463 replies to this topic

[Ray Bell]

A rough quote: "As Ickx finished his twenty-eighth lap his car slithered on the painted lines on the grid . . ."
Denis Jenkinson, Motor Sport, French GP, 1968. And there are many more. Classics like: "A cat walking on a shelf of Dresden China would have looked clumsy by comparison."
That one came after a description of Clark and Surtees and their 'fingertip' control of their 1.5-litre F1 cars at the (very greasy) Solitude Ring, 1964, and acknowledging that the Climax engine of Clark's Lotus would have been less peaky than the Ferrari engine that Surtees had.
His deep analysis of Fittipaldi non-starting in a Silverstone race in the Lotus 72, and the many excuses made by the team, the sponsors and suppliers and why . . . it was great stuff.
Anybody else have any particular favourite DSJ memories (excluding the 55 Mille Miglia, that is in a different world)?

[Fast One]

Being from the States, I didn't grow up with Jenkinson; over here it was Henry Manney. They were gerat friends and the two greatest racing reporters I have ever read. I wish I had access to more of Jenk's old articles. I said in another thread that I wish someone would collect EVERY WORD that HNM III ever wrote. I would like to see the same done for Jenkinson.

[Dennis David]

When "uncle" Ken Tyrrell rings you up and says : "Can you come over, I've got something to show you", you don't ask: "What?" or "Why?". One thing about Ken, and I have known him for 40 years, is he never called a spade a shovel; you know exactly where you stand with him, right or wrong. So one morning in September 1975, having just got back from Monza, I got on my motorcycle and rode over to Ken's house in West Clandon, and after a welcoming cup of coffee he said: "Come out into the garden". Totally unprepared for what to expect, I followed him out to the lawn and my mouth fell open, and a look of total disbelief came upon my face. Ken roared with laughter as I stood there speechless, and to this day he still has a chuckle at the memory of "Jenks speechless".

Denis Jenkinson describing the first time he laid eyes on the Tyrrell P34.

When I read that passage I can just imagine two overgrown boys sharing a new toy. These days we have these outrageous "premiers" with music acts like the Spice Girls, and more dry ice than a Meatloaf concert and it’s easy to see what we have lost.


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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[DAT]

"more dry ice than a Meat Loaf concert"
chuckle chuckle.

[Dennis David]

BTW I happen to like Meatloaf! The one time I saw him was in the live version of Rocky Horror Picture Show in London.



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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[bigblue]

I used to read Road & Track pretty much only for Henry Manney. Peter Egan is not too bad. I enjoy his stuff. I to being from the states do not know too much about DSJ. David can you recommend some titles from his books I can buy.

[Dennis David]

Jenks: A passion for Motor Sport by Denis Jenkinson


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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[Don Capps]

Having had the thrill and rare pleasure of meeting and becoming acquaintances with both DSJ & HNMIII, boy was I lucky! DSJ was,well, Jenks and unique in his own way. And Henry Manney was just as unique in his own way. Jenks was just an amazing person, but at times he would take a stances and that was that, as in the case of Jackie Stewart and the Safety Crusade. Jenks was scathing to Stewart and lambasted him at every opportunity. I had to support Stewart and thereby wish that DSJ would get over it. Eventually he did, sorta.

Ah, HNMIII, the man who was from an entirely different Galaxy. Only perhaps Pete Lyons, Nigel Roebuck, Joe Scalzo, and Hunter S. Thompson could hold their own with Henry when he was on a roll!

Wonderful man!

One thing about DSJ that liked was that he and I could look each other in the eye when I in high school...

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

Semper Gumbi: If this was easy, we’d have the solution already…

[Ray Bell]

The only time I met DSJ was over a platefull of green snails he was eating at Monaco in 1981. Some were luckier, but I really think that the depth of DSJ was only in his written word.
There the truth came through. He'd hate a driver for a poor performance and praise him for a brilliant one the next week, then comment that he should be more consistent. All the while, he made sure it wasn't the wrong tyres or an oversize engine that made the difference.
I think I'll reach down and pick up an old copy and read 'Continental Notes' again. What is it? June, 1973. let's see...

