Mosport memories

Sir,

Thanks so much for Paul Fearnley’s outstanding feature story on the glory years of Brabham-Repco in your May issue. As with virtually every one of your issues, it brought back a flood of wonderful memories!

I happened to be on hand for the 1967 inaugural Canadian Grand Prix having driven from Michigan to Mosport, Ontario.

As I recall, Jim Clark crashed his Lotus 49 in practice and had to use his back-up car. Clark still took pole position by nearly a second over his team-mate, Graham Hill.

Unfortunately, it rained during the race and Clark was forced out with damp electrics. Bruce McLaren made a charge to the front in his new McLaren-BRM V12, but I believe he suffered a battery problem. That left the door open for the ultra-reliable Brabham-Repcos with Denny Hulme leading Jack Brabham to a one-two finish.

Although there were still a few grands prix left to run, I remember his mechanics calling him “W C” (World Champion) in the tent-paddock. Denny just shook his head with a wry smile on his face, squeezed down into his bulletproof Brabham-Repco and got down to the business at hand; finishing in the points.

Harry Kennison, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA