"In 1994 during the end-of-season British Rallycross Grand Prix, the throttle of Martin Schanche's Ford Escort stuck open entering Druids, ploughing into Per Eklund's Subaru Impreza and exploding into flames from a ruptured fuel tank. Remarkably, neither driver was injured."
There's hardly anything at Goodwood, especially in a Formula One, that could be described as a slow corner.
Give the man a medal for dedication to the job 👏
There's hardly anything at Goodwood, especially in a Formula One, that could be described as a slow corner.
Give the man a medal for dedication to the job 👏
The funeral of Gerhard Mitter, August 1969. Mitter had been killed in practice for the German GP at the Nurburgring in an F2 car. Having been successful for Porsche in sportscars, his "hearse" was a 911.
Left of photo: Udo Schutz, Richard Attwood, Gérard Larrousse and Brian Redman.
Right: Jo Siffert, Rolf Stommelen, Kurt Ahrens and Hans Herrmann.
Early days halo: Tuck Thomas mounted a cage to his F5000 car after BJ Swanson's fatal accident in the same series at Mid-Ohio in 1975. Swanson's throttle had stuck at the start of that race and his car had submarined underneath the guardrail.
1946 Turin Grand Prix - The First Formula One Race
That is to say, the first race run under the FIA's newly codified rules for Grand Prix racing, which were variously known as Formula A, Formula I and Formula One until, after the next few Grands Prix, the latter stuck.
The technical regulations were agreed in June 1946 and were to take effect from 1st January 1947. This Turin Grand Prix in the September of 1946 was seen as a test of those regulations; a maximum of 1.5L for supercharged engines or 4.5L for naturally-aspirated engines. All entries bar one were 1.5L superchargers with one 3.5L naturally-aspirated entrant.
As the race was held in Italy, and Italy held the purgatory inertia of motorsports from the ashes of World War Two, most of the entrants were either Maserati 4CLs or Alfa Romeo 158s. Other entries came from Cisitalia, ERA, Talbot-Darracq and Delahaye.
Pole Position: Giuseppe Farina ITA
Winner: Achille Varzi ITA
Fastest Lap: Jean-Pierre Wimille FRA
2001 European GP at the Nürburgring. Schumachers Ferrari got stuck in the gravel after a spin during Warm-Up. He jumped into the BMW C1 of a Marshall and speeded back to the pits into the T-Car to do some final laps in it during Warm-Up and making final adjustments. Won the race from Pole in front of Montoya in the BMW-Williams.
Alex Zanardi made his Formula One debut in 1991 with Jordan and accredited himself with drives for Lotus in 1993 and 1994.
Moving to the United States during a turbulent time in American open-wheel racing, the Italian secured the 1997 and 1998 CART championships and cemented his legacy with "The Pass" at Laguna Seca. Contrary to what is said today, the pass was legal at the time and proved his racecraft and determination.
His success in the US won him a drive with a fading Williams in 1999 but Zanardi found himself unable to get to grips with the cut slicks, as other drivers who didn't compete in 1998 found.
Returning to America for more success, his life was changed forever after a horror smash at the 2001 CART event at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, resulting in him losing both of his legs at the knee; one at the knee and one above. He lost three-quarters of his blood in the incident and subsequent treatment and it must surely be one of the most miraculous survivals in motorsport history.
There is no picture appropriate enough to be posted on this board but it goes down in the annals of motorsport infamy.
Zanardi not only recovered as a human being but also perservered enough as an athlete to return to touring car racing in the WTCC with hand controls, driving for compatriot Roberto Ravaglia's BMW team.
Zanardi continued his Herculean return to athletics by becoming a world-class paralympian, winning four paralympic golds and twelve world championships in para-cycling.
It is very easy to look at those who succeeded, nearly succeeded or could have been so much more on the track. Motorsport, athletics and indeed humanity, has lost a titan in Alessandro Zanardi.
Drivers: #19 Teo Fabi ITA, #28 Stefan Johansson SWE
Cars: Benetton B186 (1.5L turbocharged BMW I4), Ferrari F1/86 (1.5L turbocharged Ferrari V6)
Finished: DNF (Collision), DNF (Broken wing - Johansson actually recovered and retired on lap 41)
Winner: #6 Nelson Piquet BRA
Winning Car: Williams FW11 (1.5L turbocharged Honda V6)
