As Australia prepared to shift from imperial to metric measurements in 1973, the Bathurst 500 mile race is replaced by a 1000km event.

Four Italian motorcycle enthusiasts dreamt of racing their bikes around their local park. Little did they know that their dreams would deliver The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, a circuit that would become infamous in the world of F1, and known for hosting classic sportscar races.

When the 1962 Formula One season began, four of the drivers to finish in the championship top five had yet to win a Grand Prix. The season would see Graham Hill and Jim Clark battle for the driving crown.

When the 1962 Formula One season began, four of the drivers to finish in the championship top five had yet to win a Grand Prix. The season would see Graham Hill and Jim Clark battle for the driving crown.

It's not the usual way to get a top level racing debut, but for stock car racer Bobby Hamilton the 1990 movie 'Days of Thunder' did just that.

The on-track action during the 1986 European Touring Car Championship season was scintillating at points, but the action  didn't count for much as disqualification after disqualification made a mockery of the competition. And to make it even worse the title was stripped a month after the season ended, because the organisers hadn't read their own rule book correctly. 

In April 1997 the FIA GT Championship kicked off its inaugural season at Hockenheim. A huge grid of exotic supercars lined up with GT sportscars and delivered possibly the most outrageous grid in motor racing history. The journey to the commencement of the 1997 season was one filled with politics, ego and one-upmanship - which continued throughout the year.

In part two (coming soon) we'll look back at how these attitudes continued throughout the year leading to the withdrawal of half of the grid, and ultimately to the collapse of the megabucks GT1 category at the end of 1998. 

Porsche Power. At the 1969 ADAC Nürburgring 1000kms Porsche gave its now legendary 917 its second runout, but nobody wanted to drive it. After an extensive testing programme the works drivers opted to race the 908 and delivered what was possibly the greatest race weekend for the car. 

It wasn't a straight up victory for the 908 runners. Ferrari brought a sole example of the 312P. JWA - who would go on to run the 917 in Gulf colours brought - two Mirage machines, with two different engines as it held its GT40 cohort in reserve for Le Mans.

In this Motor Racing UK audio documentary we talk to Sam McKee, James Bailey and Mark Manley about their experiences in motor racing during the 2020 Covid 19 pandemic. 

Even though the sport was hit hard throughout the season there turned out to be a number of advantageous changes to procedure that may carry over into 2021, and there were also some opportunities that would not have come to the fore in a 'normal' year.