79 replies to this topic

[Allan Lupton]

When the Rover-BRM carried "00" at Le Mans, some of us recalled that being used for toilet doors in German hotels . . .

[Charlieman]

Not true, as any regular Excel user knows. There's a simple box to tick that says "Show leading zeros", it's in "format cells - custom". You can set this permanently, leading zeros are essential in many spreadsheets, and there are loads more different display options of this kind, all permanent until you un-tick them.

I gave up when Excel converted hexadecimal numbers containing E into exponentials. 

[GazChed]

The only car in the A1 Grand Prix series to carry a number was the South African entry which carried Nelson Mandela's prison number, 46664, on it's flanks.

[Sterzo]

The only car in the A1 Grand Prix series to carry a number was the South African entry which carried Nelson Mandela's prison number, 46664, on it's flanks.

Not even Charterhall in 1952 could match that.

[Jack-the-Lad]

 

It was 1991.

 

 

Correct.

 

In 1991 Mario, Michael and Jeff Andretti drove a Porsche 962 for Jochen Dauer with race #00.

In 1984 Mario and Michael drove a 962 with race #1,

 

Coincidentally, the winning car in 1984, a March 83G from the SA team led by Sarel van der Merwe wore #00.

[Tom Glowacki]

But wasn't it running in a separate class?

 

Or without a class, perhaps?

 

Numbers on a race car is numbers on a race car

[Henk Vasmel]

Not true, as any regular Excel user knows. There's a simple box to tick that says "Show leading zeros", it's in "format cells - custom". You can set this permanently, leading zeros are essential in many spreadsheets, and there are loads more different display options of this kind, all permanent until you un-tick them.

That is good news. I usually use Access for database stuff and only revert to Excel when it's really necessary. In Access the leading zeroes are taken care of, because those fields are text fields, or starting numbers and chassis numbers with letters or other characters are not possible.

My main Excel use is not for motorsports, so then leading zeroes are not important there.

[WonderWoman61]

The only car in the A1 Grand Prix series to carry a number was the South African entry which carried Nelson Mandela's prison number, 46664, on it's flanks.

Also carried 2010 in reference to South Africa hosting the World Cup.

[WonderWoman61]

Matt Neal used #0 in his Vauxhall Astra Coupe in the 2002 British Touring Car Championship.

Dan Eaves used #0 in his Peugeot 307 in the 2003 British Touring Car Championship.

[WonderWoman61]

Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing used #02 and #06 after Champ Car merged with the IRL.

[Lee Nicolle]

A further question then…..

How were the starting grids arranged?  One photo clearly shows four cars in a line but was it 4-3-4-3 or maybe 4-4-4-4 ?

That I would suggest is however the grid on the track is laid out. 

I have raced 2x2, 3x3 and 3x4. And often the track staggers the rows, so P1 is half a car ahead of P2 etc

[D-Type]

That I would suggest is however the grid on the track is laid out. 

I have raced 2x2, 3x3 and 3x4. And often the track staggers the rows, so P1 is half a car ahead of P2 etc

The Eff-wun grids have been a 1x1 grid alternately staggered by 10m or so for about 40 years but commentators continue to refer to the "Front Row a, Second Row, etc". 
Aaaargh! 

[lustigson]

Jody Schekter used 0 on his McLaren for the N American F1 races in 1973.

 

Oh, that's new to me. Or I have only a really vague memory of hearing about this in 1993-94.

[Emery0323]

The numbers 0, and 00 through 09 have a long history and aren't uncommon in U.S. racing, especially on the short track level.

 

...

 

At short tracks in California in the 1970s, I saw a car #000 and a car #013. After the James Bond movies, there often were U.S. short track cars numbered #007.

Regarding numbers 00 through 09 - Yes, routinely seen in American oval racing, and not just at lower-level short-track series and venues.

Even the highest professional-level series in NASCAR, for example, have routinely had numbers in the 00 to 09 series as identifiers.

 

Hershel McGriff, now a near- centenarian in his 90's, regularly used the "04" number for much of his career.  There were many occasions where he was entered in the same race as cars carrying the number "4" (no leading zero), i.e., the leading zero was part of his car's identifier.

 

Neil "Soapy" Castles (1934-2022), a long-time independent owner/driver in NASCAR in the 1960s -1970s used "06" as his car number for many years from 1967-onwards.. Similarly, he was also regularly on track competing against cars carrying just the number "6" with no leading zero (among others).

 

There are numerous other examples, those are just longstanding ones that come to mind.

Edited by Emery0323, 14 April 2023 - 10:10.

[AJCee]

And illustrated to the wider world by no less than The Dukes of Hazzard.

I’ll get my 🧥

[WonderWoman61]

But Triple Eight Race Engineering in Australia used number 888 for many years. They've had plenty of other triple-digit numbers, the dumbest one being 021.

...and 015 at one point.

[Dick Dastardly]

Damon Hill had “0” on his Williams in both in 1993 and 1994

That was because he wasn't the reigning WDC in those years but was driving the car the Mansell [1993] and Prost [1994] would have driven had they stayed put at Williams.

So he couldn't really use #1

 

4 digit nos....when Moss won the 55 Targa Florio, his no was 722, which was his start time...07.22 hours......so anyone starting from 10.00 would / could have had a 4 digit no.

Edited by Dick Dastardly, 18 April 2023 - 18:24.

[Collombin]

when Moss won the 55 Targa Florio, his no was 722

You meant Mille Miglia (he was 104 on the Targa Florio).

