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Of course MBZ had to come out with that car: Porsche's 917/20 pre-dated it at the 1971 LeMans race in June. This design, "The Pink Pig" occurred because Count Rossi (Martini & Rossi) didn't like the look of the car and refused to allow his company's colors serve as the 917's livery. A Porsche designer came up with this design instead.
As Autosport launches the latest episode in its Race of My Life podcast series, we take a look back at the race four-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost chose as the race of his life - the 1990 Mexican Grand Prix
Race:
1990 Mexican Grand Prix, Mexico City
Car: Ferrari 641
A four-time Formula 1 world champion with 51 grand prix wins to his name is bound to be spoilt for choice when choosing the best race of his career. Alain Prost quickly narrowed it down to two.
In the end, a drive through the field for Ferrari trumped the unforgettably dramatic 1986 title decider in Adelaide. Prost couldn't get comfortable with his car in qualifying trim for the 1990 Mexican Grand Prix, so he took the bold decision to abandon qualifying preparation entirely to focus on the race.
He paid a heavier price than expected, qualifying on the seventh row of the grid, but he made rapid progress in the early laps to work his way into the top six.
In typical Prost fashion he methodically went about picking off the cars ahead, finally passing nemesis Ayrton Senna - who was battling tyre troubles - for the lead on lap 61 of 69........
Chris Pook details GP of Long Beach history in new book
Chris Pook's tale as the founder and head of the Long Beach Grand Prix is pretty amusing. Everything I've read about him being a friendly and enthusiastic racing fan. Won't get this book but probably has many amusing tales. One side note, Pook helped other cities in the US with their F1 races (he advised Detroit's mayor Colman Young on how to negotiate with Bernie).
...“Basically, when I launched the idea of copying Monte Carlo really, that’s all we did,” he said. “The city folks looked at me and said, ‘What sort of qualifications do you have to do something like that?’ Obviously, I had not thought that one through thoroughly and I said, ‘Well, you know what, I’ll try and get Dan Gurney involved here and see if he’ll help with this project!’
“It was strictly just right off the seat of my pants I blurted out that comment to them; that was a magic name to them and they said, ‘Well, OK, let’s get him in here and see what he has to say.’ I was really at that point, if you will, [where] the bluff was almost called.”
Gurney, among the most influential men in motor racing, whose nearby All American Racers shop in Santa Ana was a massive contributor to Southern California racing culture, was the perfect name for Pook to present to the city’s council members. The only problem for the Briton was Gurney had no idea who he was, or that his clout had been used to stoke the Long Beach Grand Prix conversation.
Pook’s next move was a nervous phone call to pitch his crazy idea to the Big Eagle.
“(The receptionist) said, ‘Can I tell Mr. Gurney what this is about?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s about turning the streets of Long Beach into a Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit.’ And she said, ‘Could you just repeat that one more time for me?’ So, I repeated it and she just said, ‘Well, one moment,’” he recalled.
“I sort of sat there thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s going to happen now?’ And then all of a sudden the phone just lit up with, ‘This is Dan Gurney, what can I do for you?’ From there on, he was on board. He listened for a few minutes and he says, ‘Well, that sounds exciting. Why don’t you come talk to me some more about it.’”...
Back in the 90's, ESPN would air wacky races like that or at least show highlights. You'd also have the Unsers racing up Pikes Peak. Those were the days.
3, 7, & 8 were the ones I knew easily. the rest were unknown or just a surprise.
Spoiler
1: Dusenberg: Never knew them as a racer
2: Proton: Same, but recall some sporty concepts from them
3: Bentley: That's a gimme, LeMans & enduro Continentals
4: Pagani: Don't recall racers, but would've assumed endurance racing
5: Lada: But impressive
6: Rolls Royce: Same as #1, never would've guessed
7: Caterham: F1 is a layup on this one, even if the car wasn't good
8: Volvo: Those wagons on 2 wheels is an iconic shot, that most racing fans should know
I think the reason Head fit in the FW15C was because Mansell was originally suppose to drive it in 1992 but it was put off to 1993.
In 1993, the Williams F1 team arrived at the Paul Ricard circuit for a testing session, where Patrick Head and Adrian Newey took the Williams FW15C for a spin, with the setup provided by David Coulthard. What's truly hilarious, though, is seeing Patrick Head casually rocking a sweater… 😆
Head has a big head. Can't believe he can fit in an F1 car.
I saw Head several times in the garages at the Detroit Grand Prix in the 80's. Head looked more like a stocky longshoreman than a F1 team technical director.
Ironically, despite the Senna crash today he's married to Senna's former PR person. They have one son.
Last edited by Legend2TL; Mar 19, 2025 at 11:37 AM.
That's a great video conveying the raw sensation of being in the cockpit of that era's open-wheel machinery. Loved watching the suspension working under differing loads.
It's wild the variety of race cars Mario drove in his career at Indy.
, truly amazing how many different rac cars Mario drove including dirt track
Originally Posted by nanxun
That's a great video conveying the raw sensation of being in the cockpit of that era's open-wheel machinery. Loved watching the suspension working under differing loads.
seeing the suspension movement is astounding as to what we see today in suspension travel. Indy track also looks different as to what it is today, especially the barriers.
I mentioned in a post about 2 years ago that the IMS Museum, while having a lot of cool stuff, looks like it was stuck in 1970s in terms of layout and design. Based on this article, they've completely revamped the place and it looks awesome now. Definitely something to check out next time visiting Indy.
As young kid, my family lived in Indy (dad was working for RCA) for a little more than a year (c. 1976-77). I'll never forget our visit to the IMS and the museum.
AJ Foyt was my hero, and Janet Guthrie was a big talking point. (Obv, as a little kid I had no real perspective or position on women in motorsports.)
That was literally in the (mid-)1970s. Glad to hear that they've finally given the place an update and expanded it, too!
I had an elementary school field trip at the museum in the 80s, and the museum looked exactly the same back in 2023. It really needed a major renovation.
But impressive
, truly amazing how many different rac cars Mario drove including dirt track
seeing the suspension movement is astounding as to what we see today in suspension travel. Indy track also looks different as to what it is today, especially the barriers.
