10 replies to this topic

[SamoanAttorney]

Social media reports that Syd Herbert has passed away at the age of 89. 'Silverstone Syd' as he was affectionately known was a key figure at the circuit for decades.

[Tim Murray]

This is sad news. Anyone who competed in or watched racing at Silverstone from 1969 until sometime this century will have seen (or been chased by) Syd charging around behind the pack on the first lap of every race in his red and yellow Jaguar fire tender. RIP.

[marksixman]

This is sad news. Anyone who competed in or watched racing at Silverstone from 1969 until sometime this century will have seen (or been chased by) Syd charging around behind the pack on the first lap of every race in his red and yellow Jaguar fire tender. RIP.

Very sad news. And sometimes he only JUST got back to the pits ahead of the faster cars !

 

Now the fastest fireman in the firmament !!

 

RIP Syd.

[Doug Nye]

Received this morning from the BRDC:

 

It is with great sadness that we have to inform Members of the death last Friday, 9 December, of Syd Herbert from cancer. He would have turned 90 at the beginning of next month.

 

Very few, if indeed any, other individuals have become so closely associated with a motor sport venue that it becomes part of the name by which they are known but Syd’s dedication to the Home of British Motor Racing was so complete that it seemed only natural to call him ‘Silverstone Syd’. He was never certain who came up with the name originally but thought that it was one of the commentators which suggests that inveterate bestower of nicknames, Peter Scott-Russell, in the aftermath of the infamous multiple pile up at the end of the first lap of the 1973 British Grand Prix. By then, Syd had become the first track safety officer at the behest of managing director Jimmy Brown.

 

Syd’s early involvement in motor racing was as the driver of a 500 cc Formula 3 Kieft at the same time as Stirling Moss was racing a similar car although, as Syd put it, ‘Stirling was at one end of the grid, and I was at the other’. He also competed in the 750 Motor Club’s 1172 Formula for a short while until he could afford it no longer. A few years later he took up rallying in a Mini-Cooper S but it was his passion for motor racing which led to him joining the British Motor Racing Marshals’ Club (as it was known in the 1960s). Syd was one of a group of BMRMC members who formed the emergency services team at Silverstone, attributing his involvement to the fact that he knew someone who could source an ambulance for the circuit. Until then, testing at Silverstone, as at other UK circuits, had been undertaken very casually with limited regard for ‘health and safety’.

 

In June 1969 while testing his Formula 1 Brabham BT26A, Jack Brabham had a hefty accident at Club Corner when an experimental Goodyear tyre deflated. As was normal in those days, there were no marshals on duty and it took a while for Jack’s pit crew to discover what had happened, make their way to the scene of the accident where Jack was sitting in a large pool of fuel trapped by his left ankle, and cut him out of the car without sparking a fire which would have had disastrous consequences. Jimmy Brown resolved that such a situation should not arise again and that someone should always be available both at race meetings and test sessions who had medical knowledge and the knowhow to extract injured people from crashed vehicles. Having spent 15 years working for the London Ambulance Service, Syd had the training and experience to amply satisfy Jimmy’s requirements which suited Syd down to the ground, and by September he had been taken on as Silverstone’s first track safety officer.

 

Syd’s responsibilities included managing test sessions, so that they were undertaken in the safest possible circumstances, and driving the Jaguar Fire Tender, of which there were many over the years, behind the competing cars on the first lap of every race so as to be first on the scene in the event of a serious accident. Even after his retirement from his full time role at the age of 65 in 1998, Syd continued as the driver of the red Jaguar for many years.

In 1994 Syd was invited to become an Associate General Member of the BRDC, an honour which was very much appreciated not only by Syd himself but also by the many Members who had reason to thank Syd for his assistance in times of trouble.

 

It is perhaps worth quoting one such tribute from Ian Flux:

"I, amongst many, have seen Syd in action at accidents at the circuit and many of us agree should we be unfortunate enough to have a ‘serious’ accident we would choose to have it at Silverstone, with Syd taking care of it. He considers safety of drivers paramount and although at times this leads him to be labelled ‘an awkward b*****’ it is for our own good."

 

Syd respected anyone ‘who gets in a car and starts a race’. Having been a competitor at a modest level in his youth, he had some insight into what it takes to be a successful racing driver. He had his heroes – Mike Hawthorn, Ronnie Peterson and above all Ayrton Senna. He would always have a small enamel badge of the great Brazilian’s helmet on his own hat. Ayrton was only one of many World Champions and Formula 1 drivers who over the years felt the lash of Syd’s tongue when they tried to step beyond the parameters laid down by him for the safe management and operation of test sessions.

 

The high regard in which Syd was held by BRDC Members was unequivocally shown when he was elected to be one of the Club’s Guardians whose principal role is to protect the Club’s assets. In 1987 he was presented with the International Jaguar Driver of the Year Award for his services to Silverstone, the image of Jaguar, and motor racing generally. In recent years, Syd was often a Club Steward at Historic Sports Car Club events. Or he might be found with his great friend and fellow Associate Member John Pearson in the BRDC Clubhouse enjoying the company and catching up on the latest gossip. 

