Great Read
The other day I listened again to an interview, recorded in early 1957, with the Marquis Alfonso de Portago. Originally put out on a Riverside LP, it was reissued on…
On and off, Mario Andretti has been trying to win Le Mans for more than 30 years. The place has hardly been kind to him, but he adores it. "I…
Great Read
Twenty-five years have passed since the death of Gilles Villeneuve, the most beloved racing driver of his generation, and many words have lately been devoted to a man without whom,…
"In a time when motor racing was conducted with integrity and passion, one unique character graced the stage of Formula One. His name was Ken Tyrrell." The narrator's opening words…
Great Read
For many of us, grand prix racing entered a fallow period after the death in May 1982 of Gilles Villeneuve, and none felt that more keenly than Denis Jenkinson. Even…
Great Read
On 17 July 1937, during practice for the German GP, Bernd Rosemeyer fought his wayward Auto Union round the Nürburgring in 9min 46.2sec, a time that staggered the pitlane. By…
Riccardo Patrese is one of those racing drivers who ages well, I thought again when I saw him in Monaco a few weeks ago. Greying a little, and strolling around…
Time was when I used to go to the Daytona 500 every year. For one thing, the Florida weather in February made a stimulating change from the white skies and…
Great Read
Appropriately, it is November 29 as I write, and – just as in 1975 – there is a thick crust of frost on the windscreen of my car. That evening,…
Great Read
When people ask me which I think is the most impressive vantage point on any circuit I have visited, my answer unfailingly surprises them. Eau Rouge at Spa? Suzuka's 130R?…
Great Read
A 'retro' interview this month. Recently I came across a tape, recorded in November 1981 with Frank Williams, and on a whim slotted it into the machine and began to…
When I was a kid, someone gave me an EP – remember them? – of the BRM V16 on full noise. I once told Stirling Moss about it. "I'm surprised,"…
"Back in 1964, I was doing a tyre test at Trenton, New Jersey, and there's this young guy there, driving a roadster for Clint Brawner. I got a little careless,…
Great Read
Down the years there have been exceptions to the rule, of course, but by and large the running of two bona fide number one drivers in a single team is…
Through the 1959 season John Cooper's little company in Surbiton was still the only one building, and racing, rear-engined grand prix cars. Colin Chapman was running his ‘mini-Vanwall', the Lotus…
It seems to me that John Cooper's place in motor racing has always been underrated. There is an abiding reverence for Colin Chapman, and rightly so, but Cooper put the…
