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#107 1962 British Grand Prix

2021-09-03 01:00

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#1962, Fulvio Conti, Translated by Ylenia Lucia Salerno,

#107 1962 British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix took place on Saturday 21 July 1962 and will take place on the Aintree circuit for the second year in a row, despite the agreem

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The British Grand Prix took place on Saturday 21 July 1962 and will take place on the Aintree circuit for the second year in a row, despite the agreements with the Silverstone circuit requiring that the British Grand Prix be held alternately on both circuits. The R.A.C. decides to delegate the British Grand Prix to the B.A.R.C. for the second time on a row despite protests. Thus, the Grand Prix circus goes to Liverpool in order to race at the Aintree Stadium. After the Rouen and Reims races and the smaller Solitude meeting, respectively won by Cooper and Porsche, everyone goes to Aintree with a very keen frame of mind. The teams know that the championship is still wide open. With the Italian strikes easing a bit, Scuderia Ferrari fields a lone car for Phil Hill. It is the one that was tested at Monaco during the practice session. It features the gearbox ahead of the differential housing and still uses the 1961-type 120-degree V6 engine. The other two car entries are withdrawn. Gurney and Bonnier have the two flat 8-cylinder Porsches spec that raced in Solitude. The only difference is that both cars uses Koni shock-absorbers. Only one of them previously used the Koni system whilst the other one had gas-filled Bilstein shockers. Graham Hill and Ginther will drive the usual B.R.M. V8 cars. A brand new spare car is identical to Ginther’s one in terms of the chassis frame at the rear. Hill still has the prototype chassis frame with different tube arrangements in order to support the gearbox. McLaren and Maggs have two identical Cooper-Climax V8 cars. Clark and Taylor drive the two Team Lotus cars that were driven at Solitude. Clark is at the wheel of the monocoque Type 25 whilst Taylor has the Type 24. Bowmaker’s two Lola-Climax V8 cars will be driven by Surtees and Salvadori. The team also brings a brand new car as a spare. It that the same basic layout of the other two cars and incorporates all the successful modifications that were made since the start of the season plus a few more.

 

The most notable ones are the front suspension uprights and stub axles. The uprights are not modified proprietary components. They are now fabricated from steel sheet in taper-tube form like the Ferguson P99. The diameter tubing of the stub axles is as large as the Lotus 24 and 25. The wishbone ends whilst the steering pivots are also improved and strengthened. However, the top suspension link is reverted to the channel section that was also used on the original car. A 6-speed Colotti gearbox is fitted. The right-hand gear change needs a cross-over linkage behind the gearbox. It has the same specification as the 6-speed Colotti, which has the selector mechanism on the left. Rob Walker is forced to withdraw his entry since the car was written-off at Rouen. Brabham runs the Lotus-Climax V8 given that F.1 Brabham-Climax V8 is not quite ready. The car could have prepared for the start of the race but this would have meant that it was completely untried. Brabham wisely decides not to use it. The U.D.T.- Laystall team was not happy with the B.R.M.-engined car after Rouen. Therefore, they enter two Lotus-Climax V8 cars. Ireland drives the newest of the two whilst and Gregory’s one has additional bracing struts across the engine bay. The entry of works or semi-works teams and the rest of the field of private entries is now complete. Lewis and Burgess drive the Cooper-Climax 4-cylinders car. Chamberlain and Shelly are at the wheel of the old Lotus-Climax 4-cylinders ones. Settember has a lone Emeryson-Climax 4-cylinder whilst Beaufort drives a 4-cylinder Porsche. Campbell-Jones will not start the race since he is still suffering from the Solitude accident. His car was badly wrecked as a result. Greene hopes that the new Gilby-B.R.M. V8 is repaired in time. However, the team is unable to fix the car. In addition, Siffert scrubs his entry after hearing the measly starting-money offer that was made by the B.A.R.C. A last-minute arrival is Seidel and the brand new Lotus-B.R.M. V8 car.

