Wonderful Motorsport Stories That You Hope Are True...

[Life Saab Itch]

Post some stories of doubtful provenance that you hope are true, even if you can't prove it.

My Dad once told me a story that he heard back in the day about Clark and the Team Lotus mechanics.

Apparently, Clark used to run around in a liveried Ford Anglia and used to complain that it was terribly slow. The mechanics put the running gear from a Lotus Cortina in and didn't tell Clark. Clark came back the next day complaining that the brakes weren't up to much, but he had seemingly not noticed the massive power hike.

[Life Saab Itch]

Another one, Jackie Stewart turned up to a mid sixties party where a lot of the F1 drivers were. He went outside to find them all stood around a bonfire looking down and being very quiet. When he got close he saw that there were shotgun cartidges around the fire and the drivers were playing chicken.

[Rude-boy]

This thread will be so much better in about 30 years time when it might be safer for some of the "wonderful motorsport stories you know are true as you were there but dare not put in the public domain."

One that can be told is of the infamous Bradshaw races of the early '90's between the F3 teams at the BGP meet.

As the race was on a Saturday and the teams were not allowed to break camp visibly until 5 minutes after the start of the GP there would be a lot of parties about the place on the Saturday night.

At some point out would come 3 or 4 Bradshaws each with a train of 4-5 pit trolleys on the rear of each. Various F3 drivers would be poured behind the wheels and set off around the Silverstone infield with 20-30 mechanics, girlfriends, sponsors and assorted hangers on sitting on the trailers.

I'm not aware of anyone losing limbs but many of us came close as someone forgot to tell the drivers it was not a contact sport

[Skii]

Was the Police 'Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?' incident ever confirmed?

[Crafty_]

Skii said:

Was the Police 'Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?' incident ever confirmed?

Wasn't it Ayrton stopped on the M25 and "Who do you think you are? Nigel Mansell ?"

I've seen claims that when Mansell & Prost were at Ferrari Prost couldn't get on Nigels pace and so, secretly had the cars swapped as he was convinced Mansell had a different car - he didn't and still went quicker than Prost.

[GAjon]

Nikki Lauder kicking James Hunts hotel door in in the early hours of the morning before the race in Japan where Hunt won his WDC, dressed in full race suit, proclaiming "today I become world champion".

[Life Saab Itch]

GAjon said:

Nikki Lauder kicking James Hunts hotel door in in the early hours of the morning before the race in Japan where Hunt won his WDC, dressed in full race suit, proclaiming "today I become world champion".

Wasn't that Canada, the race before. And wasn't Hunt in bed with two air stewardess's?

[Life Saab Itch]

I suppose there is also the rumours of Nelson's "presents".

Edited by Life Saab Itch on Tuesday 16th August 17:23

[GAjon]

Life Saab Itch said:

Wasn't that Canada, the race before. And wasn't Hunt in bed with two air stewardess's?

Well it gets even better.

[fatboy69]

There are a lot stories regarding TWR however most of them cannot be repeated & i'm not about to start.

The Prost swapping his car for Mansells' car is 100% correct. Mansell still mullered Prost using Prost's own car!

There are many stories surrounding the pranks that Berger & Senna got up - frogs in the bedroom & suitcases being thrown out of helicopters are two that instantly spring to mind.

I also seem to recall reading a story concerning Gilles, a new & very noisy Augusta helicopter, a powerful searchlight & hotel bedroom....

Not to mention the numerous stories regarding Gilles & Jody seeing who could drive from Monaco to Maranello the quickest & i think that Jody eventually refused point blank to get into a road car with Gilles.

Cant think why!!!!

[Life Saab Itch]

fatboy69 said:

There are a lot stories regarding TWR however most of them cannot be repeated & i'm not about to start.

The Prost swapping his car for Mansells' car is 100% correct. Mansell still mullered Prost using Prost's own car!

There are many stories surrounding the pranks that Berger & Senna got up - frogs in the bedroom & suitcases being thrown out of helicopters are two that instantly spring to mind.

I also seem to recall reading a story concerning Gilles, a new & very noisy Augusta helicopter, a powerful searchlight & hotel bedroom....

Not to mention the numerous stories regarding Gilles & Jody seeing who could drive from Monaco to Maranello the quickest & i think that Jody eventually refused point blank to get into a road car with Gilles.

Cant think why!!!!

A Roebuck story about Didier and Gilles was they used to play chicken from Monaco to Maranello. Both in the same car, the driver had his foot to the floor and the passenger wasn't allowed to flinch.

[fatboy69]

If i recall correctly there were many many stories via Mr Roebuck of the antics concerning Gilles & Didier.

Most seem to centre around Gilles & his inability to lift his right foot & his ability to find gaps in the traffic that werent actually there.....

[Rouleur]

Another of Roebuck's Villeneuve tales is that he used to put just enough fuel in his helicopter to get him to wherever he was going in order to get a buzz from pushing his luck. This meant that one time it ran dry while he was still 4' above the helipad while landing at a circuit!

[Life Saab Itch]

Yep. Both of those are in the Donaldson book and I think I've read them in MotorSport.

Does anyone have any information on the "meeting" that Jody scheckter had with Carlos Reutemann in a deserted car park? I can't remember what it was about.

[belleair302]

There is the famous story of when Ayrton Senna promised a photographer friend that he would do a rally drive and shoot for I believe Car magazine and the Lotus Sunbeam. Senna drive the nuts off of the car in Wales and blistered his hands so badly that he could not test the F1 car. Lotus were not happy but the snapper and the rally crowd along with Ayrton were elated....

Also there is a story of Mika Hakkinen leaving the M4/M25 junction heading northbound with WSR and Dick Bennetts following....I have no idea what he was driving but he took the right handed single lane slip road linking the two motorways well over 80 mph and was accelerating as he joined the M25.

In addition to these two there are numerous stories about rental cars not being returned as the rental companies had intended after a few F1 drivers have road tested them...

Finally the time when Mika Hakkinen was asked to test drive the McLaren F1 and toasted the clutch before he was even out of 1st gear!!

[Great Dane]

Rouleur said:

Another of Roebuck's Villeneuve tales is that he used to put just enough fuel in his helicopter to get him to wherever he was going in order to get a buzz from pushing his luck. This meant that one time it ran dry while he was still 4' above the helipad while landing at a circuit!

that also happened at Zolder when he was killed... On the Monday his chopper was the only one there and they couldn't move it according to Keke

[Furyblade_Lee]

One of my favorites was decades ago F1 teams filling the on-board fire extinguisher with Nitrous Oxide for qalifying. Sounds far fetched to us but possibly childs play for F1 engineers!

[Life Saab Itch]

Great Dane said:

that also happened at Zolder when he was killed... On the Monday his chopper was the only one there and they couldn't move it according to Keke

I hate to say it, but that's two stories mixed up.

The running out of fuel story is true.

The lone helicopter at Zolder on monday morning was the moment when Rosberg absorbed what had happened and Gilles' death sunk in.

[xspencex]

There was a story i remember reading years ago about Alesi and Berger driving to a test in Todt's new Company Lancia Thema. When arriving in the pit late with Alesi at the wheel, Berger pulled on the handbrake, the car rolled onto it's roof grinding to a halt outside the Ferrari garage. Todt was not amused. . .

[Mr_Thyroid]

I heard that Gilles Villeneuve's driving in his road car was so terrifying that Mrs Villeneuve would lie in the footwell in front of the back seats because it felt safer than sitting in the front.