Access to pits....as it was!
Discussion
kiseca said:
It's an RE40 I think, which would be 1983. That would make it either Prost's or Cheever's car.
That's a great photo!
Prost's car. My old man and I were wandering around the pit lane and my dad put me in front of the car to take a photo. One of the mechanics just picked me up and dropped me in the car with a big smile!That's a great photo!
coppice said:
Two mates of my mine, both RAF engineers, were at Ricard in 73 and within minutes of walking in to the March F1 team pit, were drafted into doing some fabrication work for them , and they did so for most of the summer's European races . I wrote an article for Motor Sport about their experience a few years ago .
Coppice can you remember what issue, my dad is a subscriber and i'd be interested in reading the article!WelshChris said:
More from Monza '86....
I loved 1986, great title scrap and the first year I really followed F1 "properly" so to me properly iconic cars, drivers, teams and colour schemes. I even made a Tamiya Williams FW11 kit 
dr_gn said:
Petrus1983 said:
dr_gn - I see some are signed, did you develop them and then at a later date find the drivers again?
Yep - either the subsequent year's test session or race. I've got a load of autographs in a book too.Petrus1983 said:
dr_gn said:
Petrus1983 said:
dr_gn - I see some are signed, did you develop them and then at a later date find the drivers again?
Yep - either the subsequent year's test session or race. I've got a load of autographs in a book too.I wish digital cameras had been around, and I wish I'd have taken more 'atmosphere' type shots. But I'm not complaining!
bltamil1 said:
Prost's car. My old man and I were wandering around the pit lane and my dad put me in front of the car to take a photo. One of the mechanics just picked me up and dropped me in the car with a big smile!
That was one of my favourite cars at that time. Had a die cast toy one when I was a kid, and been looking for a plastic model of one to build alongside Piquet's Brabham BT52 from the same year. I don't think anyone's made one though.
kiseca said:
bltamil1 said:
Prost's car. My old man and I were wandering around the pit lane and my dad put me in front of the car to take a photo. One of the mechanics just picked me up and dropped me in the car with a big smile!
That was one of my favourite cars at that time. Had a die cast toy one when I was a kid, and been looking for a plastic model of one to build alongside Piquet's Brabham BT52 from the same year. I don't think anyone's made one though.
dr_gn said:
kiseca said:
dr_gn said:
Studio 27 did a multi-media kit, but I don't think they're available new anymore.
Thanks for the tip. I'll keep looking.1:20 scale (same as the smaller Tamiya F1 series).
Thanks very much, sir.
in 70s and 80s , if anyone was winning regularly in UK FF1600 , and then F3 , there was a good chance you'd see them in F1 at some point . Remember that , in 70s we didn't have just one , but often two F3 championships and they visited some minor tracks , like the now forgotten Rufforth near York . A pop up circuit on RAF site ,with what passed for safety barriers being erected on morning of race meeting . Astonishing now to think I saw a young James Hunt there in F3 , or Messrs Lauda and Carlos Pace in the 66 car entry (2 heats and final ) F3 race at Croft -and you could wander over to talk to anyone . Or Danny Sullivan and Gunnar Nilsson at F3 Cadwell - and now people with hot hatches think Cadwell can be a bit tight for cars...
First saw Senna at Mallory in FF1600 - thought just another Brazilian guy headed to the top - we had lots - but even by standards of great S American drivers we knew he was something else .
Final anecdote - Silverstone F3 , '76 I think. Gunnar Nilsson crashes at Becketts in front of us . Climbs out of wreckage , sees us standing at trackside , wanders over with rueful grin and asks 'anyone give me a cigarette ? ' I've never given away a JPS King Size (who sponsored his F1 Lotus next season ) so willingly . And he was dead within 2 years ...
First saw Senna at Mallory in FF1600 - thought just another Brazilian guy headed to the top - we had lots - but even by standards of great S American drivers we knew he was something else .
