Historic forum photographs

[racing fxgt]

This one is a choice of three (Mario Andretti,Chris Amon,or Jo Siffert.In the STP March.

[Yoong Montoya]

Which in your opinion was the wettest race ever?
My vote goes to Fuji '76

[Peter Mallett]

How about the first Birmingham Super Prix. Or the Donington 500 ETCC race 1983? Silverstone 1988. There's loads and I think I've been at most of them.

Yours damply.

[TimD]

Aston Martin Owners Club StJohn Horsfall meeting August 1998, for me.

A bright but overcast morning of practice made way for torrential rain during the lunchbreak. They attempted to start the first race, an allcomers sports/GT event, with Win Percy in a Jaguar XJ220 on pole. However, halfway round the first lap, the field hit an unexpected rapids running across Silverstone's Club Straight. Most of the pack went every which-way, and the track was blocked by a wrecked Porsche 911RSR and a Shelby Cobra - expensive wreckage for a club event.

They red-flagged, and waited for the rain to stop. It didn't.

By the time the clerk of the course ordered the abandonment of the meeting, I was one of hundreds of soggy spectators cowering in Silverstone's pits garages, being pressed into service lifting all the various teams' tools and equipment off the floors, as hundreds of little rivers and lakes formed in the paddock and pits.

[Muzza]

The wettest race I ever attendend was the 1986 Mil Milhas Brasileiras (Brazilian 1000 Miles), in Interlagos.

That was not a race, it was 14 hours of nightmare. It took ten minutes before the race to feel like I had been thrown into a swimming pool, and it continued to rain buckets throughout the race. For most of the event the cars were crawling, doing no more than 150 km/h at the end of the straight (at best).

[Mekola]

Originally posted by racing fxgt
That was the start of the thread and then found some more pic's, why start a new thread on the same subject with a few year's difference.Anyway here's some more, no information on car or driver.

By the colors and form I think it's a Lotus.

[Mekola]

I think one of the wettest was the 1968 German GP at the Nürburgring, what was won by Jackie Stewart (Matra-Cosworth).

[ingo]

I made the mistake of going to Birmingham in 1988 too. Very soggy. The Brands BOAC 1000 in 1970 was pretty miserable too but, in retrospect, Pedro Rodriguez's drive in the Porsche 917 was superb. It just didn't seem like it at the time to a soaking twelve year old Ferrari fan watching Ickx in the 512 stop repeatedly to sort his windscreen wiper(s) out!
My vote for the greatest impact made by rain on a Grand Prix( but by no means the wettest) is for the 1975 British GP at Silverstone. Regazzoni and Pryce led but spun off in showers before torrential rain down at Stowe and Club left about a dozen cars in the catch fencing. And they weren't even on Michelin intermediates. I was at Copse, where it was virtually dry, trying to keep a lap chart. Woefully inaccurate as usual, I'm still sure Regga, Pryce or Pace deserved it more than steady old Emerson.

[DNQ]

1989 Australian GP - red flagged for being too wet and dangerous after just 14 laps.

[Crash Test]

I remember an Historic Touring car race in 1998 at Lakeside where it fairly pizzled down as the cars made it onto the grid. By the time half a lap was completed, much of the field had pulled to the side of the road, or were trickling around at bout 50km/h. I reckon Patto would have been in that one

[Amaroo Park]

Bathurst 1992. I was working in the pits and while it did not rain all day when it did it was either torrental or hail

[DNQ]

Actually, it hailed at Bathurst 2001 briefly didn't it?

Regarding Lakeside, remember the ATCC round there in 1996 - the week of the race the track was flooded and the race postponed, guess that's worth a mention.

The 1966 Spa GP was a bloody wet race from the vision I've seen, and of course Austria 1975 where Brambilla crashed over the line was a very wet race too. Australia 1991 also, and, actually, more recently - Malaysia 2001 - those 1-2 laps were it poured were sooo wet it wasnt funny.

[rdjones]

Le Mans 2001, which was the wettest Le Mans ever. Donnington BTCC June 1998, my god that was wet very wet, but it turn into one hell of a race.

[Carrie]

I think the wettest race meetings I've been to are both BTCC. The 1999 season finale at Silverstone with the horizontal rain and last year's season finale at Brands - my leather gloves were dripping black dye everywhere and my waterproof trousers shrank I was at Donny BTCC in '98 and I don't think it was as wet as either of the two I've just mentioned.

[SL]

I faintly recall the Brands BOAC race, that seemed very wet, which is the main thing I remember from that meet.

There was a TT at Silverstone in the 80's that poured down after about 30 minutes of racing ending up with about 10 cars in the catch fencing at Woodcote. Plus of course Le Mans 2001.

Simon

[Andrew Kitson]

Meetings that spring to mind are the International Trophy at Silverstone in 1978 when Keke won in the Theodore ( half the field ended up off the road at Abbey because of a river across the track - an F.Atlantic meeting at Mallory in '74
- an F2 meeting at Silverstone in 79 ( Eddie Cheever won) and recently the 2001 FF Festival and the morning of the '99 Goodwood Revival.

[Roger Clark]

Originally posted by racing fxgt
This one is a choice of three (Mario Andretti,Chris Amon,or Jo Siffert.In the STP March.

Chris Amon, on the occassion of the car's launch, hence no racing number.

[Andrew Kitson]

Great pics again Racing Fxgt! I also remember the V12 Matra SOUND at Brands.
Has anyone got the Nick Mason book 'Into the Red'?
A CD comes with it of engine sounds from the cars he owns and one of the 'tracks' is a recording of the V16 BRM doing 3 laps of Donington recorded from the pits on a test day. You can hear the thing for the whole lap and when it comes past the pits again WOW!!! Pity he doesn't have a V12 Matra too.

[OVERSTEER]

It's a shame I wansn't around to see these great cars because i'm only 18, because these cars look a hell of alot better than current cars, much better

[Jordi]

There was also that huge downpour at Hockenheim 2000, not in the race, but the access tunnels were inundated.

Also the river crossing Elkhart Lake during the CART race last year...

[OVERSTEER]

Originally posted by DNQ
1989 Australian GP - red flagged for being too wet and dangerous after just 14 laps.

You're thinking of the 1991 event, it was dangerous because cars were littering the track and cars had to weave between crashed cars on the back straight. The 1989 event however went the full distance.

[OVERSTEER]

for me the 1999 final BTCC meeting at Silverstone was very bad.

[Big Mac]

The wettest race I've ever been to was the 1991 Australian GP. I recall "Nige" coasting to a stop after his prang right in front of us. I nearly scored a piece of the front wing.

1989 AGP was pretty moist too!!

[racer69]

The 1988 Wanneroo ATCC round was dry at the start, but after 14 laps the heavens opened and it bucketed down, not just about every car left the track, most at the final corners, including the 2 Shell Sierra's, running 1-2 nose to tail, followed eachother through the sand, and the sight of a photographer running for cover as Moffat spun his Sierra into the sand at turn one. They red flagged it, and by the time it restarted the track was almost dry.

The 89 and 91 races were very wet and very controversial, in 1989 because they started the race with some drivers still trailing around to the grid, and in 1991 because of the early stoppage.

The 1968 German GP, as also previously mentioned, Stewart won by 4 minutes.

[hoonboyz]

at 1 point at Bathurst last year it was Snowing at McPhilamy and yes plenty of hail as well as the rain and freezing wind!!