Espionnage is bad - how about downright theft???

I am always amused when people say "what is this world coming to", whenever they hear reports of crimes, accidents, basic societal decay, as if to say the world was that much better say, 50 or 100 years ago, than today. Most cities had a terrible feces smell just a relative short while back, most of the world had no running water, much less sewage lines, politicians used to put contracts on their nemesis in many parts of the world instead of bad mouthing them, and sexual crime has always been bad. Just to a name a few things.

Many people had a very unusual response to the recent Stepney-gate, the spy saga that rocked the F-1 world. As if all types of such improprieties never took place, and decay had finally arrived in the hitherto pristine waters of Formulaonedom, fifty seven years down the line!!!

The following borders on the comical, and it just goes to show that bad things happened in F1 in the past too, although this was not an "inside job".

Jean Pierre Jarier had a nasty accident in the first lap of the Argentine GP of 1974, denting the tub of his Shadow DN1 quite badly, to the point that chassis 8A would be useless for the next race in Brazil. The chassis was taken to the next stop in the calendar anyway, although Shadow had to hurriedly ship another tub from England, much to the annoyance of the Brazilian customs authorities, who could not understand the need and did their utmost to bar entry of the chassis in the country. Eventually, the replacement tub came into Brazil legally, and Jarier was ensured a place in the race.

A picture in an Autosprint magazine of the time shows the bent chassis lazying about under the scorching January sun, against the pit garage wall in Interlagos. Apparently nobody was caring much for the tub ended up being stolen. Yes, you read right, stolen.

As late as 1994, Shadow owner Don Nichols still seemed very upset with the tub's disappearance, although DN1's were not that rare, eight examples were built. But it was his property, after all.

There is no official word on the whereabouts of the missing Shadow DN1, although wild stories circulate in Brazilian racing circles to this day. Lest anyone jump to conclusions, this had nothing to do with the Brazilian formula 1 project.

So, you see, Formula 1 is not this cocoon, where every one respects each other, that some people purport to be. The theft of the DN1, as I said, was likely not an inside job at all, as Shadow was a second-year builder, the DN1 was anything but revolutionary, and people had bigger fish to fry than study the last year Shadow tub. Exchanges of drawings by disgruntled employees, illicit photographs and hiring of competitor's staff with the sole intention of finding secrets have all been reported by F1 insiders.

I will say, it is harder to hide dirty work these days, for any length of time.

BRAZILIAN RACING IN THE 50’s – A SUMMARY

By Carlos Paula
During the 50’s, Interlagos continued to be Brazil’s single race track, so most racing activity did take place in São Paulo. There was racing in other areas of Brazil, most notably in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The southern racing was, however, more influenced by Argentinean style than the racing in the other areas of Brazil, by that meaning Carreteras – more on that below. Rio continued to host races, including the Gavea race, until 1954. By and large, however, international racing disappeared from Brazil, and the last high level races were held in 1957, in Sao Paulo and Rio, with Fangio winning both.

In the early part of the decade, most São Paulo racing was done with pure breed sports cars, mixed with Brazilian racing specials, and the Mecanica Nacional category, which was basically a mixture of old GP cars, left over from the 30’s, equipped with American engines, and Brazilian specials – basically chassis from old cars or built in Brazil, with American engines. There was some racing for touring cars, most notable, a 24 Hour race for Mercedes Benz cars, held in 1951, which was won by Pascoalino Buonacorsa/Godofredo Vianna Filho, followed by Chico Landi/Sebastiao Casini. The race was contested by gasoline and diesel engined cars. Emerson Fittipaldi’s father, Wilson, was 4th in the race. Most of the races in the early part of the decade were short, but the 24 Hours showed that such racing could indeed be successful. This was the first long distance race in a close circuit in South America. So in 1956, Wilson Fittipaldi and Eloy Gogliano created the 1000 Miles race. However, given that most race cars used in São Paulo were pure breeds and specials that could not last 16 hours, the organizers got the Rio Grande do Sul (gaucho) drivers and their carreteras involved. Given that carreteras mostly raced on dirt roads, with some long races, they had to be, by definition, sturdy cars. They were basically American sedans from the late 30s/early forties, equipped with current high power American engines, such as Ford, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Dodge and Studebaker.

Indeed, the gauchos dominated the first editions of the 1000 Miles, winning all editions held during the 50’s. By the closing of the decade, however, the São Paulo drivers were creating carreteras of their own, and racing on even terms with the gauchos. A notable achievement in the first edition of the 1000 Miles was the second place earned by Christian Heins/Eugenio Martins, who drove a Porsche engined VW Bettle. Heins would race with great effect in Europe, winning a few races, but dying in Le Mans, in 1963.In 1957, another traditional race was created, the Interlagos 500 KM. Although this could be considered a long race as well, the 500 KM’s forte was speed. The race was run in Interlagos outside track, which was almost an oval, and it was contested by Mecanica Nacional, Sports Cars and Mecanica Continental cars. Celso Lara Barberis achieved much success in this race, winning the first edition, with Ruggero Peruzzo, in a Corvette engined Ferrari, followed by Luiz Valente, Rafael Gargiulo, with the Duchen Especial (an old Alfa Romeo chassis with a Ford engine), and by Godofredo Vianna Filho/Eugneio Martins, in another Corvette engined Ferrari. The second edition was held in 1958, and won by Fritz D’Orey, also in a Ferrari/Corvette, followed by Camilo Christofaro (Ferrari/Corvette) and Luis Margarido/Celso Lara Barberis, in a Talbot-Cadillac. This was a Talbot 26, brought to Brazil in the early part of the decade, then equipped with a Cadillac engine. This was D’Orey’s major victory in Brazil, and then he was off to Europe and the USA, in 1959, winning a Formula Junior race in Messina, trying to qualify a Centro Sud Maserati 250F in France, and racing the one-off Tec Mec in the USA. D’Orey would have a terrible accident in Le Mans, in 1960, and was reported dead. Indeed, some F-1 books list him as dead in 1961, but the fact is, he is still alive and kicking, driving his Audi in Rio de Janeiro. Information about championships in this era is at best spotty. While it seems there were official championships in most years, with different categories, these seemed anything but organized, so I dare not include such results, until I get some type of official confirmation.

Some small carreteras plus DKWs and Simca in a street race in Rio Grande do Sul

So while the São Paulo racing, Interlagos based, resembled more the racing practiced in Europe, the Rio Grande do Sul was more Argentine-like. Among other things, the style of racing ensured that races were held in multiple venues: some were held in roads, resembling the long distance Argentine carretera races, while others were held in closed, street circuits, in a variety of cities, all over the state, and others resembled long hill climbs. That meant that not only the capital Porto Alegre was seeing racing action, but also country-side cities. The gauchos would show the rest of the country how they practiced their racing, with the Prova Getulio Vargas, held in 1951. This was a road race, linking cities in three States, including the two major cities in the country, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The gauchos and their carreteras ran 1-2-3, (Julio Andreatta/Aristides Bertuol/Diogo Elwanger) showing they were the strongest in this category. In 1952, a Gaucho Championship was held for the first time, and for all intents and purposes, Rio Grande do Sul racing was very strong in the 50’s.

The face of Brazilian racing was changing towards the end of the decade. Several car manufacturers began making cars in Brazil, with high degree of nationalization, starting in 1955. Indeed, the first car was an Isetta, and there were some Isetta races held in São Paulo. By 1959, the companies manufacturing cars locally began to show interest in racing, starting with the Vemag team involvement in the 1000 Miles of 1959. Vemag built German DKW’s in Brazil, and would pioneer works involvement in Brazilian racing.

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian based in Miami