Mini Series: Part two

Sir,

Bill Boddy wonders if Graham Hill really got all the drivers in a Mini race to reverse when the flag fell. It certainly did happen, in a drivers’ parade, just before an Fl race. But if I-fill was the instigator, then Innes Ireland was his co-conspirator, at a very wet Silverstone in May, 1962.

I was a spectator that day and well recall the circuit commentator getting excited when he noticed Ireland rushing from car to car on the grid. Something was up and, sure enough, they all set off in reverse for the first few yards.

This was just a few weeks after Stirling Moss’s Goodwood accident, and Ferrari sent a sharknose for the Fl race in tribute to him. The car had a pale green stripe and, if my memory is up to scratch, Ireland drove it to fourth place behind winner Graham Hill.

I am, Yours etc, David Pearson, via-Email