65 replies to this topic

[ensign14]

It could sometimes backfire; when Louis Klemantaski was particularly taken by Roy Salvadori's on-the-limit cornering, he got a bit closer to the apex to get a better shot.  Which he did when Salvadori completely overcooked it and went flying off track.

 

Cue an angry Salvadori.  "What the bloody hell did you move for?  I was using you as my braking point."

[BRG]

Not just JYS.  Isn't there a photo of the Bear - Denny Hulme - angrily shaking a fist at an errant snapper?

[bradbury west]

Cue an angry Salvadori. "What the bloody hell did you move for? I was using you as my braking point."

Who was it who had the same problem when someone moved the stone from the edge of the track which he used as a brake point?
Roger Lund

[Tim Murray]

I suspect you’re thinking of Stuart Lewis-Evans, Roger. Here’s Graham Gauld’s story, from the Stuart Lewis-Evans thread:

However my favourite story of him is that his wife was always with him at race meetings and occasionally she would wander out on to the circuit during practice for the 500cc Formula 3 races then a stone would appear beside the track with a spot of white paint. Apparently Stuart would nod to his wife when he reached his braking point and she would place the stone. Eventually Ivor Bueb and some of the other racers twigged what was going on and so one of them went out after practice and moved the stone about 15 yards back from where it had been placed. In the race Stuart braked at the stone and everyone swept past him. Foiled. As Doug says, a truly nice guy but very determined racing driver.

[D-Type]

I suspect you’re thinking of Stuart Lewis-Evans, Roger. Here’s Graham Gauld’s story, from the Stuart Lewis-Evans thread:
 

Of course, in today's cuthroat world someone would move the stone nearer the corner ...

 

Edit:  I meant "stone" not "thread"  -  sorry

Edited by D-Type, 27 November 2020 - 20:13.

[Cirrus]

That reminds me of the story about a driver braking at the same stone on every lap. Eventually he overshot the corner and ended up in the straw bales.

 

...tuned out that the stone was a tortoise

[BRG]

Of course, in today's cuthroat world someone would move the thread nearer the corner ...

That might backfire.  I was once told that when you got to your braking point, you should count 1-2-3 before braking.

[Michael Ferner]

That reminds me of the story about a driver braking at the same stone on every lap. Eventually he overshot the corner and ended up in the straw bales.
 
...tuned out that the stone was a tortoise

Would love to see the lap times leading up to the accident... each one a little faster than the one before, I imagine, and then with the lap record already in sight - BANG!

[PayasYouRace]

I’ve been enjoying these little anecdotes. Hopefully not too modern for this, but I remember one about Jean Alesi using a shadow on the track as a braking point in a morning session. He then came to grief in the afternoon session as, predictably, the shadow had moved.

[Macca]

David Piper was racing his 250LM at the old Snetterton on a foggy day and using the fog bank at the end of the straight as his marker; after a few laps the fog bank moved and he wrote off the Ferrari against the bank.

 

Paul M 

[BiggestBuddyLazierFan]

No worries - I'm the same whenever I read a perceived slight about Moss!

I think enough of Fangio's modesty and sportsmanship to believe, all things considered, that he did indeed subtly and deliberately let teammates win their home races on occasion. And by the standards of today, of course he was a modest man - certainly far removed from the cocky/arrogant end of the spectrum, just maybe 90% modest instead of 100%! My original comment about most of the embellishment of Fangio stories coming from Fangio himself was based on the examples above combined with the fact I have never really heard anyone else feel the need to embellish a Fangio tale - the simple truth is usually sufficient to impress.

You mentioned teammates and home races. All in plural

Whom else did he let win his home race apart from Moss in 1955?

Edited by BiggestBuddyLazierFan, 27 November 2020 - 16:19.

[BiggestBuddyLazierFan]

I’ve been enjoying these little anecdotes. Hopefully not too modern for this, but I remember one about Jean Alesi using a shadow on the track as a braking point in a morning session. He then came to grief in the afternoon session as, predictably, the shadow had moved.

Well, although Alesi was slightly challenged. I am finding this hard to beleive.

Perhaps this belongs in Mandela Effect topic.

[Collombin]

You mentioned teammates and home races. All in plural

Whom else did he let win his home race apart from Moss in 1955?

I was thinking Kling at AVUS in 1954, but again no certainty one way or the other.

[Tim Murray]

Fangio tried very hard to let Fagioli win at Pescara in 1950, but Fagioli’s collapsed suspension and the rapidly closing Rosier meant he had to give up on the idea.

[RobertE]

Obviously, he shone in Europe from the outset, but do not discount the importance of the 

Peron regime, which sponsored him. Also Gonzales and Marimon, but not Galvez. 

[Collombin]

Fangio tried very hard to let Fagioli win at Pescara in 1950, but Fagioli’s collapsed suspension and the rapidly closing Rosier meant he had to give up on the idea.

I'm sensing a pattern here.