Ahead of the first Formula One pre-season tests to be held at Jerez in Spain this coming Tuesday, let’s take a look back at some of the magic that has occurred on the circuit over the years.

1986 was the first time that Formula One had contested the Spanish Grand Prix since Gilles Villeneuve won the extremely closely-competed 1981 Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama.  Ayrton Senna started the race on pole position, followed by the Williams-Hondas of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. Senna and Mansell wasted no time in christening the brand new Circuito Permanente de Jerez, engaging in furious motorsport and producing one of the closest finishes that the sport has seen.

Enjoy the race coverage from the day, with commentary from the great Murray Walker and Formula One World Champion, James Hunt.

Follow @motorsportretro on Twitter, and join in the discussion on Facebook.

Image:  TheCahierArchive©

Race Day: 1986 Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

Owning, working on, running and racing a classic car is something special. It’s a unique experience, and usually a deep and quite meaningful relationship that grows and changes along with life. There is a connection between car and driver that you can find in a classic and which often extends beyond driver and car into a unique and rewarding community.

This short film looks at two generations of men; a father and a son, and their experiences buying, owning and working on classic MGs.  It’s beautifully shot and edited, and an uplifting and interesting watch.

Enjoy.

You can see more of Josh Clason’s work at depthofspeed.com

Follow @motorsportretro on Twitter, and join in the discussion on Facebook.

Video: Depth of Speed – British Mania is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

Imagine interviewing a machine gun. That’s what it is like talking with John Force. The 15-time NHRA Funny Car Champion is the sport’s most popular driver

Californian John Force is extremely well known in the United States, but hardly at all outside the country’s borders. Why is he so well known at home? It’s because as well as being one of the most dominant drag racers of all-time, with over 1000 wins, he is an instant quote machine that talks as fast as his 300+mph quarter-mile runs.

He is the life and soul, a non-stop- livewire, and in another world could easily be a stand-up comedian. I twice had the pleasure of spending a day with him at his factory in Yorba Linda for RACER www.racer.com, and each time ended up with so much material we could have filled the entire magazine – and more. Here is a brief selection of many anecdotes.

His drag racing career actually started in Australia in 1974, and straight away came the first story. “I didn’t have a licence, I’d never been in a professional drag race, and we were bad. I didn’t have a clue, but it meant the organisers could introduce me as ‘American John Force’. I was on fire every week for three months it seemed. I’ve seen more burns units that State Parks.

“The only thing that saved me racing there was that I set a new national record on the opening day,” he said. “The promoter came to me and said ‘since that opening day, you’ve been terrible, you’ve burnt all your engines.’ So I told him he’d better send me home then. His reply was: ‘Well, you can swim back, because you suck.’

“We were milking the media there though, and the Sydney papers were running headlines about me. We were wearing big ol’ cowboy hats and boots in the pictures – I’d never worn a cowboy hat in my life! They all thought we were John Wayne… That’s when I realised the power of the media. I could give my own line of BS, and these people would love me.”

Force quickly became a sponsor’s dream when he returned to the States (“This guy can’t hit his own ass, but boy can he talk”).

As we set up for the RACER cover photo shoot, Force launched into a load of one-liners as chit chat. “I saw Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder… I never had a physique like that, even in my best days. Look at the guys in Formula 1 and IndyCars. These guys look like movie stars and can drive like hell. Which backyard farm do they grow them in?”

Or on the exhilaration of blasting away from the lights, and acceleration to 300mph and more in no time at all: “It’s about 4gs when you leave the line. They compare it with the Space Shuttle. But I’ve never been in the Space Shuttle.”

As we got closer to the shoot, he came out with this: “You guys at RACER have a great way of portraying race car drivers, and I want to be seen as I am – an overweight, blue-collared guy who gets the job done.”

To give an idea of his popularity, in 2001 he had an open day for his fans at his race factory, which is in the middle of a shopping complex. An estimated 23,000 people turned up, and ruined the trade for all the shops around it. So much so the local council refused to let him repeat it the following year. One of his sponsors was there: “Burger King brought 15,000 buns with them,” he laughed, “and they were all gone in four hours.”

