Racing Past Media

Sports archive / research / production - specialising in motorsport

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#OTD 40 yrs ago, the 1986 Ulster Rally was decided. The era where big name drivers like Russell Brookes & Jimmy McRae drew in the crowds & flame-spitting Group B WRC cars also featured in the domestic British rally series.Their visit to Belfast delighted Northern Irish spectators

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#OTD 65 yrs ago, Stirling Moss drove one of the greatest races of his legendary career - at an all-time-great circuit too-the ‘Green Hell’ of the original Nurburgring. This colour version of ‘The Boy’s' triumph has emerged from BP production ‘Two Laps Of Honour’.

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Gone for nearly 20 yrs Colin McRae remains the biggest name in British rallying. Born #OTD in 1968, Colin dominated the mid-1990s on tarmac, gravel & snow - always a true fan favourite due to his spectacular driving style in his first WRC victory at the 1993 Rally of New Zealand.

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50 yrs ago #otd..this film tells the story of a race not covered by live TV. From the 2 Ferraris crashing into each other to a near-riot by the Brands Hatch crowd, to James Hunt’s eventual triumph-this was a British GP that had it all-& made F1 too big for TV to ignore again.

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75 yrs ago today, Ferrari changed the course of Formula 1 forever by winning their very first World Championship Grand Prix with Argentine driver Frolian Gonzalez disappeared into the distance at Silverstone. BRM team’s colour cameras captured this moment for posterity.

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71 yrs ago, an accident at Le Mans would change motor racing forever. It overshadowed what had up until then been a thrilling Mercedes v Jaguar v Ferrari battle & a personal duel between Juan-Manuel Fangio & Mike Hawthorn. John Tate’s colour cameras captured the early excitement.

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40 yrs ago, iconic Group B rally cars like the Ford RS200, Metro 6R4 & Peugeot 205 T16 competed in the domestic British championship in addition to WRC. Result - spectacular action, delighted spectators & similarly big accidents-as June 1986’s Rally of Scotland demonstrated.

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Precisely 60 yrs ago in 1966 the world excitedly anticipated the Monaco Grand Prix. Extra excitement was added in ’66 by the presence of John Frankenheimer’s Hollywood film crew. In one of BBC TV’s first-ever documentaries captured in colour – Alan Whicker was there to report.

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Graham Hill was known as ‘Mr. Monaco’, and ultimately won the world-famous race five times. However, he was already 33 by the time that he won this, his first, in 1963. And his debut triumph was captured on spectacular-looking colour film by his own BRM team’s camera crew.

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Fangio in a Maserati 250F at Monaco is one of F1 history’s all-time-great combinations. And it was expertly captured on colour film forever by British film-maker John Tate. 69 years ago today – and at the age of 45 - the Argentine legend was arguably at his absolute peak.

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53 yrs ago Graham Hill launched his own F1 team. With a car from Shadow & sponsorship from Embassy tobacco, Graham made his debut as Team Principal (& lead driver) of Embassy Hill at F1’s Montjuic Park track. ITV's doc "Graham" featured actor/racer Paul Newman as narrator.

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The mid-1980s were a classic era for WEC & the '85 series race in Italy due to become a classic. Porsche-serial Le Mans-winning 962 model the marque to beat, but Lancia were on home ground featuring brilliant drivers Patrese & Nannini. But Monza is a tree-lined parkland circuit..

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#OnThisDay 99 yrs ago America's 1st F1 World Champion Phil Hill was born. Phil earned his 1961 title the hard way. At Reims he spun on a melting track surface, causing Stirling Moss to T-bone him, putting both out of the race. Ace cameraman John Tate captured the incident.

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Born #OnThisDay eighty four years ago Jochen Rindt was widely considered to be one of the quickest drivers in the star studded '60's. His pace & flair on display in ITV’s world feed of the 1969 British GP @ Silverstone a legendary duel with his friend & rival Sir Jackie Stewart

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The BTCC really got into its stride during the late-1980s with flame-spitting Ford Sierra turbos to the fore. This race at Silverstone 37 yrs ago today a prime example – including furious action in the Group B category between combative BMW team-mates Frank Sytner & James Weaver.

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58 yrs ago today the world lost arguably its greatest-ever racing driver. Quicker in rain than Prost; calmer under pressure than Senna; cleaner than Schumacher. John Tate's colour cameras captured Jim Clark driving away from the rest of the field at the 1965 French GP.
#Jimclark

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The race 38yrs ago today that marked the beginning of the modern-day British Touring Car Championship. Filmed as a made-for-TV package, it included in-car cameras & action captured from every angle. Andy Rouse & Frank Sytner amongst the great names in a game-changing event.

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The announcement of a sequel to the ‘F1’ movie may mean a chance to explore the back-story of Brad Pitt’s ‘Sonny Hayes’ character, which could be the life-story of Martin Donnelly. 38 yrs ago Donnelly was a British F3 talent, regularly beating his team mate-Damon Hill #britishf3

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This date 45 yrs ago was a sad one - the day Mike ‘The Bike’ Hailwood left us. Legendary motorcyclist – one of Valentino Rossi’s heroes – Hailwood was also competitive in F1 & Le Mans sports cars. So a natural invitee to the ‘Race Of Giants’ in 1978 on the streets of Macau.

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A year ago today, one of F1’s greatest-ever characters sadly left us. During the Jordan F1 team’s late-1990s/early-Noughties peak, the irrepressible Eddie Jordan was manna from Heaven for documentary-makers & some of EJ’s greatest RPM-owned moments feature in this montage.