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Post by charleselan on Oct 5, 2019 18:53:29 GMT
I have just come across this brilliant little film of the 1962 Lombank Trophy F1 race from Snetterton. Filmed I believe by Anglia TV and is just typically period in all of its presentation even down to the very well spoken (don't you know) presenter/commentator which is not Raymond Baxter.
During this period there were many non championship F1 races and many in the Uk were run in the Spring time before the main GP season got underway, giving the teams a good outing to race test their new machines. This meeting in early 1962 was particularly important as it gave us the first sight of the new 1.5litre V8 powered cars from BRM; Lotus and the privateer team of UDT Laystall.
In this race we see the great Stirling Moss driving the UDT Laystall Lotus 18/21 fitted with the Coventry Climax V8 engine just prior to his terrible career ending Goodwood crash a few weeks later. Graham Hill is driving the new and unique BRM with the early season "smoke stack" exhaust system, and of course the burgeoning new talent of Jimmy Clark in the beautiful Lotus 24 with the Climax V8 engine. Most of the others are using earlier cars with the old 4 cylinder engines including Trevor Taylor in the second Team Lotus entry, who still had to make do with a 1961 Lotus 21, his luck was no better than what was to follow in this race.
The end has a lovely interview with a young Jim after winning the race, and with Graham who finished second in a misfiring BRM.
Hope you enjoy as much as I have done.
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Post by Carl on Oct 6, 2019 4:00:47 GMT
I have just come across this brilliant little film of the 1962 Lombank Trophy F1 race from Snetterton. Filmed I believe by Anglia TV and is just typically period in all of its presentation even down to the very well spoken (don't you know) presenter/commentator which is not Raymond Baxter. During this period there were many non championship F1 races and many in the Uk were run in the Spring time before the main GP season got underway, giving the teams a good outing to race test their new machines. This meeting in early 1962 was particularly important as it gave us the first sight of the new 1.5litre V8 powered cars from BRM; Lotus and the privateer team of UDT Laystall. In this race we see the great Stirling Moss driving the UDT Laystall Lotus 18/21 fitted with the Coventry Climax V8 engine just prior to his terrible career ending Goodwood crash a few weeks later. Graham Hill is driving the new and unique BRM with the early season "smoke stack" exhaust system, and of course the burgeoning new talent of Jimmy Clark in the beautiful Lotus 24 with the Climax V8 engine. Most of the others are using earlier cars with the old 4 cylinder engines including Trevor Taylor in the second Team Lotus entry, who still had to make do with a 1961 Lotus 21, his luck was no better than what was to follow in this race. The end has a lovely interview with a young Jim after winning the race, and with Graham who finished second in a misfiring BRM. Hope you enjoy as much as I have done. John Charles, Watching this excellent film, I kept wishing I'd been there and spent about 30 minutes absorbing noteworthy details, most impressively the smoothness of Moss and Clark. I've always liked the way checkered flags in the past were simply presented and lowered as the winner passed. Nowadays in America they wave two flags in a furious whirlwind display of excess. As you say, Jim Clark was charming in the interview, tactful not to be drawn into criticism, and closed with a delightful flourish. Remarkably, Jo Bonnier's entrant was the Republic of Venice, the once powerful city-state conquered by Napolean in 1797 and restored 165 years later by Giovanni Volpi, whose Scuderia Serenissima provided less humor but greater success. Cheers, Carl Position and number / Driver / Entrant / Constructor / Starting position 1. 3 Jim Clark / Team Lotus / Lotus-Climax / 2 2. 9 Graham Hill / Owen Racing Organisation / BRM / 3 3. 2 Jo Bonnier / Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia / Porsche / 8 4. 20 Keith Greene / Gilby Engineering / Gilby-Climax / 10 5. 15 Tony Shelly / John Dalton / Lotus-Climax / 12 6. 17 Wolfgang Seidel / Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel / Porsche / 13 7. 7 Stirling Moss / UDT-Laystall Racing Team / Lotus-Climax / 1 8. 18 Chris Ashmore / Gerry Ashmore / Cooper-Climax / 15 Retired 14 Tim Parnell / Tim Parnell / Lotus-Climax / 9 Retired 12 John Surtees / Bowmaker Racing Team / Lola-Climax / 4 Retired 16 Graham Eden / Gerry Ashmore / Emeryson-Climax / 14 Retired 4 Trevor Taylor / Team Lotus / Lotus-Climax / 7 Retired 6 Innes Ireland / UDT-Laystall Racing Team / Lotus-Climax / 6 Retired 8 Masten Gregory / UDT-Laystall Racing Team / Lotus-Climax / 5 Retired 11 Roy Salvadori / Bowmaker Racing Team / Cooper-Climax / 11 Withdrawn 1 Jack Brabham / Brabham Racing Organisation / Lotus-Climax Withdrawn 5 Peter Arundell / Team Lotus / Lotus-Climax Withdrawn 10 Richie Ginther / Owen Racing Organisation / BRM Withdrawn 19 Ross Greenville / Ross Greenville / Cooper-Climax Withdrawn 21 Ian Burgess / Anglo-American Equipe / Cooper-Climax Withdrawn 22 Tony Settember / Emeryson Cars / Emeryson-Climax |
