I went back in 1965 and took lots of photos this time, but where did I put them? One of the best places to watch was at the top of the Raidillon, nowadays dug out and made into a run off area. There were fewer works teams than in 1964, apparently due to a clash with the Coupe des Alpes. 1965 was when I met Enrico Pinto, one of the fastest Alfa Romeo/Autodelta drivers, who was rather fun and chubby in the Alberto Ascari style.
By 1966 I had left Belgium and gone to live in Canada. I was still at school in England, in my final term, so as soon as the holidays started I went back to Spa, this time with Page & Moy, by bus.
These photos were taken in 1966
Before the start
The start
Enrico Pinto
Jacky Ickx
Jolly Club GTA
The only thing I remember about the race in 1966 was watching Jacky Ickx in the pits below me being weighed – he won his weight in coffee – a prize for leading the race at one stage. And sleeping in the bus all the way back to London.
By 1973 I was married and lived in Paris. We drove up for that race. I had a movie camera and shot the film you can see on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVAJWQ776GY
Using the public roads one could drive round most of the circuit and watch from different places. The night scenes in that film were taken from Malmedy a few seconds before the terrible accident that killed Joisten and Dubos - Joisten half spun on the marbles (he went wide to avoid slower cars on line). He held the slide but came to a halt sideways on across the track at the corner exit. Unfortunately he must have stalled. As you can imagine this big BMW took up most of the track – a bit of light at the front and rear and blackness in between The marshals down at ground level before Malmedy had not even seen him lose control, but from up on the hill we could see everything and were powerless. Then, it seemed like ages but was probably 5 to 10 seconds later, two G1 Alfas came barrelling along in close convoy (Ballot Lena leading Dubos) - Ballot saw the BMW at the last split second and swerved around it but poor Dubos had nowhere to go and slammed into the BMW. The shock was terrific, like a bomb going off. What was even worse was that later on we learned that (Massimo) Larini had picked up debris at the scene of the accident and punctured. His car flew off the road a bit further along the track and the poor driver was killed. I think after that accident they put in a chicane at Malmedy. I actually wrote a letter (I think to L’Equipe) saying that they should have a marshal observation post up on the hill and use flashing lights to signal incidents.
It is interesting that my eye-witness version is different to the one quoted on Frank de Jong’s excellent website, perhaps taken from press reports. It is difficult to blame the marshals; however it is probable that a yellow flag shown when Joisten slid to a halt would have saved two perhaps three lives. Even after the Dubos crash there were no flags immediately, I remember screaming at the marshals, as cars were still arriving at racing speed.
A lot of people commented on my film, but one commentary stands out in particular (by LhodaKblerz) :
I was at this race. It was a most surreal experience. We were camped on the inside of Les Combes. I will never forget the sight of Larini's car as it flew at the height of the trees. Also, at about the same time across the valley, the recovery from Dubois/Joisten was taking place. Blue lights everywhere and still the Capris and BMWs were screaming around as if it was the last race on earth. There is absolutely nothing like it on the planet now- …..