Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2024 i Motor Sport Magazine

Our centenary dinner took place last month at London’s Dorchester – the high-water mark for Motor Sport’s 100th anniversary celebrations. As with all birthday parties there is a nervous moment before the guests arrive when you begin to wonder whether anyone will turn up. For us, this was doubly acute since we were aware that the dinner was taking place in the middle of a Formula 1 triple header, a couple of days after the Austrian Grand Prix and a few days before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. In the end we needn’t have worried. A galaxy of stars turned out to celebrate with us and make it a night to remember. Seeing so many racing legends together in a room at the same time was a true pinch-yourself…

The life and career of John Surtees will be the focal point at the Goodwood Revival this year, at what is still considered by many as the yardstick event for all – and not just historic – motor sport. The 60th anniversary of Surtees’ 1964 Formula 1 world title won for Ferrari is the trigger, although the only man to have won world championships on two and four wheels would also have turned 90 in February this year. Surtees died in 2017. “John Surtees was not only a huge figure in the history of the Goodwood motor circuit, but also played a big part in the establishment of our modern events,” said Revival founder the Duke of Richmond. “Along with Stirling Moss, John was a patron of the Festival of…

A case of Top Gun for the race tracks? That seems to be the prospect, as more details have emerged about the new Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt. A teaser for the film, titled simply F1, was released around the time of the British Grand Prix, at which further filming took place this year following the high-profile shoot at Silverstone during the 2023 race weekend. The movie is set for release in June 2025. As the teaser hints, Pitt takes the lead role of Sonny Hayes, a retired and ageing F1 driver now racing away from the pinnacle following a big accident in his distant past. Reality is stretched by his apparent re-hiring at 50 – Pitt is actually 60, but looks younger – by back-of-the-grid team APXGP. Damson…

GOOD RADIO DRAMA Verstappen is the mouthy throwback beige F1 needs – the world champ said anyone who doesn’t like his radio messages can do one. Excellent. PRIVATEER POWER McLaren-Mercedes is back on top at long last. Without a factory engine deal too. Not exactly a Cosworth DFV in the back, but… HUNGARY FOR MORE Not so long ago, the Hungaroring circuit was seen as the most boring in Formula 1 – now it’s a classic. That’s F1 fan-mnesia for you. NICO OF TIME Hülkenberg is racking up the points for Haas. When you’ve won Le Mans, this midfield F1 stuff is easy. THE COMEBACK In light of Audi’s faltering F1 project, ex-Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has been called in. He had the magic dust that made the Scuderia a…

It always felt a bit like making Usain Bolt run the 100m in Doc Martens. Here was something superior to anything else out there, yet which was being held back and denied its rightful place at the head of the crowd by some dreadful impediment over which it had no control. I refer, of course, to the interior of the Aston Martin DBX. It was such a shame, for here was tiny Aston Martin doing the apparently impossible: making a new car on a new platform in a new factory and creating what is widely regarded as the best high-performance luxury SUV of them all, only for it to be hobbled by a Human Machine Interface that might have looked OK in a diesel Mercedes C-Class a decade or so…

Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria, August 16-18 Two wheels, 28 laps and average speeds of 115mph – the Red Bull Ring is one of the quicker circuits in MotoGP, and last year Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia had a field day. After securing pole position, he went on to lead every lap of the race and crossed the finish line on his Desmosedici motorcycle a comfortable 5sec ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder – the latter admitted, “I did everything I could.” Bagnaia is flying again this season, on course for a third successive MotoGP world championship – although there’s some way to go yet: this is race 11 out of 20. As for Binder, he started 2024 well but has slipped. Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin – ‘The Martinator’,…

May I congratulate fellow Motor Sport readers for selecting the Lotus 49 as their all-time favourite racing car [Race Car of the Century, Your votes are in…, August]. Mine too! In June 1969 I visited Thruxton, my local circuit, for the BARC’s Speed Fair. A highlight for me was my first ever Formula 1 experience as no less than Graham Hill was demonstrating his Lotus 49B. This was, if my memory correctly serves me, the car with which he had won at Monaco. I was so mesmerised by both the car and driver that 55 years later I am still embedded in the BARC and Thruxton. It was the Lotus 49B that sent me down the motor sport route. I attach a photo from that day [above]. Could you imagine…

While the ‘other half’ of the Chaparral team was off taking on Ford, Ferrari and Porsche around the world in prestigious endurance racing contests, Jim Hall was busy creating his most revolutionary Chaparral yet, the 2E, for a completely different series: the high-stakes, six-race SCCA Canadian-American Challenge Cup that would be contested over an intense two-month period in the autumn. Creating a brand-new car rather than continuing with the 2A or 2C was the second major decision the team would make for the 1966 season and one that would profoundly affect its future. To understand why, it’s helpful to remember something Hap Sharp, Chaparral team driver, liked to say: “You win championships with last year’s car.” He liked to say it because it contained so much truth. History had shown…