Which leads to one of my favourite stories. “Burger King has been a long-time partner of ours, and you can tell I like them by looking at me. One day we had the big execs coming for a meeting, and the team thought it would be good for me personally to collect them at the airport. So I jumped in the car, and went and picked them up – forgetting that the back of my car was littered with empty KFC cartons! I told them I was just checking up on their rivals…”

As you can tell, he and his family were tailor-made for a TV series like the Osbournes, and sure enough it came. Driving Force was a thoroughly entertaining warts and all reality show about Mr Non-Stop, his wife and three girls.

There are so many more stories to tell –this really is scratching the surface – and we will revisit John Force for part two later in the month as part of a special series based on the photos RACER magazine did. There are some of the out-take Polaroids by photographer Robert Kerian here to give you a tease, so keep an eye out for the real thing!

Special thanks to RACER magazine, www.racer.com, NHRA, and of course John Force Racing, www.johnforce.com

By Andy Hallbery, follow me on Twitter @hallbean

Follow @MotorSportRetro on Twitter

Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/MotorSportRetro

NHRA: Can you feel the Force? is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

Rally history

Unique among world rally championship events, Rally Sweden offers the only chance for the world’s top drivers to show off their extraordinary talents entirely on snow and ice. Threading powerful rally cars along frozen forest tracks that you’d struggle to walk on is the preserve of the very best. In fact, any of the great champions would admit that a Rally Sweden victory is a vital inclusion on their CV.

First run in 1950 – and known as the ‘Rally to the Midnight Sun’ – Sweden’s international event is now part of the fabric of the WRC, appearing as the second round of the series’ inaugural season in 1973. Almost forty years on, it’s still there – and still as much a test of talent and bravery for rallying’s elite.

Super Swedes

With a long history in rallying it’s no surprise that Sweden has produced a bumper crop of top drivers. In fact, Sweden ranks third in the all-time list of winning nations with 10 drivers. Only France (18) and Finland (14) have produced more world-championship event winners. Most famous among the 10 Swedes are world champions and motorsport household names Bjorn Waldegaard and Stig Blomqvist.

Waldegaard won 16 WRC events and was crowned inaugural drivers’ world champion in 1979. His first win came on home soil – or should that be snow? – in 1975 at the wheel of the iconic Lancia Stratos and he was still winning 15 years later.

Blomqvist won that first world-championship-qualifying Swedish Rally in 1973 in the giant-killing, two-stroke Saab 96 and scored 10 more wins en route to the world title in the awesome Audi Quattro in 1984.

The eight other successful Swedes on the WRC scoreboard are Ove Andersson (one win), Ingvar Carlsson (two), Per Eklund (one), Mikael Ericsson (two), Kenneth Eriksson (six), Mats Jonsson (two), Harry Kallstrom (one) and Anders Kullang (one).

Saab

Only one Swedish manufacturer has racked up a victory in the WRC since 1973. Recent stories surrounding Saab and its bankruptcy won’t have resonated well with fans of the quirky Trollhattan manufacturer that took four Swedish Rally wins in the 1970s.

The lightweight, two-stroke 96V4 – an updated, four-pot version of the earlier three-cylinder machine – broke Saab’s WRC victory duck with incomparable local hero Blomqvist ‘at home’ in ’73. The same configuration also gave Eklund his only WRC win, again in Sweden, in ’76.

The replacement for the 96, the 99, continued Saab’s winning streak in ’77, with Blomqvist taking a six-minute victory – his fourth in his home rally.  The original Stig made it five two years later with the turbocharged 99. His win marked the first for a forced-induction engine in WRC history.

By Henry Hope-Frost

Images: MaxRally.com

Follow @motorsportretro on Twitter, and join in the discussion on Facebook.

Rally Sweden: Saabs, Super Swedes and Sideways action is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

This feature gallery from the Cahier Archive contains images of the immortal Ayrton Senna.

