Post Type Archives: Events

The Brabham BT45 was a Formula 1 car designed by South African engineer Gordon Murray for the 1976 season. The car was the first Brabham to use an Alfa Romeo flat 12-cylindre engine that developed 500 hp. This BT45 made its first start at the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix in the hands of Carlos Pace […]

Gordon Murray, the South African-born designer of the Brabham Formula One racing cars in the 70s and the McLaren F1 road car, tells his admiration of Colin Chapman. “There was nothing else on the planet that was comparable to a Lotus. Colin Chapman is my hero. In my early days in Formula One, I was […]

For its first year in competition in 1969, the Porsche 917 proved tricky to drive and difficult to set up properly. Most drivers testing the car reported being frightened at the wheel of the 917. Despite Rolf Stommelen’s pole position at Le Mans, the fatal crash of John Woolfe proved their fears were founded… Development […]

The RAM Racing, which was formed in 1975 by Mike Ralph and John Macdonald, was a Formula One team which competed during the racing seasons of 1976 to 1985.  Philippe Alliot remained with RAM for 1985, with German ace Manfred Winkelhock entered in the second car, and the new RAM 03- Hart was designed by the excellent […]

Racing at Interlagos started a long time ago, in the 1940’s. This image was taken in 1963 when the Autodromo, in a very basic version, was used for touring car races, a category that was popular, but less so than the famous ‘Turismo de Carretera’ held in Argentina. On this document, one can recognise the base […]

Belgian racing driver Eric van de Poele, exclusively for the ‘Human Side of Racing’, remembers a Formula One test he conducted for the Modena Lamborghini team at Imola in 1991: “The Lambo 291 designed by Mauro Forghieri was a rather eye-catching and sleek looking chassis, with it’s distinctive blue colour scheme, triangular side pods and […]

Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater formula that ran around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars, that no longer fit into a particular formula. The ‘5000’ denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars. Manufacturers […]

Hermann Lang (6 April 1909 – 19 October 1987) was a German racing driver who raced in Grand Prix cars and sports cars. In 1937, Hermann Lang was given the chance to drive for the Mercedes team. He proved to be most capable on high-speed racetracks, like (picture above) at the very fast AVUS race track, near […]

Stirling Moss (photo above), at the wheel of the superb Camoradi-entered Maserati Tipo 61, he shared with Graham Hill at the 1961 Sebring 12 Hours. The Tipo 61 was called “Birdcage” because of the particular shape and structure of it’s tubular chassis. Moss had a bad start due to his Maserati Tipo 61 having problems […]

After the death of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola, the FIA somewhet overreacted by imposing drastic security measures in the fast corners, as at Spa-Francorchamps where a chicane was put in the middle of the fabulous Raidillon of the Eau Rouge corner for the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. Rubens Barrichello, on pole in […]