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Stirling Moss at Waterford Hills 1961 by Clark Lance

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Stirling Moss at Waterford Hills 1961 by Clark Lance Stirling Moss at Waterford Hills 1961 By Clark Lance For Detroit-area racing fans in the early 1960s the opportunities for seeing a real Grand Prix champion were just about non-existent. The pages of Motorsport and Road & Track were the only connection we had with the exotic world of European Formula 1 racing. The likes of Jack Brabham, Phil Hill, Wolfgang Von Trips, Jim Clark and Stirling Moss were heroes from another world. That was until the Detroit Council of Sports Car Clubs sponsored a speaking engagement for Stirling Moss at the Masonic Temple on October 1, 1961. For $2 no less ! Stirling was in the USA for the October 8 th USGP at Watkins Glen where he would drive a Lotus Eighteen. This would be Stirling’s last World Championship Grand Prix, as he would retire from racing after his April 1962 crash at Goodwood. October 1 st was Sunday of the final race weekend for the Oakland County Sportsman’s Road Racing Club at the 1.5-mile Waterford Hills racetrack just north of Detroit, Michigan. Stirling was at the track during the day, prior to his evening lecture. Stirling spoke to those present in the paddock, signed autographs and took some chauffer-driven laps in a Chrysler 300 to be introduced to the crowd of appreciative spectators. Photos from Waterford Hills Silver Anniversary Digest 1983 It wasn’t long before Stirling spotted a light blue Lotus Elite in the paddock and before you knew it he had the keys and was off for some real demonstration laps in the Elite. The legend persists that after just 3 laps Stirling eclipsed the then-current C-Production lap record in that stock Lotus Elite! Undocumented perhaps, but it still makes for great folklore among the Waterford Hills faithful. Stirling Moss and Lotus Elite #1158 Photo by Harold Lance Escorted by my father, I was privileged to be there for both the on-track demonstration and the evening lecture before an auditorium of attentive Detroit-area sports car guys and gals. All together a pretty impressive day for a 10-year-old! The blue Elite? Well, the light blue Elite that amazed us at Waterford Hills in 1961 was Elite #1158 owned by John Posselius, proprietor of European Motors in Detroit. I last saw John at the Lotus Owners Gathering Number 14 at Lime Rock Park in 1994 and Elite #1158 was still in John’s possession….an Original Owner! For those of us who grew up near Detroit, Waterford Hills has been our home track since its’ opening in 1958. Having last raced there in 1977, I returned in August of 2008 for their 50 th Anniversary Vintage Race event where the legend of Stirling Moss and the little blue Lotus Elite is still very much remembered. Some of the many Loti at the Waterford Hills 50 th Anniversary Event - August 2008 Clark Lance – Lotus Elan Don Heth - Lotus Cortina Tim Covert – Elite 1292 .
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