Hit this link to view the full gallery

Climb Dance

One of the greatest motorsport videos of all time, this classic short film shows 1981 World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen completely attacking The Pikes Peak International Hillclimb on his way to a record breaking run in 1988.

It’s required-reading for every retro motorsport fan!

Video + Photos: 2012 Pirelli Calendar

The brief is simple. Commission leading photographers to capture the world’s most beautiful women on film for the exclusive calendar, which is only available as a gift for royalty, celebrities and VIP customers.

Read on..

Martin Donnelly: The luckiest man alive, part one

“For Martin Donnelly to have survived that accident was an act of God,” said Warwick. “That accident could happen another five million times, and in every one of them he would be dead. To be honest, he should not have survived. The only reason I drove today was that I was happy he was okay.”

Read on..

And click for parts two, three and four.

The 1980 Paris-Dakar from behind the handlebars of a Vespa

The Dakar rally is probably the most gruelling and dangerous motor race in the world.  Motorcycles, cars, quad bikes and trucks compete, not so much with each other, but with the race itself, to survive each year’s course. Competitors slog through each mile in danger of serious injury and death.

In 1980 a French team of 4 riders, put together by Jean-Francois Piot, decided that this all sounded wonderful and that they would enter the race. On their Vespas.

Read on..

Greg Moore, part 1. Mark Webber remembers

Greg Moore. It’s a name that stirs emotions and memories, happiness and sadness all in one go. This five-part column will celebrate the life of the Canadian that was cut so short, and try and pass on some of the fun that everyone around him experienced before he sadly lost his life at the tragically young age of 24.

Read on..

Parts two, three, four and five

And now for something completely different– Elf’s Experimental bikes from 1978 – 1988

Imagine the ideas and technology that can come about if the dudes tinkering away in garages late at night are racing engineering experts, funded by the seemingly bottomless coffers of French petroleum giants. That is just what Elf decided to do when it began a program of experimental motorcycles that lasted from 1978 to 1988, searching for that innovation that would propel their riders, and their brand, to the top of the podium.

Read on..

Legonds: Historic Race Cars in Lego

Incredible creativity, workmanship and design abound in all of them, from the simple but unmistakable W196 to the ridiculous detail of the Jaguar. Amazing work!

Read on..

Video: James Hunt punches marshall

James Hunt crashes his McLaren and is clearly dazed in the shunt. He then thinks he must be in the pub and gives the marshall a right hook.

They don’t make them like they used to!

Retro Martini Racing Gear

Star of the range is the uber retro light blue jacket, famously worn by Argentinian legend Carlos Reutemann. The jacket sports the Martini Racing logo on the chest with the iconic red white and blue stripes down the sleeves. Its made from 100% Polyester and retails for 149 Euro.

Read on..

Top 10: Best of Motorsport Retro is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

A winning combination of tremendous speed and timeless beauty, the Maserati 250F was the drive of choice for the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss in the mid-1950s. These days it is remembered as one of the sport’s greatest machines.

Estimating a 250F’s current market value is difficult, but buying one now would almost certainly require a number of millions.

The Tipo 250, on the other hand, is a little more attainable. A beautifully hand-crafted bespoke replica of the original 250F, the Tipo 250 is useable, reliable and even road-registerable (depending on where you’re located).

It gets its grunt from a BMW M20 2.5 litre straight six running three Weber carburettors and sitting in a steel tubular space frame surrounded by lovely aluminium alloy bodywork. Each car is hand built to order, so if the standard specs aren’t to your liking you’re free to collaborate with the team to build the car that suits you.

Check it out at the Tipo 250 website here.

Photos via Tipo 250

Follow @motorsportretro on Twitter, and join in the discussion on Facebook.

Gear: The Tipo 250 is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

1984 was a year of ups and downs for a young Stefan Bellof. He took six victories and won the Drivers’ Championship for the 1984 World Supercar Championship season in his Rothmans Porsche 956.

