Briefs and de-briefs
I haven’t had much time for neg-scanning recently but managed to squeeze some in a few moments ago whilst watching a replay of Ashton Agar’s amazing innings at Trent Bridge in the first Ashes Test (cricket, for those of you unfamiliar with this sport of sports). The idea was to scan a further ten pictures or so but I have to confess that I stopped after only two or three: the sheer natural talent of this 19-year-old Australian spinner-batsman, combined with his humility, is just captivating.
Cricket? Motor racing? Jim Clark was an excellent cricketer; let’s not forget that.
Anyway: back to motor racing. Here’s some more from the glorious days of the Kyalami Ranch, South Africa: 
That’s Alain Prost, now looking up from his copy of L’Equipe; 
and this is something you wouldn’t see today – two Italian F1 drivers having a laugh (Riccardo Patrese and Andrea de Cesaris). Back then, the concept of there being no Italians in F1 was about as laudable as an F1 season without the Kyalami Ranch.
Here are some de-briefs, too: 
Alain Prost lunches with McLaren’s John Barnard; 
Tyrrell’s Brian Lyles confers with the brilliant Stefan Bellof on the Detroit pit wall; 
and we eavesdrop behind Frank Williams as Neil Oatley (right) takes notes and Jacques-Henri Laffite and Keijo Rosberg think Williams-Honda
peterwindsor.com 
Couldn’t work out before what was so special about a round of 98 at the Scottish Open … your blog is doubly informative. Please get back to the scans ASAP 🙂 BTW today’s smart phones make a fairly nifty capture if you find yourself under substantial time pressure 😉
i seem to say this every time you post one of these pictures, but the red checked patterned table cloth and these ubiquitous aluminum folding chairs (that alain is seated on) are such a insight into how far this sport has come has it not?
The sport has come a long way, undoubtedly.. But is that entirely a good thing? Modern F1 is so remote from the ordinary fans. These images make it seem so much more accessible.
PS. Really enjoying the posts on this site..
Thanks. Personally, I’m not a fan of “bigger is better”, which indirectly means that I’m not really a fan of all the things that make F1 “the biggest TV sport in the world”. It is bigger; we all know that. Is it better? Only in the sense that more people are making more money. The drivers still have understeer and oversteer, the mechanics still work their socks off…but it’s now much harder for the fans at the race track to see any of that. That, for me, does not add up to “better”.