A moment of fame

One may be asked sooner or later, if one can recall a highlight in one’s life. I suppose I would quote the day when I had gone up to Silverstone for the 1956 British GP. On the front row of the grid were Moss (Maserati), Fangio (Lancia-Ferrari), Hawthorn (BRM) and Peter Collins (Lancia-Ferrari).

At first it looked promising for the British, with Hawthorn leading away with Brooks behind him after a fine move from row three. But as the race progressed the BRMs fell back and it was a foregone conclusion that the final result would be a win for Fangio with de Portago second in the V8 Lancia D50 and Jean Behra’s 250F Maserati third. However, Brooks persevered, as always, but had to bring the BRM in for attention to its throttle control. Then having resumed, the car suffered a structural failure, crashed heavily at Abbey Curve and burst into flames. I had been watching from this viewpoint. Tony somehow got out of the blazing car, ran across the track, saw me, and asked me to take him back to the Paddock in the Rover 2000 saloon car I had parked near the corner.

I dodged parked spectators’ cars and interested people walking about the straight that served to take them back from the corner. Brooks seemed unconcerned, but had to go to hospital with facial bums. He was lucky, because the BRM had gone end-over-end, luckily throwing him out befbre it burnt out. A brief moment for me of (fraught) fame.