No fan of 1960s Formula 1 racing could fail to recognise the livery of BRM on the car pictured here – but what, might you ask, is it doing on a Lotus Elan? The answer is that this is one of only a believed 10 Elans to have been enhanced with performance tweaks by BRM works driver Mike Spence and BRM engineer Tony Rudd (who moved to Lotus two years after this car was built). Between them, Spence and Rudd formulated a plan to buy Elans in kit form and use their knowledge gained through racing to upgrade the standard 115bhp Harry Mundy-designed engines in order to take full advantage of the car’s famed handling. With modifications that included a gas-flowed cylinder head, bigger inlet valves, a higher compression ratio,…

Carroll Shelby had his Stetson, Pedro Rodríguez, left, his… deerstalker? A true Anglophile, the unlikely headwear choice became the Mexican’s trademark in F1 and sports car paddocks. That’s why when we met Adrián Fernández in Monaco (see page 84) he was wearing his own as a tribute to his hero – and a ‘Tribute to Mexico’. It beats a baseball cap, at any rate. The titfer of Sherlock Holmes? Of course, to the rest of the world. For us, the deerstalker will always be Pedro’s.…

You’ve seen the movie. Now a new archive has been launched that will unveil the making of Michael Mann’s 2023 blockbuster Ferrari. The Enzo Ferrari biopic, which stars Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley, focuses on events in the lead up to and during the final Mille Miglia, in 1957. More than 30 years in the making, the project became a personal quest for influential film-maker and car enthusiast Mann. Now the director has chosen Ferrari to launch an archive that will eventually feature behind-the-scenes content for more of his movies. Twenty mini-documentaries about Ferrari are available to view behind a paywall. They include Mann and his actors’ work on character development from rehearsals through shooting, on-set design and art strategies, and how the replica cars were made. michaelmannarchives.com…

“It’s been brilliant to see seven different winners” The Formula 1 season heads into the summer break after a demanding run of five races in six weekends. While 2024 started off in a dominant way for Max Verstappen, for all of us neutrals it’s been brilliant to see seven different winners this season already, which is the highest number we’ve had since 2012. Reflecting on the first half, I would still say that Max has been the best driver so far. He made hay while the Red Bull had a clear advantage in the early races but more recently when it seemed like the McLaren was a faster car at Imola and Barcelona, he really had to dig far into his reserves of talent to pull out some great qualifying…

It is, I think, the incongruity of it all that appeals most. Meet the Hyundai hatchback with more power than a McLaren F1. The Hyundai hatchback that, despite weighing over a tonne more than a McLaren F1, will still hit 62mph from rest in 3.4sec, just 0.2sec longer than it took me to hit 60mph in the F1 30 years ago, albeit without four-wheel drive, instant torque, launch control and having to change gear. Were that all there was to it, I’d not be writing these words now. Truth is we’re used to EVs going very fast in straight lines; indeed the Tesla Model S P85D was accelerating just as rapidly a decade ago. What’s different here is that, for once, that’s not all this car does on the dynamic…

Derek Warwick should write another book, about his Uncle Stan. A rambunctious figure, ever ready with his fists, he colours the Formula 1 driver’s early chapters with numerous car crashes and frequent fights on behalf of his aspiring nephew. It’s part of what makes this chunky work an entertaining read, along with Warwick’s own tales of family, friends, adventures and disasters on the way to the grand prix grid and beyond. And early on he wasn’t even interested in F1 having already achieved his life’s ambition aged 19 – World Stock Car champion. Despite 10 F1 seasons with six teams, he’d never score a GP win, yet his endurance racing career glitters – Le Mans victory with Peugeot and the 1992 World Sportscar Championship, plus series runner-up twice. Then there…

The BRM P153, designed by new recruit Tony Southgate, represented a conscious (and visual) break from the company’s dwindling 1960s fortunes and kicked off the new decade with a rejuvenating fresh start for the Bourne-based constructor. Built around a simple and light monocoque, it was characterised by its broad flat nose and bulbous flanks. It was conventional for its time and just what BRM needed. Aubrey Woods’ V12 was the heart of the matter, giving up to 440bhp and powering Pedro Rodríguez to his second and last F1 victory, at Spa in June 1970. At what turned out to be the final Belgian GP held on the fearsome 8.7-mile version of the circuit, Rodríguez – in P153/02 – used the V12’s brute force to hold off Chris Amon’s March to…

