THE MOMENTS THAT MADE MOTORSPORT HISTORY
Motor racing is virtually unrecognisable from the sport that first made it into print in these pages some 65 years ago.
The transformation that motorsport, and this publication too, has been on during those six-and-a-half decades has been remarkable. But contained within the pages of the weekly newspaper are the stories and the intrigue that have kept us all fizzing with enthusiasm for the sport we live and love.
Each week, staff members from Motoring News, and now Motorsport News, have been pounding the service park, pits and paddocks across the country, and indeed the world, to bring the latest and the best information to the reader. It is a newspaper that feeds the passion of both the readers and the staff alike.
We have scoured the archives to nail down a list of the 65 most iconic moments that have stood out to our writers and staff over the last decades. We have collected them here and have dangerously tried to put them into some kind of order.
It is a hard job to equate the achievements of any one driver against another when the judgement takes place across different disciplines and indeed over different decades. But we have had a go, and mixed in with that are the defining moments that have made a real difference to motorsport and how it looks today.
The iconic moments have been written by DavidAddison, Luke Barry, Graham Brown, Matt James, Graham Keilloh, Paul Lawrence and Graham Lister.
But rest assured, despite that collected brains trust, there will be moments that we have missed, and that is because motorsport, and the great drivers and events that have happened, are all subjective, They are captured in the eye of the viewer, be they participants, volunteers or just the fans themselves. If you think there are any omissions we need to rectify, please let us know at matt.james@kelsey.co.uk.
65 GERRY MARSHALL – THE MAN BORN SIDEWAYS
Think of a car sideways attacking any given corner at Brands Hatch, Silverstone or wherever you choose in the UK. Then think of a Vauxhall.You will have imagined Gerry Marshall.
Having started in Minis – an incongruous sight, given his ample frame – the hard-living, hard-boozing Marshall was born to race cars and ended up being forever associated with the Griffin.
He would often argue that he was one of the smoothest drivers out there, and he only hung the tail out to entertain the crowds. “Well, usually I am so far in front I have to liven it up,” he told me, with a mischievous grin, trying to convince himself as much as the listener.
But during my last interview with him in 2005, the eye-opener was his breadth of knowledge across what was then the current racing landscape. Old contacts never went away, they were always there at the end of the phone for a gossip and a catch-up. His death in 2005 was tough to take, but he had been gracious enough to leave us with myriad memories. MJ
64 THE FIRST GOODWOOD REVIVAL IN 1998
The Duke of Richmond had always dreamt of reviving the Goodwood circuit, recalling his childhood days attending race meetings there. It was closed in 1966 when he was 11.
And when the Duke took over the running of the Goodwood Estate, bringing the track back to life was top of his agenda. His Festival of Speed hillclimb at Goodwood House from 1993 was a sensation, then he led a restoration of the nearby circuit. The first Goodwood Revival historic racing event was in September 1998, 50 years to the day since the circuit first opened. And the 80,000 in attendance were overwhelmed by what they saw, with the recreation immaculate right down to attendees in period clothing. The racing was great too in terms of cars, drivers and action.
Now, as with the Festival of Speed and season-opening Members’Meeting, the Revival is a key fixture.And this year even a trio of Covid cancellations was not enough to stop the Duke, as he combined the three meetings to hold the one-time-only Goodwood SpeedWeek. GK
63 JOCHEN RINDT BECOMES F1’S ONLY POSTHUMOUS CHAMPION
In 1970 for the spectacular Jochen Rindt, things it seemed were coming right at last. He’d spent years in poor cars, then his 1969 Lotus debut was difficult.
But following a Colin Chapman heart-to-heart matters improved. In 1970 he took a breath-taking Monaco win still in the Lotus 49. Then the ground-breaking Lotus 72 – the car framing the modern F1 look – was got right. From there Rindt had the summer to himself. Still he was troubled though, particularly by the death of friend Piers Courage. Rumours lingered of Rindt quitting at the season’s end.
But Monza awaited, when in practice his 72 turned sharp left before Parabolica, straight into the barriers. He was killed instantly.
Four races remained and the threat to the late Rindt’s title came from Jacky Ickx, whose Ferrari 312B was now on form. Ickx won in Canada and victory in the final two would get him the crown. But at Watkins Glen his fuel pipe broke and, appropriately, a first win for Rindt’s young team-mate Emerson Fittipaldi ensured Rindt F1’s first, and so far only, posthumous championship. GK
62 VILLENEUVE: WINNING HEARTS WITH HIS DEDICATION TO SPEED
Who knew if James Hunt regretted it, but McLaren most certainly did.
In the final race of the North American Formula Atlantic series, held at Trois Rivieres in Canada, several leading lights of Formula 1 were invited by organisers. The profitable trip was meant to swell the coffers and stroke the ego for men like Hunt, future world championAlan Jones and Vittorio Brambilla. When they had been resoundingly beaten by local boy and upstart Gilles Villeneuve, Hunt alerted McLaren.
The tiny Canadian’s first GP was in Britain in a third McLaren in 1977, but it was when he joined Ferrari in 1978 that the legend was born. His never-say-die attitude to simply wresting the maximum from any machine was spellbinding to watch. The spills were as prevalent as the success, but it was clear that Villeneuve was a driver who was simply just in love with what he was doing.
His death in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix in 1982 robbed many fans of the reason they’d tuned into motorsport in the first place. MJ
61 TAKING A DIFFERENT ROUTE TO REACH THE TOP OF THE WORLD
It is not unusual for the doors to slam shut on up-and-coming talent in the UK. That is particularly true if the heaviest thing about them is their right foot rather than their wallet.
Buckinghamshire race Dan Wheldon was one of those who shone on the nursery slopes in the UK but the pot was empty, particularly up against the deeper pockets and faster-moving bandwagon of contemporary Jenson Button. He grabbed a chance to race in the US – which was not a traditional path in the late 1990s, when he went – and he made his determination, pace and charisma work for him. Success in USF2000 and Indy Lights propelled him to great things.
Two Indy 500 victories (2005 and 2011) would eventually come his way, along with the IndyCar Series title in 2005. Even after that second Indy win, his future was unsure as he was scrapping around for drives. His death at Las Vegas in 2011 was a seismic shock to all in the category. MJ
60 WHEN A TRIP TO SPA BROUGHT CHAOS
Covering the Formula 1 beat for MN was always an uphill task. Rival magazines had their cartels of overseas journalists feeding in news tips and angles: we
