That Was The Week That Was – Anniversaries And Milestones From Motorsport's Past

April 11

1977: Björn Waldegaard won the Safari Rally, the Swede guiding his Ford Escort RS1800 to victory in the African marathon over the Datsun Violet of Rauno Aaltonen.

1977: Englishman Brian Henton won the European Formula 2 qualifier at Thruxton to give the Boxer marque its only series win. Henton’s Hart-powered PR2 beat the Project Four Racing-run Ralt-BMW of American Eddie Cheever.

1993: Ayrton Senna famously won the only World Championship Grand Prix at Donington Park. The Brazilian’s Ford V8-powered McLaren MP4-8 vanquished the Renault V10-motivated Williams FW15Cs of Damon Hill and Alain Prost to capture the European GP in appalling conditions.

April 12

1942: Carlos Reutemann was born. The Argentinian won 12 Grands Prix for Brabham, Ferrari and Williams between 1974 and 1981, finishing second in the drivers’ title in ’81. He’s now active in politics in his native Argentina.

1962: Spanish rally legend Carlos Sainz was born. ‘El Matador’ won 25 WRC events for Toyota, Subaru, Ford and Citröen and landed the drivers’ title for Toyota in 1990 and 1992. He also won the Dakar Rally for VW in 2010.

1970: Mexican ace Pedro Rodriguez stunned his rivals and onlookers with a five-lap win for Porsche in the BOAC 1,000km at Brands Hatch, the third round of that year’s International Championship for Makes. Co-driven by Finn Leo Kinnunen, Rodriguez put on a staggering display in the Gulf 917K to defeat the Salzburg cars of Vic Elford/Denny Hulme and Richard Attwood/Hans Herrmann.

1971: Former World Champion Graham Hill took his only European F2 win – in the Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy at Thruxton. The British racing legend’s Rondel Racing Brabham BT36 defeating the March 712Ms of Ronnie Peterson and Derek Bell.

April 13

1931: Happy 85^th birthday to Dan Gurney, one of racing’s greatest all-rounders. The American was a winner in Formula 1, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, Can-Am, Trans-Am, NASCAR and the British Touring Car Championship.

1986:Ayrton Senna pipped Nigel Mansell by 0.014s to win the Spanish GP at Jerez. Senna had given Lotus its 100^th pole and fended off a charging Mansell’s Williams to record one of the closest GP finishes in F1 history.

April 14

1985: Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass led a Porsche 1-2-3 in the Mugello 1,000km, opening round of the World Sportscar Championship. The works Rothmans 962C held sway over the Kremer car of Marc Surer/Manfred Winkelhock and the Brun version of Stefan Bellof/Thierry Boutsen in what was the last WSCC race at the Italian venue.

1991: Peugeot’s Group C-spec 905 took its first World Sportscar Championship win when Philippe Alliot and Mauro Baldi won the opening round of the season, the Suzuka 430km. The French machine beat the Sauber-Mercedes of Jean-Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass by a lap.

April 15

1974: Joginder Singh won the Safari Rally for Mitsubishi, marking the local hero’s and the Japanese marque’s maiden WRC win. Second went to the Porsche 911 of Björn Waldegaard, with Sandro Munari’s Lancia Stratos taking third.

2001: The Williams-BMW combination took its first Grand Prix victory when Ralf Schumacher triumphed in the San Marino GP at Imola. The German got the jump on the front-row duo, McLaren’s David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen, at the start and led throughout.

April 16

1986: Paul di Resta was born. Having won the DTM for Mercedes in 2010, the Scot raced for Force India in F1 for three years, taking a best result of fourth – in Singapore in 2012 and Bahrain in 2013. He’s now back in the DTM, bidding for a second title.

1990: Björn Waldegaard took his 16^th and final WRC win, in the Safari Rally. Co-driven by birthday boy Fred Gallagher (38 at the time, 64 today!), Waldegaard’s Toyota Celica GT4 came home almost 40 minutes ahead of the Lancia Delta Integrale of Juha Kankkunen.

April 17

1954: Riccardo Patrese was born. The Italian raced in a then-record 256 Grands Prix for Shadow, Arrows, Brabham, Alfa Romeo, Williams in Benetton between 1977 and 1993, winning six times – twice for Brabham and four times for Williams.

1977: Goodwood favourite Jochen Mass took his third career F2 win, four years after his second! The German won the third round at Hockenheim in a March-BMW, having last tasted the winner’s champagne in a Surtees TS15, also at Hockenheim, in 1973. 

1986: Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean was born. The Frenchman has raced for Renault and Lotus in F1 since 2009, with a best result of second – in Canada in 2012 and the USA in 2013 for Lotus. He currently sits fifth in the F1 drivers’ championship table after scoring points in the Haas team’s first two GPs.

1994: Michael Schumacher won the inaugural Pacific Grand Prix at Aida. The German’s Benetton-Ford beat Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari and the Jordan-Hart of Rubens Barrichello, the young Brazilian securing his maiden podium in F1.