Month: November 2020
Spats in The Sand Pit – The Lost Tripoli Streamliner
The 2020 Formula One titles have been decided and the teams are preparing to leave for Bahrain. This season – this mad year – we will see two races at the Bahrain International Circuit, the second of these being held on the high-speed outer circuit. Described variously as an oval(!), or like Thruxton – according […]
Read More...
A Last Day in the Sun? – ’55 Targa Florio
Sicily – 16th of October, 1955. Snap! The tail of the silver machine snaps-out from under him… just like at Padova. No time to catch it at 100mph. Spin! Crunch! Falling… “Christ!” The Mercedes hits the rock-strewn ground, fully ten feet below the road. A sickening belly-flop. Landing with the full force of its 900 kilogrammes… and the […]
Read More...
Michèle Mouton, Dragon Slayer – Belfast 1985
Here’s Michèle Mouton with her fire-breathing Audi quattro in Belfast, 1985. That’s it… that’s the blog. More?.. Oh, OK… The 1985 British Midland Ulster Rally – round 4 of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and round 5 of the Shell Oils British Open Rally Championship – was a two day blast around Northern Ireland. As […]
Read More...
Neubauer, The Kilo & The Strippers – ’34 Eifelrennen
I love a ‘Ripping Yarn’ – a ‘Tall Tale’ – a ‘Shaggy Dog Story’… and a myth or legend is a nice angle for marketing. Just ask the folks at Loch Ness. So let’s talk about ‘Grand Prix Nessie’ – the myth (?) that Alfred Neubauer of Mercedes-Benz ordered all the paint be stripped off […]
Read More...
When Mercedes-Benz Comes Out to Play
The Mercedes-Benz Formula One demo at Goodwood Speedweek made me think of the day in June 1958 when Mercedes brought a W125 and a W154 to Oulton Park. Peter Collins & Tony Brooks got to play with them, and ‘Riverside Records’ was there to capture the moment. This is special.
Read More...
Imola – beyond the Grand Prix
Last weekend Formula One returned to Imola – an iconic venue. Beyond the F1 history, Imola was a stop on the Mille Miglia… and it was there, in 1934 that a photographer captured a remarkable moment. History being created. The photo in question is at the top of this page. While the ‘riding mechanic’ oversees […]
Read More...
Porsche, Stuck and an odd Auto Union – Lasarte, 1934
What do we have here? A cool old photo of Stuck on an Auto Union in the pits. What do we actually have here? Ferdinand Porsche and Hans Stuck look concerned as the front of a rather unique Auto Union A is checked over. It’s September 1934 and we are at Circuito Lasarte – the 11 mile […]
Read More...
The 1955 Tourist Trophy, Dundrod
One of the many peculiarities of 2020 is the upending of the international sporting calendar. While we are worried & discombobulated, dealing with ‘the new normal’, fettling our Zoom background – wondering how we will pay the rent – the ‘powers that be’ have been scrambling to stage their marquee events. So, we find the […]
Read More...