That Was The Week That Was: Anniversaries and Milestones From Motorsport's Past

August 1

1959: Grand Prix driver Jean Behra was killed, aged 38, in a Porsche sportscar during a support race to the German Grand Prix at the Avus circuit in Berlin. The Frenchman was one of the best never to win at the top level, taking nine podium finishes – two seconds and seven thirds – in Gordini, Maserati and BRM machinery from his 52 starts.

1959: Former Le Mans winner Ivor Bueb died six days after crashing his Cooper-Borgward at the French Charade circuit. The 36-year-old raced in five GPs, for Connaught, Maserati, Lotus and Cooper, and also won the Le Mans 24 Hours twice for Jaguar – in a works D-type in1955 and in an Ecurie Ecosse example in 1957.

1976: Niki Lauda suffered his infamous fiery crash at the Nürburgring in the early laps of the German GP. He survived, missing two races and returning to take his title fight with James Hunt to the last round in Japan.

1980: Frenchman Patrick Depailler was killed after crashing his Alfa Romeo 179 V12 at Hockenheim during a mid-season test. The 35-year-old had tackled 95 GPs, winning at Monaco in 1978 for Tyrrell and in Spain a year later in a Ligier.

August 2

1959: Berlin’s Avus circuit, using part of an autobahn with banked hairpins at either end, hosted its only German GP. The race was won from pole position by Tony Brooks’ Ferrari, but was marred by the death the day before of French ace Jean Behra.

1964: Multiple touring car champion and Le Mans winner Frank Biela was born. The German took DTM and supertouring titles in Germany and lifted supertouring crowns in France and Britain – all for Audi. He later went on to win Le Mans on five occasions and the Sebring 12 Hours four times – again for Audi.

1970: Hockenheim held its first German GP after a driver-led dispute over safety at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The race was won by the Lotus 72C of Jochen Rindt. The race returned to the Nürburgring for 1971, but would be back at Hockenheim for 1977 after Niki Lauda’s accident the year before spelled the end for F1 at the Nordschleife.

August 3

1958: English Ferrari ace Peter Collins crashed to his death while leading the German GP at the Nürburgring. He was 26. His third and final win had come in the previous race – the British GP at Silverstone. 

1975: The German GP at the Nürburgring was won by the Brabham BT44B of Carlos Reutemann, the Argentinian’s fourth and final win for Bernie Ecclestone’s team. Second went to Jacques Laffite, who recorded the first podium finish for Frank Williams’ team and its Williams FW01. 

August 4

1963: Seven-time World Motorcycle Champion John Surtees scored his first GP win, taking his Ferrari 156/63 to a 1m17s victory over polesitter and points leader Jim Clark in the German GP. Third went to the BRM of American Richie Ginther.

1968: Jackie Stewart pulled off a remarkable four-minute victory in a German GP blanketed by heavy rain and fog. The Scot’s Matra MS10 beat the Lotus 49 of Graham Hill at the fearsome Nürburgring Nordschleife. The race was notable for the first appearance in a World Championship GP by a full-face helmet, that worn by Eagle driver Dan Gurney, who finished ninth.

1971: NASCAR hero Jeff Gordon was born. Recently back in action in 2016, deputising for Dale Earnhardt Jr after retiring at the end of 2015, the Californian has won four top-class drivers’ titles and 93 races, a haul that puts him third on the all-time list.

1985: Italian Teo Fabi started from pole position for the first time – in the German GP. It also marked the first pole for the British Toleman team. The race was won by the Ferrari of Michele Alboreto, who’d started eighth.

August 5

1936: US racing hero Gordon Johncock was born. He won 24 Indycar races across the USAC and CART eras and won the blue-riband Indianapolis 500 in 1973 and 1982.

1943: Finnish racer Leo Kinnunen was born. He won four World Sportscar Championship races in 1970 in a JWA Gulf Porsche 917 alongside superstar team-mate Pedro Rodriguez and also contested one GP – the 1974 Swedish – in a Surtees. Interestingly, he was the last driver to wear an open-face helmet in F1.

1962: Jack Brabham gave his eponymous team its first F1 start when he entered a 1.5-litre Climax-engined BT3 in the German GP at the Nürburgring. He qualified 24^th of the 26 starters and retired after nine laps with a throttle problem.

1968: WRC hero Colin McRae was born. Father of five-time British Champion Jimmy, the Scot went on to win 25 events at the top level – for Subaru and Ford – and famously became Britain’s first World Champion in 1995.

1973: Flying Finn Timo Mäkinen won his home rally, the 1000 Lakes, in a Ford Escort RS1600. Co-driven by Englishman Henry Liddon, Makinen finished more than two minutes clear of Markku Alén’s Volvo 142.

1973: Jackie Stewart took what would be his 27^th and last F1 victory when he led team-mate François Cevert to a Tyrrell one-two in the German GP. The blue machines finished 40 seconds clear of Jacky Ickx, the Belgian making his debut for McLaren.

August 6

1988: Argentina’s favourite rallying son Jorge Recalde took a dramatic win in his home round of the WRC for Lancia. The event was poorly supported, but Recalde beat factory Lancia team-mate and World Championship leader Miki Biasion by 3m35s to score what was his only win at that level.

2006: Jenson Button’s maiden F1 win came in a wet/dry Hungarian GP, the Honda driver charging up the order from a penalty-affected 14^th on the grid. Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa secured his first career podium in only his third race of the year as a McLaren stand-in. German Nick Heidfeld’s third place was the BMW Sauber team’s first podium finish, too.

August 7

1939: The Brooklands circuit in Weybridge, Surrey – the world’s first purpose-built paved racetrack – hosted its last event. The circuit, which opened in 1907, was reclaimed as an airbase by the government at the start of World War 2 and never reopened for racing at the end of the conflict.

1982: Ferrari star Didier Pironi was badly injured in a qualifying crash for the German GP at Hockenheim. The Frenchman hit the back of Alain Prost’s unsighted Renault at high speed during the wet session and suffered horrendous leg injuries. There was talk of a comeback with Ligier in 1987, but the 35-year-old was killed in a powerboat accident off the Isle of Wight in August that year.