Mike Wilds
William Michael "Mike" Wilds is a British racing driver from England. He participated in eight Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 20 July 1974, he scored no championship points. After winning a few races in Formula 3 in the early 1970s, Wilds moved on to Formula 5000. At the same time, he took part in a few Formula One Grands Prix, firstly with a non-works March with Ensign and BRM. After he failed to qualify at his home Grand Prix in 1976, with a run Shadow, he concentrated on other forms of motor sport, including sports car racing and historic racing. Wilds won the Formula Two class in the 1978 Aurora AFX championship, driving a Ralt and finished ninth in the overall standings, he won the Thoroughbred Sports Cars championship in 1984 driving an Aston Martin DB4. Wilds won the RJB Mining Historic Sports Car Championship in 1992,'93,'96 and 98. Wilds' sports car racing career included driving at Le Mans 8 times, including C2 cars for Ecurie Ecosse, Group C for Nissan in 1988 with team-mate Win Percy.
Wilds won the 2008 Britcar Drivers Championship together with Ian Lawson and Mike's son Anthony Wilds in the ING Sport BMW. He still drives in events for historic cars, he raced an Elva Mk5 in the 2008 Silverstone Classic. He returned to the Britcar Endurance grid in May 2016 posting his first win as a shared drive with son Anthony in a Ferrari 458. At the age of 72 Wilds is set to make his debut in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain series with the Redline Racing team at Brands Hatch. In addition to his car racing career, Wilds is instructor, he is affectionately known as'The Honorific' Mike Wilds. Footnotes ‡ Endurance driver. Official site Mike Wilds driving F1
1973 British Grand Prix
The 1973 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1973. It was race 9 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers; the race is known for the first lap pile-up which caused eleven cars to retire. The accident happened when Jody Scheckter, running fourth in his McLaren, spun across the track at Woodcote Corner at the end of the first lap, causing many other cars to collide and crash; the incident eliminated nine cars, including all three works Surtees cars, while Brabham driver Andrea de Adamich suffered a broken ankle that ended his F1 career. The race was stopped at the end of the second lap, before being restarted over the original 67-lap distance with 18 of the original 29 cars. On the first start, a swift start by Jackie Stewart brought him from fourth to first in less than half a lap. At Becketts Corner, Stewart took the lead. However, the massive pile-up at the end of the first lap caused the race to be restarted and Stewart had to start from fourth again.
This time it was Niki Lauda who had an excellent start and moved up behind Peterson into second, with Stewart third. Stewart passed Lauda on lap 2, charged after Peterson. On lap 6, Stewart again tried to pass Peterson for the lead. Although he was able to continue, Stewart ended up finishing 10th, one lap down. Another notable drive came from James Hunt in his Hesketh Racing March, who ran fourth for most of the race and was part of a four-way battle for the lead between himself, Denny Hulme and Peter Revson. American driver Revson took his first Grand Prix victory by 2.8 seconds from Peterson. The pile-up was to be a factor in this being the last World Championship F1 race held on the original Silverstone layout: a chicane would be added at Woodcote shortly before the next British Grand Prix at Silverstone two years later. MotoGP, which would come to Silverstone from the Isle of Man in 1977, would use the original layout until 1986. Only race with 4 New Zealand drivers. Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Only the best 7 results from the first 8 races and the best 6 results from the last 7 races counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points.
1974 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1974 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nivelles on 12 May 1974. It was race 5 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers; the 85-lap race was won by Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi, driving a McLaren-Ford, with Austrian Niki Lauda a close second in a Ferrari and South African Jody Scheckter third in a Tyrrell-Ford. This was the last Belgian Grand Prix to be held at Nivelles. For most of the next decade, the race would be held at Zolder. Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian racing driver. He competes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship driving for Acura Team Penske; the highlights of his career include winning the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999, as well as victories in some of the most prestigious races in the world, including the Indianapolis 500, Grand Prix of Monaco, 24 Hours of Daytona, British Grand Prix, Italian Grand Prix, Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Race of Champions. In auto racing he has been notable by winning in his first attempt the CART Championship title, Indianapolis 500, 24 Hours of Daytona, Grand Prix of Long Beach, Italian Grand Prix, NASCAR Rookie of the Year, the crossover Race of Champions. Montoya is one of two drivers to have won the CART title in his rookie year, the first being Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell in 1993, he is, alongside Fernando Alonso, one of only two active drivers who have won two legs of the Triple Crown of Motorsport in its original definition.
