419 replies to this topic

[JHSingo]

I'm someone who often spends some of my free time trailing YouTube to find old/unusual racing content (what else is a guy to do during lockdown?  ), and thought it might be an idea to have a thread to share things that we find. Could be races from an old/defunct series, a documentary, interview or anything vaguely racing related that you think is interesting enough to share! 

 

I found something last night I'd like to share to get the ball rolling. I was reminiscing about A1GP a bit, and discovered the YouTube channel of somebody who has uploaded every qualifying session and race from the first three seasons - before, y'know, they introduced that Ferrari chassis and everything promptly went to sh*t. 

 

https://www.youtube....r2008/playlists

 

You can even start from the very beginning - the first round, held at Brands Hatch. Look at that crowd! A young guy called Nelson Piquet Jr starts both races from pole position. 

 

 

Thought it might be interesting for anyone who currently has an abundance of free time and wanted to remember what was a cool racing series. Can somebody please bring back A1GP? Ideally with those lovely Lola Zyteks. 

 

[krapmeister]

I was at Brands that day, sitting on the hill above Graham Hill Bend 

 

I remember there was such enthusiasm for A1GP at the beginning, shame it all petered out - though I guess the Sheik saw the writing on the wall and bailed even before season 2 was done.

Edited by krapmeister, 03 February 2021 - 12:36.

[PayasYouRace]

Didn’t those Lolas end up as the AutoGP cars or some other alternate single seater series that nobody actually knows or cares about?

Anyway, this is a great idea and there are a couple of races that I’d like to share too. I’ll see if I can find them.

[Imperial]

Didn’t those Lolas end up as the AutoGP cars or some other alternate single seater series that nobody actually knows or cares about?
 

 

Any article in Autosport magazine that ever covered defunct series always uses the stock line of "The chassis are all now in the middle-east", yet they never seem to know what they are doing there. Is there loads of awesome racing over there that none of us know about?

[Frood]

Didn’t those Lolas end up as the AutoGP cars or some other alternate single seater series that nobody actually knows or cares about?

Anyway, this is a great idea and there are a couple of races that I’d like to share too. I’ll see if I can find them.

Yes, the Lolas ended up as AutoGP cars. The Ferraris ended up in South Africa as part of an African racing series that never happened, I think?

[FirstnameLastname]

https://youtu.be/9U_K76vPGYo

(Don’t know if someone could please edit this to embed the video?)

[FirstnameLastname]

I'm someone who often spends some of my free time trailing YouTube to find old/unusual racing content (what else is a guy to do during lockdown? ), and thought it might be an idea to have a thread to share things that we find. Could be races from an old/defunct series, a documentary, interview or anything vaguely racing related that you think is interesting enough to share!

I found something last night I'd like to share to get the ball rolling. I was reminiscing about A1GP a bit, and discovered the YouTube channel of somebody who has uploaded every qualifying session and race from the first three seasons - before, y'know, they introduced that Ferrari chassis and everything promptly went to sh*t.

https://www.youtube....r2008/playlists

You can even start from the very beginning - the first round, held at Brands Hatch. Look at that crowd! A young guy called Nelson Piquet Jr starts both races from pole position.

https://www.youtube....h?v=XNERJbiCaGM

Thought it might be interesting for anyone who currently has an abundance of free time and wanted to remember what was a cool racing series. Can somebody please bring back A1GP? Ideally with those lovely Lola Zyteks.

A1GP looks awesome there doesn’t it... and I did like the idea of it. The more motorsport out there, the better. A shame a lot of series vanish

[JHSingo]

https://youtu.be/9U_K76vPGYo

(Don’t know if someone could please edit this to embed the video?)

 

Here you go:

 

[balage06]

Didn’t those Lolas end up as the AutoGP cars or some other alternate single seater series that nobody actually knows or cares about?

 

It wasn't that bad, probably the only exciting finish I've seen in Marrakech

 

[JHSingo]

Didn’t those Lolas end up as the AutoGP cars or some other alternate single seater series that nobody actually knows or cares about?

 

They definitely seem to have had a rich and varied life, in various guises. According to that Autosport article about Grosjean, he won the AutoGP championship at one time - which I must confess had rather slipped my mind. 