● “Oi, Depailler! Where did you get your superlicence? Out of a crisp packet?” This typically sublime put-down was uttered by JAMES HUNT and, should you be the next owner of this McLAREN M26, inset right, raced by Hunt in 1978, you’ll have carte blanche to repeat these words should your path be blocked by an errant Ligier. Fresh from a rebuild, it’s on sale at FISKENS in London, £POA. ● Shift aside Benetton – RENAULT is arriving on the high street through its RNLT© ‘point-of-sale concept’ for cities. After the opening of an RNLT© shop in Paris earlier in ’24, a new London space will follow by the year’s end as part of a launch strategy for the new Renault 5. Alongside cars will be Originals Renault merchandise –…

1974 JENSEN INTERCEPTOR III SOLD BY DORE & REES, £62,150 If you’re on the lookout for what is probably the most immaculate, original, un-restored Jensen Interceptor III in the world – you’ve just missed it. This unique example was bought new by a Mayfair physician called Dr Mok who registered it with the 10 MOK plate it still wears today. A refusal to drive the car in the wet soon led the good doctor to sell it back to the Kent dealer from whence it came, and it remained cherished by his family until his son eventually sent it to auction. Still never rained on, it had covered just 16,500 miles from new. 1969 MG MGB SOLD BY BONHAMS CARS ONLINE, £14,146 Although upgraded to a race car in ’72,…

More than 250 guests and a galaxy of stars from the track dined at The Dorchester in London in early July to celebrate Motor Sport’s centenary – hosted during the week of the British GP. With a guest list that reflected both the magazine’s history and breadth of coverage, attendees included former F1 drivers David Brabham, Martin Brundle, David Coulthard MBE, Allan McNish, Jonathan Palmer, Tiff Needell and John Watson MBE, Le Mans winners Richard Attwood, James Calado and Derek Bell MBE, plus BTCC heroes Steve Soper and Jason Plato. Two wheels were represented by TT lap record holder John McGuinness MBE and Wayne Gardner. Motor Sport editor Joe Dunn introduced guest of honour Sir Jackie Stewart OBE who spoke about how his own career had been inextricably entwined with that…

Looking for a competition car with a proven reliability record? Well, they don’t come much more ‘proven’ than this 1954 Lincoln Cosmopolitan coupé, which has completed a remarkable 10 editions of Mexico’s gruelling Carrera Panamericana road race. Even more impressively, the first three times owner Christian Reichardt and co-driver Keith Ball entered the seven-day, 2200-mile ‘Carrera’, they drove the car an extra 2500 miles from their base in Los Angeles to the start line in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. And then back again afterwards. Although Lincoln land yachts competed in the original iteration of the Panamericana (Cosmopolitans finished ninth in 1950 and eighth in 1951, and Lincoln Capris were class winners in 1952, ’53 and ’54) they were, of necessity, significantly modified to cope with the arduous conditions of the race. Reichardt…

“Historic racing – every day playing with history. How can a kid get ‘in’?” Talking with several of the Historic racing world’s leading restorers and preparers has highlighted a relatively recent concern. I was asked “How can we find good young staff for the future? Advertising has failed completely…” – then “How do you find capable kids who want to get into specialist old-style engineering like ours? Interest in our kind of cars seems to be dying”. I have something of a vested interest here. Back in 1963 I was a racing-mad 17-year-old. I’d just won an obscure schools essay prize allowing me to choose a book as my trophy. Amid great ceremony some pompous luminary presented it to me; Nuvolari: Legendary Champion of International Auto Racing by Count Giovanni…

British GP Hungarian GP Belgian GP The last three races before Formula 1’s summer break were a confirmation of the new competitive hierarchy, one in which McLaren was the team to beat after years of Red Bull domination. At Silverstone they were beaten and appropriately it was by Lewis Hamilton, ending his two-and-a-half-year win drought. It was a brilliant performance and his Mercedes was super-quick at key moments in the weather-affected race. But the victory depended upon McLaren making a couple of key tactical errors. Without those, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri would surely have given the team a 1-2. McLaren would have to wait just two weeks to get that result though, Hungary marking Piastri’s first grand prix victory, with Norris following him home. But it was not without…

What was McLaren protecting at the Hungarian Grand Prix that it inverted the order at the race’s second stops? Lando Norris was undercut ahead of Oscar Piastri, with the team’s intention being to then swap them back around once Piastri had rejoined. Piastri had claimed strategic priority by being ahead out of Turn 1 at the start of the race. But what strategic priority meant in the specific circumstances of the second stops had some ambiguities. Which is where the problems started. There was a vague undercut threat to Norris from Lewis Hamilton and that’s what the team was trying to cover in pitting its second car first. With high tyre degradation induced by the Hungaroring, Norris’s out-lap on fresh tyres was always going to be a lot faster than…

