xPanier

8 April: Today in Racing

Editor08.04.2020

8 April is a most intriguing day in motor racing history. Gilles Villeneuve proved unbeatable in the 1979 United States GP West At Long Beach as he put his Ferrari 312T4 on pole position, set the fastest lap and led teammate Jody Scheckter and Alan Jones’ Williams home to take his third Formula 1 win, his second in a row and Ferrari’s third consecutive USGP win too.

The next Grand Prix on this day was in Malaysia in 2007, where Fernando Alonso led Lewis Hamilton to McLaren-Mercedes’ first one-two in two years, while another eleven years anon, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel held Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes off to win the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.

In non-championship F1 action, Jackie Stewart won the 1973 Silverstone International Trophy in his Tyrell 006 Cosworth, Derek Bell took his Penske PC3-Cosworth to the ‘77 Oulton Park International win and John Brindley did the UK Aurora F1 double in his March Ford-Cosworth at Donington in 1984 and at Brands Hatch in ’85.

Elsewhere, Sam Tingle won the ‘67 South African F1 van Riebeek Trophy at Killarney in Cape Town in his LDS-Climax, a car quite similar to the Brabham-Climax that Jim Palmer drove to win the 1967 Dunlop Trophy Tasman race in New Zealand.

Going back to 1910, Ray Harroun’s Marmon won the first race on Los Angeles’ Boards Motordome near Playa Del Rey to open in a nine day race fest to launch the 2x4-plank paved 1.8km circumference 45-degree banked wooden track that saw cars race at speeds as fast as 180km/h.  

Eddie O'Donnell’s Duesenberg, won the 1913 Corona Boulevard Race but an accident that saw race leader Bob Burman’s riding mechanic Eric Scroeder and a track policeman killed and five spectators injured ended racing inland Southern California races for 40 years.  

Bill Bolden’s Stutz-Wisconsin won the 1917 Stockton Dirt 100 and more recently, AJ Foyt won Indycar racies in both 1962 and ’79. Mike Groff and Rick Mears took CART wins in 1989 and 90, Sam Hornish won in Miami and Helio Castroneves in Long Beach in 2001 and Will Power in Vegas ’07.

Moving on to endurance racing, Mauro Baldi and Jean-Louis Schlesser’s Sauber-Mercedes won the Japanese 1990 world championship round at Suzuka, while Christian Pescatori and Marco Zadra’s Ferrari 333SP took Spanish honours in Catalunya in 2001.

In US sportscars, Peter Gregg’s Porsche 935 won IMSA’s 1979 Road Atlanta race, which Don Whittington also won in a March-Chevrolet in ’84. Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz’s Riley-Lexus meanwhile took Grand Am honours at Long Beach in 2006, where Jordan and Ricky Taylor’s Cadillac also won in 2017  

Tin top, or stock car racing winners on this day include Alain Cudini and Dany Snobeck’s BMW 635 CSi taking the ’86 Vallelunga European Touring Car race and Klaus Ludwig’s Mercedes 190E and Johnny Cecotto’s BMW M3 sharing the 1990 Hockenheim DTM German Touring Car wins.

British Touring Car winners on this day include Brian Muir’s BMW 3.0 CSL at Silverstone in 1973, Tony Dron’s Triumph Dolomite winning at Oulton Park in ’77, where Bernard Unett’s Chrysler Avenger took the smaller class, Dave Brodie’s Mitsubishi Starion taking Thruxton ’85 victory and Frank Biela’s Audi A4 quattro doing the  ‘96 Donington double.

Marshall Teague led all 200 laps in the first NASCAR Grand National in California, in 1951 while Frank Mundy drove a rental car to finish 11th. Tim Flock was in Grand National victory lane both 1951 and ’56, Bobby Isaac won in ’69 and in Cup races, Richard Petty won in ‘71 and ’73, Darrell Waltrip in ’79, Tim Richmond in ‘’84, Dale Jarrett in 2001, Matt Kenseth in ‘02 and Kyle Busch won twice in 2016 and ’18.

Australian Touring Car winners on this day include Jim Richards in 1990, Craig Lowndes in 2000, Jason Bright in 01, Fabian Coulthard in 2013, Shane van Gisbergen in ’17 and Craig Lowndes in 2018.

In other news on F1 racer Mark Blundell’s birthday, Charles Jarrott’s Panhard et Levassor won the first ever motor race in Britain at Crystal Palace in London in 1901. Record breakers on this day include Walter C White’s 60km/h New York City Fort George Hill Climb run in his White steam car in 1908, while Alistair Weaver set a dizzying new world doughnut record, gyrating his Caterham Superlight 22 times in a minute in Yorkshire 2002.

Cela va bien avec

«»
© 2024 COLOGNE First Trade GmbH | Tous droits réservés | * Les prix s'entendent nets plusfrais d'envoi