December 14, 2010

What a lap!

I found this clip on Joe Saward's blog. Tom Walkinshaw was not only team boss but took no prisoners behind the wheel. Check out how he put this Jaguar XJ-S on pole for the 1985 Bathurst 1000 with this mindblowing lap. Notice how back then the course was lined with unprotected trees, especially on the very fast downhill section, insane!
Could you picture Luca di Montezemolo doing that?











4 comments:

  1. God damn hes on ragged edge everywhere.

    The tracks changed quite a bit since then, the straight has been cut in half and there is sandtraps and armco everywhere.

    I remember hearing that on that old track, the XJS would hit approx. 290kmh down the final straight, and as it would come over the last bump/hill before the braking point, the car would want to go airborne but only the rear-end would lift off the ground because of the big v12 up the front.

    Tom will be sorely missed

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  2. God, big, big balls at work there!

    That's why he was so successful as a team manager, because he knew what a driver and a car needed.

    Motorsport will miss you Mr. Walkinshaw.

    BTW, the circuit at that time was impressive, with no armcos on the rocky part and the unprotected trees!
    And the steering wheel was big, it's impressive how hard he has to work with it!

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  3. I always thought the best team bosses and engineers are always good drivers too. As a driver you need to be able to relate to them, and they need to "get it"

    Newey is a good driver too, and in my world Spencer Cox can still pedal pretty fast!

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  4. Incredible footage. It's quite hard to find good touruing car racing from the early to mid 80's, sadly. Greatly appreciate those videos!

    Just goes to show what it took back then. Always amazing to watch these things.

    Makes me miss my XJS. But boy, what a nightmare it was to work on.

    The interesting thing is, team bosses need to be the mediator between engineers and the drivers. Not an easy feat by any standard. Kind of like the Director of a movie. Some have it, some don't.

    Thanks again for the great nostalgia!

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