[Don Capps]

Ray,

One of the reasons I was really upset to lose a ton of my old Motor Sports was exactly the reason you've stated: you can select a Continental Notes or a race report at random they can can be read and re-read and you still enjoy them. That is dificult to do, yet I get hooked every time...

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

Semper Gumbi: If this was easy, we’d have the solution already…

[Xrayman]

Apart from 'Jenks A passion for Motorsport' does anyone know of anyother compilation book of his works, especially the Continental notes or Race reports.

Coming into Motorsport only recently I never had the chance to read Jenk's work until the 'Jenks'book and i'm hooked on his style and insight to the sport.

Any ideas on the books?



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Martin.

ICQ 53805151

[Uncle Davy]

I was also a Manney fan, having more access to HNM than to DSJ on this side of the Pond.

I always had a problem with Jenkinson's position on safety issues and a driver's willingness to accept risk. Having endured(as a fan) the horrific number of driver fatalities in the late 60's through the early 80's, many of which could have been avoided with application of standards and technologies available at the time but not in place, I found Jenkinson's view anachronistic and sadly Romantic.

Assumption of risk need not be assumption of suicide.

That said, he was no armchair quarterback; reading pace notes to Stirling Moss at speed in a Mercedes 300SLR for ten hours to win the Mille Miglia is not the labor of a timid man.

[Don Capps]

Also, few remember that he was the rider for Eric Oliver in 1949 and shared the World Championship for Sidecars, the first, that year with Oliver. In those days, sidecar riders made even Dick Tracy look like a wimp.

DSJ's opinions were not that high of some folks like Jochen Rindt - who cost DSJ his beard when Rindt won at Watkins Glen in 1969, or Jo Bonnier, Denny Hulme, and Jackie Stewart after they started their safety crusade. He was definitely not a fan of the GPDA. Despite his stated dislike for "nostalgia" or the like, he was in many years a victim of his own past.

As much as I admire DSJ, I have learned over the years to take some of his opinions with several grains of salt. That doesn't mean I think the less of him, but that he simply had his blind spots as well.

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

Semper Gumbi: If this was easy, we’d have the solution already…

[Ray Bell]

Truth is, I can only reach down and pick up a handful. Most of my Motor Sport and Road & Track were bulldozed in a house demolition I wasn't real happy about. Those that remain are indeed treasured.
Another book of Jenks' is 'The Racing Driver,' which gives simplified explanations about car behavior and applies theory to practical experience. Well worth a read - if it can be found, it dates back to about 1960.
Yes, DSJ did have his blind spots. He hated Hulme and Amon for their lack of application in the rain. But, as mentioned before, he gave them full credit when they did give their all.
And what about his explanation about driving through diminishing gaps? "I just place the car as close as I can on the side I can best see, and if it fits on the other side we get through..."
That one goes hand in hand with his explanation that riding with Moss gives one an appreciation of one's own lack of skill

[D-Type]

I found this thread while looking for something else. my favourite : " and Team Lotus would have won the 'Team Shambles' except that BRM had lost it" - Or was it the other way round?

[Wolf]

Well, this one is a real gem: http://forums.atlasf...1211#post321211 .

[David Birchall]

Originally posted by Ray Bell

Truth is, I can only reach down and pick up a handful. Most of my Motor Sport and Road & Track were bulldozed in a house demolition I wasn't real happy about. Those that remain are indeed treasured.

Umm, is this the time or place for an extended version Ray?

xrayman should try to get a copy of Jenks report on his ride with Moss in the '55 MM
Otherwise, "Jenks, A passion for Motor Sport" really tells the story well.

[Gary Davies]

Loved his writing, his passion, his courage, his eccentricity, his knowledge and ... his bloody forthrightness! I recall rolling the eyes frequently at Bill Boddy's frequently absurd hobby horses (his references to 'being made to strap himself into the car' raised my blood pressure more than was sensible for a young chap, as I was then) but somehow, Jenks'* passions seemed more genuine although no less daft.