Montoya equals Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney by winning races in Indy cars, Formula One cars and NASCAR Cup cars. In October 2009, Montoya was ranked 30th on Times Online's list of the Top 50 Formula One drivers of all time. Montoya was born in Bogotá, where he was taught the techniques of karting from an early age by his father Pablo, an architect and motorsport enthusiast. Montoya moved to the Colombian Formula Renault Series in 1992, while racing there he won four of eight races and had five poles; the same year he participated in the U. S. Skip Barber driving school, was hailed by driving instructors as being one of the best pupils to come through their school. 1993 saw Montoya switch to the Swift GTI Championship, a series he dominated by winning seven of eight races and earning eight poles. In 1994, Montoya raced in three separate series: The Sudam 125 Karting, Barber Saab Pro Series, Formula N in Mexico, he graduated from the Colegio San Tarsicio in Bogotá in the same year. Montoya developed in some cases taking 80 % of a season's pole positions.
For the next three years Montoya raced in various divisions. He raced in the 1995 British Formula Vauxhall Championship, winning three races and finishing third in the championship. In 1996, he raced in the British Formula 3 with Fortec Motorsport, winning two races, finishing 5th in the championship points standings, as well as taking part in events in Zandvoort and Silverstone. Montoya got the opportunity to advance in his motor racing career when he was hired by the RSM Marko team to compete alongside Craig Lowndes in the 1997 International Formula 3000 season. In the ten races during the season, Montoya had three pole positions, he finished his rookie season second in the championship points standings, just 1.5 points shy of taking the overall season title. During this time, Williams noticed his potential and invited him to test with the team at Jerez, Spain along with three other drivers. Montoya was the fastest of them all and he and Max Wilson were signed by WilliamsF1 to be test drivers for the following season.
Alongside his Formula One testing duties for Williams, he competed again in F3000 and took the title in a close contest with Nick Heidfeld, driving for McLaren's F3000 team. During the 1998 F3000 season, Montoya opened the season up with a record four straight pole positions, he achieved another record that year by being the first driver to lap the entire grid, at the Pau Grand Prix. Montoya won the 1998 F3000 season with four wins, seven pole positions, nine podium finishes in twelve races. Renault, Williams's engine supplier for most of the 1990s, left Formula One at the end of the 1997 season. With no major engine suppliers available, Williams were forced to sign a contract to run customer engines for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In 1998 the team failed to win a race for the first time in a decade. For the 1999 season, in the hope of attracting more investors to the underperforming team, Frank Williams agreed to a driver swap with CART team owner Chip Ganassi, in which Ganassi's 1997 and 1998 CART champion driver, Alessandro Zanardi, would return to Formula One and Montoya would take his place in the competitive American series.
While Zanardi had a miserable year in Formula One, with Honda power and a great Reynard chassis at his disposal, took the American motorsport scene by storm. He took the 1999 title in his rookie year, something accomplished six years earlier by former Formula One Champion Nigel Mansell; the season that saw Montoya crowned as the youngest CART FedEx Championship Series Champion at the age of 24 was fought with Dario Franchitti who led the championship going into the final race in California. Both drivers finished the season with equal number of points but Montoya took the title by virtue of having won seven races to the Scotsman's three, his victory in the last race that year, the Marlboro 500, was overshadowed by the death of Greg Moore during the race. The CART rookie attracted criticism—notably from Michael Andretti and his team for his aggressive style of driving. Montoya still had a contractual relationship with Williams and after his impressive rookie season the Grove-based team were keen for him to drive for them in Formula One.
However, he decided to race in the US for one more year. In 2000, the Ganassi team switched to Lola chassis; the package w
Brazil
Brazil the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers and with over 208 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the fifth most populous. Its capital is Brasília, its most populated city is São Paulo; the federation is composed of the union of the 26 states, the Federal District, the 5,570 municipalities. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers, it borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent's land area. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to diverse wildlife, a variety of ecological systems, extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats; this unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection.
Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system; the ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress. The country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup d'état. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. Due to its rich culture and history, the country ranks thirteenth in the world by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Brazil is considered an advanced emerging economy. It has the ninth largest GDP in the world by nominal, eight and PPP measures, it is one of the world's major breadbaskets, being the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years. It is classified as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country, with the largest share of global wealth in Latin America. Brazil is a regional power and sometimes considered a great or a middle power in international affairs. On account of its international recognition and influence, the country is subsequently classified as an emerging power and a potential superpower by several analysts. Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Union of South American Nations, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, it is that the word "Brazil" comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast.
In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil given the etymology "red like an ember", formed from brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a deep red dye, it was valued by the European textile industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. Throughout the 16th century, massive amounts of brazilwood were harvested by indigenous peoples along the Brazilian coast, who sold the timber to European traders in return for assorted European consumer goods; the official Portuguese name of the land, in original Portuguese records, was the "Land of the Holy Cross", but European sailors and merchants called it the "Land of Brazil" because of the brazilwood trade. The popular appellation eclipsed and supplanted the official Portuguese name; some early sailors called it the "Land of Parrots". In the Guarani language, an official language of Paraguay, Brazil is called "Pindorama"; this was the name the indigenous population gave to the region, meaning "land of the palm trees".
