Indycars in the UK - 1978

[nycuk]

Hi, it's been a while since I was last on so please forgive me if this thread has been started already...
Does anybody have any info on the two races in the UK in 1978 for the USAC Indycars? I know that they came over and raced at Silverstone & Brands. My dad took me to the Silverstone race (I was 9) and I bought the race program (which I still have) so I'm okay on the entry list but I can't remember the result. Repeated Googling hasn't been useful so any info would be gratefully received. I'm sure Rick Mears won but my main memory of that grey day was meeting Danny Ongais, the smell of the methanol and the big road dryers that were on loan from Santa Pod!! I also recall getting chicken pox a few days later and watching the Brands race the following weekend live on BBC in bed. Was the Silverstone race broadcast also??
29 years on I'm going to reaqquaint myself with Indycars by attending the Indy 500 in May - cannot wait...
Thanks, Paul.

[Vitesse]

Silverstone:
http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/ch197816.pdf
Brands Hatch:
http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/ch197817.pdf

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by nycuk

My dad took me to the Silverstone race (I was 9) and I bought the race program (which I still have) so I'm okay on the entry list but I can't remember the result. I'm sure Rick Mears won but my main memory of that grey day was meeting Danny Ongais, the smell of the methanol and the big road dryers that were on loan from Santa Pod!! Thanks, Paul.

I too went down for the week-end. The race was originally scheduled for the Saturday but bad weather meant they postponed until the Sunday. I too remember the smell of methanol and the rain and the waiting! I also remember that the place looked deserted and in Autopsort they were banging the drum to get some support for the Brands event the following week-end.

At one point during the rain invoked interuption to the race on Sunday the US commentator Chris Economaki (spelling?) was doing a pit lane walkabout with a radio mike and stopped to view one car that was having its transmission rebuilt. His comment was along the lines of "... the car is having a complete hysterectomy!". Poor old Peter Scott-Russell was stunned!

I also seem to remember that on the Saturday one Nelson Piquet won the F3 support race from Derek Warwick & Huub Rothengatter!

Seeing the US racers like AJ Foyt and Rick Mears was certainly a first for me! But the highlight for me was seeing Danny Ongais again who I had last seen blasting a dragster down the runway at Woodvale in 1965!

[Alan Raine]

I marshaled at Woodcote for the Silverstone race. I was supposed to be at Mallory on the Sunday but stayed at Silverstone. I think the Mallory organisers were a bit fed up as they lost a few marshals.

The Indy Cars weren't used too often on road circuits and had problems with throttle lag. Apparently they were having to hit the throttle in the middle of the Woodcote Chicane and were hopefully pointing down the Pit Straight when the power came in!

[petestenning]

Originally Posted by Alan Raine

I marshaled at Woodcote for the Silverstone race. I was supposed to be at Mallory on the Sunday but stayed at Silverstone. I think the Mallory organisers were a bit fed up as they lost a few marshals.

The Indy Cars weren't used too often on road circuits and had problems with throttle lag. Apparently they were having to hit the throttle in the middle of the Woodcote Chicane and were hopefully pointing down the Pit Straight when the power came in!

Some also had a problem at Brands especially Foyts cars with fuel pick up round the Haipin as in the states the tracks went the other way so fuel was going away from the pickups.

The Sight of Danny Ongais at Brands leaving tyre marks along the straight for what seemed like forever, the power was unbeleivable .

It was a chance for those europeans to see Indy cars in our own back yard, an experience if a little dissapionting.

Pete

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by petestenning

It was a chance for those europeans to see Indy cars in our own back yard, an experience if a little dissapionting.

Yes it was a little dissapointing as some of the entries were'nt top calibre.

One thing that was impressive is that they seemed overtake anywhere!

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Alan Raine

Yes it was a little dissapointing as some of the entries were'nt top calibre.

One thing that was impressive is that they seemed overtake anywhere!

On the link provided by Vitesse it states "Entrants determined by special qualification session during fall Michigan race."

Maybe some of the other top line teams didn't fancy a trip over the pond? Anyway what we got was entertainment and I still remember Gordon Johncock in the Wildcat, Salt Walther in the McLaren, Spike Gelhausen in the Eagle and the rest.

I would have been interested in going to see another race the following year but unfortunately it never materialised.

[nycuk]

Originally Posted by Vitesse

Silverstone:
http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/ch197816.pdf
Brands Hatch:
http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/ch197817.pdf

Thanks very much Vitesse for the results, thanks also to you all for the info and memories!!

[allenbrown]

Another source for a slightly different view:

Silverstone

Brands Hatch

Allen

[JGM]

One little incident at Silverstone has always stuck in my memory. It was cold that weekend and I was in the paddock watching the mechanics working on their cars in the garages. One mechanic took a fuel line off his car, switched on the ignition and proceeded to empty about a gallon of fuel into the bottom of a sawn-off steel barrel. He then nonchalently took out a box of matches , struck a match and tossed it into the barrel. I was rather alarmed and stood back waiting for the wooomth! It was then that I discovered methanol behaves rather differently to petrol. A nice quiet blue flame began burning on the surface of the fuel heating the garage very efficiently.

[Alan Raine]

We had an extra fire training session a little bit before the Silverstone race. As you say Methonal burns differently, virtually without a flame. It was quite spooky as you couldn't see it - only a haze.

As an aside: This session was held the day before a race meeting, so I stayed at the circuit. The Silverstone Club were'nt doing food so I nipped into one of the pubs in the Village. Although they had stopped doing food the Landlady said she would do me some chips. She then forgot about it and it was only when I pointed out the glow coming from the kitchen that she realised the chip pan was alight. She was on her own, so I ended up putting it out myself. (The Fire Brigade rang back asking if it was a hoax). I got back to the circuit, black from the smoke and still bloody hungry!!!

I found the Indy Car Teams very friendly and always would chat about the cars and what they were doing, although I think they found us British a bit strange

[Alan Morgan]

What I remember was the fantastic sound.....

[Bob Riebe]

I believe this was the only race in which a Drake V8 finished.

Bob.

[allenbrown]

I believe Pancho Carter had one in a Lightning early 1979 and finished races at Atlanta International Raceway in April 1979.

(sorry - I just had to do that, didn't I?)

Allen

[Bob Riebe]

Originally Posted by allenbrown

I believe Pancho Carter had one in a Lightning early 1979 and finished races at Atlanta International Raceway in April 1979.

(sorry - I just had to do that, didn't I?)

Allen

Nothing to be sorry about, that is how people become informed.

Bob