One I was reminded of just a couple of weeks ago - this from memory so please ... in early 1961 Weber supplied several people with duff carburettors due to machining inaccuracies. RRC Walker Racing were but one team that suffered therefrom and Jenks duly accused Walker, in the pages of Motor Sport, of putting Moss in starting money specials.

The truth came out. Walker sued. I believe there was an out of court settlement in favour of RRC Walker. DSJ declined to recant.

How wonderfully feisty. Oh, what I'd give to have been present when he heard of the outcome! :

* Apologies to the 'Jenks's lobby.

[David McKinney]

Originally posted by Vanwall
* Apologies to the 'Jenks's lobby.

It's not a lobby, Vanners
It's an inarguable and unbreakable rule

[Gary Davies]

Dangling a line in the water and waiting to see if there's a bite ... it's a national pastime downunder!

[Doug Nye]

I'm sure DSJ would have taken great issue with this thread and would right now be arguing here against support and praise for himself...had he even deigned to wrap his mind around "that internet".

That is, unless somebody had had a serious pop at him here, in which case he would either flip the argument around in his own support - or he would have adopted an air of lofty (well, in relative terms) disdain and would have resolutely refused to acknowledge existence of same...

DCN

[Roger Clark]

Originally posted by Vanwall


One I was reminded of just a couple of weeks ago - this from memory so please ... in early 1961 Weber supplied several people with duff carburettors due to machining inaccuracies. RRC Walker Racing were but one team that suffered therefrom and Jenks duly accused Walker, in the pages of Motor Sport, of putting Moss in starting money specials.

The truth came out. Walker sued. I believe there was an out of court settlement in favour of RRC Walker. DSJ declined to recant.

I recall the remark, it was after the Syracuse Grand Prix, but I can't recall Walker suing. It doesn't sound like him.

[Macca]

I'm pretty sure it was in RRCW's autobiography; he said or implied that once it had appeared in print he had to sue or race organisers might have believed it and cut his start money.


Paul M

[Stephen W]

When each issue of Motor Sport lands on the dooor mat. I just hope that somewhere in the magazine there will be an article that measures up to the great man's standards.

I met him on a couple of occasions and found him charming and extremely helpful to a Grand Prix novice. I shared his fear of the sanitisation of F1 and retreated to Hillclimbs & Sprints once big business got its stranglehold.

One day there will be a journalist who measures up to his standards until then I'll just have to wait impatiently.

[Gary Davies]

Originally posted by Roger Clark

I recall the remark, it was after the Syracuse Grand Prix, but I can't recall Walker suing. It doesn't sound like him.

Roger you motivated me to dig out volume XXXVII. Yes, the Walker Lotus had popped and banged its way through the Bruxelles GP weekend in early April - 'A Ridiculous Event' according to D.S.J.

Then, in Siracua on the last weekend in April, the same thing. Moss qualified in 7th and finished 8th, pushing the car over the line having already been lapped twice.

Jenks committed the 'crime' in "SIRACUSA SIGHS": 'The Walker Team will have to stop these pathetic exhibitions of 'starting money' gathering or someone will suspect something. Goodwood, Bruxelles, Aintree and now Siracusa, it can't all be "bad luck".'

A brief scan of the Monaco report (practice) has Jenks saying only that the Walker Team was "back on form".

[Sharman]

Reading the comments in this thread and relating them to those in the Jabby thread it stands out that what we are missing is "character", there are some people who stand out from the crowd by virtue of their larger than life approach. One thinks of JVB, Jenks , Jabby, Innes Ireland, Duncan Hamilton, George Abbecassis, Tony Rolt, a whole host of men who were so very happy to be alive and free following the second war during which they served (pace Jenks) and survived very dodgy situations. A similiar but even more gratfying feeling of survival must have followed the Great War. Hence the excesses of the 20's. At least the dangers were of their own choosing. To quote WH Charnock "fools but they had their fun". They are gone now and cannot exert their influence on the younger generations, a remark was made about the death toll in the 60's and 70's, that crop of drivers had the war generation as a model. It's lthe same with rugby , the players are so busy getting paid they don't do it for the hall of it, just a lemonade for me thank you. But then this is the Nostagia Forum----!

