Grand Prix Insider

16th of June – Sweden’s Jo Bonnier, pictured above in a Centro Sud-Maserati 250F at the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix, was a very competent privateer racer, an international socialite, and a heir to the Bonnier’s Aktiebolag publishing empire. That you might know by yourself. Now I’ve heard of an exciting film project that’s currently being produced and the filmmakers have secured a range of previously unseen footage as well as images. I’m not allowed to tell much more than this for the time being. But reading through the synopsis I found there’s a very interesting spin to it. Watch this space for more news on that.

16/6/1942, Giacomo Agostini is born in Lovere, Italy.

Giacomo Agostini, nicknamed Ago, is considered one of the greatest motorcycle Grand Prix riders of all time. In 17 years he won a record 15 Grand Prix World Championship titles and 122 Grand Prix victories. After retiring from motorcycle competition at the end of the 1977 season, Ago began an auto racing career in 1978 entering the European Formula 2 series in a Chevron-B42 BMW. His Formula 1 debut came that same year in the British Aurora series driving a self-entered Williams FW06-1. But contrary to John Surtees and Mike Hailwood he was not successful on four wheels and never made it onto a F1 Grand Prix grid. He ended his auto racing career in 1980 and returned to the motorcycle racing scene as as team manager to the Marlboro Yamaha team, entering successful riders such as Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer and Eddie Lawson.

16/6/1923, Ronald Flockhart is born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Former motor cycle racer Ron Flockhart was signed up by BRM in 1954, initially to race in national Formula Libre events with the supercharged car. He also made his GP debut that season, taking over Bira’s Maserati in the British GP before crashing. Winning the the 24 hours of Le Mans twice for Ecurie Ecosse in 1956 and 57 must probably seen as his career highlights. In Formula 1 his career didn’t take off, despite a 3rd place for Connaught at the Italian GP in 1956. An accident in the 1957 French GP left him with burns to arm and legs, a crash at Rouen in a sports car race in 1958 set him back again. In 1959 he finished 6th in the French GP when a stone smashed his goggles and he drove on gamely to the finish with the use of virtually only one eye and a badly cut face.

Ron also drove a single Grand Prix for both Lotus and Cooper, but already his thoughts were turning towards his other passion, aviation. He had gained a pilot’s licence back in 1948, and now set about breaking flying records. Flockhart was killed when his aeroplane broke up in turbulence while he was in Australia practising for a London-to-Sydney record attempt.

Born: 16th of June 1923 in Edinburgh, Scotland;
Died 12th of April 1962 in Dandenong, Australia, aged 38.

16/6/1930, Michel Poberejsky is born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

Racing under the pseudonym Mike Sparken, this wealthy Frenchman built himself quite a good reputation as a successful international sportscar racer at a very young age. His Grand Prix debut came at the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree at the wheel of a works Gordini. Having accomplished that, he decided to retire from racing at the age of 25.