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Post by charleselan on Oct 6, 2019 17:57:01 GMT
Carl,
Some excellent information applied there to the Lombard Trophy of 1962. I believe that Joakim Bonnier drove the Scuderia Venezia Porsche on quite a few occasions until the factory Porsche 801 Flat 8 became available to him and Dan Gurney. If memory serves me correctly I think he also drove it in the Monaco GP as the flat 8 801 was only available to Dan Gurney.
It is interesting to note that Cooper did not field any works cars in this race and in the other early season non championship races entered Bruce McLaren in one of the old 4 cylinder cars as the V8 cars were not complete until Zandvoort the first round in that years World Championship.
Looking at my "Motor Racing Year 1962-3" annual I see that there were eight non championship races for F1 cars before the Zandvoort opening round, with the first race of the year being the Brussels GP on April 1st which was won by Willy Mairesse in the works Ferrari 156, I distinctly remember some wonderful photos of that in Motorsport Magazine and DSJ's reports. The Lombank Trophy took place on April 14th and the fateful Goodwood meeting on April 23rd.
The Aintree 200 took place on April 28th which Jim Clark won effortlessly in the rather smooth looking Team Lotus 24 and that race was actually broadcast live on the Saturday afternoon BBC Grandstand program which I remember watching, by then I was already a big Jim Clark fan.
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Post by René on Oct 6, 2019 19:12:56 GMT
Ah, completely missed this thread. A wonderful film, thanks JC! How times have changed. It is always amazing to see how closeby and unprotected spectators and (photo)journalists were then. It's not that cars were going slow back then!
But beautiful footage and I love the short interviews with Clark and Hill after the race. Great stuff.
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Post by charleselan on Oct 7, 2019 14:14:50 GMT
Ah, completely missed this thread. A wonderful film, thanks JC! How times have changed. It is always amazing to see how closeby and unprotected spectators and (photo)journalists were then. It's not that cars were going slow back then! But beautiful footage and I love the short interviews with Clark and Hill after the race. Great stuff. Many thanks René, it is a brilliant little film and everything you mention is absolutely spot on. As I also put forward in the original post it is so period in every way, all of which I remember all too clearly. As you say the close proximity of the spectators and the journalists/photographers is astonishing, it was similar in Motocross events of the same period with little than a couple of ropes and posts keeping the crowd away from the passing riders, you could actually have reached out and touched the competitors. My following post should interest you as well  . |
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Post by charleselan on Oct 7, 2019 14:33:53 GMT
Having done a bit of online searching about the Brussels GP of 1962 that I mention above I came across some truly beautiful photographs from that event of the eventual winner Willy Mairesse driving his works Ferrari 156 "Shark nose". The event was held at Heysel Park approx seven kilometres from the city centre and as can be seen from these beautiful photos the crowd was large even on a cold and at times wet April 1st. The event was held over three heats with an aggregate result which gave Willy a well deserved victory. Some times a much maligned driver Mairesse was very fast, and according to Ferrari was an excellent test driver having replaced Richie Ginther in that role when Ginther signed for BRM in 1962. As a kid I always liked Willy Mairesse and well remember the cover photo of the May 1962 edition of Motorsport which featured Willy following Welsh farmer Jack Lewis in his privately entered BRM V8 on the wet streets in heat one. In the photos below one can see that Mairesse has inflicted a little damage to the nostril nose at some stage and the tell tail signs of some kerb rubbing on the tyre side walls. Also Ferrari aficionados will note the subtle differences around the cockpit of the 1962 version from the all conquering 1961 Ferrari 156. The first photo is an absolute gem in my opinion as you can see that Willy has a smile on his face, a man obviously in love with his work.     