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The one-hour begins on Thursday afternoon after the lunch break. The Stadium is bathed in glorious sunshine although there is a strong headwind on the railway straight. This will not favour the drivers. Thus, the lap times will probably not be very fast. Back in April, Clark set a new Aintree lap record of 1'54"0 sec in the Lotus 24 car. The headwind though did not allow the Brit to improve this time. Porsche and B.R.M. are all set and ready to go. Graham Hill has upswept megaphone exhausts. On the other hand, swept stub pipes with no venturi tail-pipes are installed in Ginther’s car. McLaren’s Cooper is also present whilst the other V8 is delayed. The transporter of the car has broken down on the way to the Stadium. Tommy Atkins’ mechanics have to travel up from London in order collect the car and bring it to the race track. However, they are forced to miss the first session after arriving late to the destination. Eric Broadley is finishing off the brand new Lola, which is running the letter T for recognition. Soon after, the other competitors are also going out on track. Gurney is in fine form and charging along after braking very late for Melling Crossing. Surtees tries the new Lola car but is having trouble finding gears. He thus dives into the pits to allow the mechanics to re-adjust them. In the meantime, he continues to drive the session in his old car. Ireland is driving very fast after spending a day at Goodwood to sort out the U.D.T. cars. Graham Hill is not hanging about as well. That is until his engine blows up. Team Lotus is not in a great shape at the moment. Clark is not leading the standings which was unusual. Unfortunately for the drivers, the timekeepers are still using egg timers with only one-fifth second divisions. That means that official times are giving lots of dead heats. The first session is over and the family saloon racers do their practice. Immediately after, the Formula 1 cars are on track again for the second hour of practice.

 

The pace quickens even though the track conditions are the same as before. Clark is now into his stride and equals his existing lap record. In the meantime, Surtees abandons the old Lola derelict on the grass and walks back to the pits in order to get the new one. Brabham, Burgess and Chamberlain join the other drivers on track after missing out the first practice session. Maggs exits in the pits in the second Cooper-Climax V8. Ginther is now testing the venturi tail-pipes since Graham Hill is watching the practice session. Phil Hill is not happy with the Ferrari car because it is a bit unpredictable in the corners. Gregory does not like the set-up of the U.D.T. car. Ireland decides to take it out on track instead. He then does a lap time that is identical to the one that he had previously set with his own car. Everyone is smiling inside the garage except for Gregory. Having driven a Lotus 24 back in April, Clark decides to borrow Taylor’s car in order to compare it with the Lotus 25. After spinning it on the opening lap, he does one cautious flying lap in 1'57"8. How does he call it cautious?! Anyone who have more than four cylinders need to lap under the 2-minute mark. The private owners instead have a 2-minute target. The bar, in terms of times, is pretty high so far. It is, in fact instanced by Settember who set a 2'03"2. It is only good enough for 20th position but is quite a respectable lap at the wheel of the Emeryson car. At the end of the day, Clark is the fastest driver. Gurney is 2nd for Porsche. He is going very well at the moment. Surtees is 3rd fastest and showing continual progress in the Lola. Friday is another remarkable day. It is warm, dry and not really windy. Not many people had time to eat something before the start of the third practice session. Every driver is heading out on track. Clark immediately has some issues with fouling plugs. Graham Hill has a new engine.

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The British driver does not get far into the session before an oil leak plasters the circuit. The circuit has to be dried up. Thus, the last practice session is delayed for a while. Meanwhile, the B.R.M. mechanics mop up the mess on the car. Greene borrows Shelly’s Lotus to do some qualifying laps. The hope is that the mechanics finish the new Gilby car in time. Bonnier is in trouble with the gear selectors. However, he shows his old form when the car gets fixed. A couple of minutes later, Surtees sets the pace in 1'54"2 at the wheel of the repaired Lola car. Ireland is having a real go at the fastest time. He is 2 tenths off Surtees’s time with a 1'54"4 whilst McLaren unobtrusively sets a 1'54"6. Among the private owners, Lewis almost breaks the 2-minute barriers. Burgess is also driving very well. He is showing considerable improvement in the last three races that he had a new engine. Seidel turns out on track with the brand new Lotus 24 with B.R.M. V8 engine and 6-speed Colotti gearbox. Ireland did not do any laps so far since the saloons had been out again. He is thus satisfied with his practice efforts. Gregory insists on flogging on. Some drivers, like Clark, Graham Hill, McLaren, Brabham, and Phil Hill, have not reached their limit yet. They are still going much faster than before. The others are doing what they can with new brakes and scrub tyres. Towards the end of the practice session, the wind is completely dropping. The air becomes very cool and the rain is in the offing. Clark takes advantage of these track conditions in order to do a terrific in 1'53"6 lap time. It is uncanny the way he previously said I will now set a new fastest lap before going out on track. The Lotus driver does exactly what he planned to do. The works Lotus car is seldom 100% right in all respects. This time though it is. One day, it will be spot-on for everyone so that Jim Clark will set a really fast lap. No one was supposed to qualify to begin with. Aintree is capable of taking the whole entry. The grid will be set by the best times set by the four practice sessions. In the final hour, Jack Lewis goes under the 2-minute barriers. He is the only 4-cylinder driver so to do even if Burgess gets mighty close to this time.

 

A study of all lap times makes up for an interesting reading. Some drivers got progressively faster. Others were more erratic whilst some did not progress at all. It is perhaps the first time that the Modena industry is represented with a single vehicle in the Grand Prix of Great Britain, which in the post-war tests saw seven times consecutively the Italian cars assert themselves, respectively with Luigi Villoresi in 1948 and then with De Graffenried, then with Farina, Gonzalez, Ascari, Ascari and Gonzalez. In the race Phil Hill will have a very hard task because the opposing cars proved, in these two days of testing, faster: the Ferrari technicians, who are led by engineer Mauro Forgheri, they worked hard to fix some problems to the box of the new type, mounted recently on the Italian red car. In today’s practice behind Clark, the former motorcycle ace John Surtees, Ireland and McLaren have achieved excellent results. The Porsches, who showed up in Liverpool after their surprising success in the Rouen Grand Prix, did not do much in practice: the American Gurney, who was the best driver of the German cars, will have to settle for starting in the third row. During the morning of Saturday, July 21, 1962 the track was wet by rain, but an hour before the start of the Grand Prix was already dry. Ireland is in trouble before the race starts, having broken the gear selector during free practice and not being able to replace it in time for the race; so he must start without the second and third gear. At the stroke of 2:20 p.m. the flag of the start is lowered and the twenty-one drivers participating in the race take off from their pitches; the twenty-first driver is Ireland, who has difficulty in gear up and when he manages to start is in last position. Meanwhile Clark takes the lead and after the first laps he manages to get away from Surtees, against all odds, as the public expected to witness a hard-fought race from the start, and on the thirteenth lap he is four seconds ahead. Third place went to Gurney, McLaren, Brabham, Graham Hill, who had some unidentified mechanical problems and Gregory, with Ireland stopped in the pits to repair the gearbox.

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Saturday starts very ominously. Rain was previously drizzling in the morning. As midday approaches, the sun shines through. The track is drying up nicely. The meeting begins with a 17- lap saloon car race which is then followed by a parade of veteran cars and a parade of Formula 1 drivers. At 2.10 p.m., they set off for the start of the warm-up lap. Ten minutes later, the cars are on the starting grid. Everything is ready to go. Drama soon starts to brew. Ireland, who should start the race from the front row, is in big trouble. His mechanics worked throughout the night to build a new gearbox and give him the best possible chance for success. The old box developed slight wear on some of the dogs during practice. Anything that shows either wear or suspect of is replaced by new parts. The problem on Ireland’s car is soon resolved. He is thus set to start the warm-up lap. One of the brand-new selector forks then breaks. It is too late to do anything apart from whipping off the gearbox top and disentangle the broken part. As a result, Ireland is left with no 2nd or 3rd gear. The grid is cleared in the first class order. Whilst the engines are revving up, Ireland then discovers that he cannot select any gears at all. He has to sit helplessly on the front of the grid stuck in neutral. The flag is raised for an endless five seconds. When it goes down, the remaining 20 drivers are able to successfully dodge the helpless Ireland, who is now on his own. Despite this, the start is impeccable. A calm and confident time-keeper waves the flag and not an excitable dignitary or notability. Clark is 1st ahead of all the right people. Bonnier muffs his start and drops back to the back of the grid. A staggering opening lap dice was expected however it did not happen. Clark is running away in the lead.

