Motorsport in the Snow, Part 2
THERE’S SNOW WAY!
PART 2
Happy New Year! Hope your not carrying to much of a hangover, but if you are, here is the perfect read, We continue to look at how many times has motor-racing crossed paths with snow, Part 1 saw us looking at races between Present day and the 2000’s. Now we look back as far as we can, starting in 1993.
NASCAR Atlanta Motor Speedway 1993:
Practice and qualifying rolled along as scheduled, Rusty Wallace won the pole position for the Sunday race. Little did he know he would be on pole all week. Instead the AMS hosted the ‘Storm of the Century’ as 3 feet of snow and 50mph winds hit the track. Causing the race to be held a week after planned. Legend has it that driver Alan Kulwicki and a few members of his team were working on his car during the storm.
Nürburgring F3000 1985:
1985 saw the introduction of a new category of Formula 3000. The fourth round was held at the infamous Nürburgring, Come race day however, the snow had descended, During the delay the drivers started snowball fights on the grid, the race was eventually cancelled.
Race of Champions, Brands Hatch 1979:
Teams had already gathered for the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch. With six inches of snow covering the rolling Kent hills, and no chance of it melting in time, the circuit had no option but to call off the event. A new date was confirmed for the Easter weekend a month later at the same time as the F1, So the Race of Champions was a non-championship event.
BRSCC Brands Hatch 1977:
The British Racing and Sports Car Club would usually host a New Year race meeting for all sorts of machinery and drivers, F1600, Production Saloon Cars, Formula Libre, Handicap Team Races and more. However the meeting would eventually be called off as heavy snow would cover the country. Roy James would attempt a couple of practice sessions before giving in to the snow.
BRSCC Oulton Park 1975:
A shared weekend between the Shellsports F5000 and the BSCC series saw a fresh March weekend as snow covered the circuit, the marshals cleared the track surface creating snow banks instead of sand traps, racing resumed for the weekend. Lola’s were the dominate car for the F5000 race being won by Gordon Spice.
BRDC Silverstone 1973:
When in 1973, there was an eight-week gap between the South African and Spanish Grand Prix on the Formula One calendar, the BRDC stepped in with the International Trophy. A non-Championship event where thirteen Formula 1 entries, mixed in with sixteen Formula 5000 cars. A flurry of snow hit the circuit during the race, sending cars off in all directions, it was noted that only 2 cars were retirements due to the snow. Sir Jackie Stewart went onto win in his Tyrrell-Ford.
Mirror Trophy Goodwood 1965:
BRM, Brabham and Cooper all sent along factory teams, Lotus were still fielding Jim Clark and Mike Spence but had taken delivery of a new 32 valve Coventry Climax engine, An entry from Ferrari failed to appear, leaving John Surtees to the role of spectator. Because of the snow it led to a unrepresentative qualifying order. In the end it was a masterclass from Jim Clark who ended up winning and going on to have a heroic 1965 season.
There we have it, everything I could find, The one thing I’ve noticed is even though these wintery races are far and few between, The drivers who won when the races did take place, Clark, Stewart, Skaife, Alonso; The most challenging conditions always filter out the best of the best to the top of the order.
There’s probably some events I’ve missed so do please let me know in the comments. and as always, remember to subscribe for more content.
Freddie Jenner
