Dismissed by McLaren in favour of Alain Prost in 1980, Patrick Tambay bounced back, morally and financially, by winning the Can-Am series for Carl Haas, a championship he had already won in 1977, the year of his debut in Grand Prix in an Ensign. After racing in F1 without much success in the modest Theodore […]
Year Archives:
Streiff progresses with AGS
With the backing of Motul and GPA, French racing car driver Philippe Streiff contested the 1982 European Formula 2 Championship for the French AGS team. He showed promise and finished sixth in the standings, with podiums at Vallelunga in Italy and Mantorp Park in Sweden (picture above). Philippe Streiff (1955-2022) was a French racing driver. […]
Slim Borgudd
When Slim Borgudd (1946-2023) made his Formula 1 debut with Günter Schmidt’s ATS team, at the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix (picture above), his credential as a driver weren’t exactly his biggest claim of fame. Rather, the Swede was referred to as ABBA’s former drummer, albeit as a session musician, who had performed mainly in […]
That’s the Spirit
Spirit Racing was founded in August 1981 by Gordon Coppuck and John Wickham, with the backing of Bridgestone and Honda, who was keen to enter Formula 1 as an engine supplier. Picture above: Belgian Thierry Boutsen doing a great job in the Formula 2 Spirit 201-Honda designed by John Baldwin and Gordon Coppuck. Sponsoring came […]
Two Americans in Las Vegas
There has not been a regularly-entered American F1 driver since last century, because the experiences of Scott Speed or Alex Rossi were short-lived… We wish good luck to Logan Sargeant now that the sport’s popularity in the US has reached unseen summits with three races organised in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas. Forty years ago, […]
Smoking in the mobil home!
The 1982 Swiss Grand Prix was held at Dijon-Prenois (France) on 29 August 1982. This was the first World Championship Swiss Grand Prix since 1954 (despite it not being held in Switzerland), and the last running of the event to date. Switzerland had banned motor racing after the 1955 Le Mans disaster. The race was […]
Gitanes duo
Strong showing for the Waterloo Motors Gitanes team, that entered two, well-driven BMW’s 528i, in the 1982 24 Hours of Spa. French F1 driver Jean-Pierre Jarier, famous actor-racer Jean-Louis Trintignant and Belgian F3000 racer Thierry Tassin, finished second, three laps down. The second car, driven by Cudini, Regout and Peltier, ended the race in fifth. […]
Motor City
Detroit was known as the capital of the auto industry in the past century, hosting the three American giants: Ford, GM and Chrysler. In 1982, a first Formula One Grand Prix was organised; won by the McLaren of a surprising John Watson – only 17th on the starting grid – in front of local hero […]
Geoff Lees
Geoff Lees, born 1 May 1951, is a former, fast and versatile, racing car driver from England. He participated in 12 Formula One Grand Prix between 1978 and 1982, and drove for the Tyrrell, Ensign, Shadow, RAM, Theodore and Lotus teams (picture above taken in 1982). During his Formula One career, Lees seemed stuck in […]
Patrick Tambay
We are very saddened to report the death at the age of 73 of former Formula 1 driver and two-time Grand Prix winner Patrick Tambay. The French driver was widely admired as one of the most charming and charismatic racers of the late 70s and early 80s, a real gentleman from the golden age of […]