Finally a colour photo of Willy Mairesse a little later in the year at the Belgian GP where he fought a fierce battle with both Team Lotus cars which eventually resulted in a big coming together with Trevor Taylor, both drivers escaping relatively unscathed although Mairesse had a some small burns following his car overturning and catching fire. Interestingly he is running the same race number as in Brussels but at Spa he had the 120 degree V6 motor fitted as opposed to the 90 degree engine at Heysel Park.  Below is the cover photograph from Motorsport magazine in May 1962.  |
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Post by Carl on Oct 7, 2019 16:33:03 GMT
John Charles,
Thanks for the great photographs of a beautiful car and very intense driver! Mairesse, in that wonderful picture, does seem to be enjoying perhaps a perfect line taken, and two photos later resembles a fearsome shark in pursuit of his prey. As you have mentioned before, he seemed to live for racing.
-Carl
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Post by charleselan on Oct 8, 2019 13:14:42 GMT
John Charles, Thanks for the great photographs of a beautiful car and very intense driver! Mairesse, in that wonderful picture, does seem to be enjoying perhaps a perfect line taken, and two photos later resembles a fearsome shark in pursuit of his prey. As you have mentioned before, he seemed to live for racing. -Carl Carl, They are indeed brilliant photographs and just show how unbelievably close the spectators were to the action. I can't believe how close they are in the picture of Willy smiling, maybe that was what brought a smile to his face. Willy Mairesse certainly did live for his racing, he was a very interesting character and sadly not enough was written about him in the English speaking media, other than the usual jibe of "Wild Willy" etc. I think that DSJ used to refer to him as the "Beetle browed Belgian" due to his slightly receding hairline, this was more in affection that ridicule on Jenks' part. JC |
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Post by René on Oct 8, 2019 15:58:04 GMT
Wonderful pictures of Willy Mairesse in the Ferrari! If you look careful you can see the (shark)nose is a little bit dented so he must have hit something. Hopefully not a spectator!  I have a wonderful book from Dutch writer and film director Marcel Visbeen called 'Met het stuur tussen de tanden' (literary: With the steering wheel between the teeth) which is a collection of seven dramatic stories about heroes from the history of motor racing like Tazio Nuvolari, Enzo Ferrari, Achille Varzi, Juan-Manuel Fangio, Carel Godin de Beaufort, Willy Mairesse, Roger Williamson, Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi. It's a very good read but only available in Dutch. I know the story about Mairesse is very interesting so let me see of there's something interesting to share.  |
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Post by Carl on Oct 9, 2019 3:41:54 GMT
One for Belgian race fans and the occasional ex-pat
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Post by charleselan on Oct 9, 2019 15:02:30 GMT
Wonderful pictures of Willy Mairesse in the Ferrari! If you look careful you can see the (shark)nose is a little bit dented so he must have hit something. Hopefully not a spectator! I have a wonderful book from Dutch writer and film director Marcel Visbeen called 'Met het stuur tussen de tanden' (literary: With the steering wheel between the teeth) which is a collection of seven dramatic stories about heroes from the history of motor racing like Tazio Nuvolari, Enzo Ferrari, Achille Varzi, Juan-Manuel Fangio, Carel Godin de Beaufort, Willy Mairesse, Roger Williamson, Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi. It's a very good read but only available in Dutch. I know the story about Mairesse is very interesting so let me see of there's something interesting to share. That would be great René, and what a diverse group of drivers feature in the book, I look forward to see what you can come up with. I thought that you would like the Ferrari 156 Shark Nose photos . |
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Post by charleselan on Oct 9, 2019 15:04:35 GMT
One for Belgian race fans and the occasional ex-pat
Great portrait picture that is much appreciated by the ex-pat . It looks like Lorenzo Bandini leaning in to talk with Willy Mairesse. |
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