It was also his first year in Formula One, driving alongside Martin Brundle for Tyrrell. Despite running an increasingly-antiquated naturally aspirated three-litre Cosworth, Bellof produced his best result – a third – from a remarkable performance dancing in the rain around Monaco. However; ups and downs – Tyrrell and their cars were disqualified from the entire ’84 season and stripped of their points for a rule infraction.

Change was everywhere in ’85. It marked Niki Lauda’s final season in Formula One, the first victories for Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell and the final push towards 1.5-litre turbocharged engines. It was time for Big Power, and by the end of the season all teams had changed from naturally-aspirated to turbo motors.

Bellof was back for the second race of the season running this naturally-aspirated Tyrrell 012. He put in some amazing performances in the first half of the season, demonstrating his raw talent by taking on the more powerful turbo cars and bringing home 4^th and 6^th place finishes in Detroit and Britain respectively.

The Tyrrell team switched to a turbo Renault motor after the British Grand Prix, but Bellof sadly never got to demonstrate his true potential in Formula One, as he passed away in an accident during the 1000 Kilometers of Spa.

This car is hugely significant and has been given a no-compromise cosmetic and mechanical restoration by Canepa Design. Hit this link and head to Canepa’s website for the full details.

Via Canepa Design

Photos via Canepa Design

Follow @motorsportretro on Twitter, and join in the discussion on Facebook.

For Sale: 1985 Tyrrell 012 Formula One is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

The Formula 1 season kicks off in earnest this week as the teams unveil their 2012 challengers. However, it’s not all the fun of the fair it has been in the past

In the 1960s there was no glitz to the launch of a Formula 1 car. The team would turn up at a track to test, roll it off the transporter, push it into the pitlane – and fire it up.

By the ’70s, the ‘launch’ had been upgraded to a sheet over a car in a pitlane with a handful of invited media. The level of one-upmanship between teams grew into the 1990s, as the competition – and finance – in Grand Prix racing escalated.

In 1997, Marlboro had moved on, but McLaren still had a new car to launch. In a double nod to the past, a handful of media were invited to see the McLaren-Mercedes MP4/12 – painted in the orange that will always be associated with Bruce McLaren. That was the technical side accounted for, and the specialist media. It was low-key and informal. There was, however, a much bigger fish to fry.

A few may disagree, but if there was a World Championship for ‘Launch of the Decade” it would go to West McLaren Mercedes in 1997 for the team’s “Night of Stars and Cars”.

The sheet over the car prior to the launch was about the only throwback to 1970s car launches. Let’s face it though, McLaren had to do something special. The rocket red Marlboro McLaren livery had been iconic for well over 30 years, and had won multiple World Championships. That’s not an image that could be erased by lifting the sheet from a car to reveal its brand new sponsor’s livery, and McLaren-Mercedes’ new colours.

So, no stone was left unturned. “Extravaganza” is too small a word to describe it.

They hired Alexandra Palace in London, and the world famous Spice Girls to perform, had MTV broadcast it live across Europe’s networks, invited 4500 VIPs, celebrities, guests, sponsors, journalists, and fans for a night that wouldn’t have been out of place in Las Vegas.

There was dry ice, Cirque du Soleil standard choreography, roller-skating dancers, flashing lights… Oh and the brand new colours of the silver West McLaren Mercedes.

It worked. Within moments, McLaren’s long-term involvement with Marlboro was gone. It was history. Out with the old, in with the new. Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard unveiled the new ‘silver arrow’. Sporty, Ginger, Posh, Baby and Scary Spice soon joined in for live TV interviews. “Sexy isn’t it?” said Sporty, while the rest debated over whether it was the car or Coulthard in his overalls that was the most sexy.

Then the Spice Girls sang live to continue a memorable launch. The party went on until the early hours.

In today’s economic climate we will likely never see such extravagance again. But boy it did the job. Within hours, the West McLaren Mercedes dynamic colours seemed as familiar as any other livery in F1 for decades.