Final anecdote - Silverstone F3 , '76 I think. Gunnar Nilsson crashes at Becketts in front of us . Climbs out of wreckage , sees us standing at trackside , wanders over with rueful grin and asks 'anyone give me a cigarette ? ' I've never given away a JPS King Size (who sponsored his F1 Lotus next season ) so willingly . And he was dead within 2 years ...
llewop said:
Silverstone 2005 test:
I think easy free access was a thing of the past by this time. These pictures were due to the good fortune that a friend had access to a box by the pit entry, which Red Bull then used for hospitality, we managed to freeload on their arrangements.
I went in '08 with a pit lane/paddock pass and it was barely worth going. By that time the teams had employed security guards, and screened off the back of the pits. Totally different from '92 where you had free access to all the garages and the pit wall. I don't think there's any way you could get that kind of experience again.I think easy free access was a thing of the past by this time. These pictures were due to the good fortune that a friend had access to a box by the pit entry, which Red Bull then used for hospitality, we managed to freeload on their arrangements.
Well , there sort of is - as long as Formula 1 and motor sport aren't one and the same to you. I'll be getting very close indeed to F1cars , sports prototypes and hundreds of cars from 9 decades at the Silverstone Classic, and I'll be wacthing mid race driver swaps from the edge of the pit lane . Only ten sleeps or so to go. And there won't be a knuckle dragging security guy in sight ...
Having been able to wander around F1 paddocks freely until the early 90s I really cannot be arsed to pay 4 times more to be treated like a problem trespasser .
Having been able to wander around F1 paddocks freely until the early 90s I really cannot be arsed to pay 4 times more to be treated like a problem trespasser .
coppice said:
Well , there sort of is - as long as Formula 1 and motor sport aren't one and the same to you.
Yes and no. Over the years (not so much now), I regularly went to VSCC, MGCC, various club meetings, F3, WEC, Historic Festivals, FoS etc, many of them with a press pass. None of them are the pinnacle, which was and is F1. There's something a bit special about being around people you see on TV every 2 weeks, knowing they are at the top of their game, as opposed to people you've never heard of messing about with old cars for a bit of a laugh. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy watching the old stuff being put through its paces, but it's obviously not the same at all as when it was current.Like you I wouldn't pay to go to see F1 in its current form, but I've accepted the days I might pay are now gone for good. I'm happy to browse my old photos and build models of the cars I really liked. At least I got to experience it, so I'm lucky to have that.
dr
I agree to some extent.
Thoroughbred F1 would be better if there was a bit of variety in the cars, they are all DFV pretty much, and that is fine, but as with any single seater, after a few laps they all make the same droning sound, and you sort of drift off. And they are rev limited.
There have been interesting cars like Ligiers. BRM's but not that often.
And then you have Judy Lyons, which frankly makes it all look a bit silly.
I fondly remember the Classic as a cheap, historic meeting at Silverstone after they tried for years to mimic Coys with no success. It was great for a few years, just cars, racing and clubs.
Then sadly it got picked up by a promotion team who threw in bands, all sorts of crap I am not interested in and whacked the prices up.
it is still good value to a lot of folk, but I am not going to pay hosting fees for bands I don't want to see, and as I cant opt out of it I simply prefer to do something else.
I agree to some extent.
Thoroughbred F1 would be better if there was a bit of variety in the cars, they are all DFV pretty much, and that is fine, but as with any single seater, after a few laps they all make the same droning sound, and you sort of drift off. And they are rev limited.
There have been interesting cars like Ligiers. BRM's but not that often.
And then you have Judy Lyons, which frankly makes it all look a bit silly.
I fondly remember the Classic as a cheap, historic meeting at Silverstone after they tried for years to mimic Coys with no success. It was great for a few years, just cars, racing and clubs.
Then sadly it got picked up by a promotion team who threw in bands, all sorts of crap I am not interested in and whacked the prices up.
it is still good value to a lot of folk, but I am not going to pay hosting fees for bands I don't want to see, and as I cant opt out of it I simply prefer to do something else.
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