Best wishes to Sir Stirling Moss on his retirement. Candid as ever in admitting that fear came into the equation.
Thankfully we still have him amongst us, always forthright and entertaining. A good bloke.
Filed under: Drivers, F1, Retro Moments | Tagged: autoracing, F1, motorsport, racecar | Leave a comment »
There’s a link below to a NASCAR item on Andy Granatelli, legend of the Indy 500, STP Oil Treatment, Studebaker, Paxton Products, Grancor and more. The man is a fantastic character and it’s great to hear that he is still with us and as irrepressible as ever.
Stories about him are legion (and he maybe wrote most of them), but as a salesman, promoter, innovator and all round showman the world of motor sport would have been a lot less fun without him.
The feeling of excitement when I first saw the pictures of his 1967 STP Paxton Turbocar is with me still. It was an awesome device, and, like the innovations from Midland, Texas in Can-Am, you somehow knew that a ban would come. It did, but not before further efforts to castrate the beast had yielded the 1968 Lotus 56 STP Turbocars that also almost pulled off the win. A great shame that both of these cars never made winner’s circle, and somewhat ironic that the 1969 STP Lotus entries were pulled so that Mario Andretti had to start in his back up car, and won!
The Italian connection of Andretti and Granatelli had some rotten luck at Indy, and their one win between them is that 1969 race in the second string car. Never mind, they tried. Boy did they try. Happy memories.
Filed under: Cars, Circuits, Drivers, F1, Indycar, NASCAR, Teams | Tagged: autoracing, F1, formula one, Indy500, Indycar, lotus, motorsport, NASCAR, racecar | Leave a comment »
I am staggered by the decision to put Bahrain back into the calendar for 2011, and to announce the decision on a day when certain civil rights events were taking place is the height of insensitivity, let alone stupidity.
Other than lining the pockets of a tiny minority what possible benefit can come from this decision? What if some teams or drivers refuse to take part? What if the event leads to protests that are brutally put down?
This decision deserves the widest condemnation and brings nothing but shame on those that made it.
Filed under: Circuits, Drivers, F1, Teams | Tagged: autoracing, F1, formula one, media, motorsport, racecar | Leave a comment »
(Managed to muck up the scheduling on this one and it didn’t go out as planned, so here it is, albeit a few days late – sorry)
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen Kimi make his first couple of forays into NASCAR with a good 15th place in the trucks (Nelson jnr did even better, although he has had more practice) and followed that up with a Nationwide outing that didn’t go quite as well. Watching him in the trucks you could see all of the car control and feel was there though, and he just needs to get used to the lack of sophistication in the equipment and the very different subtleties of the racing. If he has fun he will stay and the results will come.
In the 600 more heartbreak for Little E as he ran out of gas on the run to the flag, but good results for RPM with the Dinger and the Digger bringing their Fords in 5th and 6th. Could we have a Petty car back in the winner’s circle this season? Hope so.
Good fun watching the Nationwide race at Iowa. One of the less famous venues maybe, but a good race and good to see one of the series’ regulars hold off the Sprint Cup boys for the win.
Filed under: Drivers, F1, NASCAR | Tagged: autoracing, F1, formula one, motorsport, NASCAR, racecar | Leave a comment »
#NASCAR – Who else but Mark Martin could stay out on old tyres and hold off for around 35 laps of the Monster Mile all bar one of those who had stopped for two or four new ones? That was skill and experience at its best and a joy to watch. Another good run for the Digger to third and also a good top 5 for Brian Vickers as his comeback rolls on.
#DTM – Mike Rockenfeller wins Zandvoort for Audi as Bruno Spengler misses the pit call. I miss the GP from the Dutch Dunes. Not one of the great tracks maybe, but it was part of the F1 calendar that I grew up with.
#Indy – rain stopped play in Indiana as the 500 run up begins in earnest. Who will make up the field come Memorial Day? All the tension, excitement, relief and heartbreak coming up.
#NHRA – I don’t normally comment on events from the quarter mile, but whenever I am in the US I do like to watch the drama unfold. Drag racing has a format that fits well with TV and I am always impressed by the action. Watching the crews tear down and rebuild an engine after a run is pretty amazing as is the spectacle of the cars running after darkness falls. OK, in the top classes the race is over in less time that separates first and last on an F1 grid, but getting one of those beasts off the line and down the track takes some skill, and the terminal speeds leave F1 standing. Respect!
Filed under: Circuits, Drivers, F1, Indycar, NASCAR, Tin Tops | Tagged: autoracing, F1, Indy500, Indycar, motorsport, NASCAR, racecar | Leave a comment »
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