Rumours about how the Porsche 911 was going to address the environmental concerns of the modern era long pre-date even the outgoing first generation of the current 992 series, launched in 2019. I can remember at least 10 years ago chatting to Porsche’s then R&D boss Wolfgang Hatz and him conceding he could see no way of avoiding the turbo flat four motors being readied for the Cayman and Boxster finding their way into the 911. Happily, he was wrong. I can also remember asking another senior Porsche official, who’ll remain nameless as he’s still active in the industry, when the first electric 911 would be launched to which he replied, “After I’ve retired so I don’t get the blame for it.” That hasn’t happened either – yet. But not…

If you happen to have seen a Bugatti Veyron recently, you might have looked into the cockpit and got the impression that it all looks rather old-fashioned. Which is understandable because next year marks two decades since the 8-litre W16 hit the streets. What many will have forgotten was that the Veyron’s gestation to full production model lasted a painful two years due to problems in trying to harness the car’s performance. Meanwhile, niche brand Parmigiani Fleurier – which was tasked with creating a radical timepiece to complement the car – managed to get its Type 370 watch ready to go in 2004, 18 months before the Veyron was tamed. In a bid to keep some waiting Veyron customers interested, it was decided to unveil the Type 370 in Milan…

Flavio Briatore was in the news for reasons good and bad in 1994. Thirty years on, nothing has changed. This is in the Benetton motorhome two days before the 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix. Flanked by writers from British national newspapers (The Sun’s Stan Piecha and Derick Allsop of The Independent on Briatore’s immediate right), the team principal is the centre of attention for several reasons: Michael Schumacher had ignored a black flag during the British GP; a Benetton had caught fire in the pitlane at Hockenheim amid claims the team had removed a filter from the nozzle to speed up the refuelling process; and there was suspicion over Benetton continuing to use banned traction control. Underlying all of this, Briatore had written a letter in which he questioned the competence…

“The leap from frontrunner to championship winner is the toughest of all” McLaren has travelled far since hitting rock bottom in 2018. Ditching its ill-starred Honda partnership at vast expense to switch to Renault propulsion was supposed to prove the team’s greatness, but instead laid bare how far it had fallen. It was the rude awakening McLaren needed to shock it into making the changes setting it on the path back to Formula 1 glory. The arduous journey is on the brink of completion, but the leap from frontrunner to championship winner is the toughest of all. That’s a lesson it’s learning right now as it attempts to chase down a 42-point gap to beat Red Bull to the constructors’ championship. Andrea Stella was promoted to racing director as part…

Noel Pope watched the vast sweep of concrete banking rush towards him, his mighty supercharged Brough Superior snorting and shaking like an angry bull as he locked his arms against the fuel tank, waiting for the g-force to hit. The banking sucked him in, compressing his body against the bike as he fought against the centrifugal force that wanted to carry him up the banking, towards the edge of disaster, like a roulette ball spinning out of the game. It occurred to him at that very moment, when the human mind is working faster than ever but at the same time slows right down, that Brooklands was in fact nothing more than a vast casino wheel. And then, as he started his latest attempt at the Brooklands lap record, he…

At TWR USA, we were very sharp by 1990. We had finished first and second at the Daytona 24 Hours that year, thanks to some excellent engineers. In fact we had been able to let each car race the other the whole 24 hours. For Le Mans we had built a new chassis, to Tony Southgate’s original design, and it was sent to TWR at Kidlington to be checked for compliance and to be liveried. We then set about putting together a ‘care package’ of our IMSA ‘goodies’ for fitting when we got to Le Mans. We had different rollbars and shock absorbers front and rear. But the biggest items were some very special one-piece brake calipers that had been designed and built in the US. Now we could go…

Editor’s choice A high 5 from Nigel Mansell For motor racing art, artefacts and ephemera, including the collectibles here, visit the Motor Sport shop – motorsportmagazine.com/shop NIGEL MANSELL SIGNED RED 5 LITHOGRAPH With perhaps one of the best British Grand Prix weekends of the modern age still fresh in our minds, why not celebrate another national success story from yesteryear with this fresh lithographic 60cm x 40cm art print. It depicts Nigel Mansell in his ‘Red 5’ Williams FW14B. Mansell took nine wins on his way to the 1992 world championship, with his victory at Silverstone being the 28th of his career, making him the most successful British F1 driver ever at the time – overtaking Jackie Stewart. While that milestone has been surpassed, there’s no denying the sheer coolness…