Grand Prix Insider

12th of May - At the 1974 Belgian Grand Prix at Nivelles the Token RJ02 had its race debut. The car was designed by Ray Jessop and originally intended for the graduation of Rondel Racing, the successful Formula 2 team founded by Ron Dennis and Neil Trundle to Grand Prix racing. During the energy crisis, Rondel lost their sponsor Motul and had to abandon plans to move up. The completion of the car was then funded by Tony Vlassopoulo and Ken Grob, Formula 3 front-runner Tom Pryce was given the opportunity to make his F1 debut, and it was later driven by David Purley and Ian Ashley. However, after four Grands Prix Token was finished, the car was sold and later resurfaced as the Safir. Again without success.

12/5/1961, Melvin Eugene Bettenhausen dies.

Tony Bettenhausen was a dedicated and fearless driver, winner of the National US-Championship in 1951 and 1958. He retired from racing three times but always came back as he found life away from the cockpit boring. He competed in the Indy 500 14 times and in all 11 events that counted for the Formula 1 World Championship between 1950 and 1960. He never won the big race, but managed a second place in 1955 and a pair of fourths and a fifth place to his credit. During practice for the 1961 Indy 500 Tony’s friend and fellow racer Paul Russo came to him complaining about the setup of his racer, Tony promptly offered to test the same car in which Rodger Ward had won the 1959 Indy 500 in. The front axle collapsed to twist and misalign the front wheels when the brakes were applied, which forced the car into the wall. His three sons Gary, Merl and Tony Lee all went into racing. Tony Lee would one day compete in 11 Indy 500’s and also own a CART team. Gary would also take part in the Indy 500.

Born: 12th of September 1916 in Tinley Park, USA;
Died: 12th of May 1961 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, USA, aged 44.

11/10/1928, Don Alfonso Antonio Vicente Blas Angel Francisco Borija Cabez de Vaca y Leighton, Carvajal y Are, XVII Marques de Portago, Marques de Moratalla, XIII Conde de La Mejorada, Conde de Pernia, Duke of Alagon, Grande de Espana dies.

Alfonso de Portago, as he was more commonly known, was an extravagant aristocrat, a lover of the adventure and one of the most colourful characters ever in motor racing. ‘Fon’ was a fantastic all-round sportsman, he was three times French amateur champion jockey, and appeared twice at Aintree in the Grand National steeplechase; he was an international-class swimmer and he formed the Spanish bobsleigh team for the 1956 Winter Olympics. He died in violent crash in the 1957 ill race that ended up being stoppedas a result.

Born: 11th of October 1928 in London, UK.
Died: 12th of May 1957 in Goito, Italy, aged 28.

12/5/1963, Stefano Modena is born in Modena, Italy.

Stefano Modena shot to international prominence within weeks, winning the Monaco F3 race and in 1987 joined Onyx and won the International Formula 3000 title at his first attempt. At the end of that year Nigel Mansell crashed in Japan and was unable to finish the season and so Williams hired Brabham’s Riccardo Patrese and Bernie Ecclestone put Modena in the Brabham for his F1 debut in Australia. As Ecclestone sold the Brabham team, Modena ended up with the uncompetitive EuroBrun outfit. When Brabham returned in 1989 (under different ownership) Modena was there and in 1989 he finished third at Monaco. But the team faded gradually away in 1990.

For the 1991 season Modena, still highly-rated, was signed by Ken Tyrrell team and in 1992 oved on to Jordan. But the Yamaha engines were a disappointment and Modena never really figured and at the end of the year he slipped out of F1. His new field of activity became the German DTM series and the International Touring Car Championship scene with Alfa Romeo where he won several races in the course of the 1994 and 1995 seasons. When he retired from racing, Modena became tire manufacturer Pirelli’s star test driver.

12/5/1922, Francesco Salvadori is born in Davercourt, UK.

Roy Salvadori’s Formula 1 debut came in 1953, racing predominantly in non-Championship events before being asked to drive for the works Cooper squad and later the front-engined Aston Martin DBR4 which did not arrive on the scene until 1959. He later drove for the Yeoman Credit team, in whose Cooper he almost won the 1961 US Grand Prix. At the end of 1962 he retired from Formula 1 and quit sports car racing a couple of years later. A successful motor trader, he became heavily involved in the Cooper-Maserati squad in 1966-67 as team manager before retiring to Monaco.