 

I remember that they seemed to provide good racing in the A1GP days, although the Lola spares department must have been kept busy with the amount of accident damage at times...probably partly explains why Lola didn't survive much longer than A1GP! 

 

If I had my way, I'd turn Formula E into a A1GP-esque series. Although I'd miss those Zytek V8s. 

[William Hunt]

They definitely seem to have had a rich and varied life, in various guises. According to that Autosport article about Grosjean, he won the AutoGP championship at one time - which I must confess had rather slipped my mind. 

 

Those cars were also used in the Formula Acceleration 1 series (Felix Rosenqvist even drove in it), which was the follow-up to Auto GP and used the concept of A1 Grand Prix, that only lasted 1 season unfortunately:

https://en.wikipedia...ration_1_season

Edited by William Hunt, 03 February 2021 - 15:08.

[balage06]

According to that Autosport article about Grosjean, he won the AutoGP championship at one time - which I must confess had rather slipped my mind.

 

It was quite a story, DAMS had an available seat in their third car that year, which was eventually taken by Grosjean mid-season and he ended up winning the championship as a stand-in. At the time, DAMS was truly struggling with the setup of their GP2 car and team manager Eric Boullier had this idea that after spending the year as one of the Dallara factory test drivers, maybe Grosjean can help team-favorite Jerome d'Ambrosio to improve the car's behavior. The rest is history...

Edited by balage06, 03 February 2021 - 15:14.

[Viryfan]

It was quite a story, DAMS had an available seat in their third car that year, which was eventually taken by Grosjean mid-season and he ended up winning the championship as a stand-in. At the time, DAMS was truly struggling with the setup of their GP2 car and team manager Eric Boullier had this idea that after spending the year as one of the Dallara factory test drivers, maybe Grosjean can help team-favorite Jerome d'Ambrosio to improve the car's behavior. The rest is history...

 

Eric Bouiller was at Renault and Gravity.

 

Grosjean's seat was paid by prize money from race wins.

 

Grosjean was Ford GT driver before that.

 

Then Grosjean got lucky when Ho Pin Tung injured his back colliding with Bianchi in Budapest after Grosjean's outing in Hockenheim.

Edited by Viryfan, 03 February 2021 - 15:19.

[balage06]

Oh yeah, I thought Boullier was appointed a year later, but still he was the one making the decision. The rest of it checks out though. Ho Pin Tung eventually recovered, but never got his seat back, so that 'got lucky' part is a bit of a stretch. That Hockenheim drive was promising already, I remember him overtaking his way into the points from last on the grid, just to collide with Maldonado.  

Edited by balage06, 03 February 2021 - 15:42.

[messy]

I enjoyed A1 Grand Prix but when it first came out I wanted to dislike it because as a kid I saw it as a threat to F1 and worried that having two top line single seater series covering similar ground would take away from F1 somehow. Ha-ha ha. What a dumbass.

I kinda see it as the precursor to Formula E somehow, in the tracks I guess and where it slotted into the Motorsport world, rather than any actual similarities.

[Viryfan]

Oh yeah, I thought Boullier was appointed a year later, but still he was the one making the decision. The rest of it checks out though. Ho Pin Tung eventually recovered, but never got his seat back, so that 'got lucky' part is a bit of a stretch. That Hockenheim drive was promising already, I remember him overtaking his way into the points from last on the grid, just to collide with Maldonado.  

 

yes bouiller was calling the shots as the head of gravity which in turn paid the seat for dams drivers.

 

when i say lucky, it's that you have no warranty that an opportunity will arise again, planets aligned together at the right time.

Edited by Viryfan, 03 February 2021 - 16:25.

[TomNokoe]

 

I said, "Look, my friend ..."

[Dan333SP]

The Zyteks in those A1GP cars were fantastic. Sounded much nicer than the larger displacement Ferrari V8 that followed in the 2nd gen car, and even than the Panoz/Elan V12 in the Superleague Formula cars from around the same era. 

[Risil]

SCCA American Cities Racing League @ Firebird Raceway, Arizona (1992)

 

 

Team Las Vegas! Team San Diego! Ford Pinto engines!

[PayasYouRace]

So how did Jaguar market it's brand new supercar, the XJ220, in the US in 1993?

 

Obviously with a one-make, elimination based race series for over 50s on a short oval.

 

 

Fastmasters was an actual thing. If you ever wanted to see the likes of NASCAR stars Bobby Allison and Dick Trickle or past Indy 500 winners such as Troy Ruttman smash expensive British supercars up around Indianapolis Raceway Park, this is the series for you.

 

Later races used the roval course.

 

 

Bobby Unser, Brian Redman, Parnelli Jones, David Hobbs, et al must have been wondering what they were doing driving these things round such a small track.

[LucaP]

SCCA American Cities Racing League @ Firebird Raceway, Arizona (1992)



Team Las Vegas! Team San Diego! Ford Pinto engines!

Really nice find.
Seeing the 90s camera quality and the sunny day makes me feel 5 again.

But my god Firebird is such a featureless track ahah. I just knew the name from Senna's Cart test.

[Bleu]

10-minute highlights of Japanese Formula 30000 finale in 1996:

 

[balage06]

Highlights from the complete 1998 FIA GT Championship season:

https://www.youtube....aMMqwIj_GiY-mYy

[FirstnameLastname]

I enjoyed A1 Grand Prix but when it first came out I wanted to dislike it because as a kid I saw it as a threat to F1 and worried that having two top line single seater series covering similar ground would take away from F1 somehow. Ha-ha ha. What a dumbass.

I kinda see it as the precursor to Formula E somehow, in the tracks I guess and where it slotted into the Motorsport world, rather than any actual similarities.

Remember the attempts to launch ‘Premier 1’ where the teams would be based on football teams and race in their colours. I always thought that was a precursor to A1GP but they never actually held a race.

[balage06]

Remember the attempts to launch ‘Premier 1’ where the teams would be based on football teams and race in their colours. I always thought that was a precursor to A1GP but they never actually held a race.

 

Eventually, it came alive as Superleague Formula, but imho the whole concept was utterly pointless, I wasn't surprised it died out so quickly.

[Stephane]

The racing was great, i loved it. 

 

But yeah, the first question i got was "i don't understand the concept with football, how this it work ?". My answer was always the same, " i don' know, don't care, racing is great, sound is amazing, it's fast". But yeah, the concept was a turn off for so many people, the marketing of the thing was totally off.

 

But it was streamed live for free on their website. And that was great.

Edited by Stephane, 04 February 2021 - 10:00.

[Loosenut]

A1 GP, Premier 1..

I always had the feeling that Bernie was watching and giggling at all the fanfare and ultimate flop of these would-be rival series. Wouldn't surprise me if he made some made some cash out of it somehow aswell!

[absinthedude]

Premier 1 or whatever they called it was a non-starter. But A1GP based on national teams could have succeeded. The cars looked a bit like they were designed with visuals in mind rather than performance but went quick enough. It attracted some truly decent drivers and raced on decent tracks which weren't able to host F1. I'm not sure fans really got round the idea of it being nation rather than driver based though....people who talked about it were interested in the drivers who won races rather than which country was leading the "points". But it was a genuinely interesting series which had a chance. 

[Izzyeviel]

So how did Jaguar market it's brand new supercar, the XJ220, in the US in 1993?

 

Obviously with a one-make, elimination based race series for over 50s on a short oval.

 

 

Fastmasters was an actual thing. If you ever wanted to see the likes of NASCAR stars Bobby Allison and Dick Trickle or past Indy 500 winners such as Troy Ruttman smash expensive British supercars up around Indianapolis Raceway Park, this is the series for you.

 

Later races used the roval course.

 

 

Bobby Unser, Brian Redman, Parnelli Jones, David Hobbs, et al must have been wondering what they were doing driving these things round such a small track.

 

They ran these cars at Monaco: https://youtu.be/Nrh2_1TIGs0

[JHSingo]

The racing was great, i loved it. 

 

But yeah, the first question i got was "i don't understand the concept with football, how this it work ?". My answer was always the same, " i don' know, don't care, racing is great, sound is amazing, it's fast". But yeah, the concept was a turn off for so many people, the marketing of the thing was totally off.

 

But it was streamed live for free on their website. And that was great.

 

The cars were great, but yeah, the Superleague Formula concept was definitely...odd. I mean, football and motorsport are two completely different sports, and many people who follow one dislike, or don't understand the appeal, of the other. I, for instance, hate football with a passion, so I was never going to be that bothered about it. But it's also reminded me of those couple of seasons that Sauber was randomly sponsored by Chelsea, for reason that never really made much sense either. 

 

A1GP made much more sense - each car representing a nation, with a driver from that nation behind the wheel. It really was a very clever concept, the closest we'll ever get to a World Cup/Olympics in motorsport. Surely some mega rich motorsport enthusiast with a bunch of free time can bring it back? 

[Radoye]

 

[Peat]

Not YouTube, i'm afraid. Channel4, only available in UK. 

'Faking It - Game Tester to Racing Driver'

https://www.channel4...emand/34510-003

 

This popped up in a twitter convo. I remember watching it back in 2002. Agonizingly cringey. But enjoyably so. 

Edited by Peat, 09 February 2021 - 08:21.

[jonpollak]

Broadcast booth and ITV control gantry during qualifying 1997 Jerez.

 

Jp

[PayasYouRace]

Love to see how animated Murray was in the box, even at ~75 years old as he was then.

 

Brundle looked so young back then.

[azza200]

V8 Supercars will be uploading a bunch of old classic full races over the next couple of weeks 

Edited by azza200, 09 February 2021 - 23:28.

[FLB]

[jonpollak]

Dix-neuf soixante onze Grand Prix d'Italie -en directe-course complète

 

 

Remercie moi plus tard

Jp

[LucaP]

 

Review video of the inaugural NATCC season (1996)

A short lived championship which tried to bring european styled Supertouring Car racing to the US

 

Main drivers: Randy Pobst, David Donohue, Dominic Dobson, Peter Cunningham among the others

 

Brings many memories of a time I never lived 

[ANF]

Earlier today I came across this amateur film of Senna's accident at Imola, shot from the hill after Tosa.

[Imperial]

The cars were great, but yeah, the Superleague Formula concept was definitely...odd. I mean, football and motorsport are two completely different sports, and many people who follow one dislike, or don't understand the appeal, of the other. 

 

The Superleague Formula boss saId at the time of launch, that they would be exploring having separate grandstands for fans of different teams! That was evidence from the outset of how little (not at all) some people in high places understand the real world, and how crap like this ever gets signed off and cheques written to finance it.

 

That is the only time in my life I've actually felt insulted as a motorsport fan, as if we'd be standing in a temporary stand at some backwater race circuit throwing coins and rocks at 'opposing' fans during a race.

[JordanIreland]

Anderstorp 1973:

Edited by PayasYouRace, 25 February 2021 - 20:04.
Embedded for you

[FLB]

[Risil]

International Race of Champions racing from Riverside in 1974:

 

[jonpollak]

I think I was there for that.....
Jp

[Risil]

Was everything that blurry at the time? On second thoughts don't answer that.

[PayasYouRace]

I never knew Jackie Stewart was a 27-time world champion. #EverydayIsASchoolDay

 

On a serious note, I never knew IROC wasn't always a stock car series. The 911s look great. I do love seeing such an eclectic field, with drivers you wouldn't normally associate with each other.

[absinthedude]

Was everything that blurry at the time? On second thoughts don't answer that.

 

Perhaps everyone was under the influence....

 

Amateur video has come a hell of a long way since the 80s. Amateur film beat it then and indeed sometimes still can, but most amateurs cannot afford professional quality digital transfers of their film. I shot some movie film at the 2004 British GP and have some good slow motion (72 frames per second) shots of the Jordan sliding around Copse....but can not justify the £200 to get a 2K transfer. Today one could shoot a faster frame rate on a phone, though no doubt it's auto focus would be fooled by the chain link fence. 

 

I'd love to see someone strap a proper 65mm IMAX film camera to an F1 car around Monaco. 

[jonpollak]

Perhaps everyone was under the influence....

 

no doubt auto focus would be fooled by the chain link fence. 

 

 

Sometimes the fence is of greater interest.

Jp

[paulb]

International Race of Champions racing from Riverside in 1974:
 

I did a PCA track day there in my 911SC. What a track.

[Risil]

I love those fast esses after the pits. Seriously fast layout too. I have a feeling it might've been the quickest road couse in North America at the time. Certainly 10mph quicker than Road America when CART visited in 1983.