It’s always a pleasure to return to Montreal. The people are in the main courteous; the city buzzes – and it’s a healthy walk to the circuit from your downtown hotel. I took my camera with me when I walked that walk last Saturday – qualifying day for the Canadian GP – and spent a little time not only on the places and buildings that over the years have come to mean something special but also on the matter of moment – the battle between Lewis and Nico. The following day, as we now know, the clash reached new heights of intensity
I recently joined a few friends in a quiet corner of F1 paradise that used to be called St Jovite
Part One: “It’s idyllic…”
Part Two: “It was that sort of circuit…”
Peter Ryan scrapbook
Although Peter raced for Canada on snow and Tarmac, he was actually an American citizen
Peter’s smudged caption says it all. John was tragically killed at the Garmisch downhill in 1959
No doubt about Peter’s national loyalties when he raced the Porsche Spyder
Stirling Moss struck trouble with third gear and a damaged radiator at Mosport in 1961, but Peter Ryan was right up there with him in a similar car (Lotus 19). Peter won the race – the September 30 Canadian Grand Prix for the Pepsi Cola Trophy. Note maple leaf logo on the door
Having caught the attention of Colin Chapman, Peter was invited to race a third works Lotus 18/21 (to be entered by J Wheeler Autosport) in the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen the following week. He qualified on the seventh row (ahead of such names as Olivier Gendebien, Roger Penske and Jim Hall) and finished an excellent ninth. Peter moved to Europe for 1962 but was killed in a Formula Junior slipstream race at Reims when his Ian Walker Lotus 22 touched wheels with Bill Moss’s Gemini. Wrote Peter Garnier, the Sports Editor of Autocar: “During his all too-brief-spell on British and Continental circuits, he had proved himself to be extremely skilful and fast, with just that touch of fire which can often indicate the makings of a great driver.”
peterwindsor.com 