Driver portraits.

[chrisb]

Sir JC,et al - quite by chance I came across a wee U_Tub documentary on the great Clay, no narrative but some wonderfully evocative scenes and clips, i was fortunate to see the great side of Clay aka Silverstone 1979 and his comment to Frank spoke such volumes and showed his true class, and then there was Brands 76, but - what a personality - what a loss to us all, thank you Clay

unfortunately I seem to have a lot more regrets - but am assured that had i not been there in the 1st place i wouldn't have had the opportunity to have a regret - i think....

incidentally Sir JC, wonderful picture of your nephew out on his new toys, looking and sounding mighty impressive, here's hoping he breaks his duck this year

[Jamie]

Not strictly a Grand Prix driver, but here is Rick Mears during his Brabham F1 test at Riverside Raceway (Carl's Favourite).

Attachment Deleted

[Deleted]

Always loved this fragment. Almost as if he is still here.

[René]

Cool.

[charleselan]

Jan 20, 2018 9:31:54 GMT @lucio said:

Always loved this fragment. Almost as if he is still here.

It is rather good isn't it, and so François, just beautiful.

[chrisb]

that is one poignant clip, so sad, would he have been France's first WDC? I would have hoped so

[charleselan]

I came upon this photo the other day doing my usual surfing for motor sport related images. It has so many things in it to comment upon. Firstly we have the greatest of all time sat in the cab of his fathers lorry, one Jim Clark.

The lorry is of particular interest to me as it is the wonderful old Bedford that was so common in the 1950's, even more so for me as my dad drove one for many years. He was a lorry driver after WW2 and when I was very young he drove the length and breadth of the UK driving what was known as the "Queen Mary's"; articulated Bedfords that delivered Hawker Siddley Javelin fighter aircraft to RAF bases. My dad's Bedford's were the first thing that inspired my interest in vehicles, and seeing Jimmy in his fathers is for me the icing on the cake to all those memories.

It is interesting to see the beautiful pin stripes on the lorry and the superb sign writing, no doubt all done by hand by some very gifted craftsman. Jimmy is also so typical of country people of the period, wearing similar clothing to that of my dad and grandfather e.g. sports jacket with elbow patches, and I bet he is wearing chino trousers as well.

[René]

Dan Gurney, 1970 Dutch Grand Prix Zandvoort.


© ANEFO / Joost Evers

[Carl]

Rene,

Thanks for a wonderful character study of a very serious competitor who may not have been happy with his lap times.

Dan Gurney had a very expressive face. What thoughts were foremost during his last season?

Cheers, Carl

[mikael]

It appears that a yellow visor became a "trademark" for Dennis Hulme. Has there ever been other drivers who have used yellow visors (or goggles)?

[chrisb]

brilliant photos Mikael, Denny was definitely one of the stars I wanted to meet - he really did seem to have a grasp of reality and in my humble opinion extremely underrated

[René]

Beautiful photos. Denny and orange are a good match!

The yellow/orange visor was used more often in the seventies but as you say, for Denny it was almost a trademark. Another diver who used it regularly was Jochen Mass, here pictured at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, Montjuïc Circuit.


© McLaren Racing Ltd.

[chrisb]

Rene what a lovely photo, and doesn't it put motor racing into perspective, that is really cool

[mikael]

Thanks René

Embarrassingly, I missed noticing that the very first photo of the "Beauty and the Beast" thread shows Ronnie Peterson's helmet with a yellow visor. Here is additional evidence.





Strange, I think, that yellow visors have gone out of fashion and apparently aren't seen anymore.
In my own (non-distinguished) years of playing around on a motocross bike I absolutely loved to use yellow "glass" in the goggles. In sunny weather they work as sunglasses; and on cloudy days - and even in the rain - they give a kind of "artificial sunlight" effect and make it seem more bright than it actually is. Also now, I have a pair of yellow-tinted sunglasses - they're just great!

[robmarsh]

I think a lot of cricketers wear them. I also read that when driving in wet weather a pair of sunglasses help with visibility. I have worn yellow ones as well and find that true.