Lola GT Mk6, the \'Ring, Le Mans, Aerodynamics
At the risk of repeating some history already known to the GT40s website members I’ll tell you more.
Judging by some of the replies to my postings all I can say is that there are some highly articulate, friendly, intelligent and well-informed GT40s members out there – the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, Belgium, France and more. Nice to know that we GT40 buddies live in a friendly, helpful global village. My only wish is that the US/Iraq situation would go away so that we can get on with our lives in peace and harmony. For many years South Africa was hardly the most popular country in the world but after the big political change in 1994 I believe that we proved to the world that political differences can be resolved without bloodshed, civil war or violence.
But back to other important issues! The new Lola GT Mk6 was entered for John Surtees in its first race, the Silverstone National Trophy Race in mid-May, 1963. Surtees, however, was contracted to Ferrari and had to opt out. His place was taken by my friend and fellow countryman, Tony Maggs, who didn’t even have the opportunity to practice. At the time Tony was a member of the Cooper F1 team but had no problems with contracts. He started at the back of the grid and then had to accustom himself to something he had never heard of before – a clutch that bit deeper as the revs went up. On slowing down for the corners the clutch would let go and the engine would cut which meant that he had to restart for each corner. He said that he got the car at some alarming angles until he perfected a heel and toe method that would keep the engine going. In spite of this handicap he finished in ninth spot and when he arrived back in the pits he told Eric Broadley that he should use the gearbox and weird clutch as a boat anchor. This was quite a practical suggestion as Eric was a boating man. Tony lives in Hermanus about 80 miles from Cape Town and just the other day we reminisced about the good old 1960s.
Two weeks later Tony and fellow South African Bob Olthoff were teamed up to drive the car in the Nurburgring 1000 kms. Once one is involved in a certain field of activity it’s amazing how the same people keep popping up in one’s life. Just yesterday Bob was sitting in my office and as with Tony we had a good rap about the olden days. In fact Bob’s daughter, Cheryl, is married to Tony’s stepson,
Merlin (good Spitfire name!). Today Bob lives in North Carolina and is the Superformance distributor there. One of the reasons he came to South Africa was to spend time at the Hi-Tech Automotive factory in Port Elizabeth to assist with the setting up of the new Daytona Coupe. I saw the car at the Killarney circuit two weeks ago during the classic race. Bob did a few parade laps and all I can say the car is stunning in dark blue. The new Daytona coupe has been developed with the full support and guidance by original designer, Pete Brock. The other reason Bob came to Cape Town was to check on the …….um ……er ….. other project.
Anyway, back to the ‘Ring. It’s amazing how little was known about aerodynamics even as recently as the 1960s. During the race, along the undulating straight towards the start and finish line the Lola’s rear end would lift right off the deck and both Bob and Tony told me at different times that they did exactly the same thing, for a bit of fun. As the tail lifted at about 150 mph, with the rear wheels spinning in mid air, they would blip the throttle and watch the rev counter needle shoot up. The straight was lined on either side with neat hedges and in addition to the tail lifting it would wave about in mid air and clout the hedges. Next lap around there would be a carpet of swirling leaves! Scary stuff. Tony claims that they saved the Nurburgring managament some labour by trimming its hedges.
I’m sure that Tony will remember the year 1963 as a bad one for aerodynamics.
Two weeks after the ‘Ring experience he was teamed up with Jo Bonnier for Le Mans. The pair was to share an experimental eight cylinder coupe based on the RS61. During practice the car weaved so badly down the Mulsanne straight that neither Jo or Tony knew whether they would hit a slower car up the rear end or pass it either left or right.