Final words to Ron Dennis on that night: “The evening wasn’t about a glitzy show, or just showing off the surface of the car. It was more than that.”

By Andy Hallbery – follow me on Twitter @hallbean

Thanks to McLaren, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, West and Laurence Baker from www.streamlinermotors.com.

Follow @MotorSportRetro on Twitter

Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/MotorSportRetro

Formula 1: The evolution of the car launch is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

Team Australia has easily retained the International Challenge team’s event at Phillip Island, the centrepiece of the 2012 Island Classic historic meeting held this past weekend (January 27-29).

Australia was never headed, with the extraordinary depth of talent in the local team proving to be the trump card in its 312pt victory (1198 to 885) over the Jeremy McWilliams-led UK team. The World 13, an amalgam of riders from France, New Zealand, Australia and America, was well back in third on 596pts.

“It’s a pretty easy caper being the boss of the Australian team, and I congratulate all of them for again producing the goods,” said non-riding captain Rex Wolfenden. “But it’s the international riders who come over here which makes this event, as they are just so passionate about their sport.”

Thanks to the deeds of explosive Suzuki Katana pairing Steve Martin and Shawn Giles, with superb back-up support from the likes of Rob Phillis (Katana), Beau Beaton (Irving Vincent) and Mal Campbell (Honda CB1100R), Team Australia enjoyed a near perfect run through the first three legs before the tide turned against them in the final six lap instalment.

Martin’s race evaporated when he inadvertently stalled on the grid, and just when Giles was in sight of victory the battery failed on his machine.

The breakdowns didn’t put Australia’s team win in danger, but it opened the door for McWilliams to claim individual honours for the second year in succession after winning the last race ahead of Beaton and Phillis.

“This has been an incredible weekend and this is quite surreal to be honest,” said the 47-year-old former 250 GP winner. “Eleven days ago I lost my mum and there was a chance I wasn’t going to come, but I am sure she would have wanted me here.

“Sometimes racing doesn’t go to plan, and I commiserate with Shawn and Steve for stopping in the last race. But the speed of these guys was amazing – the improvement since last year has been amazing.

“I’ve had some up and downs this weekend, and at the start I just wasn’t getting anywhere with a host of carburetion problems.

“But I went into fighter mode in the last couple of races and really put my head down. And I’ve proven that to win you’ve got to finish, first and foremost.”

McWilliams finished 4-3-3-1 across the four legs to complete the challenge on 149pts, just in front of the extremely impressive Beaton (3-4-4-2, 147pts), Phillis (5-6-5-3, 141pts), Martin (2-2-1-18, 137pts) and Campbell (6-7-6-5, 136pts).

McWilliams also received the inaugural Ken Wootton International Perpetual Trophy for his victory, in memory of the late Aussie motorcycle journalist and a key driver of the Island Classic event.

Giles, the three-time Australian Superbike champion, just got home in the first two International Challenge races after fierce scraps with Martin. Another Aussie, Josh Brookes (Suzuki XR69), was also jockeying for top position in race one before a loose exhaust system caused him to highside spectacularly at turn one, with his stricken machine cartwheeling through the infield. Understandably, that was the end of his abbreviated campaign.

In race three, Martin enjoyed clear air all the way after Giles’ bike jumped out of second gear just after the start, before it all went pear-shaped for the duo – clearly the fastest riders on circuit – in the finale.

Martin’s consolation was a new lap record – 1:38.707, set in race three.

Meanwhile, South Australian Levy Day was awarded the Phil Irving Memorial Trophy for the highest individual point-scorer across the weekend, after scoring maximum scorecards across two classes – 500cc Classic and 350cc Classic.

Other winners included Ryan Taylor (1000cc New Era), Scott Webster (Unlimited Forgotten Era), Mick Damon (Unlimited Classic), Glenn Hindle (350cc Classic), Craig Ditchburn (500cc Post-Classic) and Simon Cook (Unlimited Post-Classic).