[WonderWoman61]

That was because he wasn't the reigning WDC in those years but was driving the car the Mansell [1993] and Prost [1994] would have driven had they stayed put at Williams.
So he couldn't really use #1
 
4 digit nos....when Moss won the 55 Targa Florio, his no was 722, which was his start time...07.22 hours......so anyone starting from 10.00 would / could have had a 4 digit no.

I know that about Damon.

[WonderWoman61]

Ashley Sutton was usually #16 in the Clio Cup but, since entering the British Touring Car Championship in 2016, he has used #116 since #16 is already Aiden Moffat's number.

Michael Crees was usually #77 but used #777 in the BTCC as #77 was Andrew Jordan's number.

We also had Rob Collard use #100 in 2016.

In more recent times, Daniel Lloyd has used #123, even in years when #23 was available.

James Gornall used #180 in the 2020 BTCC as #18 was Senna Proctor's number.

To name a few

[Henk Vasmel]

4 digit nos....when Moss won the 55 Targa Florio, his no was 722, which was his start time...07.22 hours......so anyone starting from 10.00 would / could have had a 4 digit no.

In the Mille Miglia, the highest possible number was 2400. The next one then was 001.

Starting time as number seems to have started in 1949, when no cars started before midnight.

First starters before midnight were in 1951 (2101).

1952: (2200)

1953: (2200)

1954: (2100)

1955: (2156)

1956: (2337)

1957: (2341)

Only in 1950, there were some cars that started at a 30 second interval, with the first example at (001 1/2)

In 1952, there were a few cars with regular numbers starting. (1) to (9) plus (1M) to (4M) which were military cars.

In 1953 the regular numbers were (1) to (90)

In 1955 there were (01) to (011A) and (1) to (99)

In 1956 there were (1) to (77)

in 1957 there were (1) to (84)

In 1949 the last starter was (649), DNA, or (648)

In 1950 the last starter was (743), DNA, or (741)

In 1951 the last starter was (437)

In 1952 the last starter was (629)

In 1953 the last starter was (638)

In 1954 the last starter was (613)

In 1955 the last starter was (728)

In 1956 the last starter was (600)

In 1957 the last starter was (537)

[WonderWoman61]

I remember James Thompson carried #00 when he demonstrated the Toyota Avensis NGTC prototype at the final meeting of the 2010 British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch. He didn't actually race the car but still...

[Jim Thurman]

Regarding numbers 00 through 09 - Yes, routinely seen in American oval racing, and not just at lower-level short-track series and venues.

Even the highest professional-level series in NASCAR, for example, have routinely had numbers in the 00 to 09 series as identifiers.

 

Hershel McGriff, now a near- centenarian in his 90's, regularly used the "04" number for much of his career.  There were many occasions where he was entered in the same race as cars carrying the number "4" (no leading zero), i.e., the leading zero was part of his car's identifier.

Yes, I was at a NASCAR Grand National West race where Hershel McGriff was competing in #04. The race was won by Dick Bown in #02. When Bown's son, Chuck, began competing alongside him in the series, Chuck ran #03.

[dolomite]

That was because he wasn't the reigning WDC in those years but was driving the car the Mansell [1993] and Prost [1994] would have driven had they stayed put at Williams.

So he couldn't really use #1

Surely in 1994 it was Senna who took over the car that Prost would have driven.

[Emery0323]

Yes, I was at a NASCAR Grand National West race where Hershel McGriff was competing in #04. The race was won by Dick Bown in #02. When Bown's son, Chuck, began competing alongside him in the series, Chuck ran #03.

Yes, I can remember all those regular competitors in Grand National West!   McGriff also ran #04 in 1974 in a rare appearance at the Daytona 500.  Other Grand National entrants were Earl Canavan #01, David Sisco #05, Coo-Coo Marlin (father of Sterling) #07, E.J. Trivette #08, etc.   in addition to Neil  Castles #06, whom I mentioned earlier.   Two-digit numbers with leading zeroes were quite common in NASCAR, though they seem to be less common in recent years.

Edited by Emery0323, 30 May 2023 - 17:20.

[NewMrMe]

The only car in the A1 Grand Prix series to carry a number was the South African entry which carried Nelson Mandela's prison number, 46664, on it's flanks.

 

Not quite the car running numbers, but at the first A1GP race at Brands Hatch I remember the electronic leaderboard (which had to show numbers) used the international dialing code for each country.

[john aston]

Trivia corner - I have a piston from an engine used by  the South African A1 GP entry - given to me by a chap who worked for Zytek 

[PayasYouRace]

That was because he wasn't the reigning WDC in those years but was driving the car the Mansell [1993] and Prost [1994] would have driven had they stayed put at Williams.
So he couldn't really use #1

There’s a bit more to it than that. With the reigning world drivers’ champion not on the grid, Williams were entitled to use the numbers 1 and 2 in 1993 and 1994 as reigning constructors’ champion. This was standard FIA series practice and was common in lower series where the champion would move on up the ladder. See F3000 fields at the time.

It was only the case that Damon, Alain or Ayrton didn’t feel comfortable using a number 1 that they had not earned, hence Damon’s car being 0 in both years.

[7MGTEsup]

Surely in 1994 it was Senna who took over the car that Prost would have driven.

 

Not sure how true it is but I'm sure I heard or read somewhere that Senna didn't want to race with the number 0 (0 = nothing/worthless)

[Lee Nicolle]

I haven't seen 02 anywhere, every article I've seen about it says 2

Alan Grice raced a Nascar here in Oz with 02.