Some of the earliest human remains found in the Americas, Luzia Woman, were found in the area of Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais and provide evidence of human habitation going back at least 11,000 years. The earliest pottery found in the Western Hemisphere was excavated in the Amazon basin of Brazil and radiocarbon dated to 8,000 years ago; the pottery was found near Santarém and provides evidence that the tropical forest region supported a complex prehistoric culture. The Marajoara culture flourished on Marajó in the Amazon delta from 800 CE to 1400 CE, developing sophisticated pottery, social stratification, large populations, mound building, complex social formations such as chiefdoms. Around the time of the Portuguese arrival, the territory of current day Brazil had an estimated indigenous population of 7 million people semi-nomadic who subsisted on hunting, fishing and migrant agriculture; the indigenous population of Brazil comprised several large indigenous ethnic groups. The Tupí people were subdivided into the Tupiniquins and Tupinambás, there were many subdivisions of the other gro
Chris Amon
Christopher Arthur Amon, was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s and is regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand Prix, his reputation for bad luck was such that fellow driver Mario Andretti once joked that "if he became an undertaker, people would stop dying". Former Ferrari Technical Director Mauro Forghieri stated that Amon was "by far the best test driver I have worked with, he had all the qualities to be a World Champion but bad luck just wouldn't let him be". Apart from driving, Chris Amon ran his own Formula One team for a short period in 1974. Away from Formula One, Amon had some success in sports car racing, teaming with co-driver Bruce McLaren to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1966. Amon was born in Bulls, attended Wanganui Collegiate School, he was the only child of wealthy sheep-owners Betty Amon. He learned to drive at the age of six, taught by a farm worker on the family farm. On leaving school, he persuaded his father to buy him an Austin A40 Special, which he entered in some minor local races and hillclimbs along with practice on the family farm.
He progressed to a 1.5-litre Cooper and an old 2.5-litre Maserati 250F, but only began to draw attention when he drove the Cooper-Climax T51 which Bruce McLaren had used to win his maiden Grand Prix. In 1962 Amon entered the Cooper for the New Zealand winter series, but was hampered by mechanical problems. However, Scuderia Veloce entered him in a similar car, and, in the rain at Lakeside, he performed well. One of the spectators there was the English racing driver Reg Parnell who persuaded Amon to come to England and race for his team. In a test at Goodwood Amon continued to impress and was on the pace in the Goodwood International Trophy and Aintree 200 pre-season races. For the 1963 Formula One season the Parnell team were using the year old Lola Mk4A, powered by 1962 specification Climax V8 engines. Amon was teamed with the experienced Maurice Trintignant for the first race of the season at Monaco and his Grand Prix career started with what was to become typical bad luck: Trintignant's Climax developed a misfire, so he took over Amon's car.
At the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix, Amon was partnered by Lucien Bianchi and started ahead of him from 15th position. After nine laps, however, an oil fire ended his race, he continued to experience mechanical problems at the Dutch and German Grands Prix. Amon qualified in the midfield and outpaced his teammates, who included his good friend Mike Hailwood, his best results of the year were seventh at the French and British Grands Prix. During this time, Amon's social life was attracting as much attention as his driving, he was a member of the Ditton Road Flyers, the social set named after the road in London where Amon shared an apartment with American Peter Revson and Tony Maggs. Parnell was nonetheless impressed with Amon's results in what was regarded as less-than-competitive machinery and promoted him to team leader. Parnell died from peritonitis in January 1964 and his son Tim took over the team. In a series of four pre-season races in Britain and Italy, Amon recorded three fifth places at Snetterton and Syracuse.
He failed to qualify for the first F1 race of the season, the Monaco GP, but at the next race, the Dutch GP, he scored his first World Championship points. The rest of his season, was blighted by mechanical problems. Parnell was only if it ran Richard Attwood as its regular driver. Reluctantly, Parnell agreed and Attwood took Amon's place. Spotting an opportunity, Bruce McLaren signed Amon for his new McLaren team, but when no second McLaren F1 car materialised, Amon could only drive in sports car races. At the French GP Amon rejoined Parnell to stand in for an injured Attwood. Amon competed in a Formula Two race in Stuttgart and won, he returned to Germany for the German GP as second Parnell driver, but mechanical failure again forced an early retirement. His last drive before Attwood's return, a non-championship race in Enna, Sicily ended in retirement. During 1966 Amon continued to race for McLaren in Can-Am, he was intended to drive the second McLaren M2B but difficulties with engine supply meant that the team never made the intended expansion to two cars.
However, an opportunity arose to drive for the Cooper F1 team after Richie Ginther left them for Honda. Amon drove for Cooper at the French GP and was scheduled to drive for them for the rest of the season, until the more successful John Surtees left Scuderia Ferrari to join Cooper and Amon found himself dropped. Amon made one other F1 appearance during the year, driving a Brabham BT11 powered by an old 2-litre BRM engine at the Italian GP under the banner of "Chris Amon Racing", he failed to qualify. Amon did however, score his biggest success to date when he partnered Bruce McLaren in a 7-litre Ford GT40 Mark II at the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race, spearheading a formation finish, he subsequently received an invitation to meet Enzo Ferrari at the Ferrari home in Maranello, where he signed to race for Ferrari in 1967 alongside Lorenzo Bandini, Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti. Amon's first year with Ferrari did not begin auspiciously. En route to Brands Hatch for the pre-seaso
Formula One
Formula One is the highest class of single-seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and owned by the Formula One Group. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 1950; the word "formula" in the name refers to the set of rules to which all participants' cars must conform. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, which take place worldwide on purpose-built circuits and on public roads; the results of each race are evaluated using a points system to determine two annual World Championships: one for drivers, the other for constructors. Drivers must hold valid Super Licences, the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA; the races must run on tracks graded "1", the highest grade-rating issued by the FIA. Most events occur in rural locations on purpose-built tracks, but several events take place on city streets. Formula One cars are the fastest regulated road-course racing cars in the world, owing to high cornering speeds achieved through the generation of large amounts of aerodynamic downforce.
The cars underwent major changes in 2017, allowing wider front and rear wings, wider tyres, resulting in cornering forces closing in on 6.5g and top speeds of up to 375 km/h. As of 2019 the hybrid engines are limited in performance to a maximum of 15,000 rpm and the cars are dependent on electronics—although traction control and other driving aids have been banned since 2008—and on aerodynamics and tyres. While Europe is the sport's traditional base, the championship operates globally, with 11 of the 21 races in the 2018 season taking place outside Europe. With the annual cost of running a mid-tier team—designing and maintaining cars, transport—being US$120 million, Formula One has a significant economic and job-creation effect, its financial and political battles are reported, its high profile and popularity have created a major merchandising environment, which has resulted in large investments from sponsors and budgets. On 8 September 2016 Bloomberg reported that Liberty Media had agreed to buy Delta Topco, the company that controls Formula One, from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for $4.4 billion in cash and convertible debt.
On 23 January 2017 Liberty Media confirmed the completion of the acquisition for $8 billion. The Formula One series originated with the European Grand Prix Motor Racing of the 1930s; the formula is a set of rules. Formula One was a new formula agreed upon after World War II during 1946, with the first non-championship races being held that year. A number of Grand Prix racing organisations had laid out rules for a world championship before the war, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the World Drivers' Championship was not formalised until 1947; the first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958. National championships existed in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One events were held for many years, but due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these occurred in 1983. On 26 November 2017, Formula One unveiled its new logo, following the 2017 season finale in Abu Dhabi during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit.
The new logo replaced F1's iconic'flying one', the sport's trademark since 1993. After a hiatus in European motor racing brought about by the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the first World Championship for Drivers was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo in 1950, narrowly defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. However, Fangio won the title in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, his streak interrupted by two-time champion Alberto Ascari of Ferrari. Although the UK's Stirling Moss was able to compete he was never able to win the world championship, is now considered to be the greatest driver never to have won the title. Fangio, however, is remembered for dominating Formula One's first decade and has long been considered the "Grand Master" of Formula One; this period featured teams managed by road car manufacturers Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati. The first seasons were run using pre-war cars like Alfa's 158, they were front-engined, with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre aspirated engines.
The 1952 and 1953 World Championships were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over the paucity of Formula One cars available. When a new Formula One, for engines limited to 2.5 litres, was reinstated to the world championship for 1954, Mercedes-Benz introduced the advanced W196, which featured innovations such as desmodromic valves and fuel injection as well as enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport in the wake of the 1955 Le Mans disaster. An era of British dominance was ushered in by Mike Hawthorn and Vanwall's championship wins in 1958, although Stirling Moss had been at the forefront of the sport without securing the world title. Between Hawthorn, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, John Surtees and Graham Hill, British drivers won nine Drivers' Championships and British teams won fourteen Constructors' Championsh
Clay Regazzoni
Chris Amon
Jacky Ickx
Nelson Piquet
Jan Lammers
Rikky von Opel
Vern Schuppan
Mike Wilds
Hans Binder
Danny Ongais
Derek Daly
Lamberto Leoni
Patrick Gaillard
Ricardo Londoño
Eliseo Salazar
