I was wondering if anyone has a detailed article on this sports car race where Archie was killed. I have heard that he lost control of his car dicing it up on the track with Masten Gregory. Masten ended up the race winner.
Archie Scott-Brown at the 1958 Spa GP
Started by
Joe Fan
, Sep 06 2000 09:42
12 replies to this topic
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#2
Ray Bell
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Posted 06 September 2000 - 10:25
I hunted through 'A Turn At The Wheel' (Moss), but he obviously didn't run there... I don't think I have anything that will reveal the details... you might need John or Barry to answer this one.
#3
Roger Clark
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Posted 06 September 2000 - 20:35
this is from the July 1958 Motor Sport
GRAND PRIX OF SPA (May 18th)
Held on the Francorchamps circuit in Belgium this sports car meeting saw a further clash between Lister, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Jaguar unlimited capacity sports cars. The Ecuric Ecosse entered their modified 3.8-litre Lister-jaguar and driven by Masten Gregory it easily outpaced the two factory 3.9-litre Aston Martins driven by Paul Frere and Carroll Shelby. The meeting was marred by a fatal accident to Scott-Brown when he crashed the works ListerJaguar while engaged in a duel for the lead with Gregory on the sixth lap. The Seuderia Ferrari entered an experimental car of 3-litres capacity driven by Gendebien but it had to retire with gearbox trouble. This was a V12 cylinder with four overhead camshafts, in a new chassis frame with a new four-speed gearbox mounted on the left of the final drive unit and having the hydraulically-operated clutch, and starter motor mounted at the rear of the propeller-shaft. Front suspension was by normal Ferrari sports car double wishbones and coil springs while at the rear a de Dion layout was used with transverse leaf-spring and the cockpit had a right-hand-drive seating arrangement. The engine ran to 9,500 r.p.m. and there was little power below 6,000 r.p.m. which made starting from rest very difficult.
15 laps 211 kms Conditions damp
1st M Gregory Lister Jaguar 1hr 5 mins 02.3secs 195.104kph
2nd P frere (Aston Martin)
3rd C Shelby (Aston Martin)
GRAND PRIX OF SPA (May 18th)
Held on the Francorchamps circuit in Belgium this sports car meeting saw a further clash between Lister, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Jaguar unlimited capacity sports cars. The Ecuric Ecosse entered their modified 3.8-litre Lister-jaguar and driven by Masten Gregory it easily outpaced the two factory 3.9-litre Aston Martins driven by Paul Frere and Carroll Shelby. The meeting was marred by a fatal accident to Scott-Brown when he crashed the works ListerJaguar while engaged in a duel for the lead with Gregory on the sixth lap. The Seuderia Ferrari entered an experimental car of 3-litres capacity driven by Gendebien but it had to retire with gearbox trouble. This was a V12 cylinder with four overhead camshafts, in a new chassis frame with a new four-speed gearbox mounted on the left of the final drive unit and having the hydraulically-operated clutch, and starter motor mounted at the rear of the propeller-shaft. Front suspension was by normal Ferrari sports car double wishbones and coil springs while at the rear a de Dion layout was used with transverse leaf-spring and the cockpit had a right-hand-drive seating arrangement. The engine ran to 9,500 r.p.m. and there was little power below 6,000 r.p.m. which made starting from rest very difficult.
15 laps 211 kms Conditions damp
1st M Gregory Lister Jaguar 1hr 5 mins 02.3secs 195.104kph
2nd P frere (Aston Martin)
3rd C Shelby (Aston Martin)
#4
Gil Bouffard
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Posted 07 September 2000 - 00:18
See if you can get a copy of the October 1999 issue of MOTORSPORT. Nigel Roebuck's Legends column on page 18 discusses Archie Scott Brown and the Spa accident. Also see if you can get a copy of ARCHIE AND THE LISTERS.
Moss wasn't at Spa because he was racing a Vanwall at Monaco. CHAMPION YEAR, by Mike Hawthorn (No 'E')
But old fan ole bud, Roebuck's column generated the following missives. They are shown in chronological order.
Dec 99
SCOTT BROWN VS GREGORY
SIR
Reading Nigel Roebuck's column, I recalled Archie Scott Brown's penultimate race at Silverstone. I was standing at Stowe watching the two Listers charging in at top speed, Archie always that bit more sideways than Masten Gregory, who still managed the corner faster.
