this day in history and musings

[chrisb]

good morning fellow RRT's it's a beautiful Sunday morning and I had this thought reading some sad news which has led me to consider this proposed thread, 

first the sad news, Richard Divilia, the creative designer of the Fittipaldi all those years ago has sadly passed away at the comparative early age of 74, rest - in - peace Richard,

secondly the birthday greetings to the Earl of Dumfries, or Johnny Dumfries to you and I, Johnny having reached the grand age of 62, I always thought him a very good driver, his F3 wins were excellent but it just didn't happen for him post F1 Lotus days

Bought the Stirling book and it is excellent, a worthy addition to my collection 

have been following Peter Windsor's youtube and web page, it is really excellent. For lovers of modern stuff as well as those steeped in nostalgia, he had the Mercedes engineer on explaining this years F1 braking system, which is fascinating, and this week had Ian Scott Watson on, celebrating his 90th birthday - so lucid and sounding 30 years younger, reminiscing on Jimmy, brilliant

This day:
1937 - Jean Pierre Beltoise bornm 
1953- Giannino Marzotto's 4.1 Litre Ferrari won the Millie Miglia
1969 Jo Siffert  [ he really does deserve a comprehensive book on his life] and Brian Redman [should write another book] won the 100kms at Monza
1998 DC won the San Marino GP 

yesterday 19 years ago aged 44 Michele Alboreto was tragically killed - the man who deserved a WDC 




 

[charleselan]

A very informative comment Chris, amazing how much happened on that day in history.

Michele's accident was a tragedy indeed and he should have been WC in 1985 but sadly let down by Ferrari with their inexplicable change in turbocharger manufacturers. He was such a smooth and neat driver, plus a lovely guy and surely the last driver to win a GP driving a Tyrrell.

Ian Scott Watson is a pretty amazing chap with whom I had a pleasant brief communication with back in the 1980's when publishing the magazine. I was in the process of building a 1/43rd scale white metal kit of a Lotus Elite and decided to build Jim Clark's Border Reivers car which was not available in the kit. From research i could see that on the car was a graphic that no photo would show up clearly. So through a contact I wrote to Ian and he wrote a wonderful letter in reply, and a print out of the logo which was the "Border Reiver".

Pleased that you have the Stirling Moss book Chris, and that you find it to be excellent and a worthy addition to you library.

Peter Windsor's web site is very informative and contains some excellent material; he is a good guy however some of his race reportage in the 1980's left a bit to be desired at times, a bit too much OTT regarding Nigel Mansell who he seemed to feel was the "Second Coming". Mind you that is to be expected as Peter was heavily involved with Williams at the time as well, and I still have a hunch that he was one of the reasons Keke Rosberg up and left at the end of 1985.

[robmarsh]

I can't believe it is 50 years ago today that Bruce McLaren was killed. I was sitting on the floor in our lounge when his face appeared on TV during the 8pm news. RIP Bruce McLaren, your legacy lives on.

[René]

[René]