Motorsport Legends Speak
Interviews & Words With The Heroes of Motorsports
This is where the rubber meets the road, where the smell of burnt rubber and high-octane fuel mingles with the sharp insights of those who have lived and breathed motorsports. Here, the legends of racing take the wheel, sharing their firsthand experiences, hard-won wisdom, and unique perspectives in a collection of captivating articles and exclusive interviews.
The Driver's Seat: Insights from Motorsports Legends
This is where the rubber meets the road, where the smell of burnt rubber and high-octane fuel mingles with the sharp insights of those who have lived and breathed motorsports. Here, the legends of racing take the wheel, sharing their firsthand experiences, hard-won wisdom, and unique perspectives in a collection of captivating articles and exclusive interviews. Get ready to dive deep into the minds of champions as they dissect race strategy, reflect on career-defining moments, and offer a glimpse into the intense pressure and exhilaration of life at the limit. Hear from visionary engineers, team owners, motorsport executives, and influential figures who shape the sport from behind the scenes.
We concluded last month’s opening segment of John Zimmermann’s interview with David Hobbs as he was preparing to turn his attention toward North America. Even though he would still contest a number of major races in Europe, the main focus of his competitive efforts turned toward the USA where he...
Roberto Moreno enjoyed a productive career in the upper levels of professional motor sport even though his accomplishments may not have matched his talent or his promise. Like a number of young South Americans of his generation, Moreno realized that if he were to make a go of his racing...
Johnny of the ready smile and blonde hair was a motor racing shooting star who might have aspired to becoming the new Jim Clark. His rise to fame, however, came to a sudden—even if temporary—standstill after a horrendous 10-car, 150 mph Formula 3000 accident while driving Jordan Racing’s Reynard-Ford Cosworth...
Carol Spears In the late ’60s, a boyfriend introduced me to motor racing. Until then it had been all horseback riding and 4-H. The big thing then was the Can-Am, so we went to the l967 race at Laguna Seca and sat outside Turn 9. When the relationship ended, I...
From gas station owner in 1954 to leading Le Mans in 1967, sports car racer Scooter Patrick enjoyed an amazing career. Perhaps best remembered for his prowess and speed at the wheel of Otto Zipper’s many Porsches in the ’60s, Patrick also enjoyed racing success in a wide variety of...
When Ferrari decided to withdraw from the sports car championship for 1974, there were a lot of drivers on the market and Carlo Chiti acted to get some of them for Autodelta and Alfa Romeo. I was signed along with Mario Andretti and Carlos Reutemann. Rolf Stommelen and Andrea DeAdamich...
Photo: Bob Jackson In 1962, I was Jim Hall’s mechanic. There are many stories I could tell about the five years I worked for him; this is one of the more interesting ones. Jim decided we would go to the inaugural Mexican GP, scheduled for November 4, 1962. This was a...
Tony SouthgatePhoto: Pete Austin Toward the end of my first period with Shadow, things weren’t working out too well, money was getting tight and I couldn’t really get on with my job, as I wanted to. There were cutbacks here and there, and it made life difficult. There were lots...
Probably the most important thing I considered in designing a racecar back in the ’50s was to try to achieve the maximum possible power-to-weight ratio. To that end, I was always figuring out how I could safely reduce the car’s weight while maximizing the horsepower. Of course, things like handling,...
In 2001, our Ed McDonough spoke with Phil Hill about his championship year in Formula One and the oftentimes challenging politics of racing for Ferrari in the ’60s. In remembrance of Hill and his achievement, we reproduce that interview here, which first appeared in VR in our September 2001 issue....
Saying someone is/was the world’s greatest racing driver is a mug’s game. So many circumstances —not least of all technology—change so quickly, so how can anybody possibly say that Tazio Nuvolari was a greater driver than Lewis Hamilton, for instance? Based exclusively on results, however, I feel perfectly safe in...
My very first experiences in a racing car were in a Lotus Seven. In fact, prior to purchasing the Lotus I went to Lotus and asked for a job. I thought I must know how they build these cars if I’m going to race them. I was conscious too that...
Oklahoma-Based Collector, Brass-Era Enthusiast VR: How did you develop your interest in automobiles and brass era cars in particular? No Subscription? You’re missing out Any Text Here Get Started Already a Member? Sign in to your account here....
