Vittorio Brambilla sits on the side-pod of his Surtees TS19-Ford, in the pit lane ahead of the 1977 United States Grand Prix West in the streets of Long Beach, California. The Italian did well to qualify in 11th position, but was involved in an accident at the start and retired. Born and raised in Monza, […]
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Alan Jones’ first
It was raining just prior to the start of the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix held on the hills of Zeltweg. Tyre choice was split between those who chose wets and others slicks. Mario Andretti first led the race in his Lotus 78 before his engine failed. Alan Jones (picture-above) in his Shadow and Gunnar Nilsson […]
Hans Binder
Hans Binder (born 12 June 1948) is an Austrian former race driver, who raced in Formula One for the Ensign, Wolf, Surtees and ATS teams. He entered 15 F1 Grand Prix, qualified for 13 of them, but failed to finish in the top six, and so did not score a championship point. Picture above: Hans Binder […]
Formula 2, school of champions
Didier Pironi at speed in his Équipe Renault Elf Martini MK22 at the Nürburgring during the Eifelrennen in 1977 (picture-above). At the end of the season, Ken Tyrrell signed the French hopeful in his F1 team. Jochen Mass won this Formula 2 race in a works March 772P-BMW, but being a Formula One driver, he […]
Williams became a top team
Patrick Head and Frank Williams pose in front of their Williams FW06-Ford ahead of the 1978 Formula One season. Australian Alan Jones is the sole driver of Williams Grand Prix Engineering that year. The team was formed in 1977 after Frank Williams’ earlier unsuccessful F1 operation, Frank Williams Racing Cars and was based (still is) […]
The all-rounder Brett Lunger
Brett Lunger was born 14 November 1945. A very good racing driver but also as a Vietnam War veteran, a political science graduate of Princeton University, a journalist, an author and pilot: quite an all-rounder. The American is also known for helping to rescue and saving Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari in the 1976 […]
Fitness, the James Hunt way
James Hunt, the 1976 Formula 1 World Champion, had is own, very particular way of doing fitness training… a charismatic personality and a very fast and determined driver indeed. But he also took time to reflect on racing and its dangers and once declared: “There’s a lie that all drivers tell themselves. Death is something […]
A six-wheel Ferrari!
What seems to be a six-wheeler Ferrari 312 T2 driven by Niki Lauda, is spotted testing at high speed on the Nardo test track close to Naples in Italy, sometime in 1977, with the Mediterranean sea in the background (picture-above). Back in 1977 indeed, the year of Niki Lauda’s second World Championship, the Scuderia Ferrari, […]
Ingo Hoffmann
Ingo Hoffmann moved straight into Formula One in 1976 after showing great speed in a March in F3. Unfortunately, the Brazilian’s F1 career was hindered by the financial problems of the Fittipaldi team, as he drove the team’s second car, when realistically the team could only afford to run one. He entered four Grand Prix in […]
Tyrrell on the wrong track
Ken Tyrrell (centre of the picture-above) his drivers Patrick Depailler and Ronnie Peterson and his chief engineer Derek Gardner, all seem pretty confident ahead of the 1977 Formula One season. The six-wheeler Tyrrell P34 had won the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix with Jody Scheckter but the South African, who did not believe in the concept, […]