Gunnar Nilsson (1948-1978) was a Swedish race driver who entered 32 Formula One Grand Prix. He won the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder while driving for Team Lotus. In his Formula One career, Nilsson only drove for Colin Chapman and his Team Lotus. He got his chance when Jacky Ickx and Ronnie Peterson abandoned […]
Year Archives:
Danny the Hawaiian
Sad to hear the passing of Danny Ongais, at the age of 79. Nicknamed “the Flyin’ Hawaiian” or “Danny On-gas”, he was a flamboyant and fearless race driver, and a gentle and discreet person in private. Picture above: Ongais, giving it all, as usual, in his Shadow DN-9 at the 1978 US Grand Prix West, […]
Jean Xhenceval
Belgian Jean Xhenceval, (here with Pierre Dieudonné), is a former professional racing driver from Belgium. His career, mostly in touring cars driving Luigi-prepared BMW’s, spanned from 1970 to 1983. Discreet but extremely fast and reliable, he has an enviable palmarès with notable victories in: the 24 Hours of Spa in 1974 and 1975, the RAC […]
A wolf in the sheepfold
Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor active from 1977 to 1979 which, incredible achievement, won the first race the team entered. It was owned and run by Canadian Walter Wolf. Picture above: Jody Scheckter in his Wolf WR1-Cosworth, storms to third place at the 1977 US Grand Prix West, held in the streets of […]
California racing
Ensign was founded in 1973 by Morris (Mo) Nunn, who for ten seasons carried the team virtually on his own shoulders. Very often he took on the duties of team manager, designer and race engineer at the same time. In 1977, Clay Regazzoni raced the Ensign N177, scoring just five points, with best finishes of […]
Down under
End of 1977, Porsche had decided to retire from both World Endurance Championships, the Groupe 5 (with their 935) and the Groupe 6 (with the 936), a programme centred around star driver Jacky Ickx, who temporarily had put an end to his Formula 1 career. The great Belgian accepted any interesting drive that came along, […]
Anders Olofsson
Anders Olofsson (1952-2008) was a Swedish racing driver. He won back-to-back Swedish Formula 3 titles in 1977 and 1978 and finished runner-up in the FIA European Formula 3 championship, in the same seasons. He won three consecutive Japanese Touring Car titles as a works Nissan driver and triumphed in the 1991 Spa 24 Hours, driving a Nissan Skyline with David Brabham and Naoki Hattori. […]
Clean sweep
From 1976 on, Jacky Ickx (picture above) was a factory driver for Porsche and their new turbocharged race cars, the 935 (evolution of the 911) and especially the 936 sports car, which he drove to wins at Le Mans three times. These drives, his victory in 1977 as well as the losing effort in 1978, often in the rain and […]
Smoking compartment
Relaxed briefing for two heavy smokers, Guy Ligier and Gérard Ducarouge, in the Zandvoort paddock in 1977. It is true that the beautiful blue car named after the first one and design by the second one mentioned above, was sponsored by Gitanes, the French cigarette manufacturer and produced by the SEITA. Starting on the first […]
A ‘baby’ Porsche for Jacky Ickx
The DRM championship was very popular in Germany in the late 70’s. Interestingly, it was the second division that was the most spectacular one with the BMW’s 320 in very good hands (Winkelhock, Surer, Cheever …) and the nimble Ford Escorts Zakspeed. Watching this development, Porsche decided to build a smaller version of its 935 […]