ACES WILD ACES WILD The Story of the British Grand Prix THE STORY OF THE Peter Miller Motor racing is one of the most 10. 3. BRITISH GRAND PRIX exacting and dangerous sports in the world today. And Grand Prix racing for Formula 1 single-seater cars is the RIX GREATS toughest of them all. The ultimate ambition of every racing driver since 1950, when the com­ petition was first introduced, has been to be crowned as 'World Cham­ pion'. In this, his fourth book, author Peter Miller looks into the back­ ground of just one of the annual qualifying rounds-the British Grand Prix-which go to make up the elusive title. Although by no means the oldest motor race on the English sporting calendar, the British Grand Prix has become recognised as an epic and invariably dramatic event, since its inception at Silverstone, Northants, on October 2nd, 1948. Since gaining World Championship status in May, 1950 — it was in fact the very first event in the Drivers' Championships of the W orld-this race has captured the interest not only of racing enthusiasts, LOONS but also of the man in the street. It has been said that the supreme test of the courage, skill and virtuosity of a Grand Prix driver is to w in the Monaco Grand Prix through the narrow streets of Monte Carlo and the German Grand Prix at the notorious Nürburgring. Both of these gruelling circuits cer­ tainly stretch a driver's reflexes to the limit and the winner of these classic events is assured of his rightful place in racing history. continued on back Hap PELHAM BOOKS continued from front flap But although the British Grand Prix Pelham Motoring Books has been contested on such widely diversified circuits as Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch its victors have included some of the great THE MOTOR RACING YEAR— NO. 3. racing aces of all time. For example, Anthony Pritchard Luigi Villoresi (1948): 'N ino' Farina (1950): Froilan Gonzales (1951 and 1954): Alberto Ascari (1952 and MOTOR RACING : THE GRAND PRIX GREATS 1953): Stirling Moss (1955 and with Edited by Barrie Gill Brooks 1957): Juan Manuel Fangio (1956): Tony Brooks (with Moss WORLD CHAMPION 1957): Peter Collins (1958): Jack Brabham (1959, 1960 and 1966): Jackie Stewart and Eric Dymock Count Wolfgang 'Taffy' von Trips (1961): Jim Clark (1962, 1963, 1964, ALL HELL AND AUTOCROSS 1965 and 1967): Jo Siffert (1958): Jackie Stewart (1969 and 1971) and Peter Carrick Jochen Rindt (1970). It is interesting to note from the above TRIPLE CROWN PLUS resume, that the British Grand Prix Ivan Manger and Peter Oakes has been won by no less than seven drivers who went on to become World Champion on one, or more THE RACING SPORTS CAR occasions, Farina, Ascari, Fangio, Anthony Pritchard Brabham, Clark, Stewart and Rindt. In Aces Wild, Peter Miller w ho is PORSCHE known internationally as a former racing and rally driver, team manager, Anthony Pritchard motoring journalist and broadcaster and author of The Fast Ones, From THE JAGUAR E-TYPE AND SALOONS Start to Finish and Men at the Wheel, Anthony Pritchard highlights the 'magic moments' of the first tw enty-four British Grands Prix. This is not a technical book of RALLY OF THE FORESTS interest only to the specialists of Phil Drackett motor sport. It is the story of the dramas and the heartbreaks of the British Grand Prix, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 1972. Written in a simple and informative style it describes how every race in the series was won - or lost - before the chequ­ ered flag was finally reached. 7207 0580 0 Aces Wild: The Story of the British Grand Prix By the same Author: THE FAST ONES MEN AT THE WHEEL START TO FINISH Aces Wild: The Story of the British Grand Prix PETER MILLER w PELHAM BOOKS 75é>-?3L 72- 52290 First published in Great Britain by PELHAM BOOKS LTD 5 2 Bedford Square London, W.C.i 1972 © 1972 by Peter Miller All Rights Reserved. No part of this publica­ tion may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo­ copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner 7207 0580 o Set and printed in Great Britain by Tonbridge Printers Ltd, Peach Hall Works, Tonbridge, Kent in Garamond eleven on twelve point on paper supplied by P. F. Bingham Ltd, and bound by James Burn at Esher, Surrey To Dearest Mother With Love Contents CHAPTER PAGE 1 Now and Then 9 2 Pre-war Quartet 11 3 1948 - The Silverstone Saga Begins 19 4 1949 - Maserati Strikes Again 22 5 1950 - Alfas Supreme 24 6 1951 - Ferrari First 27 7 1952-Ferrari Again 30 8 1953 - Ascari Once More 34 9 1954-Victory to the Pampas Bull 3 6 10 1955 - Mercedes Quartet Win Aintree Gallop 41 11 1956 - Lancia-Ferrari 1-2 45 12 1957 - Vanwall for Great Britain 48 13 1958-Collins: 'Mon Ami, Mate’ 52 14 1959 - Cooper-Climax 56 15 I960 - Brabham Again 59 16 1961 - Prancing Horse Strikes Back 62 17 1962-Jim Clark’s First of Five 67 18 1963-Number Two for Clark and Lotus 71 19 1964 - Clark Yet Again 75 20 1965-A nd Again! 