Just before the Sebring 12-hour race last March a certain beady-eyed little Scot was going around amongst the sports car drivers encouraging them to sign a GPDA petition that was calling for a complete boycott on all Formula One or FIA Manufacturers Sports Car Championship races at the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps circuit. A week later a letter arrived from the GPDA headquarters in Switzerland stating that at their meeting at Watkins Glen last October they agreed by a majority decision that they would not participate in any future Formula One or Manufacturers Sports Car races at Spa-Francorchamps. So why the need for the petition at Sebring in March? At this majority vote there was one dissenter and four abstainers, and since then some members had reversed their decision due to being committed to teams by written contract.

The GPDA missive from Switzerland went on to say that the fact that certain GPDA members would be competing at Spa on May 7th did not “in any way indicate a change of heart on the part of the Association as a whole regarding the desirability of participating at this circuit at any future time.” I frequently receive letters from readers who ask why I keep attacking Stewart and his GPDA; surely the reason is becoming all too clear? If he said “I had a nasty experience at Spa in 1966 and I have no intention of ever going there again” I would accept his feelings completely, have nothing further to say about it and the matter would be finished. But it is not as simple as that; his pious whinings have brain-washed and undermined the natural instincts of some young and inexperienced newcomers to grand prix racing and removed the Belgian Grand Prix from Spa-Francorchamps.

I will readily admit that grand prix racing is his life and business and he has every justification in anything he does concerning grand prix racing. BUT WHAT HAS LONG-DISTANCE SPORTS CAR RACING GOT TO D0 WITH STEWART? To the best of my knowledge he has never been a serious competitor in a long-distance sports car race, he has never shown any desire to become involved in driving in long-distance sports car racing, and I doubt whether anyone would ever ask him to join their team for sports car racing, yet he was trying to persuade drivers to boycott the Spa 1000 kilometre event.