 

The others are following in a surprisingly orderly procession. Surtees is 2nd, in the old Lola, ahead of Gurney, McLaren, Brabham, Graham Hill. The latter drives the B.R.M. car that has low-level stub pipes. Gregory, Salvadori, Phil Hill, Bonnier, Maggs, Ginther and Taylor follow suit. Ireland’s car is wheeled into the pits after the start. The unhappy mechanics attack the Colotti gearbox. Clark is comfortably ahead of Surtees. McLaren is right behind Gurney’s gearbox whilst Graham Hill is pressing Brabham. On lap 4, the mentioned lot is leaving the rest of the field behind. Bonnier has recovered from a disappointing start and is now leading the next group. Ginther’s B.R.M. car is not running as smooth as it might despite having a brand-new engine. Taylor’s Lotus is ailing whilst Phil Hill seems to have given up all hope to score good championship points. He lies in 13th position. Burgess is almost keeping up with him. In the following laps, Surtees begins to close up on Clark, who previously set the fastest lap in 1'57"4. By lap 5, the Brit is all over the rear of the Lotus after equalling Clark’s lap time. The leader soon reacts to this attack and goes even quicker with a 1'57"0. The gap between the Lola and the Lotus opens up once again. Surtees tries to reply with a 1'57"0. in an effort to re-catch Clark. The Lola driver realizes that he cannot catch the leader and decides to settle for 2nd place. McLaren is pressing Gurney’s Porsche whilst Graham Hill gets ahead of Brabham. On lap 7, Trevor Taylor has the remarkable experience of having a carburettor choke tube fall onto his lap. He stops in the pits to give the piece to his mechanic whilst saying where did this come from? One of the ram pipes on the front carburettor comes off and the choke tube pops out.

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By a miracle, it flies through the opening behind the driver’s head and into his lap. It is then put back and another ram pipe screws on and away. Taylor then goes out on track. He is now in 18th position albeit a lap down. His Lotus car sounds much healthier though. Ireland gets going again whilst Clark is starting the 8th lap of the race. He can use 1st, 4th and 5th gears only. Let’s not forget that he had the same issue at the French Grand Prix. A couple of laps prior, Shelly and Seidel retired with engine and brake issues respectively. The latter also had an overheating engine. Back to the front, things have settled down. Clark is 4 seconds ahead of Surtees and gaining. On lap 13, McLaren overtakes Gurney. There was nothing the Porsche driver could do about it. In the second group, Maggs is passing Bonnier for 7th place. Burgess still leads the 4-cylinder runners but only just since Lewis tried a few overtaking move on more than one occasion. Despite falling a bit further back, the British driver is still mounting a challenge to his compatriot. On lap 20, the Lotus car is the race leader ahead of Lola, Cooper, B.R.M., Porsche and Lotus. It is a nice mix of different car manufacturers despite the fact that they are steadily spreading out. Onto the next lap, Bonnier gets ahead of Maggs. Phil Hill is getting all worked up in order to try and pass Ginther for 11th place. Burgess is driving a very good race so far and is managing to fend off Lewis for the time being. They are followed by Settember’s Emeryson car. Taylor is beginning to slice his way through the field. The whole race thing seems over at this point. It is now turning out to be a procession. Clark is on a league of his own. Nobody is able to challenge him for the race win. In addition, the Lotus car sounds very healthy.

