Home  
Site Partners: SpotterGuides Veloce Books  
Related Sites: Classic Cars Monthly Your Link Here  

Go Back   TenTenths Motorsport Forum > Historic Racing & Motorsport History > Motorsport History

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 4 Nov 2000, 01:39 (Ref:46629)   #1
TimD
Ten-Tenths Hall of Fame
Veteran
 
TimD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 1999
United Kingdom
Derbyshire Peak District, United Kingdom
Posts: 3,797
TimD should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridTimD should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridTimD should be qualifying in the top 3 on the grid
... actually, they do. And the best exponent lately has been Gerhard Berger.

I'm talking about practical jokers. Drivers whose sense of competition could combine with a sense of fun. Gerhard's tricks at Ayrton Senna's expense have become legendary. An incident with a briefcase and an open helicopter window springs to mind, as does an unpleasantness involving a pair of Ayrton's shoes and a pound of butter....

But Gerhard was not the first, by any means. My favourite was that maverick sports car driver Ninian Sanderson. By all accounts, he was not the easiest of men to get along with. He would not suffer any sort of second rate work, either in his car, or in his business. And a large part of this came from the pain of the cancer which eventually claimed him.

Ah, but what stories! Here are a few...

Ron Flockhart was preparing to leave the Aintree pit lane for a qualifying lap in the Ecurie Ecosse D-type Jaguar. Without warning, an almighty bang emitted from the back of the car, and Ron Flockhart was seen hurling himself out of the cockpit, and running for at least 50 yards away from what must surely be a spilt fuel fire.
He left behind him a pitful of Ecurie Ecosse mechanics creased up with laughter, and Ninian Sanderson looking smug, and brushing away the evidence of the lit firecracker which he had stuffed up the exhaust of the waiting Jaguar.


And one member of the general public will have cause to remember Ninian Sanderson. On an early airliner, Ninian, a WWII fighter veteran, found himself sat next to a nervous, diffident man who confessed to being on his first ever flight. Ninian gently reassured the man that he himself had completed many flights, and could vouch for the fact that the airline took no chances with safety. At this point, he wordlessly pulled his racing crash helmet out of his hand baggage, and strapped it on.
The nervous passenger just stared. Eventually, Ninian turned to him, and in earnest said "Oh, did they not give you yours? And the pilot did say it was going to be a bit rough."
With barely concealed panic, the first time flyer excused himself from his seat, and was last seen hammering on the connecting door to the flight deck, demanding a crash helmet. Ninian discreetly took himself to another seat.



Any more motor sport practical jokers? With the likes of Innes Ireland, Graham Hill, James Hunt to draw on, there have got to be some more good stories.
TimD is offline  
Quote
Old 29 Mar 2001, 06:35 (Ref:75194)   #2
Ray Bell
Veteran
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location:
Various parts of Australia
Posts: 2,221
Ray Bell should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Albany, circa 1938... Allan Tomlinson goes for a bath in the hotel... hears cries of fire from 'friends' Dwyer and Bill Smallwood, rushes to verandah in birthday suit... no smoke evident...

Good thing he could outdrive them.
Ray Bell is offline  
Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
6 IRL Drivers Make Autosports Top 50 GP Racer IRL Indycar Series 5 8 Jan 2004 19:01
Who make the better drivers???? Walshy National & Club Racing 10 28 Nov 2003 02:47
one make series for F1 drivers like IROC in the US mariov Formula One 31 11 Apr 2002 12:40
[LM24] does anyone know what drivers tend to make just for doing Le Mans? nreed 24 Heures du Mans 17 19 Mar 2002 23:34
Drivers in other series that would make NASCAR stock car drivers Joe Fan NASCAR & Stock Car Racing 16 2 Aug 2001 08:34


All times are GMT. The time now is 20:03.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Original Website Copyright © 1998-2003 Craig Antil. All Rights Reserved.
Ten-Tenths Motorsport Forums Copyright © 2004-2021 Royalridge Computing. All Rights Reserved.
Ten-Tenths Motorsport Forums Copyright © 2021-2022 Grant MacDonald. All Rights Reserved.