I believe the aerodynamic changes made by Ecurie Ecosse to the Gregory car gave him more front-end bite. Gregory's front wings were filled on top, possibly for straight-line speed, but almost inevitably gave less front lift than Archie's works car with its swept down front wings*.
Needless to say we were all devastated that Archie was killed trying to overcome not only his own disabilities, but a car which was probably not capable of the lap times of that of his rival.
IAM, YOURS, ETC
DAVID E MORGAN, HATFIELD, HERTS
* "Wings." Fenders in America
January 2000
GREGORY THE GREAT
SIR
I too have always been intrigued by the race between Archie Scott Brown and Masten Gregory at Silverstone in May 1958. David Morgan's letter perhaps suggests Gregory's victory was a narrow one, when in fact it was a walkover. Furthermore, I believe it probably owed more to inspired driving than to mildly revised bodywork.
The first-class field for this race included Moss, Hawthorn and Brooks but Scott Brown took the lead from the start with Gregory back in fifth. By the end of the first lap Gregory was through to third, took second on the fifth lap and passed Scott Brown for the lead on lap seven. Nine laps later Gregory had pulled out a massive 15 seconds lead.
AS MOTOR SPORT reported ". . .the Ecurie Ecosse Lister just ran away from the works car". Gregory set a sportscar lap record of 101.32 mph and averaged 99.54 mph. Interestingly, when MOSS drove the works Lister at the Grand Prix meeting two months later his fastest lap was slower than Gregory's race average. MY memory suggests that
Gregory's lap record stood for years, at least as a class lap record.
I have always believed that in that race, on that day, Gregory drove 'out of his skin' demonstrating his potential to the full.
IAM, YOURS, ETC
GEOFF WHYLER, PETTS WOOD, KENT
March 2000
ARCHIE VS MASTEN
S IR,
With reference to Geoff Whyler's letter concerning the May 1958 Silverstone race between
Archie Scott Brown and Masten Gregory, a few points are worth mentioning.
Firstly, it was clear the Ecosse modifications were highly effective, which is why the Lister works team later adopted something very like them after Archie crashed, and before Frank Costin redesigned the bodywork.
Bill Scott Brown, Archie's father, was of the opinion that the Ecosse wing fairings
offered a great advantage in terms of 'negative lift'. As an aviator of more than 30 years' experience, (shot down by Max Immelmann, indeed) he was well qualified to comment.
Further, at practice before the Sports Car Grand Prix at Spa, during which he later
crashed, Archie himself complained that the nose of the Lister lightened at "something over 120 mph". Despite the fact he was famously inexact about issues technical, it was a concern to all, as the works team were also rather new to a race circuit at which a competitive average was fully 5 mph faster than that. This in a car which would achieve rather more than 170mph. . .
Other issues include a measure of needle that Gregory was driving a car which had,
obliquely, been offered to Archie, but which he had honourably declined, and also that
the Silverstone race marked a watershed in Archie's career; he had never, at least
while running on all cylinders, been beaten by such a margin by anyone, let alone anyone driving a type similar to the one which he himself drove.
Undeniably, it was a shock to him. There has also been some thought that Archie
was, discounting his obvious physical handicaps, frailer than he looked; add to this the fact that he was extremely tired, and you can imagine the potential range of outcomes. But a serious person never offers excuses. . .
No, the Silverstone race was not in any way close; Masten Gregory simply won it, hands down. As for Stirling's later efforts, he took the view, as he always did, that "there is always the lap record to go for", when he was not winning. He won that race going away, from the flag, driving with his usual economy. There had been some frank discussion about the underpinnings of the steering of the Lister before that race, as it had been widely
mooted (wrongly) that steering had perhaps been the cause of Archie's fatal crash, but this would also rather suggest to the sane man that over-egging the pudding when already in the lead was not perhaps the wisest course of action.
I will never fail to be touched by the reverence with which people's heroes are regarded, including of course, my own. Delighted I was to see Scott Brown ranked where he was in Mark Hughes' recent study - but where was Gregory?
IAM, YOURS,
ROBERT EDWARDS, VIA E-MAIL
June 2000
HASH AND SPLASH
SIR,
Two letters in the March issue prompt this one. Mike McDowell writes on Ivor Bueb, and Robert Edwards writes on the Masten Gregory/Archie Scott Brown showdown. More than 40 years on, perhaps it is time to clear the air.
As Mike says, Ivor felt himself to be under a lot of pressure, but the amount of brandy he drank before each race, to "steady his nerves", could have lost him his driving licence today. Bueb was far from being the only driver of his time to get tanked up before the racing.
In common with some contemporaries, including Fangio, Masten Gregory habitually ingested chemical substances. When he beat Scott Brown at Silverstone, his head was on a three-foot string above his shoulders.
Ivor Bueb used alcohol before racing, Gregory often used drugs. Neither was unusual in this. Stirling Moss recalls that, before the 1955 Mille Miglia, Fangio gave him one of "his famous stamina pills". Stirling has written, "Fangio's pill was fantastic... apparently there were a couple of weird South American compounds involved which the chemists
were very wary of trying to reproduce."
It was a different age and a different culture. Louis Chiron, for example, was appalled when he arrived to compete in the Carrera PanAmericana only to discover that the race was 'dry' and he could not take his flask in the car. Giovanni Bracco won the 1952 Mille Miglia on brandy and 160 cigarettes. Benzedrine, as well as alcohol, was a popular additive among drivers of the time. It was a long time ago, and we are grown-up people, so please may we stop being coy? Ignore this, and we ignore an essential element of history.
MASTEN MEMORIES
SIR,
I deeply resent Mike Lawrence's remarks in your June issue concerning Masten Gregory,
typically recounting the same anecdotes, not being too specific. Can he substantiate his allegations?
The pejorative expression "habitual drug user" is a serious one which unfortunately can no longer instigate an accusation of calumny. If he's specifying that particular 1958 race at
Silverstone, did he talk to Gregory that day, interview him, to come to that assumption? I was only a young boy but that Trophy meeting was the first time I obtained Gregory's autograph. I don't recall him floating in the air - just his two magnificent drives in the Lister and the then-outdated 250F Maserati 2511.
I could believe reports coming from Gregory's former co-drivers: I wonder how his old buddy and lifelong friend Carroll Shelby or Lawrence's recent interviewee Sir John Whitmore, who remarked on Masten's extraordinary concentration, would respond to these allegations? Nor should one forget his Alfa Romeo co-driver, Toine Hezemans, who wrote recently of Masten's speed and determination: "To me he was the most unbelievable person I ever met " I believe, too, his ex-team mates Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham, who saw fit to enter him for Indianapolis
But I do not, I'm afraid, believe Mr. Lawrence. And yes, I do know that Wilkie Wilkinson of Ecurie Ecosse once wondered if Gregory was taking some sort of pills, and that he was also questioned on the matter by RAC stewards - once.
The last time I saw Masten race was in the 1969 Osterreichring 1000 Kilometres, going very quickly in a Porsche 908, having won the inaugural race a fortnight earlier. You don't last that long at that level if you have "habitually ingested drugs", whatever the era.
IAM, YOURS, ETC
CHRIS THOMAS, STOCKPORT, CHESHIRE
Moss wasn't at Spa because he was racing a Vanwall at Monaco. CHAMPION YEAR, by Mike Hawthorn (No 'E')
But old fan ole bud, Roebuck's column generated the following missives. They are shown in chronological order.
Dec 99
SCOTT BROWN VS GREGORY
SIR
Reading Nigel Roebuck's column, I recalled Archie Scott Brown's penultimate race at Silverstone. I was standing at Stowe watching the two Listers charging in at top speed, Archie always that bit more sideways than Masten Gregory, who still managed the corner faster.
I believe the aerodynamic changes made by Ecurie Ecosse to the Gregory car gave him more front-end bite. Gregory's front wings were filled on top, possibly for straight-line speed, but almost inevitably gave less front lift than Archie's works car with its swept down front wings*.
Needless to say we were all devastated that Archie was killed trying to overcome not only his own disabilities, but a car which was probably not capable of the lap times of that of his rival.
IAM, YOURS, ETC
DAVID E MORGAN, HATFIELD, HERTS
* "Wings." Fenders in America
January 2000
GREGORY THE GREAT
SIR
I too have always been intrigued by the race between Archie Scott Brown and Masten Gregory at Silverstone in May 1958. David Morgan's letter perhaps suggests Gregory's victory was a narrow one, when in fact it was a walkover. Furthermore, I believe it probably owed more to inspired driving than to mildly revised bodywork.
The first-class field for this race included Moss, Hawthorn and Brooks but Scott Brown took the lead from the start with Gregory back in fifth. By the end of the first lap Gregory was through to third, took second on the fifth lap and passed Scott Brown for the lead on lap seven. Nine laps later Gregory had pulled out a massive 15 seconds lead.
