Grand Prix: "The Killer Years" an excellent documentary tragedies of 60s & 70s

Greg

Greg

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Edited to insert a working link 06/09/2012


First the video last one hour. But it is well worth the time, and highly educational. It chronicles the death of Jim Clark, and far to many more, plus the wisdom of Jackie Stewart and a few others


 
Grand Prix: The Killer Years

Pasted description


In the 60s and early 70s it was common for Grand Prix
drivers to be killed while racing,often televised for millions to see. Mechanical failure,lethal track design,fire and incompetence snuffed out dozens of young drivers. They had become almost expendable as eager young wannabes queued up at the top teams' gates waiting to take their place.


This is the story of when Grand Prix was out of control.


Featuring many famous drivers including three times world champion Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, twice world champion Emerson Fittipaldi and John Surtees OBE,this exciting but shocking film explores how Grand Prixdrivers grew sick of their closest friends being killed and finally took control of their destiny.


After much waste of life,the prestigious Belgian and German Grands Prixwould be boycotted, with drivers insisting that safety be put first. But it would be a long and painful time before anything would change,and a lot of talented young men would be cut down in their prime.


'Something was terribly wrong. I loved the sport,but it was wrong. I prayed to God whether or not to continue.' - Emerson Fittipaldi


'It made me angry. The sport was way wrong.' - Sir Jackie Stewart.
 
Sorry folks I thought the link above contained the full hour video, not just the one mimute clip.

I watched the full hour prior and assumed the 1:01 time represented an hour. I tried to clean it up tonight and repalce it with the full video, evidently the BBC has a copyright because I couldnt find one to post.

Hard to discuss the unscene, my apologies, but if you ever get a chance to see it, I would recommend it highly.
 
I am not sure if this was from the film but about a month ago I looked up a lot of videos of Jackie Stewart and came accross this



There was also another video from Watkins Glen 1973 where it showed Jackie planning his retirement after the race and to try and surprise driver Francois Cevert he was getting the #1 car upon his retirement, unfortinately Cevert gets killed and it just shows Jackie walking off with his head down in disgust.
 



I finally found a working link.

It is one hour but I promise you if you love racing, you will want to watch. Lots of great (sad) historical footage, and I gained an even greater respect for Jackie Stewart
 
wilson89 said:
I am not sure if this was from the film but about a month ago I looked up a lot of videos of Jackie Stewart and came accross this



There was also another video from Watkins Glen 1973 where it showed Jackie planning his retirement after the race and to try and surprise driver Francois Cevert he was getting the #1 car upon his retirement, unfortinately Cevert gets killed and it just shows Jackie walking off with his head down in disgust.
Click to expand...



The death of Cevert is more haunting after watching another documentary "champions forever" he is covered a lot in the documentary at Watkins Glen the very track that would take his life.

He seemed like a good kid, and he studied and learned from Stewart. He would have probably been a champion.
 
That was amazing. Thanks for the post.

How so many guys could see four men get killed every year in the sport which they compete and keep going is beyond me.
 
I've been thinking about this thread lately whilst I cut my grass.

Several guys get killed every year. And they just kept racing. F-ing crazy.
 
MOEJOE said:
I've been thinking about this thread lately whilst I cut my grass.

Several guys get killed every year. And they just kept racing. F-ing crazy.
Click to expand...



I think about those tragedies too from time to time.


As a boy Stewart was the first F1 or Gran Prix driver I remember. As a boy it was easy he was a champion, and he retired with 26 wins, the most wins for anyone at the time.



But I was too young to really enjoy his essence as a driver, the passion, the animal, the warrior type of qualities and the things drivers do to inspire us. As a boy at the time he was just great enough to win most, and he had a neat little Scottish persona.



But now I do indeed admire him for those rugged qualities that the great ones possess. He was hardcore and he saw many examples of what those cars could do. In some cases he was there to see a dead driver at the scene with their wrecked cars.



He was a calculating type, but he still would return to driving and winning afterwards. Then he championed safety, and led to better standards. He probably saved the lives of a few drivers.



Looking back on it, leads to believe that Stewart was as rugged as anyone. A great man as well as a driver.
 
Greg said:
I think about those tragedies too from time to time.


As a boy Stewart was the first F1 or Gran Prix driver I remember. As a boy it was easy he was a champion, and he retired with 26 wins, the most wins for anyone at the time.



But I was too young to really enjoy his essence as a driver, the passion, the animal, the warrior type of qualities and the things drivers do to inspire us. As a boy at the time he was just great enough to win most, and he had a neat little Scottish persona.



But now I do indeed admire him for those rugged qualities that the great ones possess. He was hardcore and he saw many examples of what those cars could do. In some cases he was there to see a dead driver at the scene with their wrecked cars.



