Do Look Back

After two years in Formula 3, it was important for Andrea to sustain momentum in his career by moving up to Formula 2 full time.  This he was able to achieve with the help of his Marlboro sponsorship and positive discussions with Ron Dennis.  Ron had founded his team, Project 4, in 1976, and it had run Chico Serra in 1979.  It had greater experience in F2 and put a lot of focus on this category for 1980, fielding March 802-BMWs for Andrea and Serra in the European series.  The first race of the new season was at Thruxton, in April, and Andrea outpaced Serra to finish third. The championship was comprised of 12 races, of which Andrea was entered in all but one.  He won the penultimate round in August at Misano, and ranked fifth in the championship.  That he did not appear at the final round and perhaps improve his position to fourth was due to the highly significant opportunity then afforded to him through the Marlboro connection.  1980 had been a fraug...

Andrea de Cesaris was just 21 when he made his Formula 1 debut at the Canadian Grand Prix in September 1980.  His opportunity had arisen because of the retirement from the Alfa Romeo team of Vittorio Brambilla.  However, his presence in the team at such a young age also had something to do with his sponsorship from Marlboro, which in turn stemmed from his father being a business partner of the tobacco manufacturer, Philip Morris, owners of the Marlboro brand.  Although being under the Marlboro aegis facilitated a long career in F1, it was a mixed blessing for Andrea: from the early days it became a commonplace for competitors and commentators to assert that Andrea lacked talent and temperament and got his drives only because of the Marlboro money.  This was by no means the only prejudice that afflicted him – he acquired a reputation for wild driving and consequent accidents which I contend was questionable.  He was in fact a chance-taking, ambitious driver with...

A miscellany of cars first registered in 1971 and photographed this summer.  They're wearing well, looking better than ever and with no need of fillers or botox - just some regular exercise and a drop of STP every now and again. Porsche 911S Lotus Elan Sprint Alfa Romeo Giulia Super Posrche 911T Dino 246 GT Alfa Romeo Spider 1750 Fiat 850 Sport Maserati Ghibli SS

This month it is fifty years since Jo Siffert died at a meeting I'd been really enjoying, since I was also a fan of Jackie Stewart.  For this to happen at an event held to celebrate JYS's second World Championship at the circuit where Seppi had won his first Grand Prix was especially poignant. But whilst the year 1971 will always bring to mind Jo's death - along with that of fellow Porsche 917-great, Pedro Rodriguez –   rather than dwelling on the tragedy, I wanted to establish an upbeat record of his '71 season by writing an account of the forty one races he contested that year prior to the Brands Hatch 'Victory' meeting.  Here, too, is a selection of images from '71, and for several of these I'd like to record my thanks to Michael Keyser . January: Daytona  Courtesy autosportsltd.com April: With Simone at Oulton  Courtesy Getty Images May: Monaco  Courtesy autosportsltd.com June: Zandvoort  Courtesy autosportsltd.com    August: Osterre...