That Was The Week That Was – Anniversaries and Milestones From Motorsport’s Past

September 19

1946: British racer Brian Henton was born. A winner in British Formula 3 and European F2, he also made 19 F1 starts, for Lotus, March, Boro, Toleman, Arrows and Tyrrell, with a best result of seventh in the 1982 German Grand Prix.

1965: French rally ace Gilles Panizzi was born. He contested 71 WRC events between 1990 and 2006, winning seven times on asphalt for Peugeot and taking a best championship position of sixth in 2002.

1971: The Canadian GP at Mosport was won by Jackie Stewart’s Tyrrell, the Scot finishing 38 seconds ahead of Ronnie Peterson’s March and the Roger Penske-run McLaren of debutant Mark Donohue.

1999: China’s first and, to date, only WRC qualifier was won by the Peugeot 206 WRC of former World Champion Didier Auriol. The Frenchman defeated the Subaru Impreza WRC of Richard Burns by almost a minute. Carlos Sainz took third for Toyota.

September 20

1970: Jackie Stewart started the Canadian GP at St Jovite from pole position in the all-new Tyrrell 001. The Scot led until axle failure on lap 32 put him out, leaving Ferrari’s Jacky Ickx to win.

1975: Grand Prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya was born. After winning the IndyCar title, the Colombian raced in 94 GPs for Williams and McLaren, winning seven times – four for Williams and three for McLaren. Following seven years in NASCAR, he returned to IndyCar for 2014 and last season finished second in the title race and took a second Indianapolis 500 win.

1987: Alain Prost surpassed Jackie Stewart’s 14-year-old record of 27 GP wins with his 28^th career victory in the Portuguese GP at Estoril. The Frenchman’s McLaren beat the polesitting Ferrari of Gerhard Berger by 20 seconds.

1989: Richie Ginther, one of only five Americans – with Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti and Peter Revson – to win a World Championship GP, died of a heart attack in France aged 59. He won the 1965 Mexican GP to give Honda its maiden victory, having previously taken 14 podium finishes for Ferrari and BRM.

September 21

1953: Dutchman Arie Luyendyk, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was born. He won the ‘Great Race’ in 1990 in a Doug Shierson Lola-Chevrolet T90/00 and again in 1997 aboard a Treadway Racing G-Force-Oldsmobile GF01.

1997: Carlos Sainz gave the iconic Ford Escort its final WRC win, when he took an M-Sport Escort WRC to victory in Indonesia’s second and final WRC qualifier. The Spaniard led home the sister car of Juha Kankkunen by 16 seconds.

2002: Valentino Rossi secured the inaugural MotoGP title with four races to spare after winning the Brazilian GP in Rio de Janeiro. It was the Italian’s 10^th win from 12 events on the works Repsol Honda RC211V.

September 22

1967: Swede Rickard Rydell was born. The former F3 racer, who won races in the British Championship and the Macau GP, made the move to touring cars, winning the BTCC for Volvo in 1998 and the Swedish title in 2011. He also won the GT1 class at Le Mans in 2007 aboard a Prodrive Aston Martin DBR9.

1991: Williams secured its 50^th Grand Prix win, thanks to Riccardo Patrese’s victory in the Portuguese GP at Estoril. The Italian led home Ayrton Senna’s McLaren. Williams team-mate Nigel Mansell was disqualified for receiving pitlane assistance outside his pit box.

2002: Yorkshireman James Thompson clinched his maiden BTCC title for the works Vauxhall team after a win and a third place aboard the Astra Coupé in the two-race Donington Park finale. Team-mate Yvan Muller finished runner-up in the final reckoning.

September 23

1973: Peter Revson won a topsy-turvy Canadian GP for McLaren at Toronto venue Mosport Park. The race marked the first appearance of a safety car, a Porsche 914 driven by ex-racer Eppie Wietzes, and there followed much confusion among lap-charters about who had really won. The race marked what would be World Champion Jackie Stewart’s final race – next time out at Watkins Glen he would not take the start following the death in practice of his Tyrrell team-mate François Cevert. 