[Roger Clark]

Originally posted by Macca
I'm pretty sure it was in RRCW's autobiography; he said or implied that once it had appeared in print he had to sue or race organisers might have believed it and cut his start money.


Paul M

Which autobiography was that?

Settling out of court with no publicity doesn't seem a good idea if you're trying to protect your reputation. The Monaco Grand Prix must have ensured that Walker wouldn't have to worry too much about starting money. On the other hand, MOTOR SPORT's Syracuse report didn't appear until after Monaco.

[Doug Nye]

'Motor Sport' was indeed sued by Rob for libel after publishing Jenks's line about Walker Racing producing starting money specials. Ultimately Old Man Tee - owner/publisher of the magazine - settled with Rob out of court for £1,000 - which Rob promptly donated to charity. THere was no real ongoing problem between Jenks and Rob over this matter - it was just that neither ever forgave the other, each concluded it was better to be pals than enemies, so neither really mentioned the matter in polite company ever again.

Jenks was then sufficiently injudicious to get 'Motor Sport' sued on another occasion, this time by Ken Gregory, after writing a retrospective piece about chassis identities, and the way in which that of the Moss Maserati 250F - when Moss was managed by Gregory - became clouded and confused. Somewhat recklessly he penned a controversial line about "don't look under flat stones for you might find a Ken Gregory there". Ken was understandably peeved, and sued for libel. Jenks made the suggestion that a sum of money should be donated to charity - as it had been in Rob's case - and was subsequently deeply unimpressed since he believed that Ken had pocketed it himself. At least - that's the way I recall these matters....

DCN

[David Beard]

Roger Lund asked me to post these lovely shots of Jenks and Moss, which he took at the FOS, 1995....

[Macca]

One of mine from the same year; I can just imagine them storming a pass in Italy.............


Paul M

[FLB]

I found this 'Jenks' Gem' in the 'French Flippancies' section of the report for the 1973 French Grand Prix:


'A momentous occasion for the 'media people'. Hunt got his first Championship point. Wonder what he'll do with it? More important is the fact that Hunt finished a jolly good sixth in his second Grand Prix'.


What would he think of the current state of F1 'journalism'?...

[Bill Wagenblatt]

Over the winter I have started to scan my archive of motor racing photos. I decided to build a database to assist in keep track of the photos. I also thought it would be helpful to include additional information on each image and one of the bits was the chassis number of the car. That led to going through my Motor Sports to check the Formula One chassis numbers and note them for each event. As I can get easily sidetracked I thought I should reread some of the old race reports. As most of these were written by DSJ I have been struck by how much I miss his writing. Although I was to shy to introduce myself to him when I would see him, I feel that through his writings I know him. As a collective society we have apparently moved into this instant information world, while it has its benefits, I feel we have lost the access to the types of reporting DSJ did. After reading a Jenkinson race report I feel like I had been at the event.

After rereading a number of his reports I miss DSJ greatly and I also miss the times.

Bill

[oldtimer]

Originally posted by Doug Nye

Jenks was then sufficiently injudicious to get 'Motor Sport' sued on another occasion...

DCN

In the early 1950s, Jenks was prevailed upon to to do a road test of the current Austin A70, then manufactured by BMC (the British Motor Corporation). The same issue carried a road test of the A90 by Bill Boddy, but I may have the testers the wrong way round. Whatever, the DSJ road test conclude with a remark to the effect that it was time BMC engineers did some studies into the fundementals of road holding.

This led to BMC withholding their cars for road testing by MS for some years, called by Bill Boddy the 'Bishop ban', named after BMC PR man.

However, in a later isssue, Boddy did report a test of an F-type MG despite the Bishop ban. A toy model, driven with an electric motor...

All a far cry from even contemporary journalism, let alone today's blandness.

[Roger Clark]

Originally posted by oldtimer


In the early 1950s, Jenks was prevailed upon to to do a road test of the current Austin A70, then manufactured by BMC (the British Motor Corporation). The same issue carried a road test of the A90 by Bill Boddy, but I may have the testers the wrong way round. Whatever, the DSJ road test conclude with a remark to the effect that it was time BMC engineers did some studies into the fundementals of road holding.

October 1951. He started: " In some ways it was rather unfortunate that the Editor should have picked on me to try the Austin Hereford while he was away on holiday. I have a biased mind where modern English cars are concerned, believing most of our progress to be sideways. Consequently, I was aware that inwardly I was not going to like this Hereford from the moment of seeing it. discarding all thoughts of motoring being a sport, and mentally adding 30 years to my age, I approached the Hereford from the correct angle. Using the car over a long weekend in that frame of mind I was reasonably content with what I found".

He then wrote most of the tests as though he were a 50-year old with no interest in cars. By those standards it was good value for money. In the last two paragraphs he "threw away my extra years, removed my bowler, and looked at this Austin from the fast car angle". He then concluded that the car was appalling.

[Ray Bell]

Oh that is so classic DSJ!

Roger, do you mind finding the exact wording of the para-quote I used to commence this thread?

[Roger Clark]

As Ickx came down the pits straight to finish his 21st lap the Ferrari got into a vicious snaking motion as he crossed the white painted lines of the dummy grid, which made one realise just how close to the limit of adhesion these chaps were.

[Ray Bell]

Thanks, Roger... good stuff, isn't it?

Even if I had the lap and the grid and the words wrong...

[humphries]

Doug

The article Jenks wrote about the NZ 250Fs I recently read in a back issue of the VSCC. Did Gregory sue them as well? The journal had to print a grovelling/ fulsome apology in a later edition. The fact that Ken Gregory was not popular with many of his day is understandable when one reads about the disgraceful shenanigans surrounding the 1954 Autosport F3 championship.


John

[D-Type]

John,

Can you please amplify this. I know nothing of the 1954 Autosport F3 Championship and I'm sure that is true for most of the forum.

[simonlewisbooks]

Originally posted by D-Type
John,

Can you please amplify this. I know nothing of the 1954 Autosport F3 Championship and I'm sure that is true for most of the forum.

Agreed, sounds fascinating!

Simon Lewis
Transport Books

[BRG]

I was never a follower of DSJ or much of a reader of his stuff. As a sometime rally, co-driver I respect him a lot for effectively inventing the rally pacenote (or at least legitimising it, as it probably had earlier antecedents) particularly on an event of the sheer scale of the Mille Miglia.

But I can't help feeling that the sort of things that DSJ is lauded for - strongly held opinions, not being afraid to say what he thought, not being afraid of being the only one in step - are the very same values for which many people criticise Jeremy Clarkson. Just a thought...

[HDonaldCapps]

Originally posted by BRG
But I can't help feeling that the sort of things that DSJ is lauded for - strongly held opinions, not being afraid to say what he thought, not being afraid of being the only one in step - are the very same values for which many people criticise Jeremy Clarkson. Just a thought...

It is often a matter of style, the "how" you say or do it versus the "what" you say or do. I am not very familiar with Jeremy Clarkson and so can't pass any comments in judgment of him or his "values," but DSJ had a certain style, a flair, a way of marching to his own drummer that while often imitated was never duplicated.

[kayemod]

Originally posted by HDonaldCapps


It is often a matter of style, the "how" you say or do it versus the "what" you say or do. I am not very familiar with Jeremy Clarkson and so can't pass any comments in judgment of him or his "values," but DSJ had a certain style, a flair, a way of marching to his own drummer that while often imitated was never duplicated.

