Lunch with... David Piper: Ferrari's finest green privateer
In motor sport these days, the term ‘privateer’ has fallen into disuse. Outside the professional teams, most serious racers either have access to much personal wealth – their own or…
Money was so tight that driver Chris Craft and team manager Keith Greene had to take a Page & Moy tour to get to North America for the two end-of-season…
It’s the height that hits you. At the track, among its rivals from the Seventies, it’s not so obvious. But in the studio, floodlit against bare walls, even with its…
The rear wing was wound down and the boost wound up. Duct tape was strapped across almost every bodywork orifice and some brave soul was strapped into the cockpit. The…
Le Mans (Sarthe), June 12th The Le Mans 24-hour race gave promise of being a gigantic battle this year, and on the Tuesday and Wednesday before the race the cars…
The Porsche 917 is one of the machines in the running to be named Race Car of the Century; will it get your vote? Click below or scroll to the…
The writing was on the wall. Thousands of British enthusiasts made the ritual visit to the famous Restaurant des Hunaudieres, to find that this bastion of French cuisine, right alongside…
Michael Burn is 92, a former Times correspondent, poet and playwright. But when Henry Birkin met him he was a young student who had never written anything. A mere three…
This, the greatest race for cars in touring trim, took place at Le Mans on June 20th, 1925, finishing 24 hours later. Arriving at the circuit six days before the…
The one nightmare shared by Jaguar's board members was the possibility of defeat at Le Mans. Last year the three entries were prepared beautifully, but lasted only 16 hours effectively,…
Le Mans (Sarthe), June 13th Almost every year the approach of the 24-hour recent Le Mans is heralded by great fanfares of trumpets and the promise that this time is…
Before Williams and BMW tied the knot in Formula 1 they underwent a trial marriage in sports car racing. Unlike the F1 enterprise it quickly proved successful, adding a Le…
My lamented friend Jabby Crombac always considered the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours to have been the greatest in the long history of the race. The quality of the entry,…
Even when they announced their boycott of the Le Mans 24-hour race in March, Porsche must have known that success was assured. Did not they take the top eight places…
There is something indescribably exciting about seeing these two Porsches parked next to each other. While any Porsche 956 or 962 is a pretty special device, these specific chassis are…
Any decent reference book will tell you why the 1953 Le Mans was a significant race; mere figures say that, for the first time in the history of the event,…
The clues to greatness were there to be seen, even in that first car. Professor Ferdinand Porsche's passion for motorsport rivalled even that of Enzo Ferrari, and when he and…