Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi are famous for their feud, which happened after Pironi supposedly ‘stole’ victory in at Imola in 1982, and Villeneuve was so upset that he never spoke to his Ferrari team mate again. Andrew Marriott explains some of the background to the feud. Paul Tarsey and Paul Jurd look forward to the upcoming September events, Goodwood Revival and Spa Six Hours in particular, and get wistful over never having been to the ‘Circuit des Remparts’ at Angouleme. And the team looks back on the life of Lance Macklin, forever associated with the Le Mans disaster in which he was a blameless player, reviewing a new book by Jack Barlow.
Historic Racing News
Would Emerson Fittipaldi have won a third world championship if he hadn’t gone to Copersucar in 1976? That’s the conundrum debated by Jim Roller and Joe Bradley who wonder just why ‘Emmo’ went from a world champion team at McLaren to join his brother’s back-of-the-grid team. We also talk to Kevin Shilling, the man who has brought a fascinating car back to life. He bought a tired and well used AC Aceca, only to discover that the car had been the ‘daily driver’ of none other than record-breaker Donald Campbell.
The idea is this: You can have any racing car you like, you can drive it on the road or track or simply look at it, BUT you can never sell it, and if you get bored with it you have to give it back. That’s the conundrum facing our ‘Corridors of Power’ panellists Paul Jurd, Joe Bradley and Peter Snowdon. Also on this edition, Martin Warner, boss of the Shere Hill Climb, Alan Strachan, who is currently building three new versions of the Andy Rouse Sierra Cosworth he built with Andy back in the day, and Nick Padmore tells us what it’s like when your car catches fire at the Le Mans Classic at 170mph
The team discuss the first circuit they visited.
Goodwood House is the backdrop for a relaxing conversation between Paul Tarsey, Paul Jurd and Peter Snowdon. They talk about the Festival of Speed (of course) and other things happening in the world of historic motor sport before PJ and Snowy go their separate ways on projects you will hear about over the next few months. Paul Tarsey talks to Andy Dee Crown who run the Historic Sports Car Club, better known as the HSCC. Andy explains how the club has a wide range of different series, catering to owners of period sports cars, through a very successful Formula Two and Atlantic series to the ubiquitous Formula Fords! ‘Corridors of Power’ features choices from PJ and Snowy plus Joe Bradley and Jim Roller. Seeking some technical input, the panellists are tasked with choosing the greatest racing of all time. There are some surprising choices! Let us know your thoughts on the choices, or anything else on the Historic Racing News Facebook page or @histracingnews #hrnrs
With the Le Mans 24 hours done and dusted, the team turns its attention to the upcoming Le Mans Classic. Paul Jurd shares some little known facts about the first-ever race held at Le Mans, and no, it wasn’t the inaugural 24 Hours in 1923, it was the French Grand Prix held on a circuit for 12 laps in 1906 ……. but each lap was 64 miles long! Jim Roller takes a look at the way the current 24 hour circuit has evolved over the years, starting with the northernmost point, the Pontlieue Hairpin, which intrepid motorsport archaeologists can still go and discover.
The HRN team discuss their favourite races of all time.
The Historic Racing News team discuss their favourite Le Mans race that they attended in person.
Paul Jurd and Paul Tarsey discuss the new book by Ian Wagstaff and Doug Nye about the highs and lows of BRM from the embarrassing launch to winning the world championship. In our monthly game show ‘Corridors of Power’ we get a view from the HRN panel about the greatest Le Mans race they have ever seen. And what a noisy panel we have: Regulars Joe Bradley, Jim Roller and Paul Jurd are joined by John Hindhaugh for this special edition of the show, and no quarter is given with these four arguing it out.
The Donington Historic Festival had some fabulous cars racing hard throughout the weekend, not least Andrew Bentley racing a glorious TWR Jaguar XJR8. Andrew talks to Joe Bradley about hustling the big V12 beast round the confines of Donington Park to take a well-deserved win. Paul Jurd takes an in depth look at those dark days just before WW2 when Hitler’s Mercedes and Auto Union teams arrived at Donington Park to steamroller the comparatively puny English contingent and Peter Snowdon talks about the modern-day Donington Park.