{"id":489790,"date":"2007-12-01T13:00:15","date_gmt":"2007-12-01T21:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=59835"},"modified":"2024-12-27T01:25:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T01:25:14","slug":"the-crystal-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-crystal-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"The Crystal Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='memberful-global-teaser-content'>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On a bleak day in November 1983, I was at Silverstone. Ken Tyrrell had promised a test drive to the Brit who finished highest in the British F3 championship. A 1981 car was wheeled out, Danny Sullivan set a mark and then Martin Brundle pulverized it. Ken had expected to be heading home before lunch, but he and Martin sat apart in the circuit\u2019s \u201cGreasy Spoon,\u201d deep in conversation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While we were building up our cholesterol, the Tyrrell mechanics were readying a current 012. That afternoon, Ken was beside himself. \u201cI\u2019ve been watching at Woodcote, and I\u2019ve never seen anyone go through there that quick.\u201d At the other end of the pit lane was Toleman, and they were testing Ayrton Senna who was lapping whole seconds, 2.6 seconds, quicker than anyone had lapped before. They were jumping up and down. It was sheer delight at both ends of the pit lane.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n        .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{\n            -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n            mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n        }\n    <\/style>\n<div class='memberful-global-marketing-content'>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-title\">No Subscription? You&#8217;re missing out<\/h2>\n<p class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content\">Any Text Here<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"a07online-global-marketing-prompt\" href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/checkout?plan=86696\">Get Started<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">\n<h4 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">Already a Member? <a href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/account\">Sign in to your account here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a bleak day in November 1983, I was at Silverstone. Ken Tyrrell had promised a test drive to the Brit who finished highest in the British F3 championship. A 1981 car was wheeled out, Danny Sullivan set a mark and then Martin Brundle pulverized it. Ken had expected to be heading home before lunch, but he and Martin sat apart in the circuit\u2019s \u201cGreasy Spoon,\u201d deep in conversation. While we were building up our cholesterol, the Tyrrell mechanics were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":322,"featured_media":606483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,11272,261,18207],"tags":[18322,17152,17140,548,7577,11793,11732,13014,506,604,17143,12707,11528,17201],"class_list":["post-489790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-culture","category-members-only","category-motorsport-racing","category-special-feature","tag-2000s-all","tag-car-culture","tag-members-only","tag-motorsport","tag-ayrton-senna","tag-danny-sullivan","tag-ken-tyrrell","tag-martin-brundle","tag-silverstone","tag-f1","tag-special-feature","tag-toleman","tag-tyrrell","tag-last-lap-column"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Crystal Ball<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mike Lawrence reveals that\u2014if history is any indication\u2014you really can\u2019t predict a Formula One driver\u2019s success on his previous performances.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-crystal-ball\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Crystal Ball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mike Lawrence reveals that\u2014if history is any indication\u2014you really can\u2019t predict a Formula One driver\u2019s success on his previous performances.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-crystal-ball\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-12-01T21:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-27T01:25:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/LL-Lawrence-Mike-520x520-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Lawrence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Lawrence\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-crystal-ball\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-crystal-ball\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Lawrence\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9ecce5f233369521caad554c1241d5d6\"},\"headline\":\"The Crystal Ball\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-12-01T21:00:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-27T01:25:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-crystal-ball\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1031,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-crystal-ball\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/LL-Lawrence-Mike-520x520-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2000s All\",\"Car Culture\",\"Members Only\",\"Motorsport &amp; 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