He was a calculating type, but he still would return to driving and winning afterwards. Then he championed safety, and led to better standards. He probably saved the lives of a few drivers.



Looking back on it, leads to believe that Stewart was as rugged as anyone. A great man as well as a driver.
Click to expand...
 
Stewart was one of the greats . Overshadowed by Jim Clark when he began in F1 , but always had the talent . Stewart was a very calculating driver , thought everything through very carefully , down to the tiniest detail . Clark just raced on instinct and reflexes . Later on , Stewart was the equal of almost anyone when it came to winning .
 
Remember watching one documentary, might have been this one, Jackie or Mario said they would look around the room (at drivers meeting) to see who they thought would not be around at the end of the year.
 
aunty dive said:
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I love that movie. I can still remember watching it as a boy. Watching them getting ready on the grid was mesmerizing, the sounds and the needle moving on the RPM gage was incredibile.......

I believe they had a reverence for racing and they respected the drivers and the incredibile risk. I am going to have find that movie and watch it all again.
 
en.espn.co.uk

Tragedy overshadows Jackie Stewart's third title

A review of the 1973 season. - features from Formula 1 F1
en.espn.co.uk en.espn.co.uk

I remember an F1 documentary years ago that featured a lot of interviews with François Cevert. He seemed so likeable, and he had charisma. He was killed shortly afterward while practicing during the race weekend at Watkins Glenn. I think everyone knows the story it was going to be the last race for the retiring Jackie Stewart. He immediately withdrew for the remainder of the race weekend after learning about Cevert's death.
 
racer.com

Peter Revson: Remembering an American hero, 40 years on

America’s Peter Revson was killed in a Formula 1 testing accident 40 years ago. Handsome, intelligent and from a moneyed family, he had it all – and for 13 years had to battle those very same “adva…
racer.com racer.com

Peter Revson's bio is incredible. His Farther was co-founder or Revlon cosmetics but his family wouldn't support his racing, he had to make it on his own. He also lost a brother named Doug who was killed in a 1967 Formula 3 race.
So it is safe to say that Peter understood all of the dangers on every level.

I think he was a great driver, he won two F1 races. He was good at Indianapolis too, he looked like a future winner. Peter Revson was killed in 1974 while practicing in South Africa.
 
Greg said:
racer.com

Peter Revson: Remembering an American hero, 40 years on

America’s Peter Revson was killed in a Formula 1 testing accident 40 years ago. Handsome, intelligent and from a moneyed family, he had it all – and for 13 years had to battle those very same “adva…
racer.com racer.com

Peter Revson's bio is incredible. His Farther was co-founder or Revlon cosmetics but his family wouldn't support his racing, he had to make it on his own. He also lost a brother named Doug who was killed in a 1967 Formula 3 race.
So it is safe to say that Peter understood all of the dangers on every level.

I think he was a great driver, he won two F1 races. He was good at Indianapolis too, he looked like a future winner. Peter Revson was killed in 1974 while practicing in South Africa.
Click to expand...
Documentary on Peter Revson.
 
MOEJOE said:
That was amazing. Thanks for the post.

How so many guys could see four men get killed every year in the sport which they compete and keep going is beyond me.
Click to expand...
A lot of times it was more than just four if you count that GP drivers would also die in sportscars, like Siffert, Rodrigeuz and others. 71-73 was an awful period.

In my view, Jackie Stewart is the greatest not only because of unbelievable drives like the Ring 78, or three championships, but because of his work to make a safer sport. It's also amazing he could excell in a technical sport while suffering crippling dyslexia.
 
Correction: My memory faded out. Siffert was killed in a non championship F1 at Brands hatch. There were so many in that time period that it all runs together.
 
Screenshot_20231227_172651_Sheets.jpg
Screenshot_20231227_172916_Sheets.jpg
Screenshot_20231227_173022_Sheets.jpg
Screenshot_20231227_173148_Sheets.jpg


Some unintentional duplication due to pasted screenshots.

The Indianapolis 500 used to be counted as an F1 event so fatalities are included for those years
 
#52 is an error. It says he was killed at the Belgian GP at the Nürburgring. As we all know, the Ring is in Germany. Still, a pretty awful safety record.
 
Doc Austin said:
#52 is an error. It says he was killed at the Belgian GP at the Nürburgring. As we all know, the Ring is in Germany. Still, a pretty awful safety record.
Click to expand...
I see the same error on some other cells as well. The only thing I did was a paste and column size adjustments to size up the screenshots. I didnt move any of the data from cell to cell.

I will post the original link in a few moments with the data.
 
Hard to imagine road courses in 1970 with cars hitting pretty close to the same speed as todays cars (at least on the straights), and cars being held "in bounds" by hay bales, generic highway barrier, 2ft earth walls, and fences designed to keep fans out rather than cars in.
 
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