"On Velocity Now - "Grand Prix: The Killer Years"...

[Panther_99FS]

1960s F1....Talkikng about the introduction of the Lotus 49 now...

[Daveroo]

finally got to see this last night..was an interresting show...the last segment..david purley..him hearing the other driver screaming for help ,and screaming in pain as the fire consumned the car and him,,,brought back memories of my own..not from my racing days..but the night i held my girlfriends head/neck in C-spine as she passed away.....something you never forget

[wombat666]

A very poor piece of TV 'Journalism', morbid and badly researched.
I was very interested in comments made by Nina Rindt and 'Beaky' Sims, Nina is very bitter [and rightly so!] about Chapman, but Jochen was his own worst enemy, he wanted to run without wings and he refused to buckle up the crutch straps of his harness.
Bad research, 'Four drivers were killed at Spa in 1960 driving Lotus cars'.
Certainly two drivers [Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey] died, two were badly injured [Stirling Moss and Mike Taylor] and Taylor won a legal action against Lotus for a faulty part causing his accident.
But Stacey was hit in the face by a bird at speed and lost control during practice [he was a Lotus works driver], Moss lost a wheel during practice and broke both legs driving the privately entered Rob walker Lotus, while Bristow overdrove his COOPER and crashed with fatal results mid race.
The program was littered with irrelevant images of bent and broken cars, most of which resulted in no or minor injuries, complete with footage of Indycars performing their usual first lap chaos.
I've never been an admirerer of Jackie Stewart and his comments throughout this production cemented that belief.
:kilroy:
It never fails to amaze me that 'Wee Jock McArmco' never stopped his car at Zandvoort to assist David Purley [A genuine hero!] at the scene of Roger Williamson's accident.
Nor did any of the other drivers.
Why even include the death of Bruce McLaren in this morbid rollcall, he died while testing a CanAm car, a great loss to the sport but not part of F1, while Mike Spence was killed testing a Lotus at Indianapolis.
Jacky Ickx summed up the mindset of the time perfectly when he pointed out that they were all doing what they wanted to do, nobody was holding a gun to their heads.
It could have been a first class production on an important aspect of Formula 1, sadly it ended up as mindless and morbid rubbish.

[Daveroo]

A very poor piece of TV 'Journalism', morbid and badly researched.
I was very interested in comments made by Nina Rindt and 'Beaky' Sims, Nina is very bitter [and rightly so!] about Chapman, but Jochen was his own worst enemy, he wanted to run without wings and he refused to buckle up the crutch straps of his harness.
Bad research, 'Four drivers were killed at Spa in 1960 driving Lotus cars'.
Certainly two drivers [Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey] died, two were badly injured [Stirling Moss and Mike Taylor] and Taylor won a legal action against Lotus for a faulty part causing his accident.
But Stacey was hit in the face by a bird at speed and lost control during practice [he was a Lotus works driver], Moss lost a wheel during practice and broke both legs driving the privately entered Rob walker Lotus, while Bristow overdrove his COOPER and crashed with fatal results mid race.
The program was littered with irrelevant images of bent and broken cars, most of which resulted in no or minor injuries, complete with footage of Indycars doing the usual first lap chaos.
I've never been an admirerer of Jackie Stewart and his comments throughout this production cemented that belief.
:kilroy:
It never fails to amaze me that 'Wee Jock McArmco' never stopped his car at Zandvoort to assist David Purley [A genuine hero!] at the scene of Roger Williamson's accident.
Nor did any of the other drivers.
Why even include the death of Bruce McLaren in this morbid rollcall, he died while testing a CanAm car, a great loss to the sport but not part of F1.
Jacky Ickx summed up the mindset of the time perfectly when he pointed out that they were all doing what they wanted to do, nobody was holding a gun to their heads.
It could have been a first class production on an important aspect of Formula 1, sadly it ended up as mindless and morbid rubbish.

well hell......why didnt you do this review before i watched it.....ive never been a fan of F1 and i believed the "stories" and comments...but while watching..i saw the footage of that big crash at the start of one of the INDY 500's and thought to myself...whats that have to do with "grand prix racing"?....i am curious as to why "youve never been a fan of jackie stewart" ?..is it to do with his actions as described in the show? about the boycotting of races for "safetys sake"? or just as a person?...( im just asking,not a debate...)

btw..one day long ago...i was in the shanghai bar and resturant in my town and heard a familure voice..i looked behind me,i was at the bar on a stool,,and at the small table was David Hobbs and his son Guy Hobbs...seems they were on thier way to sears point for a race and stopped for lunch and decided to eat "with the locals" in the bar side..was fun to talk to them

[wombat666]

Dave, I've been up at the 'Top End' for several days with very shaky Internet access.
Just made it back in time for the AGP weekend.
I've never been a Jackie Stewart fan, simply because he was not a Jimmy Clark.
The man was far too focused on personal financial gain, and was way over the top on the safety issue, notably AFTER he had a big shunt at Spa.
Agreed, the circuit owners were not interested in spending money on safety, even in later years.
JYS never really seemed to realise that most of the other drivers were reliant on start money, unlike himself, and even if several additional 'boycotts' would have made a difference most people couldn't afford them.
I believe the best action for change comes from the inside and by stealth, a better approach would have been a united front with the Team Owners and Drivers taking action.
:kilroy:
I was lucky to be alongside David Hobbs in the pits at the 1971[?] Surfers Paradise Tasman Cup round, his car was the Kirk F White McLaren M14B.
It was back in the day when you found your pit bay as you arrived in the paddock.
Hobbs was a really good bloke, even found time to chat to a very 'Junior' driver.

[Panther_99FS]

Wombat,
Thanks for the experienced perspective here! :guinness:

[wombat666]

Ed, being 'old' can be a good thing at times!
:icon_lol: