Lamberto Leoni (born 24 May 1953) is a former racing driver from Argenta in Italy. A winner in F2 at Misano in 1977 in a Trivellato Racing Chevron B40-BMW, and a podium finisher in F3000, years later, at Pau and Österreichring in 1985. Leoni struggled in Formula One, entering 5 Grand Prix in 1977 and […]
Year Archives:
Spinning a P34
The revolutionary Tyrrell P34, imagined by Derek Gardner, with its six wheels, had made its promising debut, exactly one year earlier at the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama. It had shown bags of potential in testing, and this potential was realised almost instantly when Depailler promptly qualified third on the grid. Here, at the […]
Leaving childhood behind
In 1977, Jochen Neerpasch, the first managing director of BMW Motorsport GmbH, came up with a ground-braking idea: to train young drivers professionally and send them on to the race track as a junior team. BMW had entered three promising newcomers – Swiss Marc Surer, German Manfred Winkelhock and American Eddie Cheever (picture above), for […]
Off the cuff
For the 1977 season, Clay Regazzoni went to Ensign in F1 with the support of Swiss watch maker Tissot, but he also had the firm intention to participate at the Indy 500. The problem was, that he had to qualify at Indianapolis the same week as the Monaco Grand Prix and that he couldn’t reach […]
Hans Herrmann & Rolf Stommelen
Hans Herrmann (born 23 February 1928) is a retired Formula One driver from Stuttgart in Germany, and one of the best sports car racing driver of his era. In Formula 1, he participated in 19 Grand Prix, achieving one podium, and a total of 10 championship points. He drove for: Mercedes, Maserati, Cooper, BRM, Porsche. […]
Jean-Pierre Jabouille, the engineer
Jean-Pierre Jabouille (1942-2023) was a French racing driver. He raced in 55 Formula One Grand Prix, collecting two wins during the first years of Renault’s turbocharged programme, that he partly initiated, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Jabouille also raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving for Alpine, Matra, Sauber, and Peugeot, […]
Mario Andretti: “My greatest rival”
Mario Andretti and A.J.Foyt were IndyCar rivals (and in all the other forms of car racing in North-America as well) in the 1960s and ’70s, but their frosty relationship remained cool throughout their racing careers. Now both in their 80s, its time to look back and it’s fair to say A.J. was Mario’s greatest rival. […]
Girls in the race
The 24 Hours of Le Mans, was held on 11 and 12 June 1977. The second year of the FIA Groupe 5 and Groupe 6 regulations, it produced an exciting race right up the end. It was a magnificent battle between Renault, who had decided, before their move into Formula 1, to put all its […]
Foyt sweeps by
The 61st running of the 500 Miles of Indianapolis was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, on May 29, 1977. A.J. Foyt became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 four times. Picture above: A.J. Foyt (Coyote-Foyt) sweeps into turn one with Gordon Johncock (Wildcat) and Tom Sneva (Penske McLaren-DFX) in hot pursuit. It […]
Ian Scheckter chooses March
Ian Scheckter, born 22 August 1947, is a former racing driver from South-Africa and the elder brother of F1 1979 World Champion Jody Scheckter. He participated in 20 Formula One Grand Prix between 1974 and 1977 but failed to score a point. Securing enough funds from Rothmans for a full season with the March works […]