Der Grosse Preis ...

Sir,

I would like to tell you how much I enjoyed reading your race report on ‘Der Grosse Preis von Deutschland’ at the Nurburgring in the September issue. It was a brilliant piece of imaginative reporting, and whereas some may dispute the outcome of the race, no-one can deny that the report portrayed all the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies that contribute to the present apparent malaise of Grand Prix racing. I personally do not subscribe to D.S. J.’s theory of the degeneration of Formula One, but to debate that point is not the intention of this letter.

Despite the above, I was more than a little disappointed in the amount of space devoted to, and the treatment of, the report on the real race in Germany that counted towards the World Championship. However much you, or I, would like to think otherwise, the Hockenheim race will go down in the history books as the German Grand Prix, and as such, I think that a responsible magazine like yours should have been prepared to give it the same amount of space and unbiased reporting that other Grand Prix (real or otherwise) enjoy, even if only for posterity.

One other point, whilst writing, is with reference to your report in “Rumblings” on the new USAC acceleration records set by Kitty O’Neal at El Mirage. If one assumes that the records for standing start 1/4-mile and 500 metres were set on the same run, then this means that the distance between the 1/4-mile mark and the 500 metre mark (i.e. 0.0607 of a mile) was covered in 0.355 of a second. This represents an average speed (according to the oflice calculator) over that distance of 615.55 m.p.h. This would seem to make the estimate of nearly 400 m.p.h. at the end of the 500 metres somewhat conservative, to say the least. Perhaps you may have further information which may throw light on this seeming anomaly.

Many thanks for a consistently interesting, entertaining, and informative journal. Guildford – J. W. Anstin