Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

In the second part of our special Jochen Rindt tribute, we hear from three more of his rivals who were due to race against him at the fateful 1970 Italian Grand Prix, where the Austrian was killed in practice before becoming Formula 1’s only posthumous World Champion. Fifteen of the 26 drivers entered for that race survive, and we’ve spoken to all but one of them.

There are more recollections to come tomorrow, as we count down to this weekend’s Grand Prix at Monza.

Sir Jack Brabham

AUS, Motor Racing Developments

“Monza 1970 was a very sad weekend for me. I had become very close friends with Jochen and we had so many great races together.

“Jochen had a horrible car failure at the end of the straight and was killed through no fault of his own. I rated him very highly indeed as a driver and felt he was a wonderful competitor, and I always enjoyed racing with him. I would say also that he was a very good type of man, who became a bosom friend, and beyond that he was one of the best drivers of that period and captured the imagination of the racing public.

“Fatalities, unfortunately, were something we had to live with and we had to get on with the job at hand, but it was a very sad period altogether.”

John Surtees

GB, Team Surtees

“Jochen was my team-mate, of course, at Cooper. I’d seen him in Formula 2, where he had a number of good events. He came before me at Cooper-Maserati. He showed good pace and did a good race at Spa, where I watched him because his tyres were handling in the wet better then mine. And it was obvious he was talented.

“In terms of his World Championship… Well, at that time there were a number of drivers who, if they were in the right car at the right time, had the potential to become World Champion, and he was definitely one of those. When he went to Lotus, to work with Colin Chapman, then definitely he was one of those with World Champion potential. Jochen had the right degree of aggression and he was also someone who was able to come together with a car. Colin could put together a real driver’s car, and by the time Jochen went there he had the right amount of experience to be a potential champion. What happened was just tragic.

“I had had a major accident in 1966 that nearly killed me, due to a mechanical failure. And Jochen’s accident was probably caused by a mechanical failure too. That reawakened memories that there are things beyond your control at times, particularly in those days. It’s one of the facts of life. You have to recall why you are there and what you are there to do – a job that generally you love doing. There are moments when that love goes away, of course, but you have to cast that to one side once you get behind the wheel, without wishing to sound callous.”

Andrea de Adamich

IT, McLaren

“I first met Jochen at the Vallelunga Italian Formula 3 race in 1963. We were both beginners, although our career paths diverged after that. He was far faster than me in Formula 1 but I was very proud to beat him in the 1968 Temporada Argentina, when I had the Ferrari Dino Formula 2 car.

“By Monza 1970, the only reason he was not dominating rather than simply leading the championship was that his Lotus was fragile as well as fast. It’s a weekend that will remain imprinted on my memory. Just before Jochen crashed he had come out of the pits. It’s my belief that his belts weren’t done up properly after he left, and this is what caused him to slide under them, with the buckle crushing his neck. We’ll obviously never know, but I think that if his belts had been properly fastened then he could have survived the accident, although he would still have sustained severe leg injuries.

“I remember both him and his wife Nina with a lot of affection. They were cultured, educated and refined people – which is not something that you could always say about everyone in the paddock.”

Anthony Rowlinson

Anthony Rowlinson is executive editor of The Red Bulletin

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

The highlight of my year thus far was lunch in a supermarket café. Not the gastronomy, though I did capitulate at the offer of an absurdly rich pudding, but the company I was keeping.

My friend Robert Dean is an engineer, a mechanic, a racer of vintage cars and generally one of the good eggs of our universe. By our universe, I mean that which is inhabited by those of us who are just crazy about racing cars. Or just crazy. Robert’s role in life, apart from a being a doting father, is to look after a collection of racing cars owned by one Bernard Ecclestone.

I mention this because last year in the desert of Bahrain I did two things I never imagined I would. I slid down into the cockpit of a Ferrari 312 and I perched on the seat of a BRM V16 Mk ll.

For me, these were Big Moments – not only a pleasure, but also a privilege. As a child, I watched Ken Wharton and Ron Flock hart racing this BRM at Goodwood and, while the memory is hazy, I remember the noise and I know it must have left a big impression on me. I know this because I later joined the BRM Supporters Club, proudly wearing the enamel badge at every possible opportunity. There was something about a BRM, so very British in that dark racing green, and so often the underdog until Graham Hill came along and won the World Championship in 1962. By that time you couldn’t keep me away from the racetrack.