In desperation Tony asked his friend and first class development driver, Ritchie Ginther, for advice. Ritchie was down to drive the Rover-BRM gas turbine car with Graham Hill and had no need to impart technical advice for free to Porsche, but such was the camaraderie in the 1960s that that was par for course ( I know Hersh agrees with me!). Ritchie ambled over to the Porsche pit and on a piece of scrap paper sketched an aluminium spoiler for the head mechanic. ‘Nein!’ was the reaction, there was no ways he was going to make changes to the car. It had to be designed in and sanctioned by Stuttgart. ‘Look, fella’, said both Jo and Tony, ‘We have to drive this thing for 24 hours, our necks are on the line, not yours – make a plan!’. In the end the head mechanic gave in under pressure and agreed to fabricate the rather crude spoiler and did it work! Tony said that from car that steered like a pig on the way to the abattoir he could hold one of the spokes with one hand and the car was needle straight down the Mulsanne straight. Sadly at around midnight the NART Ferrari blew its engine along the Mulsanne straight and Bonnier who was in the slipstream caught the full load of oil on the windscreen. He lost vision and ploughed into the forest to the left. The car was totalled but old Jo calmly walked back to the pits without a scratch. I was standing next to Huschke (sorry, Herr van Hanstein) in the pit lane at 01:15 when Jo stolled in. A hugely relieved Huschke asked what happened. Jo explained. Huschke asked what the car looked liked. Jo in his calm, laid back Swedish way said, ‘Oh, just a little bit bad’. The next morning in the light of day it looked more like an aircraft accident as opposed to a race car accident!
At about the time Jo went off on his forest expedition I was standing in White House corner with my American colleague, Randy Edwards, from Orange City in Florida. It was very misty and a car came through and suddenly there was a thudding and bumping sound accompanied by headlights arcing through the sky. Clearly a roll over. Australian driver, Frank Gardner, always said he didn’t mind accidents but it was the noise they made that bothered him! In the dark I didn’t have a clue who it was, but guess who? Non other than Bob Olthoff who was sitting in my office only yesterday. Bob was driving an Austin-Healey in the race and was immediately flown to hospital in England, where like all good racing drivers he quickly recovered from concussion and some broken bones.
Le Mans in those years just had to be one of the most fantastic motor racing spectacles in the world. What are my memories of 1963? First of all looking back nearly 40 years I just feel enormously privileged that not only was I able to attend but that I was able to photograph the traditional Le Mans start from the Porsche pits. Another stroke of luck is that the Attwood/Hobbs Lola GT Mk6 started right under my nose, which meant that I saw GT40s surrogate mother in its third ever race. The deadly silence, a minute before the start, from the thousands of spectators in the stands opposite the pits was quite eerie. One could hear a pin dropping and then dead on four o’clock there was the patter of 60 pairs of feet. Thereafter there was the unabated noise of racing engines in a hurry for the next 24 hours.
There were the side shows, people scattered all over the place at night wrapped up in sleeping bags, the smell of fish and chips, headlights piercing the night skies, the high pitched howl of a Ferrari V12, the angry grunt of a stock block Ford V8,
Mass on Sunday morning at a makeshift altar next to the Esses, the priest pausing from time to time lest a passing car drown his message to Upstairs.
Then there was the strange, whistling Rover-BRM gas turbine that just went like clockwork and lasted the distance. The throttle response was so slow that Hill and Ginther would brake with the left foot at the end of the Mulsanne straight and stomp hard on the throttle pedal about 50 yards before the corner. Once round the the corner there would be a great whoosh and off it rocketed like a Boeing.
And 24 hours later a peaceful calm. I’ve always liked the expression – the silence was deafening. True of Le Mans!
And last but not least – Le Mans is of course why our beloved GT40s became famous!
I’ve made this deal with the guy from Mars to post my pics!
In the attached pics you see Richard Attwood, driving without gloves, jumping into the Lola (the door looks kinda familiar!) and next to him Edgar Barth is getting into the eight cylinder Porsche Spyder.
The second pic shows the field getting underway and Porsche race boss, Huschke von Hanstein, in brown sports jacket can be seen filming Jo Bonnier.
The third pic shows the Bonnier/Maggs slamming past the pits with the makeshift spoiler just visible.
The fourth pic of the Porsche pit shows ‘Andre 40’, aged 23, left, colleagues Sybille Klein, Thora Hornung and husband, Wolfgang, Evi Butz (now Mrs Dan Gurney –lucky Dan!) in black sweater and white slacks, Edgar Barth and a very young Jurgen Barth who like his father joined Porsche and became a works driver.
Hope you enjoyed my historic ramblings!
Take it easy
Andre 40
