12 replies to this topic

[Charlieman]

Source, Autocar report for Swedish GP 1976

 

"First round of Marlboro-Goodyear pit stop contest was held between RAM-Tissot Brabham (Lorris Kessel) and March (Vittorio Brambilla). £250 went to Kessel's crew when the March jack collapsed and subsequently broke!"

 

Were there any others?

[Rob Ryder]

At the Dutch GP at Zandvoort, Tyrrell took on JPS-Lotus. No idea who won.



Photo from REVS Digital Library...

[AJCee]

Surely Eric and Ernie must have won for McLaren?

 

 

Edited by AJCee, 05 July 2019 - 08:25.

[blackmme]

Surely a built in handicap for Tyrrell given that looks very much like a P34!

Regards Mike

[Michael Ferner]

Where are the Brooklands handicapper when you need 'em?

[Blue6ix]

This is quite fascinating event as always when such events are being held!

 

However, what was the fastest timed pit stop during the 1970s?

 

Towards the end years of 1970s they maybe were even shown in TV even though by very rare occasion.

 

Ferrari had dubbed to have been performed the fastest of the decade style pit stop to either Gilles Villeneuve or Jody Scheckter or maybe even to Niki Lauda during the years of 1977-1979 which was either exactly 10 seconds or just barely under it.

 

Usually stops in the 1970s were very much longer, mainly 20-40 seconds and longer stops for a 1 or even 2 minutes weren't that uncommon or even considered to be a poor stops unless made by the very top teams and tyre stops were fastened only by in the mid 1970s because of the different methods of cross-treading the nuts to the wheels or having a smaller, more nimbler wheel guns designated for a faster tyre changes, if I'm not terribly mistaken.

 

Anything less amount of time, say 15 seconds or under it was considered as a success. Like when certain Mr. Caldwell had that amazing pit stop trunking for a certain Briton who also had a understandable miscommunication and some ruffian going for his team boss in finish, because he thought he lost his championship.

 

Though pit stop time in 1970s just like in the early 1980s were depending on many things.

 

Like when changing only one tyre, two tyres or all four tyres or even more in case of Tyrrell P34 and whenever the refuelling was necessary to be performed or not. Usually it wasn't, but exceptions were made many times during that decade and by extreme circumtances, even in the mid-race or towards the end of the race when necessary.

 

Most usually it was only a top-up stop for fuel and nothing more even though by times it could have been slow rather than fast because fuel flow speed in churn and in the pump-up towards the nozzle fuel breather wasn't designed to for such a quick thing?

 

And if it was fast, then I think the refuelling stop was only made to have that precise amount of fuel just to finish the race.

 

Even though by the end of the 1970s, fuel consumption were on a rise and sometimes there was even longer fuel stops and even in very extrerme cases (Only in turbo cars, when having only one main fuel tank instead of many smaller fuel tanks and maybe some overpowered engine cars like Alfa Romeo or Brabham-Alfa Romeo or similiar.) maybe two fuel stop per race because the fuel just simply wasn't going to last either as per a failure in the feed or just miscalculated amount of fuel to finish the race or have a competitive run for the race.

Edited by Blue6ix, 04 July 2019 - 17:19.

[AJCee]

I seem to recall the Lotus team giving a demonstration in the tv studio for the BBC Sports Review of the Year in 1978. I think the time was around 12 seconds?

 

 

Edited by AJCee, 05 July 2019 - 08:24.

[Vitesse2]

There was also unofficial competition between the German GP teams in the 1930s. Tyre changing was apparently part of the programme during Auto Union's demonstration runs - I know of at least two occasions when they showed their expertise in 1939. And here's a Mercedes Benz mechanic - I think it may be Erwin Grupp - doing a tyre change at the Berlin Motor Show in 1939. This was shown live on German television.

 

[Michael Ferner]

This was shown live on German television.

... and watched by all twenty-two people who had access to a TV screen in them days!

[Vitesse2]

... and watched by all twenty-two people who had access to a TV screen in them days!

Oh, indeed. Very few Germans had their own TV sets, but there were also public 'viewing rooms' around Berlin to which the picture was transmitted by cable.

[Michael Ferner]

Cable TV in '39! Who would've thought!!

[Vitesse2]

They even had what we would today call videophones!

 

 

https://www.earlytel...man_prewar.html

[AJCee]

Without wanting to go off on too many tangents, the Renault team demonstrating how not to do it:

 

Edited by AJCee, 09 July 2019 - 08:26.