 

The gap between the leader and Surtees is continuing to open up. Previously it was 6 seconds. Now it is 9 and growing. The young Scottish driver is driving immaculately so far. Behind them are McLaren, Graham Hill, Gurney and Brabham. The quarter is holding formation amongst themselves. It is funny how the commentators and the teams are timing the gaps to a tenth of a second whilst the official time-keepers are only timing to a fifth of a second. Something is not quite right here. On lap 26, Bonnier enters the pits for a consultation. Something is not running smoothly in the gearbox/final-drive unit. On the next lap, the mythical Porsche reliability receives yet another blow. Gurney’s clutch begins to slip as Brabham power past. Bonnier re-joins the race for one more lap before retiring with suspected trouble in the crown-wheel and pinion department. On lap 28, Salvadori hears an odd sound coming from the rear of the car. The Brit dives into the pits next time round. A flat battery is affecting the ignition and the fuel pumps. Gurney’s clutch slip is getting worse. The American driver is trying to nurse the car home but drops to 6th place by lap 33. However, it is only a matter of time before Maggs is able to catch him. Salvadori has a new battery fitted and goes out on track again. The Lola car still has the same issue and Salvadori is forced to withdrawn from the race. Phil Hill’s Ferrari gets in front of Ginther for a few laps. The latter managed to get the place back. On lap 34, Clark laps the Ferrari driver. On lap 35, the leader does the same with the B.R.M. The drivers will probably die laughing if they hear the race commentary over the loudspeaker system.

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They all know what is happening so far whilst the commentators are making some pretty wild guesses. At the start of the 37th lap, out of 75, Clark (Lotus) is 14 seconds ahead of Surtees (Lola). McLaren (Cooper) is 3rd, although nearly half a minute behind the leader. The top-3 are using Coventry-Climax V8 engines. Graham Hill (B.R.M.) is 4th ahead of Brabham (Lotus-Climax V8). Despite the multiple car problems, Gurney is in 6th place. Maggs and Gregory follow suit whilst the rest of the driver have been lapped. Taylor is up to 11th place. Burgess is holding to the lead of the 4-cylinder cars very well. Maggs and Gregory are eventually and inevitably able to get near Gurney for 6th position. On lap 44, Ginther’s B.R.M. dies on him on the Railway Straight. The fuel pumps stop working. The American driver poked around the car and is able to find a broken wire. After fixing up, he is able to get the car going again. However, he unfortunately drops from 9th to 14th place. In the meantime, Clark sets yet another fastest time with a 1'55"0. It is still a whole second off the record set back in April. Despite this, he still stretches his lead to Surtees’ Lola and is steadily lapping everyone. By lap 46, Surtees, McLaren, Graham Hill and Brabham are the only drivers that are on the same lap as flying Scot. Phil Hill retires the Ferrari car onto the next lap. The Maranello engine went rough due to a faulty ignition on one distributor. All is now calm and peaceful. The race is turning out to be an endurance one. Clark laps Taylor and is towing him along. The latter has the golden opportunity to overtake the guys ahead. Surtees has settled for a 2nd place after lapping Maggs. The Brit then eases off and the young Cooper V8 driver is allowed to re-pass the Lola.

 

Taylor overtakes the unhappy Gurney, who is nevertheless continue the race. In the meantime, Burgess pits for fuel and hands the lead of the 4-cylinder runners to Lewis. Settember is going well in the Emeryson. He is having a remarkable non-stop and trouble-free race. The American driver manages to also pass Burgess as well whilst the Cooper Special is in the pits. Ireland is still limping round at the tail end of the field. The retirements are very few and his efforts to continue are vain. On lap 67, Clark laps Brabham. In the closing stages of the race, Graham Hill is the next target to lap. In the end, Clark decides to be a gentleman and not overtake Hill. The latter remains on the lead lap. Taylor, who followed Clark through the majority of the race, has enough of this and overtakes the duo ahead. The latter is thus able to finish only one lap behind his team-mate instead of two. The chequered flag is out. Jimmy Clark does a splendid race to win the race at the wheel of the impeccable Lotus 25 car. The winner was unchallenged from start to finish. This results was unexpected to say the least. Surtees finished in 2nd place for the Lola team. The car proved itself to be very race worthy. It could be a future winner if there are the right circumstances. McLaren rounds up the podium at the wheel of the Cooper V8 car. It was a typical sound and sure race for him. Graham Hill finishes in 4th position and is the last one to complete the full race distance. Burgess and the Anglo-American Cooper Special have also been showing vastly improved reliability, which is good to see.