Last month we presented the first half of European Editor Mike Jiggle’s interview with engine wizard John Judd, and the discussion continues in this month’s conclusion, as Judd explains how he became an engine manufacturer and talks about his interactions with motor sport luminaries such as Ken Tyrrell and Tom...
Derek is the epitome of the driver who should have won the Formula One World Championship, but was just about always with the wrong team at the wrong time. He drove for some of the great names in the sport, like Renault and Lotus, but not when they were on...
In 1975, at Mallory Park, I made my race debut in British Touring car Championship—it was the first round of a new season. I was driving the Toyota Celica Samuri 1600-cc for the Super Samuri Team. I diced the whole race against this Ford Escort RS2000 entered by London Sports...
Miss Moss wrestled the beastly Austin-Healey 3000 to victory in the 1960 Liege-Rome-Liege Rally, likely the greatest drive of her distinguished career. Really, this column should be called “Heroine” this time, because it’s about one of the greatest stars of post-war world rallying, a woman who took on the best...
Fundamentally, the development of the Brabham “fan car” was due to the introduction of the Lotus 79, and in a sense the latter part of the Lotus 78. Both of those cars were essentially ground-effect cars with sliding skirts. The initial concept of the Brabham BT46 was to have surface-cooling...
Gail HillPhoto: Gail Hill Collection Gail Hill shares a surname synonymous with some of motor racing’s greatest and most successful drivers, Phil, Graham and Damon—all F1 World Champions. However, it was only in later life that motor racing became a focal point of her leisure time. Now she is a...
Jack Brabham Biography Jack Brabham was a second generation Aussie who’s grandfather came from the Cockney area of East London. His father who owned a grocery store just outside of Sydney was a keen motorist who taught Brabham how to drive a car at the age of 12. At 15...
Interview by Will Silk and photos courtesy of Forgotten Fiberglass Chuck Tatum was what you could say “at the right place, at the right time” by living in California in the early 1950s. It was the golden days of hot rodding, and there were no rules in regards to what...
Not only did Rubens win 11 Grands Prix, competing in more of them than any other driver, came 2nd in the 2002 and 2004 Formula One World Championships and win a couple of national and world titles, he also beat The Stig. Who, you might ask, is that? Well, he’s...
I was fifteen years karting, and ten years karting and car racing. I started with Mercedes Benz as a mechanic; I lived about 100 meters from their factory. In my time I learned to build many things, in my motor racing career this has helped me with a lot of...
By the time this column is read, the second anniversary of the passing of Tom Walkinshaw will have come and gone. In my career, I must have shared more drives with him than any other driver. You could say there were two Tom Walkinshaws. In fact, on reflection, there were...
Dario Resta competed in the first race ever held on Britain’s hallowed Brooklands circuit on July 6, 1907, and died there trying to set speed records on September 3, 1924. In between the two, his European career had its highs and lows, but his exploits in the United States were,...
Everybody knows who Bobby Unser is. During his extensive racing career, the third of Mom and Pop Unser’s four race-driving sons won races in stock cars, sports cars and sprint cars, as well as reigning over the second edition of the International Race of Champions in 1975 and the only...
It was seeing Raymond Mays’ ERA that first drew a young John Sismey to mechanical engineering. After a grammar school education, he worked as an apprentice machinist with Peter Brotherhood Ltd. of Peterborough. National Service beckoned and a spell with the Royal Air Force honed his mechanical and engineering abilities...
Throughout history, men have always competed to go faster, farther, and higher than others, and during the past century much of this has been done in motor cars. In early days no attention was paid to safety, with numerous fatalities meaning motor sport ranked second only to flying homemade aircraft...
As manager of racing public relations for Goodyear, Bill Neely accumulated a lot of interesting and outrageous stories—especially from the rough and tumble world of NASCAR. By 1973, Neeley and friend Bob Ottum wove some of these tales into a semi-fictional novel titled “Stand on It”, which they penned under...
February 11, 1962, brings back a very striking memory. I had been married for only eight days, yet for some reason I was sitting in front of a black and white television watching the Daytona 3-Hour Sports Car Race. Perhaps other things should be clearer in my memory, but there...
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