46 replies to this topic

[Gary Grant]

Nothing is happening here so here's a quick quiz for you all if you're interested. I don't have nearly the amount of knowledge of most posters here so if these are all too easy then sorry, but coming up with the questions killed another 10 minutes before I can go home!

1. Which driver drove for McLaren, Ferrari, Williams and Lotus in what were, for him, 4 consecutive races?

2. At which Grand Prix did the red and amber start lights come on, but not the green - the drivers having to time when they took the start themselves?

3. Which former F1 driver later became a European Truck racing champion?

4. Which team did Bernie Ecclestone buy over breakfast for £30,000 in 1972?

5. Which future F1 driver stole a tyre from a Mini parked directly outside a police station in order to get to a F3 race?

[MrAerodynamicist]

Originally posted by Gary Grant
but coming up with the questions killed another 10 minutes before I can go home!

Wasting NHS time? I [don't yet] pay good taxes for you to work

4 - Brabham?

[Tech_Nut]

5 questions - 4 (wild?) guesses:

1: Emmerson Fittipaldi
2: No idea
3: Drummer for Abba? - Don't know his name
4: Brabham
5: Damon Hill

Not sure about question 1. You sure you don't mean consecutive seasons and not races?


TN

[Gary Grant]

MrA, I'm only 'on call', and bugger all is happening. The problem is that while I can have accomodation here (Tameside, Ashton-Under-Lyne), I prefer to sleep in my own bed when I can, and that's in Manchester. At 2am I'm free to go.
And we all know you don't pay taxes. Bloody students.;) (says someone who did a 5-year course)

Oh, and '4. Brabham' is wrong. Nice try though.

[Gary Grant]

Tech Nut - fraid you have 4 of those wrong (1 is sort of right)...and yes, I do mean consecutive RACES.

Good try though. Hmmm..maybe this is harder than I thought!

[fines]

1 Jacky Ickx (1973/4)

[fines]

2 French GP 1981 (???)

[fines]

3 'Slim' Borgudd

[Gary Grant]

Congratulations Fines, you are correct on 1 and 3 (as was Tech_Nut, who couldn't remember Borgudd's name), but not 2. A clue for 2 may be in the choice of words 'Grand Prix'.......

[Tech_Nut]

4 questions and 4 wrong answers huh? I see. The shame of it all. Thank God for anonymity.

Well, I should point out that it's been a long day and it's now 5 past midnight, and I'm tired and shagged out after a long pub-crawl that started early afternoon.... which I hope explains it all. Also, I dumped my large collection of old Autocourse annuals 2 years ago........ they would have helped me right now.

Now going to have a large mug of cocoa and a sulk, and then bed.

TN

(You can lead a Yak to water, but you can't teach an old dog to make a silk purse out of a pig-in-a-poke.)

[Ali_G]

2. 77 Spanish GP
5. Mansell.

Niall

[Gary Grant]

Niall, sorry but those aren't right either.....

Tech_Nut - don't be so hard on yourself - you got Borgudd (even if you couldn't quite remember his name), and looking at it again - maybe this is quite a hard quiz. Wonder how long it'll be before all 5 are answered correctly?

[Ali_G]

I've got it this time

5. James Hunt

Niall

[Gary Grant]

Keep trying Niall - if you list every F1 driver ever you might just get it.;)

[Ali_G]

I've acctually heard this question before.

just can't remember the ans.

Niall

[fines]

4 Alan McCall Team Tui (?)

[Gary Grant]

Sorry Michael....not right either!

I'm beginning to enjoy this! Can't believe I've had TNF flummoxed for so long.

[fines]

4 Eifelland

[fines]

2 Belgian GP 1983

[Gary Grant]

4. Eifelland...is the right answer. Well done! (But the Belgian Gp isn't....red and amber lights, red AND amber lights....)

Just 2 and 5 to get then......can they do it b4 I go home?

[fines]

2 Spanish GP 1995

[Gary Grant]

I love your perseverance but not right either! Here's a clue - I said 'Grand Prix', not 'F1' as in every other question.... And the drivers timed the start themselves. And this is The Nostalgia Forum.... Can't really help you much more than that!

