16 March: Today in Racing

The Australian Grand Prix tops race history today with two races over time — the first being in 2008 when Lewis Hamilton stormed to win the first race of the season in front of a crowd of 200 000 and take his first step toward that year's drivers' championship. That was also Rubens Barrichello's 250th Grand Prix start — unfortunately he was disqualified after ignoring a red light at the pitlane exit.  

Six years later, Nico Rosberg sounded a solid warning as he kicked off the turbo hybrid Formula 1 era by driving his Mercedes to his fourth Grand Prix victory to also repeat his father Keke’s feat at that race in Adelaide in 1985. McLaren duo Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button ended second and third.

Sticking with F1, Eddie Irvine promised, "Damon Hills isn't good enough to win the World Championship — he does not have it in him,” after Hill won the 1996 Australian Grand Prix. The Englishman of course went on to prove the Irishman quite wrong! In 2000, Renault acquired the Benetton team less than three years after dropping out of F1 a second time, as it installed Flavio Briatore as team principal. That relationship would also end in tears...

Also in Formula 1, two episodes of the non-championship Brand Hatch Race of Champions saw Jackie Stewart race his Matra to victory in 1969, while Tom Pryce took his Shadow to both of their only F1 wins in ‘75. In other single-seater action, Jonny Reid won the 2008 Mexico A1 Grand Prix Sprint race for New Zealand, while Adam Carroll took the Feature for Ireland and Johnny Rutherford powered his McLaren-Offenhauser USAC Bricklin 150 Champ Car victory in Arizona.

16 March 1952 was also a busy day in sportscar racing, as Juan Manuel Fangio won the Eva Duarte Perón Grand Prix at Costanera Norte in a Ferrari 166, the same day that Alberto Ascari drove his Ferrari 500 to win the Syracuse F2 Grand Prix in New York. 28 years anon, Riccardo Patrese and Walter Rohrl drove a Lancia Monte Carlo to victory in the Brands Hatch 6 Hour sportscar race.

The 12 Hours of Sebring has made a major mark on this day, with John Fitch and Phil Walters winning in a Cunningham in 1952, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Brian Redman, Allan Moffat and Sam Posey won in a BMW 3.0 CSL in ’75, John Fitzpatrick and Dick Barbour in Porsche 935 in ’80, Stuck again with Jo Gartner and Bob Akin in Porsche 962 in ’86 and David and Gary Brabham won with Derek Daly in a Nissan in 1990.

South African Wayne Taylor, Jim Pace and Scott Sharp won Sebring in a Riley & Scott in ’96, while Audi took 2002 honours with Dindo Capello, Johnny Herbert and Christian Pescatori, and again with  Marcel Fassler, Oliver Jarvis and Benoit Treluyer in ’13, while Cadillac trio Eric Curran, Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr took the 2019 Sebring 12-hour.

Meanwhile in NASCAR, Lee Petty and David Pearson scored Grand National wins in 1958 and ’69, while Richard Petty won in Atlanta in 1975, Dale Earnhardt in ’80, Morgan Shepherd in ’86, Ricky Craven in ’03, Jeff Burton in 2008 and Carl Edwards in 2014. Australian Touring Car winners on this day include Allan Grice in ’75, Mark Skaife in 2002, Scott McLaughlin in 2014 and ’19 and Chaz Mostert also in ’19.

In other race news on this day, Barney Oldfield set a 211km/h world speed record driving his Blitzen Benz at Daytona in 1910, 16 years before  Henry Segrave set his first record by driving his 4-litre Sunbeam Ladybird at 245km/h on Ainsdale beach at Southport, England.

South African F1 and sportscar driver Peter de Klerk was born this day 1935, sportscar drivers  Gijs van Lennep in 1942 and Hans Heyer a year later. American off-road racing legend Mickey Thompson and the first American to break the 650km/h barrier died aged 56 in 1980, while sportscar racing legend 'Brilliant Bob’ Wollek (57) died after he was knocked from his a bicycle while preparing for the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2012. (Photo: Motorsport Images)