AS MOTOR SPORT reported ". . .the Ecurie Ecosse Lister just ran away from the works car". Gregory set a sportscar lap record of 101.32 mph and averaged 99.54 mph. Interestingly, when MOSS drove the works Lister at the Grand Prix meeting two months later his fastest lap was slower than Gregory's race average. MY memory suggests that
Gregory's lap record stood for years, at least as a class lap record.
I have always believed that in that race, on that day, Gregory drove 'out of his skin' demonstrating his potential to the full.
IAM, YOURS, ETC
GEOFF WHYLER, PETTS WOOD, KENT
March 2000
ARCHIE VS MASTEN
S IR,
With reference to Geoff Whyler's letter concerning the May 1958 Silverstone race between
Archie Scott Brown and Masten Gregory, a few points are worth mentioning.
Firstly, it was clear the Ecosse modifications were highly effective, which is why the Lister works team later adopted something very like them after Archie crashed, and before Frank Costin redesigned the bodywork.
Bill Scott Brown, Archie's father, was of the opinion that the Ecosse wing fairings
offered a great advantage in terms of 'negative lift'. As an aviator of more than 30 years' experience, (shot down by Max Immelmann, indeed) he was well qualified to comment.
Further, at practice before the Sports Car Grand Prix at Spa, during which he later
crashed, Archie himself complained that the nose of the Lister lightened at "something over 120 mph". Despite the fact he was famously inexact about issues technical, it was a concern to all, as the works team were also rather new to a race circuit at which a competitive average was fully 5 mph faster than that. This in a car which would achieve rather more than 170mph. . .
Other issues include a measure of needle that Gregory was driving a car which had,
obliquely, been offered to Archie, but which he had honourably declined, and also that
the Silverstone race marked a watershed in Archie's career; he had never, at least
while running on all cylinders, been beaten by such a margin by anyone, let alone anyone driving a type similar to the one which he himself drove.
Undeniably, it was a shock to him. There has also been some thought that Archie
was, discounting his obvious physical handicaps, frailer than he looked; add to this the fact that he was extremely tired, and you can imagine the potential range of outcomes. But a serious person never offers excuses. . .
No, the Silverstone race was not in any way close; Masten Gregory simply won it, hands down. As for Stirling's later efforts, he took the view, as he always did, that "there is always the lap record to go for", when he was not winning. He won that race going away, from the flag, driving with his usual economy. There had been some frank discussion about the underpinnings of the steering of the Lister before that race, as it had been widely
mooted (wrongly) that steering had perhaps been the cause of Archie's fatal crash, but this would also rather suggest to the sane man that over-egging the pudding when already in the lead was not perhaps the wisest course of action.
I will never fail to be touched by the reverence with which people's heroes are regarded, including of course, my own. Delighted I was to see Scott Brown ranked where he was in Mark Hughes' recent study - but where was Gregory?
IAM, YOURS,
ROBERT EDWARDS, VIA E-MAIL
June 2000
HASH AND SPLASH
SIR,
Two letters in the March issue prompt this one. Mike McDowell writes on Ivor Bueb, and Robert Edwards writes on the Masten Gregory/Archie Scott Brown showdown. More than 40 years on, perhaps it is time to clear the air.
As Mike says, Ivor felt himself to be under a lot of pressure, but the amount of brandy he drank before each race, to "steady his nerves", could have lost him his driving licence today. Bueb was far from being the only driver of his time to get tanked up before the racing.
In common with some contemporaries, including Fangio, Masten Gregory habitually ingested chemical substances. When he beat Scott Brown at Silverstone, his head was on a three-foot string above his shoulders.
Ivor Bueb used alcohol before racing, Gregory often used drugs. Neither was unusual in this. Stirling Moss recalls that, before the 1955 Mille Miglia, Fangio gave him one of "his famous stamina pills". Stirling has written, "Fangio's pill was fantastic... apparently there were a couple of weird South American compounds involved which the chemists
were very wary of trying to reproduce."
It was a different age and a different culture. Louis Chiron, for example, was appalled when he arrived to compete in the Carrera PanAmericana only to discover that the race was 'dry' and he could not take his flask in the car. Giovanni Bracco won the 1952 Mille Miglia on brandy and 160 cigarettes. Benzedrine, as well as alcohol, was a popular additive among drivers of the time. It was a long time ago, and we are grown-up people, so please may we stop being coy? Ignore this, and we ignore an essential element of history.