[fines]

Just looked it up and the green light did indeed NOT come on at the start of the '95 Spanish GP! With the satisfactory knowledge that at least I wasn't wrong after all I'm heading off into bed :yawn: Good night!

[Gary Grant]

Even though fines has gone to bed:-
1. The red AND AMBER didn't come on at that race
2. The drivers did not time themselves off the grid either

So, that's why his answer is wrong.
Anyone else? 30 more minutes before I can end this tedium and legitimately go home!

[William Dale Jr]

2. 1938 German GP?

[LB]

I would guess 5 is Eddie Irvine but its a guess.
2 I'm thinking movie....

[Gary Grant]

And out of nowhere William Dale Jr gets the right answer! 1938 German Gp is right....Well done!

Sorry LB, much though I'd like to credit a fellow Scotsman, Irvine ain't right. One more question for y'all to get - and 21 minutes b4 I leave....

ps This has been an amazingly popular thread...should I run it again (say once a week?). Tell me what you think.

[William Dale Jr]

Gee, I feel bad for fines now, all that effort, all those tries

[fines]

Thanx for the consy remarks, Willy!

[to Gary] But I don't understand this! Starting lights at the 1938 German GP?

[William Dale Jr]

Perhaps I can explain. I don't actually know why lights were used to start the race, but my trusty "Shell History of Motorsport" video, which contains footage of many GP's before 1951, has footage of the race.

The cars were lined up on the grid as the red light came on, followed by the amber, followed by a long, long pause. The starter in the tower frantically pressed the button to change the light, but the light was not changing.

Eventually the cars pulled away from the grid without the light changing, but the expression on the face of the starter is priceless

[bobbo]

Gary:

This was neat! Do it again, sometime soon????? Please????

Bobbo

P. S.

Try some questions from the '50's & '60's! I LOVE that era!!

[Gary Grant]

Thanks Bob, I will....
However - there's still one more question from this lot that nobody has got right yet....

1. Which driver drove for McLaren, Ferrari, Williams and Lotus in what were, for him, 4 consecutive races?
Jacky Ickx (fines)
2. At which Grand Prix did the red and amber start lights come on, but not the green - the drivers having to time when they took the start themselves?
1938 German GP (William Dale Jr)
3. Which former F1 driver later became a European Truck racing champion?
Slim Borgudd (fines/Tech nut)
4. Which team did Bernie Ecclestone buy over breakfast for £30,000 in 1972?
Eifelland (fines)
5. Which future F1 driver stole a tyre from a Mini parked directly outside a police station in order to get to a F3 race?
????

I know that at least 1 TNF regular should know the answer to that last one.
fines, Starting lights were employed at that race as, of course, that was the Nazi era, and everything at the track had to be seen to be the model of efficiency. The green light was scheduled to come on 20 seconds after the amber, but did not. Alfred Neubauer assisted the front-running Mercedes drivers by doing a finger count down to 10 seconds to go, when the drivers selected first gear. They then timed the 10 seconds themselves, and of they went...

[William Dale Jr]

Just a shot in the dark, but:

5. Derek Warwick?

[Wolf]

Seeing Minis had 12" rims... What eas the tyre for- personal transportation or F3 car?

A real stab in the dark:

'Arry Schell (Topollino had 12" rims as well, IIRC)

[Gary Grant]

Sorry chaps....

The tyre was for a trailer, but good reasoning Wolf (only thing is, I think Schell died within only a few months of the Mini being launched). The only clue I can give is that maybe I should have said 'gendarmerie' rather than police station....

[Zawed]

Not Depailler is it?

[LB]

OK
Alain Prost ; JP Jarier; JP Jabouille; Jacques Lafitte; Didier Pironi; Jean Alesi; Rene Arnoux; Patrick Tambay; Phillippe Alliot; Jean Pierre Beltoise; Eric Bernard; Francois Cevert, Phillippe Favre; Yannick Dalmas; Eric Comas;Olivier Groullaird; Guy Ligier; Olivier Panis; Phillippe Strieff i'm struggling now... er Jean Paul Belmondo..

[Zawed]

Ah, covering your bases I see...;)

[Gary Grant]

*shakes head sadly*

Well, you are right with 1 of those LB, but for suggesting Behra (who definitely was dead before the Mini was launched) I refuse to say any more on principle.

