at the car's debut in F1 spec at the 1971 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch. Fittipaldi drove, the track was very greasy but the Brands undulations caused a suspension failure. At this stage the pannier tanks haven't been added as the race wasn't run to the longer grand prix mileage.

 

David

 

PS - I promise this is the last of my Box Brownie pictures of the turbine.

[2F-001]

Thank you, E1pix. It's not been easy; I've been preoccupied with looking after my father and I don't know if I'm coping well - or if I haven't really begun grieving yet…


Anyway - back on topic (sort of): I'd forgotten, or perhaps never realised, that the 56B ran at Brands without the bulbous extra fuel tankage. It's altogether more attractive like that, isn't it.

I recall Michael Oliver's excellent talk on the 56 a while back and wonder if, in time, a more 'permanent' project might ensue from all that research. Michael?

Edited by 2F-001, 06 October 2016 - 08:02.

[2F-001]

Was is in the wake of Stewart's dominant performance in the '71 GP that there were a few dark suggestions of Tyrrell running an oversized engine?