German Grand Prix: what did it look like 40 years ago?

After all the Mosley-Ecclestone stupidity of the past few weeks, it's nice to get a little historical prospective. Here is a more complete version of a clip that has been floating around YouTube for a while. In 1969 the race was won by Jackie Ickx over 14 laps of the Nordschleife. It was certainly not a small grid by modern standards but of the 21 F1 cars that took the green flag, 11 retired, mostly because of mechanical failures.

Failures have essentially been eradicated from modern F1, they still happen but nothing like back then when engines failures were only slightly more common than suspension failures. A suspension failure during qualifying killed Gerhard Mitter, the European Hillclimb champion who was driving a BMW F2. BMW retired all their cars from the race. John Surtees flat out refused to start the race saying his BRM P139 was unsafe.

Many crashed during the race, Andretti in the four wheel drive Lotus 63, Vic Elford, Piers Courage. Jo Siffert had his suspension collapse during the race and ended up crashing after the Karussel.

In the clip you see Jo Siffert and Johnny Savoz-Gavin hanging out next to their busted cars at the Karrusel, typical of the times, after getting out of their F1 cars the driver's first instinct was to find someone to give them a smoke!

(Race stats after the jump courtesy of Grand-Prix.com)

POS	NO	DRIVER	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME/RETIREMENT	QUAL POS
1	6	Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Cosworth BT26A	14	1h49m55.400s	1
2	7	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Cosworth MS80	14	1h50m53.100s	2
3	10	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Cosworth M7C	14	1h53m17.000s	8
4	1	Graham Hill	Lotus-Cosworth 49B	14	1h53m54.200s	9
5	26	Henri Pescarolo	*Matra-Cosworth MS7	14	1h58m06.400s (1st F2 Section)	17
6	29	Richard Attwood	*Brabham-Cosworth BT30	13		20
7	20	Kurt Ahrens Jr	*Brabham-Cosworth BT30	13		19
8	22	Rolf Stommelen	*Lotus-Cosworth 59B	13		21
9	31	Peter Westbury	*Brabham-Cosworth BT30	13		18
10	30	Xavier Perrot	*Brabham-Cosworth BT23C	13		22
11r	11	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Cosworth 49B	12	Suspension	4
12r	8	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra-Cosworth MS80	12	Suspension	10
r	15	Jackie Oliver	BRM P138	11	Oil Sump	13
r	9	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Cosworth M7A	11	Transmission	5
r	2	Jochen Rindt	Lotus-Cosworth 49B	10	Ignition	3
r	28	Francois Cevert	*Tecno-Cosworth TOO	9	Transmission	16
r	27	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	*Matra-Cosworth MS7	6	Engine	15
r	16	Jo Bonnier	Lotus-Cosworth 49B	4	Fuel Tank	14
r	17	Piers Courage	Brabham-Cosworth BT26A	1	Accident	7
r	12	Vic Elford	McLaren-Cosworth M7A	0	Accident	6
r	3	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Cosworth 63	0	Accident	12
ns	14	John Surtees	BRM P139		Suspension	11
ns	23	Hubert Hahne	*BMW-BMW 269		Withdrew	23
ns	25	Dieter Quester	*BMW-BMW 269		Withdrew	24
ns	24	Gerhard Mitter	*BMW-BMW 269		Fatal Accident	25
ns	21	Hans Herrmann	*Lotus-Cosworth 59B		Withdrew	26

German GP, Nurburgring, August 3, 1969, Round: 7, Race Number: 180

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Back to the Future?

There is the very real possibility that Formula 1 might decide to commit suicide on Friday morning and maybe the future will see a resurgence of what once used to be called the Prototype class.

Back on the late sixties it was as popular as Formula 1 and was there manufactures competed. Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Matra fought each other at Le Mans, Monza, the Nurburgring, Spa with cars that were much more advanced than the Formula 1 cars of the day. With Luca di Montezemolo as the starter at Le Mans this year, who knows, maybe we'll see a return to the glory days soon.

We've had "La Ronde Infernal" on before but, as it's about the 1969 race, it makes sense to take a look at it again this year. In four parts, the other three are after the jump. Some things have not changed: fourty years ago, just like this year, the leading team was accused of using illegal aerodynamic devices!

Extraordinary Archive: The Smuckatelli Files

Nigel Smuckatelli is the pseudonym for  James Galanos, who writes in his Flickr profile:

" I am 63 years old and live in Gainesville, Florida USA. I retired from the teaching profession in 2000 and now have the time to catalog all my racing negatives. Most of my photos were taken as a college student who volunteered as a safety official at the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring in the late 60's and early 70's. "

That casual understatement belies the incredible quality and scope of Nigel's fantastic archive. If you, like me, have a passion for cars from that golden era of the late 60s and early 70's, you will be completely floored. Back then of course, Sports Car racing was as popular as Formula 1 and in fact many drivers drove both Formula cars and prototypes. What's especially nice is to see these cars in the heat of battle, dirty and many held together with generous amounts of duct tape!

Porsche 917, Ferrari 512, Alfa 33, Lola t70, Mirage, Matra, Corvettes, Daytonas, Camaros, CSL's you name it, it's there so hit the jump, put some music on, relax and enjoy these fantastic shots. Take your time, it's a huge archive.

Cheers Nigel!