MASTEN MEMORIES
SIR,
I deeply resent Mike Lawrence's remarks in your June issue concerning Masten Gregory,
typically recounting the same anecdotes, not being too specific. Can he substantiate his allegations?
The pejorative expression "habitual drug user" is a serious one which unfortunately can no longer instigate an accusation of calumny. If he's specifying that particular 1958 race at
Silverstone, did he talk to Gregory that day, interview him, to come to that assumption? I was only a young boy but that Trophy meeting was the first time I obtained Gregory's autograph. I don't recall him floating in the air - just his two magnificent drives in the Lister and the then-outdated 250F Maserati 2511.
I could believe reports coming from Gregory's former co-drivers: I wonder how his old buddy and lifelong friend Carroll Shelby or Lawrence's recent interviewee Sir John Whitmore, who remarked on Masten's extraordinary concentration, would respond to these allegations? Nor should one forget his Alfa Romeo co-driver, Toine Hezemans, who wrote recently of Masten's speed and determination: "To me he was the most unbelievable person I ever met " I believe, too, his ex-team mates Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham, who saw fit to enter him for Indianapolis
But I do not, I'm afraid, believe Mr. Lawrence. And yes, I do know that Wilkie Wilkinson of Ecurie Ecosse once wondered if Gregory was taking some sort of pills, and that he was also questioned on the matter by RAC stewards - once.
The last time I saw Masten race was in the 1969 Osterreichring 1000 Kilometres, going very quickly in a Porsche 908, having won the inaugural race a fortnight earlier. You don't last that long at that level if you have "habitually ingested drugs", whatever the era.
IAM, YOURS, ETC
CHRIS THOMAS, STOCKPORT, CHESHIRE
#5
Ray Bell
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- Joined: December 99
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Posted 07 September 2000 - 00:41
All of which is good fuel for the Gregory fire, undoubtedly the last letter being the one that will get the credit for authenticity, and rightly so, it would seem.
#6
Joe Fan
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- Joined: December 98
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Posted 07 September 2000 - 02:03
Roger and Gil, thanks a ton! I know that I can always depend on Roger to bear the full original stories from Motorsport.
Gil, awhile back I had seen that bit from Mike Lawrence on Masten Gregory being a drug user in Motorsport so I asked his first wife who was married to him up until 1958. She said that was news to her because Masten knew that drugs and alcohol were being used in the sport by some from time to time and that he was against that sort of thing for the reasons of putting his fellow competitor's lives at risk. She said he was taken back by brandy being offered to the drivers one time before the start of a very cold night race in southern Italy. She said that the only drug that she knew he took were salt pills for races on very hot days to keep from being dehydrated.
One thing that I do know is that Masten had a mild case of sciolosis which bothered him later on and made it difficult for him to get (and stay) comfortable in his seat. Perhaps he may have taken prescription pain killers for this but I have never been able to find out. So far, this drug accusation has never been substantiated from anyone that I have talked to. I would think that an ex-wife would have no reason to be nothing but completely honest with me about this especially when I asked her "off the record." I have been meaning to respond to that accusation but I wanted to ask a few more people who were close to him around that time and especially after 1958 just to be completely sure. Namely, Carroll Shelby who left a message on my answering machine a couple of weeks ago pledging to gladly help me any way that he could on my Masten biography, who still hasn't gotten back to me yet.
P.S. What is this win at Silverstone in May 1958 all about? Was this just a showdown between Masten and Archie only? That is kind of how I understand it. [p][Edited by Joe Fan on 09-07-2000]
Gil, awhile back I had seen that bit from Mike Lawrence on Masten Gregory being a drug user in Motorsport so I asked his first wife who was married to him up until 1958. She said that was news to her because Masten knew that drugs and alcohol were being used in the sport by some from time to time and that he was against that sort of thing for the reasons of putting his fellow competitor's lives at risk. She said he was taken back by brandy being offered to the drivers one time before the start of a very cold night race in southern Italy. She said that the only drug that she knew he took were salt pills for races on very hot days to keep from being dehydrated.