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Full marks to Settember for finishing the race at the wheel of the Emeryson car without suffering any reliability issues. The British manufacturer was known for having early pit stops.  All the English teams are getting into their stride and B.R.M. seems to have lost the initial advantage that they had at the beginning of the season. The organisers and the F.I.A. mutually agree that the Italian Grand Prix is going to be held on September 16th whilst the Oulton Park Gold Cup will be rescheduled to September 1st. The British Grand Prix in 1964 will be raced at Brands Hatch. At least we have been warned about this. What about the saloon car race? Cor lumme? Jaguars or Tigers? Rapiers or Daggers? It is going to be exciting in a sordid kind of way. On Saturday at 2:10 p.m., when the racing cars in Aintree are taking off, on a Scottish farm not far from Edinburgh, an elderly lady turns off the television. Among the millions of motoring enthusiasts living in England, Jim Ciarle’s mother is perhaps the only one not to rejoice minute by minute the resounding success of his champion, the only driver, in the current season that has won two World Championship races. Mrs Helen and her husband Jimmy tremble for the fate of their son who came into the world twenty-six years ago, after four sisters, but while his father surrendered to Jim’s passion, his mother did not give in. She would like her boyfriend to continue to be only a cattle breeder or, rather, to take advantage of the degree obtained not so long ago in the elegant boarding school of Loretta. Jim does not take it for granted, and is today the strongest and the quietest pilot of the moment. The winner of the British Grand Prix gets out of his car after a triumphant, smiling and taciturn getaway. He listens, at attention, to the traditional anthem of the queen, the long speech of an authority, and moves away from the circuit, almost trying to avoid interviews.

 

"I knew the race would be mine and I forced myself from the first meters to secure the lead position. I had confidence in the car".

 

 Then Jim disappears as his Scottish fans shout his name. It is instead a young admirer of the winner to give this driver a lively and interesting picture. Her name is Michaelle Burns Greig, nineteen years old, and she dreams of becoming a race car driver. For now she is content to compete in small displacement races, with the personal car given to her by her father. He wears the Ferrari crest to a buttonhole of his blouse and knows everything about the drivers of every nation. Michaelle, however, knows Jim well, especially, because she is what the Americans would say the girl next door. He lives, I mean, on the farm next to the champion’s.

 

"He is in Edington Maines, I am in Mount St. Michael, fifteen kilometers from Duns, a village eighty kilometers from Edinburgh".

 

Jim and Michaelle aren’t engaged or anything. They absolutely could not give rise to any comic book, not uncommon even in sports circles. They are simply neighbors, they go dancing together, sometimes to the cinema in Duns, and above all they talk a lot about engines and cars. 

 

"When he’s not preparing for racing, Jim goes hunting or water-skiing, or cheers on one of the two Edinburgh football teams. Above all, however, he works on the farm that he bought with the earnings of a racer. He drives tractors and grain cutting machines, getting up very early in the morning like any grower and, in particular, he is dedicated to the breeding of sheep and cows".

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This is the life of Jim Clark, a driver who is becoming famous all over the world, despite coming to competitions after his 21st birthday and naturally starting with races of little importance. In his career he had only a sad moment last year at Monza, when his car touched the car of Trips before it was projected towards the crowd and the tragedy that well remembers. After that day Jim Clark was for a long time quieter than ever, but avoided being alone, as if he wanted to look at the proximity of friends for a distraction. Now the pain of this episode has subsided. Jim Clark is rising well up the scale of world values. The British consider him the temporary heir of Moss, waiting for the British pilot to heal his wounds and return to racing. By the way, British ace number one, after even hinting at a twist step in a recorded television broadcast that will soon be aired, parted a few days before to fly to Nassau, climbing the ladder to embark without the help of crutches. He will stop in the Bahamas for about a month, practicing water skiing and driving a small car. She still has a slight bandage on her legs, however she gets better quickly.

 

"I hope to be able to resume the competitive activity on August 18 in Goodwood, on the same track where I suffered the scary accident for which I am still stationary as a driver. Or, at the latest, in Monza, in the Italian Grand Prix that will be held at the beginning of September".

 

While the great Moss is unavailable, Clark continues the tradition of British supremacy in the field of motorsport. In the Aintree test, on a beautiful sunny day, however troubled by the rather strong wind, the Scotsman triumphed in front of 100.000 people. The brown farmer from Scotland has jumped to the front of the line and has not been reached. His was a long and exciting duel with Surtees. The former World Motorcycle Champion, who for the excellent qualifying time had also been able to start from the front line of the starters, committed to chase the rival with the tenacity of a policeman. Clark’s pale green Lotus and Surtees' dark green Lola passed and passed in front of the grandstands separated only by a few meters: however, Surtees could never reduce that small distance. In fact, towards the end, since he failed to reach Clark, Surtees slowed down to secure the well-deserved place of honor. In this duel at 150 km/h Ireland could also find a place, but the Englishman was betrayed by fate even before the actual race. In the lap allowed to warm up the engine and to take place in the starting stall, Ireland broke the gearbox. He noticed when there were 45 seconds left on the signal and the engines roared with a deafening noise. He raised his arm in the characteristic sign of the drivers who want to show his teammates to pay attention to the collisions. When the flag was lowered, twenty cars went off, the twenty-first, that of Ireland, was pushed by hand to the pits, where the mechanics were at best able to put two long gears back into efficiency, the fourth and fifth. With these only available, Ireland has managed to share and to classify itself, even among the last. Think about how the first and second are also used as a brake, and you will have an idea of the brave test of the runner. In addition to the fast head pair, Dan Gurney (Porsche), Graham Hill (B.R.M.), McLaren (Cooper), and Brabham (Lotus), who gave up on the debut of the Formula 1 car that bears his name, preferring instead the already proven Lotus.

 

The backing quartet gave rise to the most contentious episodes, especially as long as he remained in the group Dan Gurney. The Porsches, despite the unexpected success obtained in Rouen by Gurney, are still not in perfect efficiency (the other car of the team, the one driven by Bonnier, retired on lap 27 due to the transmission failure). Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill and Brabham finish in order. This allows Graham Hill to score three points in the World Championship’s Drivers' Rankings, which, added to the sixteen already in his possession, leave him in charge of the ranking ahead of Clark and the others: for the Italians the Aintree race was a great suffering. There was only one red car in the race, Phil Hill’s Ferrari. But the reigning World Champion did not appear competitive even during practice. In racing his car, wider than the British Formula 1 profiles, felt more the disturbing action of the wind. Phil Hill continued to lose two to five seconds per lap to his rivals, and on lap 47, annoyed at distribution, he was forced to quit. This is not an unexpected disappointment, but a disappointment, which is all the more bitter when compared to the precedents of the British Grand Prix. In the fourteen editions held after the world war, ten were won by Italian cars and seven by Ferrari. The names of Villoresi, Farina, and Ascari twice, appear in the golden register of the trial. Saturday we saw a car in the race for only half the laps and nothing else. The British cars Lotus, Lola and Cooper today are markedly stronger than the Germans and the Italians. The path of the Italian recovery seems long, even if we talk about a new Ferrari that will be prepared for Monza, while the Serenissima is developing a Formula 1 for next season.


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