Then there was the Ferrari, this the very car raced in 1966 by Lorenzo Banding and John Surtees. You probably remember the cockpit of the 312, that wonderful black leather cladding, and that snaking nest of white exhaust pipes on the glorious V12 engine. Take a look at pictures of Banding in this car, or Ludovico Scarfiotti (who won at Monza in ’66) and if they don’t stir your blood then you won’t get what I’m going on about. The car is so comfortable, the cockpit hugging your sides. Close your eyes and you could be coming down to the Parabolica – if you were brave enough. No belts, remember, and fuel tanks all around you. Eventually I stepped out, but I didn’t want to.

So, thanks to Mr Dean, I have taken a seat in the theatre of dreams. The point, however, of these ramblings is that it is days such as these that remind us why we fell in love with Grand Prix racing.

In recent years I have sometimes struggled to maintain my enthusiasm. They all look the same, they all sound the same. They can’t overtake each other unless there’s a thunderstorm and Lewis Hamilton has a red mist inside that yellow helmet. Wandering among the cars collected by Bernie reminded me that simplicity is good – big fat tyres, tons of power, not very much grip and lots of nice engineering that you and I can understand.

No, I am not bogged down in the past. And yes, I will be watching the Chinese Grand Prix. I’m not giving up on this thing after six decades but I do believe that something radical needs to be done to improve the sheer spectacle, the drama of motor racing at its highest level.

BRM is long gone, but there will be Ferraris on the grid in China. All is not lost.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Thursday March 18 was a good day, with the launch of the 2010 Goodwood season in a perfect English setting.

Racing cars look so good outside Goodwood House. It just feels right. And nobody entertains with more style than the Earl of March. To get the day under way the Royal Navy brought a Lynx helicopter, proceeding to fly it backwards, sideways, every which way in a wake-up display that defied the laws of gravity. Down below they blew the dust off Ayrton Senna’s Toleman and Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren.

“Thank you all for helping us to make our events what they are today,” said Lord March, addressing the media gathered outside his home. Every year we think how will the Festival of Speed stay fresh and alive? Will the Revival continue to surprise and stimulate us? After 17 years of the Festival and 11 of the Revival it would appear there is little wrong with the formula. If it doesn’t need fixing, don’t fix it. In the background, of course, there have been changes, the Festival becoming a celebration of the motor car in all its guises rather than a hillclimb for historic racing cars, while the Revival has become a theatrical garden party with pure, full-blooded racing at its heart.

Sitting around a table on the grass outside Goodwood House at lunchtime, I spied BBC Formula 1 commentator Jonathan Legard, veteran author and journalist Maurice Hamilton, Deborah Tee (whose family once owned Motor Sport and Motoring News) and our very own Nigel Roebuck. And this is partly what makes Goodwood special. This is a place where enthusiasts gather, people who have a passion for motor racing.

Just back from Bahrain, having robustly tried to make a dull Grand Prix watchable television, Jonathan was bravely defending F1 in the aftermath of a disappointing start to the season. Maurice, celebrating his birthday with a glass of Lord March’s Veuve Clicquot, regaled us with hysterical stories from days gone by. And Nigel, muttering about the dreaded double diffusers, went off in search of Jacky Ickx to cheer himself up. Paul Ormond from Honda, which has supported the Festival since its inception, came by to tell us about the marque’s plans for Le Mans. Multiple World Champion Dougie Lampkin rode by on his trials bike, weaving his way between the tables to jump over something else. The new McLaren MP4/12C rolled in on its first public appearance, all matt black and still a work in progress.

No other event draws such a diverse and colourful collection of characters, cars, bikes and racers. If you have the passion, you will be there.

There were 80 cars at the Goodwood launch this year. Remarkably, that is more than the entry for the first ever Festival back in the summer of 1993. Down at the startline, under the budding lime trees, there were more people soaking up the sights and sounds than stood there on that June Saturday when it all began.

This year the Festival of Speed will support a charitable foundation set up by John Surtees in memory of his son Henry. The Goodwood crowd will give generously because not only do they love their sport, they care passionately about its past, present and future.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine