<VV> No Corvair John Fitch, S.Moss and LeMans 1955

Ken Pepke kenpepke at juno.com
Sat Dec 1 12:13:58 EST 2012


Very interesting u-tube.

Near the end is the footage [50:01] as revealed by Paul Skilliter [sp?] Mike Hawthorne has passed Macklin in the Healy and moved to the right.  The distance perspective is somewhat lost by the head on view of the camera but in the old footage the distance between them is quite large, at least by racing standards.  

Previously unknown to me is the cloud of dust raised by Macklin.  The way Macklin shoots out from behind Hawthorn does not look like a race car move.  [50:02]  Now the question becomes did Macklin drop the right front wheel onto the shoulder and then over-react in his recovery move?  [50:08] Gives a better idea of the actual distance between Hawthorne and Macklin.  Hitting the shoulder yanks on the steering wheel much like hitting a puddle of water on the side of the road.  Did that redirect Mr. Macklin's course two lanes to the left?

I can understand Mike Hawthorne's initial reaction … but I also know the driver is always the last one to know what happened behind him.

Ken P
Wyandotte, MI
65 Monza 110hp, 4 spd two door
Worry looks around; Sorry looks back, Faith looks up.

*****************************


On Dec 1, 2012, at 8:47 AM, chuck mckinley wrote:

> This may have appeared in the forum before, but there was an hour-long
> BBC documentary (English speaking) that is available on YouTube at:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asGtbXjYdK0
> 
> Well worth your time. There are numerous clips from an interview with
> John Fitch when he was 92.
> 
> Chuck McKinley
> 63 Monza 900 80-hp 3-speed
> 
> 





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