Your first race

[Minardi fan]

1st race on TV: San Marino 1996. Tourist was watching qualifying when I was round at his house and I was hooked immediately... Oh the good ol' days of cheering for Villeneuve and Katayama...

1st live race: Belgium 1999. (Plus GB qualifying, which wasn't the race so it doesn't technically count here *ahem*)

Roll on Austria! Look out Spielberg... Tourist, Vicky and I are on our way!!!! WOOHOO!

[TimD]

I honestly can't recall the first TV broadcast I caught. This is the consequence of having a Grandfather who was steeped in all things racing.

And vintage Bentleys - just thought I'd throw that in.

On Andy H's thread in "Trackside" I mentioned that the first GP I went to was the 1973 British GP.

Television memories? I have a vivid recollection of a TV image of a Tyrrell spearing into a pile of straw bales at Silverstone, when I had sat down to hopefully see Jackie Stewart win a race. That must have been an International Trophy meeting.

The downside of a very young enthusiasm is of course that I saw the TV footage of David Purley at the 1973 Dutch GP, trying to save Roger Williamson, and I can remember the LBC radio news report of Graham Hill's plane crash with utter clarity. It was the day before my eighth birthday.

As for the moment I was hooked, I suspect that's Grandfather Eric's doing again. Most children in their cot get given a rattle or a dummy to keep them quiet. The whole family still dines out on the story that I was given back-issues of Motor Sport magazine. And a small green Matchbox model Ferrari 250GT, which despite an entire childhood of heavy play, I still have tucked away in a drawer.

I cannot say that the magazines survived toddler's playtime quite so well. I have had to fill the gaps in the collection since!

[This message has been edited by TimD (edited 16 May 2000).]

[Ed-f1]

What was the first race you watched either live or on TV? And were you hooked straight away?

The first race I watched on TV was Monaco '92 because someone had mentioned over lunch that Nigel Mansell was going for six wins in row. By the end of the race I was fascinated by everything that was going on, every change in the order and new lap records being set. The only thing I wasn't concerned about was whether Nigel Mansell had won six races in a row...

I didn't really become hooked though until early 1993. I attended qualifying at Silverstone in '94 and '95 but I didn't attend my first actual race until this year's Australian GP.

[Bononi]

The first TV race ? I can't remenber, but it
happened in 1972, then I did not stop...
Live ? The first was 1984 Brazilian Gran Prix.
I can remenber a horrible moment... a crashed car on fire and another driver desperatedly trying to turn up the car and take out his mate ! Can anyone remenber who
were they ?

[Neil C]

I remember watching Grands Prix on "The Wide World of Sports" in the mid 60's during the Stewart, Clark, Brabham, Surtees years.

The movie "Grand Prix" propelled me into fandom.

Attended the '73 Canadian GP at Mosport Park. Saw Formula Fords there. The rest is history (though not historic).

[This message has been edited by Neil C (edited 16 May 2000).]

[TimD]

Bononi, I suspect that you and I are talking about the same incident.

The upturned burning car was the Dutch GP accident to Roger Williamson. David Purley was awarded the George Medal for gallantry for his efforts to try and save Roger.

Interesting that both of us have overriding early memories of the same moment. It truly becomes etched in the memory of all who see it.

[KC]

The very first motor race I ever remember watching on TV was back in the mid-70s. It was either a F5000 event or F1 event at Long Beach on ABC's Wide World of Sports. I began following F1 during the Senna-Prost battles of the early 90s when ESPN began showing the races live in the US early on Sunday mornings. The first F1 race I ever attended was the 2000 British Grand Prix last month.

[Tristan]

For some reason, I can always remeber a race where we had two re-starts one involving a black JPS Lotus. 1986 Austria, or something like. I can also remeber Maricio Gugielmin's flip at the begginning of the French one year...

[Jared]

I've been a Formula One fan, and a fan of most forms of auto racing, since I was little. I used to follow the races through whatever results were published in our local paper (this is America, remember) and through race reports in months-old Road & Track magazines.

First race I saw on TV was the South African GP of '93. First race in person: the U.S. GP in September. (Hopefully. I just got a call from my uncle saying that everything is in order for the trip. The trip up to Indy is going to be half the fun.)

[Liz]

I think the first race I saw on TV (besides stock cars and the Indy 500) was from Watkins Glen in the 1970s. I know Jackie Stewart won it because I remember seeing him without his cap and thinking his haircut was very weird! I watched F1 through all the turbo years but went off it for awhile after Prost retired as I couldn't find anybody I really liked after him, to cheer for. CART I started watching in 1995 when I started coming up to Toronto regularly and realised they were still racing turbos. First CART race was Molson Indy Toronto in 1997. First F1 race I think was Monza 1999. I may have been to one other one when I was a teenager, but I can't remember which one it was. (It was in the USA.)

[Toth]

The first thing I remember is from one of the first races I saw, the second or third. It was hockenheim '94 and I still vividly remember seeing how Verstappens Benneton exploded in a ball of fire. I was terribly shocked but i remember most the incredible joy when I saw everybody walking away, almost unhurt. I've missed few races since and when (not if) F1 comes back to zandvoort I'll be there.

[EERO]

Actually, the first race I rmember was Monaco '67, which was marred by gruesome footage of Bandini's fiery crash. I was pretty horrified by the whole thing.
Like Neil, the bug bit with the movie Grand Prix, and the first GP I attended was the USGP at Watkins Glen in '72. A Tyrrell walkover in an otherwise Black and Gold season.

[Murph]

Though I was fortunate enough to see a couple of CanAm races ("the Bruce & Denny Show") and the 917 VS 512S fights at the Glen in the early '70's... to me the "first" race was the 1972 Canadian GP at Mosport Park. JYS won in the new 006 Tyrrell.... Looking back though it was the depth and breadth of the grid that I remember most. Winding down there careers were 3 WDC's...JYS, Graham Hill, and Denny Hulme. The young lions were represented by the '72 WDC... Emmo, along with Niki, Lole, Ronnie, Cevert, and Revson. Throw in a couple of fellows who later were noted for their sportscar efforts.... Derek Bell( in the forgettable Techno) and Henri Pescarolo. Add in a great track, gorgeous fall foliage, copious amounts of legal (and illegal) recreational substances, and lots of real friendly Canadian female types...... and I was hooked.

[F1FansClub]

The first thing I can remember about Formula 1 was the day after Aryton Senna was killed. I was coming out of the car looking at the front page of the 'Daily Record' and seeing the headline annoucing he was dead. After that I started watch and the first races I watched as a real hooked fan were in the start of 1997.

Ally