7 April: Today in Racing

While there were indeed world championship Grands Prix over the years on 7 April, but it was one of the many  non-championship races that made headlines today. South African lass Desiré Wilson became the only woman to ever win a Formula 1 race when she drove her Wolf WR4 Cosworth to victory in the Evening News Trophy at Brands Hatch in the UK.

7 April is however also a black day in motor racing – not only did the wee Scot, double 1963 and 1965. F1 world champion Jim Clark OBE die in a Formula 2 crash at Hockenheim in Germany in 1969, but the great Italian pre-War Grand Prix star Achille Varzi was kicked in a practice crash for the GP de Suisse et d’Europe twenty years earlier. Another F1 driver, American Walter Hansgen also passed on this day in 1966.

Getting back to world championship F1 action, Peter Collins beat Lancia-Ferrari D50 teammate Luigi Musso and Stirling Moss’ Vanwall to win the 1957 Gran Premio di Siracusa. 7 April was a good day for McLaren TAG-Porsche as Niki Lauda took his MP4/2 to the 1984 South African GP victory from Derek Warwick’s Renault and Patrick Tambay’s Ferrari.

Alain Prost won the ’85 Brazilian GP in the B version of that McLaren from Michele Alboreto’ Ferrari and Elio de Angelis’ Lotus-Renault, and eleven years later, Damon Hill shook off a tummy bug to make it three 1996 wins in a row as he led teammate Jacques Villeneuve to a Williams Renault FW18 1-2 in the Argentine Grand Prix.

James Hunt was another notable non-championship F1 winner when he took his Hesketh 308 Cosworth to BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone in 1973 and looking much further back, Edward Bret took the 1929 Circuit De La Côte d’Azur GP in a Bugatti 35C, the same day that Marcel Lehoux won the Algerian GP in an identical car. Domingo Ochoteco’s Alfa Romeo won the 1940 GP de Concordia at Rivadavia, Argentina  

Post-War, Count Carlo Felice Trossi drove his Alfa-Romeo 158 to victory on that tragic 1948 Swiss Grand Prix weekend and there were two GP races in 1953 – Toulo de Graffenried’s Maserati A6GCM took the Chichester Cup and Ken Wharton lifted the Glover Trophy in a BRM P15, a race also won by Mike Hawthorn in a Ferrari Dino 246 in ’58.  

Ernie Pieterse’s Lotus-Climax won the 1962 Roy Hesketh 100 South African F1 race, Heinz Schiller took the 1963 Montlhéry F1 race in France in another Lotus-Climax, Albert Poon won the F1 1968 Malaysian Selangor GP in his Brabham-Alfa and Jack Brabham himself won the 1969 Australian Bathurst 100 in a Repco-Brabham.  

In Euro F5000, Peter Gethin’s McLaren won at Brands Hatch in 1969 and David Hobbs’ Lola at Silverstone in ’73, while over in the US, the Unsers had a good time in Indy races on April 7 – Bobby won in 1968, Al in Texas in ‘73 and Bobby again in Texas in ‘74. Back to the modern era, Ryan Hunter-Ray won in Alabama in 2013, Josef Newgarden in Phoenix in ‘18 and Takuma Sato back in Alabama 2019.

In sportscar racing, Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman won the 1965 Brands Hatch 1000 in a Ford GT40, while  Christophe Boullion and Sebastien Bourdais took their Courage-Peugeot to victory at Catalunya in 2002. Across the pond, Raul Boesel took 1991 Miami IMSA honours in a Jaguar XJR-10.

Also in the US, NASCAR Grand National winners on this day include Fireball Roberts in 1957, Joe Weatherly in ‘63, David Pearson in ’66 and Richard Petty in ’69, while Cup winners included Pearson in 1974, Ricky Rudd in ‘91, Jimmie Johnson in 2013, Joey Logano (2014) and Kyle Busch in ’19.

On other Touring Car Action, Frank Gardner’s Lotus Cortina and Dieter Quester’s BMW 2002 took European honours in Austria in 1968 and Michel Nykjaer’s Chevrolet Cruze and Pepe Oriola Seat shared 2012 Marrakech World Touring Car wins. Ian Geoghegan, Allan Moffat, Bob Morris, Craig Lowndes, Jason Bright, Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen meanwhile all won 7 April Australian Touring Car races.

7 April was a busy day in the British Touring Car Championship over the years starting at Brands Hatch, where Tommy Sopwith took big class honours in his Jaguar 3.4 and Jack Sears steered his Austin A105 to the baby class win. Roy Pierpoint’s Ford Falcon won at Thruxton in ‘69, Stuart Graham’s Camaro at Silverstone, in ’74 and Gordon Spice took Thruxton honours in 1980 in his Ford Capri.

Off the beaten track, it was East African Safari time at this time of the year in the World Rally Championship, where Kenyan local hero Shekhar Mehta’s Datsun 160J won in 1980, Juha Kankkunen’s Toyota Celica took the 1985 victory and Tommi Makinen won the 1996 rally in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III  

In other notable 7 April race news, ET Stead’s Mercedes Simplex climbed the La Turbie hill at a record 56km/h on 1902, while Sig Haugdahl drove his 14-litre aero engine powered Wisconsin Special at 290km/h at Daytona Beach in 1922. And René Arnoux was sacked from Ferrari hours after finishing fourth in the ’85 Brazilian GP. (Photo: Motorsport Images)