Absolutely right, and if you aren't old enough to have read DSJ in MotorSport at the time, I'd say it was very hard to appreciate the full stature of the man and his significance without reading his work in the compendium 'Jenks - A Passion for Motor Sport'. There are certainly similarities with Jeremy Clarkson, who I'll admit to enjoying most of the time, but JS is a talented all-round TV entertainer in the 21st century mode, whereas Jenks was a narrowly focussed eccentric who communicated straight from the heart. I don't think he'd have been much good at presenting a TV programme like Top Gear, but then again, I doubt if JC could write race reports that almost made you feel you were there, spectating at the old Nurburgring or the Targa Florio.

[simonlewisbooks]

DSJ and Clarkson certainly shared an ability to say exactly what they felt and to hell with the consequences. I also think they shared a great passion for their subjects and in the same way they have both delighted and enfuriated huge numbers of people along the way. Both characters who you either admired or detested but couldn't be neutral about.

Wouldn't life be a lot duller without such people?

Simon Lewis

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by kayemod


Absolutely right, and if you aren't old enough to have read DSJ in MotorSport at the time, I'd say it was very hard to appreciate the full stature of the man and his significance without reading his work in the compendium 'Jenks - A Passion for Motor Sport'. There are certainly similarities with Jeremy Clarkson, who I'll admit to enjoying most of the time, but JS is a talented all-round TV entertainer in the 21st century mode, whereas Jenks was a narrowly focussed eccentric who communicated straight from the heart. I don't think he'd have been much good at presenting a TV programme like Top Gear, but then again, I doubt if JC could write race reports that almost made you feel you were there, spectating at the old Nurburgring or the Targa Florio.

I think there's a fundamental difference. By his own account, Clarkson wasn't passionate about cars all his life - he spotted that most mainstream broadcasting about them was what I call the "Chris Goffey in a brown anorak talking about diesel Montegos and hazard warning triangles" end of the spectrum. Clarkson decided that cars could be made interesting and amusing to the general audience -- as a means of getting him a more interesting job than working on local papers -- and consciously developed a persona and a style for doing so.

Jenks on the other hand - cut him and he'd bleed Castrol R and AvGas. Jenks was always going to be Jenks.

I'm not sure Jenks would've approved of Clarkson's rather awful antics behind the wheel, but I think he would've approved of JC's pro-car, anti-Nanny State tendencies and his willingness to poke fun at anything that was sub-standard.

[Wolf]

And I thought BRG might need fireproof suit after his post...;) However, I do not find many similarities between Jenks and Clarkson- in fact, I find them worlds apart. Jenks seems to be someone worth listening to, even when one disagrees with him, while Clarkson to me is someone I'd rather not listen to, esp. if we happen to agree on a point. Where DSJ seems most knowledgeable on the subject he writes, Clarkson seems to wield nothing but a bunch of catch-phrases and second-hand expertise. I've heard Clarkson's commentary of Dijon duel betrween JV and RA and it literally made me cringe to the point I had to hit the kill switch on the sound. I do not doubt it's entirely possible they share enthusiasm for cars, but if that's the extent of the comparison betwixt the two (which I believe it is), it can only be disservice to a true journalist and expert among the two.

[kayemod]

I think you're a bit hard on Clarkson there, he's better at what he does than anyone else I can think of who's still around and broadcasting, but I'd say the greatest difference between JC & Jenks is that the latter truly didn't give two hoots what anyone else thought. Forty plus years later, Clarkson is very much in tune with today's media, and although apparently an outspoken rebel, he's very good at moulding his views and persona very closely indeed to what he knows is marketable. That's why Jenks ended his days happy, fulfilled and hugely respected worldwide in an isolated cottage without mains electricity, and JC is probably a multi-millionaire. Also, I'm willing to bet that Jenks never did doughnuts in his 356 or E-Type.

[Ray Bell]

But he drove them both as hard as he could...

[bradbury west]

Jenks and Moss at the FoS, 1995...









I just thought it might be seemly to mention that it was ten years ago today, 29.11.1996, that Jenks passed away.


Roger Lund.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Dennis David
BTW I happen to like Meatloaf! The one time I saw him was in the live version of Rocky Horror Picture Show in London.

His cousin, who looks infeasibly like him, is a mechanic in Grand Am - good bloke