One thing that I do know is that Masten had a mild case of sciolosis which bothered him later on and made it difficult for him to get (and stay) comfortable in his seat. Perhaps he may have taken prescription pain killers for this but I have never been able to find out. So far, this drug accusation has never been substantiated from anyone that I have talked to. I would think that an ex-wife would have no reason to be nothing but completely honest with me about this especially when I asked her "off the record." I have been meaning to respond to that accusation but I wanted to ask a few more people who were close to him around that time and especially after 1958 just to be completely sure. Namely, Carroll Shelby who left a message on my answering machine a couple of weeks ago pledging to gladly help me any way that he could on my Masten biography, who still hasn't gotten back to me yet.
P.S. What is this win at Silverstone in May 1958 all about? Was this just a showdown between Masten and Archie only? That is kind of how I understand it. [p][Edited by Joe Fan on 09-07-2000]
#7
Ray Bell
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Posted 07 September 2000 - 02:17
Sorry, should have known you would have already covered that...
#8
Marcor
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Posted 07 September 2000 - 03:17
Here’s the report of the second Spa Grand Prix (18th May 1958), taken from Francorchamps 1948-1960 by JP Delsaux (it’s really a good reference book ...)
The R.A.C. Spa offers the second edition of the Grand Prix de Spa, consisting as usual of three trials. The highlight of the Grand Prix de Spa rests a new on the Sports Cars trial.
Amongst the participation guests, an array of well known names : Paul Frère and Caroll Shelby (Aston Martin), Olivier Gendebien (on an experimental Ferrari loaned to the Belgian National Team for testing in view of Le Mans 24 hours), Masten Gregory and Archie Scott-Brown (Lister-Jaguar), Lucien Bianchi (Ferrari E.N.B.) and Freddy Rousselle (Lister-Jaguar E.N.B.).
This is an initial face to face encounter between Frère and Gendebien, both at the wheel of equally performing machines. In spite of not so good a weather, the public has come in full force to witness the confrontation of the two Belgian aces.
Right from the start the Lister-Jaguar from Ecurie Ecosse leave the Aston Martin well behind, while Gendebien (poorly located on the starting grid, having had many set backs during practice) tries to open towards the first lines.
Frère seems to keep to himself, well away from the duel confronting the two leaders. Perhaps is he waiting for his mate’s return in the National Team so as to provide their unconditional supporters with a quality duo show. Yet as the « experimental » Ferrari reaches the fifth position, a gearbox jam occurs, leaving the public’s expectations unfulfilled.
The struggle opposing the two leading Lister right from the flag signal keeps the crowd enthusiastically on its toes. The battle is raging in the foreground. Archie Scott Brown’s Lister-Jaguar n°16 nuzzles regularly the back of Masten Gregory’s same car. The spellbound public holds its breath in fear (or hope ?) of the worst.
In spite of intermittent drizzle the Seaman bend displays a dry tarmac as the two cars pass for the fifth time. In a deafening roar the two Lister dash towards the Source side to side, rush in the downward slope towards Eau Rouge, tackle the upward slope of the Raidillon and vanish, snarling, in the Burnenville forest.
A few moments later the uproar thunders from Stavelot, growing steadily.
They are coming, they are here. So is the rain, unexpectedly.
The two cars run front to front at Martinfange when suddenly the Lister n°16 swerves, hits the kerb, bursts into flame tearing two poles away, overturns in his ditch, the driver being ejected, and burns to ashes. Its bodywork, made of magnesium alloy, has caught fire immediately.
The smoke column arising from the club House field means a fine farewell to Scott-Brown. His friends and team-mates, all those who have lived under his law at Aintree and Goodwood realise they have lost their fairest adversary.
The race goes on, spiritless.
Masten Gregory crestfallen and lonely seems to lose all interest in a victory for which he struggled so hard, yet the victory is soon to be his, one minute ahead of Paul Frère’s Aston Martin.
Results :
1- Masten Gregory Lister-Jaguar
2- Paul Frère Aston Martin, 1 m 3.9 s behind
3- Carol Shelby Aston Martin
4- Ivor Bueb Jaguar
5- Lucien Bianchi Ferrari
The R.A.C. Spa offers the second edition of the Grand Prix de Spa, consisting as usual of three trials. The highlight of the Grand Prix de Spa rests a new on the Sports Cars trial.
Amongst the participation guests, an array of well known names : Paul Frère and Caroll Shelby (Aston Martin), Olivier Gendebien (on an experimental Ferrari loaned to the Belgian National Team for testing in view of Le Mans 24 hours), Masten Gregory and Archie Scott-Brown (Lister-Jaguar), Lucien Bianchi (Ferrari E.N.B.) and Freddy Rousselle (Lister-Jaguar E.N.B.).
