Sunday,

5th of April – Jenson Button’s has had a perfect start into 2009, winning 2 Grands Prix in a row with his performance at Sepang today. More than that: Jenson has firmly put his name in the record books today for being the first driver ever to take a debutant Formula 1 team to back-to-back victories in their first 2 Grands Prix.

5/4/1936, Ronnie Bucknum is born in Alhambra, USA

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Ronald Bucknum had won Sports Car Club of America titles in 1959, 1960 and 1962 and 1964 when he was signed by Honda to spearhead their Grand Prix challenge. When the 1.5-liter-V12-powered RA271 appeared  at the Nürburgring for the 1964 German GP, it was the most challenging track of the calendar for Bucknum to have his single-seater debut at. And he was luccky to survive this daunting debut when the car suffered a steering failure. The same happened during winter of testing for the 1965 season at Suzuka, this time breaking his leg and setting his preparations for a what was meant to be a full season back. He scored his only World Championship points in the final round at Mexico City, finishing an overshadowed 5th as team-mate Richie Ginther scored the first Grand Prix win for Honda. But at least it helped to propell his racing career, being invited to join the Ford sports car team for 1966. Honda invited him back for the end-of-season American races that year, to see if he copes with the 3-liter-F1 cars. Ronnie did reasonably well nut Honda decided to cut down to a single car operation. Ronnie went on racing in Can-Am and USAC, winning the Michigan 500 in just his second oval race, driving an Eagle. Subsequently he raced sports and TransAm cars for Roger Penske, teamed up with Sam Posey in the NART Ferrari in long-distance events in the early 1970s and continued in sports cars until the 1980s. Ronnie Bucknum died in 1992 after a long fight with a diabetes-related illness. His son Jeff has forged his own career in sports and GT cars, making his debut in the Indy Racing League in 2005.

Born: 5th of April 1936 in Alhambra, USA;
Died: 14th of April 1992 in San Luis Obispo aged 56.

5/4/1922, Andy Linden is born in Brownsville, USA

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Andrew Linden participated in the Indy 500 from 1951 to 1957 and without his car breaking down or being involved in a 3rd lap crash in 1953, he’d finish the big race in the Formula 1 World Championship points scoring positions. Thus his name appears in the points scoring F1 stats, his best result being the 4th place in right his first atempt in 1951. Never fully recovered from a career ending crash in 1957. A former US marine, this colossus of a man became one of the top sprint, midget and AAA drivers just after WW2, but at his peak he was left brain damaged when his helmet was pierced. Despite being confined to a wheelchair for the majority of his life. Andy Linden’s die in 1987, aged 64, but with his pride and determination he managed to learn how to walk again to some degree long before.

Born: 5th of April 1922 in Brownsville, USA
Died: 10th of February 1987 in Torrance, USA, aged 64.

5/4/1973, .David Murray dies

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David Murray formed the famous Ecurie Ecosse team in 1952 to run Cooper-Bristol at the British Grand Prix that year and thereafter stepped back to fulfill the role as team boss. The team’s major achievements were the 2 victories at Le Mans 24 hours in 1956 and 1957. In the early 1970s he retired to the Canary Islands, some say to escape tax and financial problems in Britain. David Murray died in 1973 after a road accident in Las Palmas.

Born: 28th December 1909 in Edinburgh, UK;
Died: 5th of April 1973 in Las Palmas, Spain, aged 74

5/4/1920, Alfonso Thiele is born in Istanbul, Turkey

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Alfonso Thiele was born in Turkey but lived most of his life in Novara, Italy, holding citizenship of both Italy and the United States. He was a successful sports car racer in the 1950s and 1960s, winning the 750cc class in the 1957 Mille Miglia at the wheel of a Fiat-Abarth. In 1959 he scored a popular win in the Gran Premio della Lotteria for GT cars at Monza, driving a Ferrari 250GT. It was in 1960 that he was offered the Scuderia Centro Sud’s Cooper Formula 1 car for the Italian Grand Prix. He qualified the Maserati-powered T51 in 9th but suffered a broken gearbox after 2/3 of the race. It remained a one-off as far as F1 is concerned. He continued his career as a succesful sports car racer and works driver for Abarth and Alfa Romeo.

Alfonso Thiele is believed to have passed away at his home in Italy in July of 1986 at the age of 66 years. However, the man remains a bit of a mistery to historians as it has been sugested that he’d been of Argentine od Uruguayan origin. Also his year of birth is sometimes mentioned as 1922, and there seems doubts as to his date of death either.

Born: 5th of April 1920 in Istanbul, Turkey;
Died: 15th of July 1986 in Novara, Italy, aged 66.