A chance to visit the Isle of Man is not to be missed, the insane, majestic Tourist Trophy course is to be cherished.
Slippery Slope?
The weapon of choice was an Aston Martin Vanquish S. This particular example was third last car built at the Newport Pagnell factory, a last link with history.
The Museum in the photo is also gone, closed as a result of the toxic presence of asbestos.
Happy days.
John Brooks, January 2011
Thundering Herd
Another chapter closes, the FIA GT Championship ran between 1997 and 2009. I was at Hockenheim to witness the birth of this Brave New World back in the last century, so I thought that a visit to Zolder to pay respects to the final round was appropriate.
The duel was between Maserati and Corvette with the Italian SuperCar coming out on top.
Next stop would the FIA GT1 World Championship, same result though.
John Brooks, January 2011
A week ago I was on my way home from The Emirates where I had been covering the Dubai 24 Hours.
The Dubai circuit is quite restricted in terms of access as there is 12 foot debris fencing around most of the track. This makes panning and any kind of motion shot difficult.
Flat in Sixth
So this image of the BMW Z4 is pleasing, the cars in the background are on their way down the E311 or Emirates Road which used to have the reputation of being something of a racetrack itself.
More from Dubai this week.
John Brooks, January 2011
A step too far……..
The expression legendary has been thoroughly debased by application to people and things that are nothing of the sort. However amongst the Pyrite are to be found nuggets of the Real Stuff.
Porsche 956/117 is such a car, taking back to back victories at the 1984-85 Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans as well as 12 other wins in its three season career. A third win at La Sarthe in 1986 seemed on the cards till the engine expired during the night. Following the fatal accident of Jo Gartner, the race had been run under a safety car for several hours and this was believed at the time to have caused the problem.
Legend can be appropriately and deservedly applied to this Champion.
John Brooks, January 2011
2010 was a golden year for the Porsche pair, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz. GT2 class victory at Le Mans and in the Le Mans Series put them right at the top of the tree.
This a golden moment from Hungary.
Sunset Boulevard
John Brooks, 2011
Today’s offering dates back nearly 30 years to October 1982. One of my first media passes at an endurance event was for the 1000kms of Brands Hatch, part of the World Endurance Championship for Drivers.
935 at Druids
John Fitzpatrick (driving) and David Hobbs took third place overall in this Kremer copy of the legendary Porsche 935-78.
Of course the titanic struggle at the front between Rothmans Porsche and Martini Lancia overshadowed this fine effort.
No matter, the 935 in this final evolution still looks the dog’s bollocks, even allowing for the passage of time.
John Brooks, January 2011
The 2011 Dubai 24 Hours saw a trio of Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3 entries and very impressive they were in the flesh. They are the real deal and will give Porsche, Audi and BMW a right hard time at this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours.
So as a salute to this batch of Silver Arrows they feature as the first Blink of An Eye post. Who knows it might even become a daily thing?
Wheel of Fortune
Click to enlarge.
John Brooks, January 2011