1987: Former rally co-drivers Henry Liddon and Nigel Harris were killed when their Toyota Team Europe plane, a Cessna 340, crashed during the Ivory Coast Rally in Africa. Part of the Toyota WRC management team, they were hugely respected in the rallying community. Liddon had won four events alongside Timo Mäkinen in works Ford Escorts, while Harris had navigated for Malcolm Wilson during his time in Audi Quattros and MG Metro 6R4s in the mid-’80s.   

1990: The only round of the World Sportscar Championship to be held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal was won by the Sauber-Mercedes C11 of Mauro Baldi and Jean-Louis Schlesser. They finished six seconds ahead of the all-British Nissan R90CK crew of Julian Bailey and Mark Blundell. Spanish racer Jesus Pareja suffered burns to his face when a loose manhole contributed to a fire in his Brun Motorsport Porsche 962C. He vowed never to wear an open-faced helmet again…

2001: Richard Burns and Robert Reid won Rally New Zealand for Subaru, their only WRC victory of the season. They finished 44 seconds ahead of championship rivals and Ford pairing Colin McRae/Nicky Grist.

September 24

1947: French rally driver Bernard Beguin was born. He famously gave Prodrive its first WRC win when he took its Rothmans-liveried BMW M3 to victory in the Tour de Corse in 1987, for what was BMW’s second and final victory in the series. Beguin beat the two Martini Lancia Delta HF 4WDs of Yves Loubet and Miki Biasion.

1972: A McLaren started from pole position for the first time, thanks to Peter Revson topping qualifying for the Canadian GP at Mosport. The American was beaten in the race by the Tyrrell of Jackie Stewart.

1988: The last victory for a rear-wheel-drive car in the WRC came in the Ivory Coast Rally. Alain Ambrosino took a Nissan 200SX to victory in a depleted entry that featured none of the factory teams.

1995: David Coulthard took his maiden F1 win in the Portuguese GP at Estoril. The Scot’s Williams-Renault FW17 started from pole position and came home 7.2s ahead of the Benetton of World Champion Michael Schumacher. Coulthard’s Williams team-mate Damon Hill finished third.

2000: The first US Grand Prix using part of the legendary banking, albeit in a clockwise direction, and an all-new infield circuit at Indianapolis was held. Ferrari took a one-two with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, with the Jordan of Heinz-Harald Frentzen taking third.

September 25

1942: Four-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Henri Pescarolo was born. He won the French endurance classic in 1972, ’73 and ’74 for Matra, and again in a Porsche in 1984. He also contested 56 GPs between 1968 and ’76, with a best result of third at Monaco in 1970 – also for Matra.

1977: Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass won the Brands Hatch 6 Hours World Sportscar Championship round in the Martini Porsche 935/77. Their winning advantage was two laps over the elder Max Moritz 935 of Edgar Doren and Manfred Schurti.

1982: Michele Alboreto claimed his maiden Grand Prix win in the Las Vegas GP, the Italian’s Tyrrell 011 finishing almost a minute clear of John Watson’s McLaren. Fifth place for Williams was enough to give Keke Rosberg the World Championship title, while Mario Andretti bowed out of F1 for the final time by spinning his Ferrari into retirement.

1983: The first of 23 races to be given the title European Grand Prix took place at Brands Hatch. The race was won by the Brabham-BMW of Nelson Piquet, who beat the Renault of Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell’s Lotus. The Nürburgring, Donington Park, Jerez, Valencia and Baku have also held the race.

1997: Wing Commander Andy Green raised the Land Speed Record from 633mph to 714mph aboard Thrust SSC in Black Rock Desert in Nevada. A few weeks later he would raise the marker to 763mph and become the first man to break the sound barrier.

2005: The A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport was born at Brands Hatch. Two races for the Lola-Zytek single-seaters were held and both were won by Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. He beat Frenchman Alexandre Prémat in the first race and Australian Will Power in the second.