13 replies to this topic

[john winfield]

The weather and tyre choices had a major impact on this one. There was a pretty good entry and I remember it being an entertaining race, culminating in a popular win for Jean-Pierre Beltoise and the BRM P180. Here's a bit of footage from the Pathé site:

 

https://www.britishp...-AT/query/HATCH

[arttidesco]

Sadly the last victory for BRM and the only one for the fabulous P180 ;-)

[pete53]

The weather and tyre choices had a major impact on this one. There was a pretty good entry and I remember it being an entertaining race, culminating in a popular win for Jean-Pierre Beltoise and the BRM P180. Here's a bit of footage from the Pathé site:

 

https://www.britishp...-AT/query/HATCH

I have just checked and 16 pukka F1 cars started backed up by F5000s. There were works entries from Lotus, BRM, Surtees, McLaren and Brabham(MRD). Almost enough Forrmula One cars to warrant a race to themselves.

[68targa]

Yes, and no 'points to be won' or Championship at stake.  Just a race to see who was best on the day.

[BRG]

Yes, and no 'points to be won' or Championship at stake.  Just a race to see who was best on the day.

There might have been some cash involved too......

[MCS]

But no Tyrrell team.  When did they decide not to enter and why?  I forget, but was it perhaps something to do with safety?

[john winfield]

But no Tyrrell team.  When did they decide not to enter and why?  I forget, but was it perhaps something to do with safety?

 

No Tyrrell cars or drivers, but DSJ tells us that Ken was there, graciously wearing a John Player Team Lotus World Champions sticker on his coat!

It's a brief, interesting write-up in Motor Sport, reminding me that, apart from the pleasure of seeing Ronnie lead and JPB win, I enjoyed Jacques Coulon's surprise victory in the F3 race. He was quick too, a few months later, in the Thruxton F2 race. 

 

https://www.motorspo...victory-meeting

[Tim Murray]

The only explanation I could find for Tyrrell’s absence was this short snippet in Autosport for 7th September:

Ken Tyrrell will not be fielding a car for Jackie Stewart in the October Brands F1 race, as after the American Grand Prix the Tyrrell team will be fully occupied with building the new 007 car for 1973.

Sounds a pretty feeble excuse to me, but interesting that at that stage the next Tyrrell was designated 007 and not 006/2 as it eventually became.

While flicking through Autosport I came across these snippets relating to the race:

After the BARC had performed a superb job in organising the massive three-day international meeting at Brands Hatch last Sunday, clerk of the course Grahame White had to perform another unexpected duty at the end of the meeting, when someone stole his Lotus Europa course car. Grahame, noticing the Europa disappearing through South Bank Bend, jumped into a Cortina and caught up with the Europa. Grahame managed to catch the offender up and force him into the ditch, but when the offender was brought back to the pits for police questioning, he ran away, but was later recaptured in a Brands Hatch bar. Earlier in the day the same person had forced his way on to the back of the Brands Hatch Capri for a lap of honour with Frank Gardner after Gardner had won the Wiggins Teape Paperchase. What odd duties race organisers have to perform nowadays ...

Only 15,000 people turned out to watch last weekend’s big BARC-organised race meeting at Brands Hatch. The weather was, of course, a main hazard, but the entertainment in all races was superb. Many people missed an excellent meeting.

However, this sort of attendance cannot justify the amount of expense involved in promoting the meeting. MCD’s John Webb said on Tuesday: “I think there is going to have to be a savage reduction in the number of expensive meetings because the spectators can’t afford to pay for them”.

This was with basic admission being 50p on Friday and Saturday and a whopping £1.50 on the Sunday. I remember that as an impecunious student I decided that the expense of travel and admission fees was too great for me, so had to give it a miss. It does explain why the event was never repeated.

[john winfield]

Only 15,000 people turned out to watch last weekend’s big BARC-organised race meeting at Brands Hatch. The weather was, of course, a main hazard, but the entertainment in all races was superb. Many people missed an excellent meeting.

However, this sort of attendance cannot justify the amount of expense involved in promoting the meeting. MCD’s John Webb said on Tuesday: “I think there is going to have to be a savage reduction in the number of expensive meetings because the spectators can’t afford to pay for them”.

I suppose we can't blame John Webb - he did try and lay on some interesting meetings. And that year, just in England, there had been the Race of Champions, International Trophy, Gold Cup, Grand Prix and the Rothmans 50,000. And then the Victory Race. Plus four Formula 2 events, F5000, the BOAC 1000km etc.. We were very spoilt, particularly in the south east. (I do wish he hadn't dropped the 1000km in 1973....Matra versus Ferrari around Brands could have been superb. But the crowd in 1972, in good weather, was not large).

Does anybody here on TNF admit to having stolen that Europa? Must just check for photos of Frank Gardner on his victory lap.....

[Dave Ware]

No, all of the TNFers were at Clearways...

 

Perhaps it was Neil Horan early in his career.  From Wikipedia:

 

Cornelius "Neil" Horan, sometimes referred to as The Grand Prix Priest or The Dancing Priest (born 22 April 1947), is a laicised Irish Roman Catholic priest who is noted for his interference with the running of the 2003 British Grand Prix and the 2004 Summer Olympics men's marathon in order to promote his religious belief that the end of the world is near.

[Michael Ferner]

Oh shat, another end of the world is near! And I was just breathing a sigh of relief that all those nutty corona conspiracy lunatics need another job, soon...

[Tim Murray]

[pete53]

Only 15,000 people turned out to watch last weekend’s big BARC-organised race meeting at Brands Hatch. The weather was, of course, a main hazard, but the entertainment in all races was superb. Many people missed an excellent meeting.

However, this sort of attendance cannot justify the amount of expense involved in promoting the meeting. MCD’s John Webb said on Tuesday: “I think there is going to have to be a savage reduction in the number of expensive meetings because the spectators can’t afford to pay for them”.

I suppose we can't blame John Webb - he did try and lay on some interesting meetings. And that year, just in England, there had been the Race of Champions, International Trophy, Gold Cup, Grand Prix and the Rothmans 50,000. And then the Victory Race. Plus four Formula 2 events, F5000, the BOAC 1000km etc.. We were very spoilt, particularly in the south east. (I do wish he hadn't dropped the 1000km in 1973....Matra versus Ferrari around Brands could have been superb. But the crowd in 1972, in good weather, was not large).

Does anybody here on TNF admit to having stolen that Europa? Must just check for photos of Frank Gardner on his victory lap.....

Very true. We rather took it for granted in England that there would be a fine menu of International race meetings each season. And then you find it has all gone ....

[Sterzo]

The Race of Champions and International Trophy were brilliant warm-ups to the season. We accepted the entry would be thin because of the annual metal-workers' strike, but it didn't matter. I splashed out my £1.50 to attend the end of season races, but they had more of an anti-climactic feel, and Siffert's accident probably helped put us off them.