For full results   www.computime.com.au

INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE – 2012 AMCN International  Island Classic

Final point score – Team: Australia – 1198; UK – 885.15; World 13 – 596.62

Final point score – Individual: 1.  Jeremy McWilliams (UK) 149 points; 2. Beau Beaton (AUS) 147 points; 3. Robbie Phillis (AUS) 141 points;  4. Steve Martin (AUS) 137 points;   5. Malcolm Campbell (AUS) 136 points;  6. Scott Webster (AUS)  131 points; 7.  Ryan Farquhar (AUS) 130 points   8.  Laurie Fyffe (AUS) 125 points  9.  Leo Cash (AUS)  118 points 10. Shawn Giles (AUS)  116 points

Race One (decl after three laps )

1.                   Shawn Giles (AUS) -  Suzuki Katana

2.                   Steve Martin (AUS) – Suzuki Katana

3.                   Beau Beaton (AUS) – Irving Vincent

4.                   Jeremy McWilliams (UK) – Suzuki Harris F1

5.                   Robbie Phillis (AUS) – Suzuki Katana

6.                   Malcolm Campbell (AUS) – Honda CBR 1100

7.                   Ryan Farquhar (UK) – Suzuki Harris F1

8.                   Scott Webster (AUS)  – Kawa Moto-Martin

Race Two

1.                   Shawn Giles

2.                   Steve Martin

3.                   Jeremy McWilliams

4.                   Beau Beaton

5.                   Ryan Farquhar

6.                   Robbie Phillis

7.                   Malcolm Campbell

8.                   Scott Webster

Race Three

1.                   Steve Martin (set new historic lap record -  1:38.707)

2.                   Shawn Giles

3.                   Jeremy McWilliams

4.                   Beau Beaton

5.                   Robbie Phillis

6.                   Malcolm Campbell

7.                   Scott Webster

8.                  Stuart Loly (AUS) – Suzuki GSX 1170

Race Four

1.            Jeremy McWilliams

2.            Beau Beaton

3.            Robbie Phillis

4.            Ryan Farquhar

5.            Malcolm Campbell

6.            Scott Webster

7.            Laurie Fyffe (AUS) Suzuki GSX 1294

8.            Stuart Loly

Australia wins international challenge at 2012 Island Classic Bikes is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.

At the Assen Centennial Classic 1998, events were decided on regularity of lap times. Italy’s nine-times world champion Carlo Ubbiali, then aged 68, was a clear winner in his class.

His face was weathered from years of riding in pudding-basin helmets and goggles, but he was still a class act, and such a contrast to today’s small-bore riders.

Ubbiali was never flashy, kept his own council and did not have one major crash in a decade when ‘circuit safety’ was an oxymoron. He was nicknamed “The Fox” for good reason, often luring rivals into a race-long duel and then doing them cold with decisive moves on the last lap.

Born in Bergamo on September 24, 1929, he began competing in 1947 and won a gold medal in the 1949 International Six-Day Trial.

Ubbiali won 39 classics between 1950 and 1960, first with Mondial but the majority with MV-Agusta. He was double world 125/250 champion in 1956, ’59 and ’60 and, we might surmise, adept at MV team politics.

He showed his good judgment again by retiring at the top, just as he turned 31 at the end of 1960. He’d just lost his brother and confidant Maurizio. He could sense Count Agusta was cutting back his race effort and would have seen the growing 125/250 challenges of Honda’s multis and MZ’s two-strokes.

A new champion would soon emerge from the same part of Italy, namely Giacomo Agostini, and he eclipsed Ubbiali as Italy’s most successful racer. Today, Agostini, Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi are the only Italians who’ve won more GPs.

This against the likes of Tarquinio Provini, Cecil Sanford, Luigi Taveri and (in 1954-55) top NSU riders Werner Hass and H-P Muller, and in an era when the there might be as few as six GPs in a season.

by Don Cox

follow @motorsportretro on Twitter.

Legends: Carlo Ubbiali is a post from Motorsport Retro, bringing you classic motorsport, cars, motorcycles and gear every day.