This is an initial face to face encounter between Frère and Gendebien, both at the wheel of equally performing machines. In spite of not so good a weather, the public has come in full force to witness the confrontation of the two Belgian aces.
Right from the start the Lister-Jaguar from Ecurie Ecosse leave the Aston Martin well behind, while Gendebien (poorly located on the starting grid, having had many set backs during practice) tries to open towards the first lines.
Frère seems to keep to himself, well away from the duel confronting the two leaders. Perhaps is he waiting for his mate’s return in the National Team so as to provide their unconditional supporters with a quality duo show. Yet as the « experimental » Ferrari reaches the fifth position, a gearbox jam occurs, leaving the public’s expectations unfulfilled.
The struggle opposing the two leading Lister right from the flag signal keeps the crowd enthusiastically on its toes. The battle is raging in the foreground. Archie Scott Brown’s Lister-Jaguar n°16 nuzzles regularly the back of Masten Gregory’s same car. The spellbound public holds its breath in fear (or hope ?) of the worst.
In spite of intermittent drizzle the Seaman bend displays a dry tarmac as the two cars pass for the fifth time. In a deafening roar the two Lister dash towards the Source side to side, rush in the downward slope towards Eau Rouge, tackle the upward slope of the Raidillon and vanish, snarling, in the Burnenville forest.
A few moments later the uproar thunders from Stavelot, growing steadily.
They are coming, they are here. So is the rain, unexpectedly.
The two cars run front to front at Martinfange when suddenly the Lister n°16 swerves, hits the kerb, bursts into flame tearing two poles away, overturns in his ditch, the driver being ejected, and burns to ashes. Its bodywork, made of magnesium alloy, has caught fire immediately.
The smoke column arising from the club House field means a fine farewell to Scott-Brown. His friends and team-mates, all those who have lived under his law at Aintree and Goodwood realise they have lost their fairest adversary.
The race goes on, spiritless.
Masten Gregory crestfallen and lonely seems to lose all interest in a victory for which he struggled so hard, yet the victory is soon to be his, one minute ahead of Paul Frère’s Aston Martin.
Results :
1- Masten Gregory Lister-Jaguar
2- Paul Frère Aston Martin, 1 m 3.9 s behind
3- Carol Shelby Aston Martin
4- Ivor Bueb Jaguar
5- Lucien Bianchi Ferrari
#9
Joe Fan
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Posted 07 September 2000 - 06:02
Ray, being someone who is trying to get Masten honored locally, I have to be on top of these sorts of allegations. Masten was no saint but I am confident that this allegation is nothing more than a misunderstanding or an act of jealousy turned into tabloid journalism. Masten was a real likable personality and well liked by many but since he had some money behind him and could spend it freely, this no doubt created some jealousy from what I have heard. [p][Edited by Joe Fan on 09-07-2000]
#10
Ray Bell
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Member
Posted 07 September 2000 - 06:24
Joe, I admire the way you are hounding this issue to death, and it's nice that his wife will talk about him, too. You're obviously learning a lot as you go, not only about your subject, but also about research... how about you post something of your experiences on the 'research' thread?
#11
Joe Fan
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- 5,591 posts
- Joined: December 98
Member
Posted 08 September 2000 - 22:59
Well, looks like I'll be getting ready to send an e-mail response to MotorSport magazine. I just got done talking to Carroll Shelby about Masten. When I asked him about this drug user allegation, he said it was "bullshit."
Marcor, thanks for posting that information above![p][Edited by Joe Fan on 09-09-2000]
Marcor, thanks for posting that information above![p][Edited by Joe Fan on 09-09-2000]
#12
Ray Bell
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- 82,286 posts
- Joined: December 99
Member
Posted 10 September 2000 - 11:31
Good luck with Motor Sport... I'm not alone in not getting any response from them around here. I think Don and Dennis have had experiences with them too. But it was Keir, wasn't it, who had a letter published.
#13
Jsilcock
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- 1 posts
- Joined: September 00
New Member
Posted 11 September 2000 - 09:17
Have you read "Powered By Jaguar" by Doug Nye, it has a great commentary of the race.
I have actually been involved recently with 341SG Masten Gregory's Car in Historic Racing in New Zealand,I could supply you with some scanned colour photos if you like.
I have actually been involved recently with 341SG Masten Gregory's Car in Historic Racing in New Zealand,I could supply you with some scanned colour photos if you like.