 

Syd was passionate about Silverstone and the BRDC. With Jimmy and Hamish Brown and George Smith he pioneered aspects of circuit safety which were all too often overlooked. In 2011 Syd was asked if he knew approximately how many laps he had driven of Silverstone and came up with the probably conservative figure of 50,000 over the preceding 40 years. It’s fair to say that there will never be another Silverstone Syd.

 

To all his many friends the BRDC offers its most sincere condolences at the loss of a Silverstone legend.

 

Well merited indeed.  RIP Syd.  And sincere condolences to his family, his friends, and his fans...

 

DCN

[Gary C]

I well remember Syd in the Jaguar in my rear view mirrors when I was starting a few Historic Formula Ford races with the HSCC. Thankfully I never needed his services and completed our first lap with him still behind me. But, was thankful he was there. RIP Syd.

[Nick Planas]

This is so sad. I have two great memories of Syd - the first when my friend and I turned up for our first test session in the FF1600 we'd bought the previous day. Having booked an open "FF / F3" session at Silverstone, I was aghast to hear DFVs in action, and discovered to my great panic that we were sharing the sessions with the Aurora F1 teams... Having plonked myself in the pit which was allocated to us (next to Emilio Villota's Lotus 78 - eeek!) I had a cautionary visit from Syd. I asked him what the hell I should do when these guys came up behind me and he said "Don't whatever you do move offline in the corners, let them sort out where they're going and it's their problem to pass you!" Good advice (for me at any rate)   I never got the impression he was treating us with anything other than respect - none of this "what are you doing with that pile of junk" sort of attitude, which he might well have asked us!

 

The other time was when we'd had to do a clutch change before a race, and I j-u-s-t made it through the collecting area in time, but hadn't warmed the engine. Worried that I'd probably burst an oil pipe if I revved the b***ocks off it when it was cold, I pottered round, way behind the field, as slowly as I reasonably could, with Syd's firetruck right up my chuff; At one point he pulled alongside and gesticulated wildly to me to get a move on. I needn't have bothered as I stuffed it at Copse on the first lap...

 

Condolences to all his family and friends.

[Myhinpaa]

This is sad news. Anyone who competed in or watched racing at Silverstone from 1969 until sometime this century will have seen (or been chased by) Syd charging around behind the pack on the first lap of every race in his red and yellow Jaguar fire tender. RIP.

 

A nice tribute from 2020: https://twitter.com/...015161172205568

 

Tow current ones from:

 

Andy Rouse: https://www.facebook...RT9rl?__tn__=-R

 

Historic Racing News: https://www.facebook...__tn__=,O,P-y-R

[alansart]

I knew Syd from when I was a marshal at Silverstone in the 70's. He was ideal for the fire tender and gained the respect from everyone - drivers, marshals and anyone else who came across him. I seem to remember he had to do a few more races to get an International Licence before he was allowed to start at the back of GP's etc.

My first ever race was at Silverstone in a F750 DNC and was at the back of the grid with Syd behind me. Just before the start I put in gear and dropped the clutch slightly to check, only to find I was in reverse!! I quickly got it into 1st and set off. After the race Syd saw me with a huge smile on his face "I saw that" he says "but at least you bloody checked". Apparently I wasn't the first

RIP Syd

Edited by alansart, 12 December 2022 - 16:08.

[d j fox]

Sad news. As mentioned by Tim and Marksixman many times I’d be in the Woodcote Grandstand wondering if this was the time they actually caught Syd! Never happened….
Condolences to family and friends RIP

[Odseybod]

Sad to see such a Silverstone fixture is no more - condolences to his family and friends. Impressive that he played such a crucial role for so long (I'd somehow assumed that, rather like The Stig, there were several generations of Syd, rather than the one and only throughout).

 

I've a hunch - which I'm quite happy to have disproved - that his first (?) Jaguar fire tender was the XJ12 that had been Lofty England's personal transport-cum-development car, while also doubling as a publicity vehicle around the time of the model's launch. That was certainly the car my father took for a (very) quick Continental trip in August 1972 to gain some driving impressions, ahead of the full 'Motor' road test and seen below at Spa, one of its ports-of-call.

 

 

I'd always understood that once it became surplus to Jaguar's requirements, it was passed on to Silverstone and Syd, where it ended its days. Not sure if that tallies with Syd's chronology, though.

 

[alansart]

Sad to see such a Silverstone fixture is no more - condolences to his family and friends. Impressive that he played such a crucial role for so long (I'd somehow assumed that, rather like The Stig, there were several generations of Syd, rather than the one and only throughout).

 

I've a hunch - which I'm quite happy to have disproved - that his first (?) Jaguar fire tender was the XJ12 that had been Lofty England's personal transport-cum-development car, while also doubling as a publicity vehicle around the time of the model's launch. That was certainly the car my father took for a (very) quick Continental trip in August 1972 to gain some driving impressions, ahead of the full 'Motor' road test and seen below at Spa, one of its ports-of-call.

 

Tony,

I think you might be right. Didn't Lofty England hand Syd the keys?