Year Archives:

The 24 Hours of Le Mans took place on 10 and 11 June 1972. This year’s marked the start of a new era with revised Sport-Prototype regulations putting a 3-litre limit on engine size. Having already won the Manufacturers’ Championship, Ferrari chose not to contest the race, so Matra were strong favourites for the outright win. […]

Skip Barber is an American former race car driver who is most famous for previously owning and founding  the Skip Barber Racing Schools. At the start of the 1971 season, he purchased a March 711 F1 car and took part in the Monaco GP, Dutch GP (picture above), United States GP, and Canadian GP in […]

After a successful karting career in which he won numerous Australian titles, Vern Schuppan (born 19 March 1943) made the decision to pursue a career in motor racing. He and his wife Jennifer travelled to Great Britain (with a self-imposed 2-year limit of making it big) to allow him to participate in the British Formula Atlantic […]

In parallel to his Formula One career with Team Tyrrell, François Cevert participated in endurance racing for Matra. By far, the fastest of the Matra drivers, he, for instance, held for a long time the lap record on the Le Mans circuit. Picture above: François Cevert on board of his Matra 670B that he shared […]

Charming encounter for the driver of this orange Fiat (picture above) on his way to the 1972 Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix held on the famous ‘Autodromo di Monza’. Before the race, the Monza circuit was modified with the addition of two chicanes, one before the Curva Grande and one at the site of the […]

The BRM P180, designed by Tony Southgate, and powered by a BRM 3.0-litre V12 engine, was not competitive enough at the 1972 Canadian Formula One Grand Prix at Mosport. Jean-Pierre Beltoise (picture above), qualified 20th and was forced to retire with an oil leak on lap 21. The race was won by Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Ford) […]

Superb picture here-above of a front row of future champions: Niki Lauda in his March 722-5 on the front row of the 1972 European Formula 2 Championship round at Thruxton, with François Cevert and Ronnie Peterson next to him. Scot Gerry Birrell is just behind on the second row. Ronnie Peterson and Niki Lauda were […]

Armed with what was arguably the greatest Formula One design of all time, the Lotus 72D (picture below), Emerson Fittipaldi proved dominant in 1972 as he won five of eleven races and claimed the F1 Drivers’ Championship. At 25 he was then the youngest champion in F1 history. It appeared he might do it again in 1973. But […]

The 1972 Monaco Grand Prix was held on May 14, 1972. The track was substantially modified from 1971, in the interest of safety. Indeed, the pits were moved to the harbour front, between the chicane and Tabac, and a new chicane was placed near this sector. Picture above: Rain was pouring on race day, and […]

The 1974 European Formula Two season was contested over 10 rounds and had Patrick Depailler as the season champion. The French ace, also a Tyrrell Formula One driver, stormed the championship with five victories in his works March, beating the likes of Hans-Joachim Stuck and Jacques Laffite. Picture above: Patrick Depailler, March 742 BMW M12 Rosche, takes victories […]