Looking back with Paul Frere: writer, racer, Le Mans winner
Just occasionally, to keep a sense of perspective over the subject about which they are writing, motoring journalists try their hand at active motor racing. Some in recent years have…
Twenty six years ago, on May 28, 1972, a driver with a degree in mechanical engineering from Brown University won the Indianapolis 500. His name was Mark Donohue. It was…
Only four Indianapolis 500 rookies in 100 years have started from pole: Teo Fabi in 1983 is one. Prematurely balding and softly spoken, his puppy-ish face often apparently bemused, occasionally…
By the end of 1973 Mark Donohue had achieved most of his goals in motor racing. Since 1967 he had worked for Roger Penske, the pair of them synonymous almost…
The rear wing was wound down and the boost wound up. Duct tape was strapped across almost every bodywork orifice and some brave soul was strapped into the cockpit. The…
There is still great warmth in the way Peter Collins is recalled, 48 years after his passing. It’s more than the fact that he was a successful driver, with three…
In May 2022, one of only two Mercedes 300 SLR Coupes was sold for €135m (£114.5m) at private auction, making it the most expensive car ever known to have changed…
Were someone to achieve something similar today, their accomplishment would likely be obscured by a blizzard of hype. But it was different then. Taken out of context, Eric Thompson’s World…
1958 Formula 1 Argentine Grand Prix At first it looked as though the Italian teams had stolen a march on the British Grand Prix teams, by being ready for the…
My lamented friend Jabby Crombac always considered the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours to have been the greatest in the long history of the race. The quality of the entry,…
Any decent reference book will tell you why the 1953 Le Mans was a significant race; mere figures say that, for the first time in the history of the event,…
Its been many years since Grand Prix was an endurance event, but it's not long since rallying's old guard complained that compulsory night-stops mollycoddled the crews. In the great days…
Woolf Barnato It was with real and heartfelt regret that we learned of the death of " Babe " Barnato, following an operation at a London nursing home, at the…
Countless schoolboys have fantasised about winning Le Mans, perhaps in a car painted in patriotic dark green; perhaps – even better – in a self-built car carrying their own name.…
One of the reasons I no longer stay in Monaco for the GP is that these days I find the place intensely claustrophobic. So many beautiful buildings have been swept…
More than half a century ago a young man called Philip Toll Hill Jr turned his back on California sunshine and came to England, joining Jaguar as a trainee. He'd…