🗓️ 50 Years Ago Today (June 13, 1976) - Le Mans 24 Hours: The 750 hp Frank Stella 1976 3.0CSL Group 5 Art Car driven by Brian Redman and Peter Gregg did well while qualifying (8th overall) but the car developed an oil leak early and was withdrawn in a cloud of smoke during the 5th hour after just 23 laps. ☹️
Ronnie Peterson at the Monaco Grand Prix, driving through The Tunnel and seen through his rearview mirror of his March 721x.
I cannot choose a picture this time so there is two! The first one is absolutely gorgeous, looks like something straight out of a movie, but in the second one you actually see that it is Ronnie.. But the quality of the second one is worse than the first one.. Tough choice!
It is not getting easier for Ronnie.. As a matter of fact it is practically only getting worse as you can read in this chronicle. Also this is either the second or third longest chronicle so far. It sure felt like it when translating!
Do excuse any grammatical errors, English is not my first language. “(italics)” is my explanation of things.
Chronicle 11 below:
“Damn it, it is time for some world championship-points now!“
(Mid May, Monte Carlo, Monaco)
“It is not fun being named Peterson all the time. And it has rarely felt as awful as it has lately. Since I last wrote I have gone off track at a fast speed in the sports cars world championship with my Ferrari at Spa and limped across the finish line as eleventh in Monaco. And how I had looked forward to Monaco — it was there all the bad luck was supposed to leave! But it is truly haunting.
After the Spanish Grand Prix where I also retired — we went to Belgium for the next sports cars world championship. The race was at Spa-Francorchamps, which is deemed too dangerous for Formula 1 but where sports cars still can race.
Spa — that track is too fast…
Spa is scarily fast — a little too fast in my opinion. Jacky Ickx is a master at this track and he wanted to win in front of his home crowd. This time he drove with Clay Regazzoni since Mario Andretti was not participating. I drove with Tim Schenken as usual while Brian Redman shared the third Ferrari with the italian Arturo Merzario.
Ickx did not win because of a puncture where he lost so much time that Redman and Merzario gained on him and could pass. Not a good day for Jacky. But it was an even worse day for a certain Peterson from Örebro, who suddenly was beside the track without a chance of continuing!
It happened during the 56’th lap and when we did not have that long left of the race. Tim and I were third.
The sports cars-world championship is starting to get boring
Well that is just how it goes sometimes. Ferrari's superiority is so large right now that the whole competition is starting to get boring. We will see if Lola, Alda, Wyer or Matra can do something exciting in the last races.
From one of the world fastest race tracks to one of the slowest — Monte Carlo. It is a track that fits me perfectly and last year I came second. But this time everything was wasted! My new March is still not ready as a proper competitor — you just have to accept that it will take a while before a completely new car becomes a real competitor.
We still had trouble with the differential and the road characteristics are not good yet — the car is way too understeery. It really wants to go straight forward in the turns and on a track like Monte Carlo things like that are crucial.
There me and Reine sat and watched
Reine has also had a bunch of problems with his BRM. We both just sat there and watched the mechanics slaving away on our cars during practice. And when we finally got them in such a state that they would be somewhat driveable it started raining… Not a chance to get a good time, in other words.
We ended up in the eight row, besides each other. And of course it rained again. Rain at Monza, rain in Spain and rain in Monaco. I am indeed considered quite good at taking turns when it is wet and slippery, but I can assure you no driver goes around and wishes for rain. It is way too dangerous.
Well I crossed the finish line. That is always something. But eleventh is not exactly a position you wish for. I just had to sit there while getting waterboarded (best translation I could find) and trying to keep the car on the track. It went even worse for Reine! A suspension broke in his BRM after 15 laps.
It was really sad that we could not get a better result from either of us when so many Swedes had traveled down to see us. You guys back home have kind of gotten spoiled with good results from the swedes down here.
Torsten did a really good drive
Well — it was a somewhat good result. Torsten Palm had a really good race in Formula 3 and good ninth — not bad with the competition he is facing. I remember when Torsten started making a name for himself back home in Sweden a couple years ago when I was still in Formula 3. It was not that easy keeping him behind all the time.
That Jean-Pierre Beltoise won was of course a big sensation. Nobody had really counted on him or BRM. But he drove really nicely — when someone passes Ickx in rainy weather it is going fast, that I promise!
That our modern F1-cars are not really suitet for rain is made clear by the lap times. Beltoise was around 20 seconds slower than the times on the track dry and the average speed must have been the slowest since the early 50’s! But you have to master every surface.
Beltoise was the best this time. A win like that is a glimmer of hope for us struggling. Everything can happen in this sport, that is clear. Perhaps it is my turn another time… But before that we will have to work hard with the car if there is gonna be any results. It is currently not good enough to win a Grand Prix.
The next Grand Prix is on an unknown track
Now I will go back to Belgium again — where the next world championship-race will start in the beginning of June. It is a track that has never been tested before, so it is best to test it properly beforehand. The lap record is set with a Formula Ford and is 148 km/h — that means it is gonna be a fast race when our F1-cars are let loose.
It is unclear who will win the F1-world championship. Jackie Stewart has had problems with his cars for the last three races and Emerson Fittipaldi seems to be everyone's favorite. But Jacky Ickx is reliable and is steadily gaining points at each race, so we will just have to wait and see.
This far into the season nobody has taken that many points so we with bad luck do not have to be too sad. But I have to say, it is time for some points now…
You can find the original chronicle (in Swedish) here.
Reading these chronicles I get why Ronnie was so well liked by everyone. Not a bad word on anyone! Just praise and occasional pity if their race did not go to plan. To everyone! He is so proud of his fellow Swedes that my heart hurts.
Ronnie did drive the occasional rally and rallycross races and I believe that Torsten Palm acted as his co-driver/navigator a few times. I remember seeing a picture of them here but I cannot find it. With Ronnies driving style I cannot say I am surprised, quite fitting for someone that liked going sideways through corners.
Thank you for reading, if you notice anything wrong or have anything I can improve on please tell me!
FERRARI - JACKY ICKX & NANNI GALLI, BRABHAM - CARLOS REUTEMANN & WILSON FITTIPALDI, MARCH - RONNIE PETERSON, NIKI LAUDA & MIKE BEUTLER, MCLAREN - DENNY HULME & BRIAN REDMAN