78 21 1 9 6 6 - Jack Brabham Hat-Trick 82 22 1967 - Clark Makes It Five 85 23 1968 - Siffert Superb 89 24 1969 - Scotland The Brave 93 25 1970 - Jochen Rindt 98 26 1971 - Woolmark for Stewart 108 27 Reflections on the 1971 World Championship 113 28 1972 - The Battle Ahead 118 British Grand Prix Results 1948-1971 137 Index 141 Illustrations p l a t e Between pages 64 and 63 1 1938-Manfred von Brauchitsch, after placing second at Donington 2 The Duke of Kent talks to Nazi official Obergruppen- führer Huhnlein before the start of the 1938 R.A.C. Grand Prix 3 Tazio Nuvolari, winner of the 1938 R.A.C. Grand Prix 4 1948-Philippe Etancelin in his Talbot at Silverstone 5 1949-veteran Monagasque driver Louis Chiron 6 1950-W orld Champion Nino Farina 7 Argentinians Onofre Marimon, Froilan Gonzales and Juan Fangio at Silverstone 1953 8 The 1954 Mercedes, Karl Kling driving 9 Stirling Moss and Fangio-first and second in the 1955 Grand Prix 10 Eugenio Castellotti in the 1956 sports Ferrari 11 Luigi Musso in the sports Ferrari 12 The 1957 Grand Prix at Ain tree 13 Aintree 1961 - Moss was forced to retire his Lotus 14 1961 winner, Wolfgang von Trips 15 Start of the 1961 Grand Prix at Aintree 16 Jacky Ickx, the young Belgian star, now with Ferrari 17 1963 - one year that Jim Clark didn't win 18 1964 - Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren 19 1964 third-placer, John Surtees 20 Jo Bonnier and Ferrari team manager at Brands Hatch 21 1969 - Jackie Stewart and the Matra MS80 22 1965 - Clark and Spence at Silverstone 23 New Zealanders Hulme and McLaren 24 Dick Jeffrey, Dunlop’s racing manager talks to Jackie Stewart at Brands Hatch ILLUSTRATIONS 25 John Surtees at the wheel of his Surtees TS7 26 Francois Cevert, British Grand Prix 1970 27 Brands Hatch 1970-Jackie Stewart in action 28 Mike The Bike’ Hailwood 29 Australian Tim Schenken, 1971 Grand Prix 30 Formula 1 newcomer Howden Ganley 31 Henri Pescarolo, Silverstone, 1971 32 The new John Player Special for 1972 Picture Credits: Eason Gibson: plates 1, 2, 3, 7; Klemantaski Studio: plate 4; Associated Press: plate 5; Keystone Press Agency Ltd: plate 6; Mercedes- Benz Fotodienst: plates 8, 9; Daniel R. Rubin: plate 11; Norman Gryspeerdt: plate 12; Dunlop Co. Ltd.: plates 12, 15, 21, 24, 26, 27; Daily Mirror: plate 13; The New Zealand Lamb Infor­ mation Bureau: plate 23; Brooke Bond Oxo Ltd.: plate 25; Dr Benno Müller: plate 28; Michael Cooper (Photography) Ltd.: plate 31; John Player and Sons: plate 32; Peter Miller: plates 17, 18, 19, 20, 22; International Wool Secretariat: plates 29, 31. Chapter One Now and Then On Saturday, July 17, 1971, Scotsman Jackie Stewart-who was to become world champion racing driver for the second time 29 days later-won the 24th British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Northants. Stewart completely dominated the event, which that year had been sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat and designated the Woolmark British Grand Prix for the first time. His blue Tyrrell Cosworth-Ford V8, entered by Ken Tyrrell, the rugged timber merchant from West Horsley, Surrey, averaged 130.4 mph over 68 laps of the three-mile circuit. In practice, both Stewart and the Swiss-Italian Ferrari driver, Clay Rega- zzoni, had lapped in 1 minute 18.1 seconds, to share the fastest-ever lap at Silverstone, 134.0 mph, since the circuit opened. The first British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone on October 2, 1948, but on that occasion, the winning Maserati, driven by the veteran Italian ace Luigi 'Gigi’ Villoresi, had to complete 68 laps of a 3.8-mile circuit, which incorporated the main runways of the former airfield circuit in addition to the perimeter roads. This longer circuit was only used on one occasion, however, and it is only by studying the results of the following year’s race, held on May 14, 1949 that any comparison figures may be established. Then, the celebrated Swiss driver, Baron Emmanuel de Graffenried set a race-winning average of 77.3 mph with his Maserati over 100 laps of the shortened three-mile circuit. The dapper and elegant little Siamese driver Prince Birabongse, commonly known amongst motor sports enthusiasts as B.