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Post by chrisb on Feb 25, 2022 12:02:03 GMT
a lovely tale Mikael, I didn't know Volvo used that system, I knew someone who had a Daf and I was always surprised by the noise it made, mind you I am talking nearly 50 years ago so memory was poor,
1978 was an incredible time until those dreadful tragedies when we lost both Ronnie and Gunnar in terrible succession. I went to Brands to see Ronnie in his element in practice - he really was just awesome and I was standing opposite the pits and funny enough opposite the Lotus pits, and was just star-struck - these guys were amazing and summed up to me why they were so revered, I seem to remember Ronnie having problems with the 79 and reverting to the 78 and blitzing everyone, although my memory is a bit hazy, returning on race day with two mates and a keg of bitter it turned out to be a major disappointment and I was totally gutted, especially after their retirements and the results
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Post by mikael on Oct 13, 2022 19:56:20 GMT
I went to Milan, over an "elongated weekend", together with my eldest daughter. Of course I couldn't resist to take also a short trip to Monza, which is only some 10 minutes away (via express train). Due to spending a too large part of the day visiting churches, we had only very limited time in Monza. (We basically rushed to the track, and rushed back.) Still, I was very happy to see this "sacred circuit". And - as mentioned earlier in this thread - for some unexplainable reason, I think there's something magical about deserted, completely silent racetracks ...
On another matter: warmest wishes to - and prayers for - JC.
Monza Station on an ordinary Monday ...
Empty grandstands - and complete quietness ...
A part of the old banked corner running over a bridge. The banking angle is really amazing!
The tunnel below the banked corner, which also was a part of the old track. (Now it's just a part of the massive park surrounding the circuit.)
A couple of stills from Frankenheimer's "Grand Prix" (1966), from exactly that spot. I was happy to see this place with my own eyes, finally ...
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Post by René on Oct 13, 2022 21:30:54 GMT
Wonderful Mikael! I recognize the Monza station as I walked there several times.
The Monza race track is magic indeed and being there almost alone must be special. The old banking is impressive, isn’t it. And unbelievably steep.
Thanks for sharing those pictures!
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Post by Carl on Oct 14, 2022 4:50:35 GMT
Mikael,
Great photographs of an empty racetrack nonetheless filled with magic! Is that Pete Aron passing the flaming wreckage? His final scene at the start/finish line of a deserted, almost haunted Autodromo Nazionale Monza beautifully depicted the same sensations you had.
Cheers, Carl
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Post by mikael on Oct 14, 2022 21:23:52 GMT
Carl, yes, I believe it is the scene where Pete Aron passes by in the Yamura.
René, yes, no wonder, really, that those banked corners became disliked among the drivers. They were, apparently, just a bit too "ambitious" ...
On the other hand, more moderate ones, like those of the upgraded Zandvoort, are exciting indeed. What I find so fascinating about banked corners is - as it is told - that there is not just one ideal line through such a corner. On the contrary, basically any line will work, it is said, within reasonable limits. That opens up some interesting possibilities. Maybe this could really be the way out of the overtaking-dilemma ...
In whatever way, I hope we will see many more (moderately) banked corners in the future.
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Post by Carl on Oct 15, 2022 17:32:25 GMT
Wonderful Mikael! I recognize the Monza station as I walked there several times. The Monza race track is magic indeed and being there almost alone must be special. The old banking is impressive, isn’t it. And unbelievably steep. Thanks for sharing those pictures! In 1970 I was in Monza twice, the first time mid-summer to secure hotel reservations and race day tickets. Our hotel may have been the Royal Falcone, one of the few older ones that still exist. We walked to the circuit and, at the main ticket office, paid 10,000 lira each for great seats just above the pit, as we learned on race day, of Pedro Rodriquez. The track was uncrowded that day, with a few Formula Fords providing good atmospherics. After wandering around we had a very good lunch in the infield restaurant, during which I kept an eye open for Enzo Ferrari, just in case...  We left London late on the Friday of race weekend and rode a train all night and into the next day to arrive once more at the train station in Monza. After checking into our hotel, we found a small pizza restaurant where huge pizzas came out of a massive brick oven. No extra toppings were available, just tomato sauce and cheese and sold by the piece, but one of the great pizzas of all time. The race was fantastic, but tainted for everyone by the tragedy of Jochen Rindt's death. The start / finish line was just across from our seats and I remember how unreal the acceleration seemed at the start. Early in the race, second qualifier Rodriquez came into the pits with a concern and it was so cool to look right down at his BRM as he consulted with an engineer before blasting away to rejoin. Clay Regazzoni won for Ferrari and the Italians went wild...  Today's Monza has been renovated, with deluxe enclosed suites where our seats had been and too many goddamn chicanes, but the magic remains. |
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Post by mikael on Oct 15, 2022 20:14:19 GMT
Carl, it was, I believe, one of the most important pieces ever of Grand Prix history you witnessed that weekend.
The most important - and the saddest - race of "The Chequered Year" (to quote the title of the famous book by Ted Simon.) Cheers,
M.
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Post by Carl on Oct 15, 2022 23:34:31 GMT
Carl, It was, I believe, one of the most important pieces ever of Grand Prix history you witnessed that weekend.
The most important - and the saddest - race of "The Chequered Year" (to quote the title of the famous book by Ted Simon.) Cheers,
M.
Mikael, I was nearby, out of frame to the left, and saw Regazzoni cross the finish line. I believe the flags in the picture were unoffical ones waved from the Ferrari pit stall or close to it.
Yes, Monza was the low point of sadness in a tragic year and the despondency was palpable, but most who were there chose, in the tradition of motorsport, not to confront it. In our hotel bar the night before, still unaware, a waiter deduced we were race fans and approached our table. "Jochen Rindt?" he asked. When I answered affirmatively, "Yes, Jochen Rindt", not knowing what he wanted, he drew a finger across his throat, a gossip who wanted to shock. I was stunned into silence. That's how I learned. Fortunately, despite attending countless races, I have experienced that level of tragedy only once.
Best, Carl |
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Post by Carl on Jan 23, 2024 18:55:32 GMT
Riverside International Raceway: gone but not forgotten by anyone who ever raced or attended
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Post by René on Jan 23, 2024 19:01:32 GMT
Fantastic Carl! This reminds me of another video I saw last week...
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Post by Carl on Jan 23, 2024 19:45:26 GMT
A great film! Bobby Unser won the championship in 1968 by only 11 points, 4330 to Mario Andretti's 4319. I never liked the curious rule allowing drivers to jump into another car, formerly embraced in Grand Prix within a team, but seldom as distracting as in that final USAC race of the season. Andretti also had to endure the indignity of announcer Chris Economaki constantly calling him "Mary-oh".  |
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Post by Carl on Jan 24, 2024 18:02:41 GMT
The primitive Ourafilmes production is interesting despite the probability that none of the production crew was ever actually there. The narrator's accent is strange, pronouncing Les Richter as "rishter" and Innes Ireland as "annus". He refers to the stock car series as "Nashcar", perhaps wistfully, despite Nash Rambler never competing. 
ourafilmes.com
Dan Gurney adopted 48 from his good friend, star athlete  and later Riverside Raceway President, Les Richter 1965 Nash Rambler 
I remember housing developments coming closer and closer on the east. They weren't suburbs of distant Los Angeles, as the narrator says, but a new community of entitled arrogance. If the Moreno Valley homeowners association objected to the noise, they should have built in the vacuum of the moon.
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