[LB]

Originally posted by Gary Grant
*shakes head sadly*

Well, you are right with 1 of those LB, but for suggesting Behra (who definitely was dead before the Mini was launched) I refuse to say any more on principle.

oops

I'm not a walking encyclopedia I was shocked I knew that many Frenchmen... will rectify..

[tombe]

Francois Migault.

Tom

[FLB]

Gary, shall I?;)

The funniest thing, of course, is that he did it more than once!

[Gary Grant]

I suspected FLB might know this one.;) (Anyone still in doubt need only look at his avatar).

As he correctly points out, this was not the only time that Cevert stole a wheel in his impecunious racer days! This instance occurred in Chamonix - after trailing the town in vain for a Mini (the only cars with tyres that would fit the trailer) he discovered that the only example to be found was parked directly outside a busy police station - with a policeman stationed outside.

"I couldn't see myself taking the wheel off under the very eyes of the policeman", Francois later explained "But eventually I went up to the car and found that the boot was not locked and inside it: a spare wheel. I just took the spare wheel while the policeman watched me, closed the boot, and left...."

For those of you morally outraged by this - Cevert did later send a cheque for 150 francs to the police station - although it took a friend's persuasion for him to do so!

On another occasion, the Mini required was parked two yards from a Spanish hotel's sleeping night watchman. Perhaps FC felt some camaraderie because the Mini's owners were French! Anyhow both rear wheels were removed as the watchman slept...
"Whenever a nut creaked we stopped with beating heart, staring at the blissful face of the night watchman" Cevert said, "The owners must have been pleased the next morning. 'Spanish Bastards' they must have thought..."

(all info from the highly recommended 'A Contract with Death')

Well, there's an end to my little quiz....
1. Which driver drove for McLaren, Ferrari, Williams and Lotus in what were, for him, 4 consecutive races?
Jacky Ickx (fines)
2. At which Grand Prix did the red and amber start lights come on, but not the green - the drivers having to time when they took the start themselves?
1938 German GP (William Dale Jr)
3. Which former F1 driver later became a European Truck racing champion?
Slim Borgudd (fines/Tech nut)
4. Which team did Bernie Ecclestone buy over breakfast for £30,000 in 1972?
Eifelland (fines)
5. Which future F1 driver stole a tyre from a Mini parked directly outside a police station in order to get to a F3 race?
Francois Cevert (FLB)

And to think this all started because I was bored! Thanks to everyone who tried to answer; hope nobody's been annoyed at this largely pointless thread taking up space in TNF! I may do another one sometime - and see if I can beat 60 hours before all the questions are answered correctly...

[Wolf]

MORE! MORE! MORE!

I prolly will be as ignorant as always, but am looking forward to Your next sequel of this quiz.

[bobbo]

. . .didn't know that FCevert was such a rascal! I met him at the Glen in'71 ('72?? Brain fade, you know) and thought he was a rather humble soul.

[Gary Grant]

In fairness bobbo, he stole out of necessity - his parents didn't condone his racing career and withdrew all contact, leaving him somewhat 'impecunious' to say the least. Still, its part of what made him such an interesting character...

What were your impressions on meeting him? How long did you speak to him for? I'm very interested (and very jealous! ) because he is one of my favourite all time drivers.

Wolf, I have a few interesting/tricky-ish questions lined up and I think I'll repeat this exercise very soon, if only because it keeps me amused.;) I hope people don't mind me hijacking TNF but:-
(i) All the questions are about past motorsport
and (ii) I have designed the questions so that they tell an interesting story (like the Cevert one).
Watch this space!

[bobbo]

Gary:

Meeting Francois: Just in the Pit/Garage area, He was talking to a handful of fans at the time. I said about10 words to him, he was polite, looked me in the eye - don't find THAT often these days- and gave me a simple straightforward answer. For the life of me I can't remember the question! (Still can't remember whether it was '71 or 72, either!! #%*$$^%*#@&!! grey cells!)

OVerall: Quizzes and other stuff (especially the twists & turns of so many of the threads !) are what makes TNF the gold mine it is! I evenenjoy the arguing back & forth. HElps me learn. And THAT'S what it's all about!

Bobbo