motorsport
The Priest’s Bed
This is a note I made, on the train And the boy said, “Speak to me of Achille.”. The old man shifted in the bed. Something had nipped him. “What does it matter? It’s over.”. The exclamation stealing his breath, he continued at a whisper. “It is finished. Soon we’ll be dust. Like Campari, like […]
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120 Years of Caracciola: 1926 Grosser Preis von Deutschland (Part II)
“No!” Porsche tosses the spark plug back towards the car. He catches the next “hot chestnut” in his handkerchief. Raises the magnifying glass to it. “No!” Rudi fumbles to remove the eighth plug – as the Mercédès creaks & cools – as cars stream past the pits – as the rain continues to fall. Was […]
Read More...120 Years of Caracciola: 1926 Grosser Preis von Deutschland (Part I)
One hundred & twenty years ago, on the 17th February 1901, a Mercédès car first entered a motor race – at Pau, France. 18 days prior – in Remagen, Germany – was born the man most synonymous with the racing Mercedes-Benz. One of the truly great drivers of the 20th century. Otto Wilhelm Rudolf Caracciola. […]
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F1 @ 40
2021 sees the 40th anniversary of the ‘FIA Formula One World Championship’. To explain, here’s something I put together for the 2020 “70th Anniversary Grand Prix”. So it’s time for the “70th Anniversary Grand Prix”… but 70 years of what? Not Formula One, not the F1 World Championship… It’s 70 years since the thing that […]
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La Vie En – Route Vers Lac – Rose
Motorsport barely has an ‘off season’ these days. The FIA Prizegiving seems to run straight into the Monte, Formula e and Grand Prix car launches. In years – decades – past the off season was punctuated, post-Christmas by the most magical of races – the Dakar Rally. I will really miss it this year. “But […]
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Notte Blu, Montagne Blu del Passato
A car horn blast in the early morning. A tight shot of a ‘Blu Notte’ Giulietta Sprint Veloce as it pulls out to pass our camera car. Cut to the Alfa’s interior. The navigator checks his map – a snatch of conversation in Italian – the car screeches to a halt. Driver & navigator dash […]
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Deal with Austrian Businessman Secures Daimler’s Racing Future
December 22nd 2020 will be the 120th anniversary of the first car, as we know it. Commissioned by the gentleman in the photo – Austrian businessman & diplomat, Emil Jellinek – the 35HP model was designed by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler. A purpose-made long & wide steel chassis. A powerful 5.9 litre 4-cylinder engine, […]
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Simon Says… Change Drivers!
Sehr geehrter Herr Kollege! There has been some last-minute drama. ‘Mercedes-Benz-Team’ cannot field their driver. A substitute has been chosen, and he is already revelling in the ‘Mercedes-Benz-Formel-rennwagen’. The drive has gone to… André Simon. Who?! What?! Monaco and Mercedes have history. The race began in 1929 – as Caracciola and the SSK were creating […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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