1971: ANNIE NIGHTINGALE at SILVERSTONE Grand Prix | Before The Event | Classic Sport | BBC Archive

here in the cisac right under the flight path of London Airport is the home of one of the most successful areas of British Motor Racing and here joint managing director of McLaren racing Phil Kerr the name of the game is to win of that there is no doubt I think all of us that are involved in racing have one ambition and that is to win uh we hate like anything getting beaten modern racing cars are very expensive to manufacture in the first instance they're inordinately expensive to maintain because you've got highly stressed engines and highly stressed components which require attention after and before every race I think it's true to say that the engine is very much the heart of the Racing Car costing 7,500 lb alone this engine made by Ford Cosworth has been fantastically successful it has eight cylinders four valves to each cylinder twice the number in a domestic car built with Incredible prision it produces an amazing 450 horsepower from its 3 l capacity stretched to the Limit it has to be completely rebuilt before every race but it's not just the engines that they're continually rebuilding I talked to Gordon coper chief designer from McLaren what was good enough last year in fact even last month might not be good enough now the engine of a McLaren car is bolted directly onto the back of the driver's cockpit the fuel tanks are placed on either side for maximum stability there is no room for anything that is not essential each car has two mechanics who look after it for the whole of its racing life Ross is responsible for Peter gethin's car so he's really responsible for his safety too what's this year doing now oh this is the seat that's the SE seat yeah well when Peter took this car over uh some fiberglass people came down and filled the whole tub with clay and then sat him in it and pushed them down and he you know twid the steering wheel and pushed the pedals and you know really got comfortable in the car and then they took a mold off that and went away and made the seat Peter gethin the 1969 and 1970 formula 5000 Champion is starting his second season in Grand Prix racing as the number two driver for McLaren Peter this car looks very sort of primitive and generally very uncomfortable I'm very surprised by that I'm surprised by your Mars actually I mean the there's no padding and nothing to make you feel presumably comfortable while you are racing why is that particularly at the back well in actual fact the seat uh it's taking us we've done two races now and uh it's taking us this long cuz I'm very very awkward to get the seat this comfortable and this is the third fitting that've had for it you know one of the ad advantages of looking so uncomfortable actually being comfortable and being up against the engine is that you can feel any vibrations or anything that's sort of awkward all that possibly going wrong with the engine or transmission and all these things sort of come through the uh sh and through the seat yeah so you're sort of driving with your whole body so to speak really yes you are really you're not really worried about whether the steering is light or heavy on a racing car you you want as little movement as possible I mean that's a a you know a big turn and if you go there that's you're going back the way you came almost I imagine that there'd be a lot of complicated dials and switches but but in fact it's very simple well it's cuz drivers are simple normally I think that in the sense you've got a rev counter you have to findy and keep it around 10,000 RPM uh you have oil pressure which is been important here if you don't get time to look at the sced all the time and this light starts coming on you know the oil pressure has dropped below around I think it's about 40 except to come on it is that that's dangerous is that a danger light it's really a danger light on the engine it's telling you that the engine is either getting low on oil or the oil pressure is dropping and there is a likelihood that uh it's about to explode it's un exp is this operates the fire extinguisher over the cylinder of uh powder is kept here the idea is that it extinguishes any flame inside and you then get out as quickly as you possibly can by means of undoing that and yeah leaping right out you do look a bit cramped can I get in and try well yes all right yes why not yeah see how difficult it is for you to get out I think actually I think you'll be surprised how comfortable it really is put your left leg over and in that's it follow with the other one that's right hold the back of the seat down put your feet right underneath the steering wheel that's fine and then just slide down find it's very comfortable that's it oh it's a nice tight fit isn't it fine good fits you fits you beautifully [Applause] almost how that and what is this strange little knob here by the way that strange little knob is the gear linkage the gear leav yeah in actual fact you know we got five speed plus a reverse I mean could could another driver if um if necessary get in and drive this car not really because uh although the car is basically the same as uh Denny hm's car my teammate um this one is the seat and the pedals and the steering column length the me is designed or made especially to fit me so that uh uh me being a bit awkward you know be difficult for for someone normal to sit in it as you CL tailor made cars and International Superstars June 1971 sees them all in England Jackie Stewart has won the French Grand Prix 2 weeks ago now 2 days before the British Grand Prix the whole circus moves to Silverstone braam trell Matra Ferraris C brm Lotus and McLaren even top drivers have to present their racing license before being allowed onto the track the cars also will have to be carefully scrutineer about this there my boy good race morning Peter's flat in London he seems incredibly relaxed but all top drivers are able to wind down before a race any sort of nerves would mean disaster they not only can but must be able to drive even better under the stress of race conditions but despite all this and all the safety precautions a mistake can be fatal uh it's always ask isn't it whether it's um for anything whe you know how dangerous is it it's m racing is dangerous so bull fighting so's M climbing so's fishing if you fall in the river it could you could drown um it's certainly more dangerous than fishing but uh I personally uh think that uh I'm actually a selfish person and therefore I think I don't take any unnecessary risks so if someone has been killed after the race he'll be pretty upset or I'm upset especially if I know them know them well but um I think that you know I'm doing the same thing I think myself what would happen if I was killed I would feel sorry for the people who I know or who know me or who fond of me me not too many but a few and uh it's it's I feel sorry for them but really I'm doing something that I enjoy doing more than anything else in the world I you know I really love doing it today is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this is the climax after two hard days of practice this is expected to be the fastest race at Silverstone ever today a Grand Prix is a major International sporting event and attract vast crowds the drivers have to fly in to avoid the traffic jams there were 13 races in the Championships in 1971 beginning in March in South Africa and ending in October in America the British Grand Prix Falls halfway through the championship in perfect racing conditions and a record crowd with only 3 seconds between the lap times of the 24 cars is going to be a real race I think there's a great need for the driver to have complete confidence in the mechanics preparing his car you can't afford to leave nuts and bolts undone you can't afford to make a mistake in fitting a component because the consequences could be too serious with tanks full of petrol the mechanics miraculously reassemble the cars in their own race against the clock as the cars are called out to the marshing area pet you've now got your grid position for the race which puts you on the fifth through really yes it does unfortunately doesn't it do you work out in advance the sort of uh tactics of which which cars you're going to try and get past no I just always just jump the flag and uh when I see the flag go up other people wait for it to go down I shoot off yeah and I try and sort of weave my way through by the time the flag goes done yeah allowing for the fact that that uh possibly this isn't allowed I mean no you can't really no you just got to make the best start that you possibly can [Music] now they're getting in line 3 2 [Music] 3

Channel: BBC Archive

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Keywords: bbc, archive bbc, classic tv, british tv nostalgia, bbc archive, archive, the bbc archive, nostalgia, legendary television, retro tv, vintage, bbc sport, sport bbc, sport on the bbc, classic bbc sport, classic sport, sports archive, classic transport, mclaren-ford 1971, mclaren f1, motorsport, silverstone 1971, british grand prix 1971, peter gethin, jackie stewart, annie nightingale, classic F1 cars, vintage f1 cars, gordon coppuck, race engineering, mclaren engine

Id: TWYl4aGkjeQ

Length: 10min 32sec (632 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 24 2024