Motor Racing – Driven To Write

A Stock Car at La Sarthe

NASCAR comes to Le Mans

June 1976: The United States of America is about to celebrate its bicentennial. And what better way to mark such an auspicious event than conquering a certain French motor racing circuit with some all-American iron?

Three years before, the oil crisis affected the pockets of Joe Public and racing teams alike. Budgets were slashed, ideas sidelined but racing continued if perhaps not as freely as before. The Automobile Club de L’Ouest (ACO), fastidious organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans were struggling to fill the fifty-five-place grid for the ‘76 event. They turned to Big Bill France, owner of Daytona International Speedway, home to the Stateside version of the twice round the clock endurance^[1]. In a spirit of International Exchange, the ACO would Continue reading “A Stock Car at La Sarthe”

John Harris Insists You Try

It’s Grin up North…

Car trials are practically as old as the motorcar itself. Take a vintage automobile and point it in the direction of a steep hill. Throw in muddy, rutted tracks and/or forest areas. Combine this with unpredictable British weather and you have the makings of a most rewarding, if rather sodden day out.

The Setting: A former limestone quarry in the heart of the picturesque Derbyshire dales. Now verdant and a haven for walkers and bike riders, its industrial heritage has become well hidden unless you Continue reading “John Harris Insists You Try”

Lost Worlds

Looking back at Brooklands and Opel’s Rennbahn.

Napier Railton on a flying lap. Image: Race Department

Almost as swiftly as the automobile had become established, thoughts moved to racing, pitting not only drivers’ skill but also that of the engineers, fabricators and supporting teams. Races were conducted on dusty or muddy European public highways (weather dependant), but as speeds and risks increased, the building of a dedicated course for such pastimes entered the minds of a number of British motorsport aficionados. Hill climbs and trials had of course existed from early on, but the onus upon developing the world’s first proper motor racing track lay with one Hugh Locke King – creator of Brooklands.

In the summer of 1906, keen early adopter of the newly fangled motor car, wealthy landowner Locke King was cajoled into building what journalist Bill Boddy would reverentially call The Track. With little opportunity for the British racing enthusiast taking the fight to those on the continent, Locke King agreed to Continue reading “Lost Worlds”

Formula Toast

The appliance of… well what exactly?

Alejandro Agag is clearly a well connected sort of chap. It was he who had the bright spark of introducing electrically powered racing cars to the world with the advent of Formula E. Yes, there were teething problems as one could reasonably expect with something so technically unproven. The set up took time, Dallara were chosen for chassis, Williams sorting out the sparks, Hewland the cogs.

In that first season, Formula E needed two cars per driver; the battery simply could not Continue reading “Formula Toast”