The end of car-sharing

Sir,

Contrary to Nigel Roebuck’s belief, the 1962 Aintree 200 was won by Jim Clark in a Lotus 24 (the revolutionary 25 did not appear until the Dutch GP), while the 1963 event was not the last time a car changed hands in a Formula 1 race. It was not even the last time Clark took over a team-mate’s car.

During the 1964 US GP at Watkins Glen, Jim stopped his car at the pits with a fuel injection problem. Colin Chapman then called in Mike Spence for the two to swap cars. Jim could no longer score championship points for a shared drive, but he might possibly have taken points away from other contenders. In the event neither car finished the race.

Ten months later Scuderia Centro-Sud entered three obsolete BRM P57s in the non-championship Mediterranean GP on the Enna circuit. Giampiero Biscaldi’s car was an early retirement, and when team-mate Masten Gregory arrived at the pits with smashed goggles, damaged spectacles and a badly cut face from a flying stone, he took over the American driver’s car. He was subsequently disqualified.

David Cole, Oakham, Rutland