The archives: May 2018

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Current page

169

Current page

170

Current page

171

Current page

172

Current page

173

Current page

174

Current page

175

Current page

176

Current page

177

Current page

178

Current page

179

Current page

180

Current page

181

Current page

182

Current page

183

Current page

184

Current page

185

Current page

186

Current page

187

Current page

188

Current page

189

Current page

190

Current page

191

Current page

192

Current page

193

Current page

194

Current page

195

Thoughts on the ever-changing Formula 1 landscape, extended front-line careers and one particular fallen hero from the past

One day in the noughties, Bernie Ecclestone seemed to be in a particularly playful mood when I went with him to inspect a classic car in which he was interested at a dodgy dealership in London. The conversation came around to the length of contemporary racing drivers’ top-level careers – the old concern about long-term durability effectively bed-blocking the category from fresh young talent emerging from below…

It was around the time that Michael Schumacher had just scored his third or fourth consecutive World Championship title – yawn – for Ferrari. Generally it was all becoming rather boring for the non-aligned general public, and Mr E admitted as much. At that time Schumacher was in probably the 12th or 13th year of his glittering Formula 1 career, with umpteen Grand Prix race starts already to his name.

Where top-line Formula 1 driving careers had once been so fraught with danger that they were quite commonly cut short by accident and injury, one side-effect of making the game safer had been to prolong not merely the best but virtually every driver’s career far beyond its natural sell-by date.

Where Michael Schumacher’s split career – 1991-2006, then 2010-2012 – ultimately encompassed no fewer than 22 seasons at the top (19 of them active), five-times champion Juan Fangio’s Formula 1 career had really embraced only nine, Mike Hawthorn’s a meagre seven and Jim Clark’s eight-and-a-bit, while Alberto Ascari raced in F1 from 1948-55, eight seasons in all.

And then there’s the question of Grand Prix races themselves having become a devalued currency, debased by increased frequency. Show a race promoter a Grand Prix and his eyes would light up with the neon sign reading “earning opportunity”. Mr E certainly wouldn’t concede this one, more Grand Prix races each year were A Good Thing, and he gave no credit to nonsensical mere-enthusiast arguments about the good old days of only 10 or 11 World Championship rounds promoting proper anticipation, genuine stature, for each one.

But if practice yields perfection, then modern-era Grand Prix drivers must be very slow learners. Where the first double-champion Ascari’s career total of World Championship Grand Prix starts was a mere 32, Fangio started only 51, Mike Hawthorn a meagre 45, Stirling Moss 66 and even Jimmy Clark just 72.

In stark contrast Michael Schumacher would start 306 GPs during his frontline career – Lewis Hamilton to the end of last season was on 208, Kimi Räikkönen on 271 (from 15 seasons) and even that other relative newcomer Sebastian Vettel on 198 starts over 11 seasons. Jenson Button should have got driving just about gripped after 306 starts. And then there are the journeymen no-hopers who were good enough to accumulate lengthy frontline careers without winning a single race at that level – the likes of Martin Brundle, 158 starts, or Nick Heidfeld, 183 starts – both over 12-year careers…

At one stage in our casual conversation Mr E agreed, “Yes – we no longer kill ’em off often enough,” (considering personal experiences from his motor racing past, he must have been feeling particularly relaxed). Of course I kept that quote absolutely to myself at the time, I’m not that kind of journalist, but in stark black and white it certainly wouldn’t have looked good at the time. Yet against such a background, and with such perspective in mind, we will all – surely – have cherished favourites lodged in our minds.

ONE OF MINE – most indelibly – is the late, great Ronnie Peterson. He was the most exciting driver I ever saw first-hand on track. Others will cite Gilles Villeneuve, or Jochen Rindt, or maybe Ayrton Senna. Alain Prost was able to set ferociously competitive lap times while making the process look unutterably dull. Lewis Hamilton is fantastic to watch whenever the track is wet, but only within the dynamic context of what ‘emotion’ his car’s engineering permits it to display.

That was the thing about Ronnie Peterson, dancing his Spitfire-winged March 711 around the Nürburgring, or flickering his JPS Lotus through Woodcote Corner at Silverstone – visibly and self-evidently on an absolute knife-edge, electrifying to watch. And then out of the car the tall, husky Swede would smile his slow smile and simply be relaxed, phlegmatic, rather reserved Ronnie again.

I interviewed him one time at his nice, neat yet surprisingly modest house in Maidenhead, with the lovely Barbro, and his beautifully kept, beautifully lit tropical fish aquaria bubbling away in the background. When I wrote the piece I presented his quotes spelled as he spoke them. “I woss offered two sports car drives, one by Alfa Romeo, the other by Ferrari. The Alfas had yust won a lot races which the flat-12 Ferrari led every time but always woss breaking. To me woss clear – driving the Ferrari could be more fun, so I signed with them. And the car woss reliable, and we won some races. Woss a bonus” – and he beamed at the then-recent memory.

Unfortunately, when Barbro read the story she assumed that I was merely taking the mickey, and she was quite upset with me. I was dismayed since that had been the very last thing I would ever have intended, and I had certainly not foreseen such a possibility. Aah well – an outsider’s best intentions will seldom sway a properly proud and protective wife.

But right now one of the cars I am working with is no less than Ronnie Peterson’s 1969 Formula 3 Tecno-Novamotor, in which he first burst upon the international scene by winning that year’s Monaco GP supporting race. And back in Monaco on May 11, that very car is to be offered for auction in the Bonhams sale.

In fact, Ronnie drove this Swedish-yellow Tecno that season to win no fewer than 16 times, including every one of his first eight consecutive outings in the car. Apart from the Monaco trip and another to Magny-Cours plus British appearances at Crystal Palace (second) and in the British GP support race at Silverstone (third), he concentrated upon Italian and Swedish Championship races.

In the Tecno he actually won at the Monza Pista Junior (twice), at Vallelunga (twice), Falkenberg (twice), Knutstorp, Karlskoga (twice), Monaco, Anderstorp (twice), Magny-Cours, Kinnekullering, Skarpnack and finally on the Dalslandring at Bengtsfors.

Into 1970, once he was taken under the brand-new March company’s wing and entered Formula 1 with Colin Crabbe’s private March 701, his F3 Tecno was sold to Swedish privateer Rolf Skoghag – who appears to have been sponsored by a sealed-wrapper mucky magazine publisher…

First time out at Falkenberg that April, Skoghag finished fifth, but thereafter in eight further Swedish and Finnish outings he had little luck. Into 1971 he took to driving a replacement Lotus 59 for Sten Axelsson who was better known as a sometime endurance racing driver and entrant. Eventually the discarded Tecno was bought for old times’ sake by Ronnie’s long-time friend and manager Staffan Svenby, who also ran Anderstorp Raceway amongst his growing business empire. The car was displayed for some time at the Ronnie Peterson Museum in Orebro, before finally returning to family ownership with Ronnie and Barbro’s daughter, Nina.

Now the time has come for a new owner hopefully to conserve and cherish this wonderfully successful and significant icon of the truly great. It really would be a pity to see it exposed to the dangers of pipsqueak, no-account historic racing amongst a bunch of replacement cars that have really been built only last Tuesday but, as the car in which the great Ronnie Peterson first made his mark, well, here’s a historic racing car with knobs on. And – just for once – I am very excited about it.

Doug Nye is the UK’s most eminent motor racing historian and has been writing authoritatively about the sport since the 1960s

IMAGES: LAT