19 replies to this topic

[Clatter]

https://www.bbc.co.u...rmula1/61313801

Can't pretend I ever saw him drive, but he had a great record in his day.

Edited by Clatter, 04 May 2022 - 10:56.

[Ivanhoe]

RIP "racing dentist". One of those drivers who really could/should have been a world champion. Here he is with another such driver.

[milestone 11]

A true gentleman. RIP Tony.

[William Hunt]

fantastic driver and a wonderful person, rest in peace

[Alan Lewis]

No World Championship race winners remain from the 1950s.

Jackie Stewart is now the oldest living winner and one of only two from the 1960s, the other being Jacky Ickx (though Mario Andretti, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Jacques Lafitte, who all took their first wins in the 1970s, are also older than Ickx).

[juicy sushi]

We're very much in a very narrow window of time before a lot of our legends of the past will be taken from us.

[Ruusperi]

No World Championship race winners remain from the 1950s.

Jackie Stewart is now the oldest living winner and one of only two from the 1960s, the other being Jacky Ickx (though Mario Andretti, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Jacques Lafitte, who all took their first wins in the 1970s, are also older than Ickx).

Do you know what's the earliest Grand Prix that still have participant alive today? Of course there might be those who didn't qualify, like Bernie Ecclestone with his Monaco adventure in 1958.

[statman]

Do you know what's the earliest Grand Prix that still have participant alive today?

 

maybe Kenneth McAlpine

 

born 21 September 1920

 

Raced in 1952, 1953 and 1955

[PlatenGlass]

Not in WDC days but Erno Festetics might still be alive (raced in 1937).

https://www.driverdb...erno-festetics/

[wj_gibson]

Nigel Roebuck regarded Brooks as about the most intelligent driver ever to have sat in a racing car.

[Alan Lewis]

maybe Kenneth McAlpine

born 21 September 1920

Raced in 1952, 1953 and 1955

Yes, British GP 19/07/1952 - Ken McAlpine's debut.

The oldest living driver isn't necessarily the one with the earliest debut, of course. Stirling Moss, about ten years younger than McAlpine, has his debut a year earlier. But at the moment it is the case.

[Alan Lewis]

Not in WDC days but Erno Festetics might still be alive (raced in 1937).

https://www.driverdb...erno-festetics/

Interesting. He has a Polish Wikipedia page that also suggests he's still alive. If true, then in early February this year he went past the 106 years 112 days of the noted Portuguese film director Manoel de Oliveira, who raced in his youth and won an international race at Estoril in 1937...

https://en.wikipedia...oel_de_Oliveira

That's the greatest age I'm aware of for a driver, at least internationally. Of the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people who have contested all manner of obscure local event around the world for more than a century, there may well be older examples still (though the older they get, the more likely they become known for their longevity, and their life story becomes public).

Edited by Alan Lewis, 04 May 2022 - 16:04.

[jonpollak]

Nigel Roebuck regarded Brooks as about the most intelligent driver ever to have sat in a racing car.

All the proof ya need.
RIP Tony.

Jp

[Bleu]

By my understanding there are ten drivers remaining who at least tried to qualify for a Grand Prix in 1950s, Indy 500 included.

 

Peter Ashdown

Hermano da Silva Ramos

Bernie Ecclestone

AJ Foyt

Paul Goldsmith

Hans Herrmann

Bruce Kessler

Kenneth McAlpine

Andre Milhoux

David Piper

[Collombin]

Ecclestone was not trying to qualify, or even entered as a driver for the event. He simply took the car out for a slow practice run, back in the day when that sort of thing was allowed.

[Ali_G]

Interesting. He has a Polish Wikipedia page that also suggests he's still alive. If true, then in early February this year he went past the 106 years 112 days of the noted Portuguese film director Manoel de Oliveira, who raced in his youth and won an international race at Estoril in 1937...

https://en.wikipedia...oel_de_Oliveira

That's the greatest age I'm aware of for a driver, at least internationally. Of the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people who have contested all manner of obscure local event around the world for more than a century, there may well be older examples still (though the older they get, the more likely they become known for their longevity, and their life story becomes public).

Absolutely incredible if we still have a living participant in a pre-war race. Was certain the last of that breed had died in the last decade or so.

[Risil]

Absolutely incredible if we still have a living participant in a pre-war race. Was certain the last of that breed had died in the last decade or so.

 

Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing has a bit more detail on Festetics, although it's hedging its bets about whether he's alive or not.

 

If anyone finds out please let Leif and/or Hans know!

[absinthedude]

Sad news, if ultimately inevitble. Brooks always came across as humble in interviews, while his contemporaries always talked up his prowess behind the wheel.

[19500513]

Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing has a bit more detail on Festetics, although it's hedging its bets about whether he's alive or not.

 

If anyone finds out please let Leif and/or Hans know!

I just phoned a researcher of Festetics family. Festetics Ernő had 2 sons: Pál (1943) and Antal (1945). Pál died as quite young, Antal is alive, living in Belgium (based on the last information). So Ernő left Hungary in 1945 (now the rumour begins: with a russian truck over the front, he learned ~30 russian swear word and he was let to West-Europe) Ernő later divorced from his first wife, Antal stayed with his mother. Maria (his mother) married with a french banker and Antal changed his name: Anton "Laros" or something like that. Ernő died in 1960's, never went back to Hungary.

Edited by 19500513, 20 January 2023 - 15:09.

[PlatenGlass]

Interesting info, thanks.