Mo Mendham? Mini Racer

[Pete]

Wow, Interesting post Goff!! I didn't know the Pippa bit, and who's Mini was involved in the Capri crash?

[goff]

Wow, Interesting post Goff!! I didn't know the Pippa bit, and who's Mini was involved in the Capri crash?

Yes pete Local garage to me, All big friends, Mathews , Taylor's and Houghton , Dave Mathews as links to Manor motorsport which was based in Dinnington ,Next village to thurcroft ,( I lived in Thurcroft for 17 years ) Before Virgin got involved .

The race was British grand prix , Mathews was about to lap the mini of Gavin Booth , For some reason run into the back of the mini , David Brodie was chasing Mathews in a escort , Gavin Booth left the track then back on again facing the wrong way and David Brodie hit head on , Sadly Gavin Booth died a few day's later, Brodie was in hospital for months and Mathews just a few days . Hanging out of the Capri how can anyone survive !!!!!
Photo's Brodie's and Booth's cars

[spoon.450]

Great pics, tragic story.

[1071 S]

According to Dave Mathews ..as told to Motorsport Jan 2009...

".......The British GP support started well enough with Matthews third on the grid. But seven laps into the race Matthews’ Capri, Dave Brodie’s Norman Reeves Escort 1600 and Gavin Booth’s BMC Mini were involved in one of the worst accidents in BSCC history.

“I’m a little bit tapped around by it but I remember what happened,” says Matthews, who can laugh about events now. “People who get banged on the head don’t usually remember a damn thing, but I remember everything. I remember the car, the colour of it, the sun on it…

“When you’re in a quick car lapping slower cars, you get to know whether they’ve seen you or not. I knew Gavin hadn’t seen me. I wanted to get after Frank [Gardner] and at Abbey I just popped down the inside of Gavin, giving him more space than I would have usually because my corner was spoiled anyway. The next thing I remember I was looking at the road.

“Witnesses thought Gavin had seen me coming up the inside and tried to pop in to get a pull. But with the speed differential in those cars, he was never going to get a pull anyway. It was just an unfortunate thing.

“I was going quicker than he was, sort of timing it so that as he drifted out, I drifted past on the inside. I remember the next thing he touched my offside wheel and pulled the tyre off the rim. I think the photographs showed it. And then the wind got under my car, and I don’t know how quick I was going but it was still quickish. Anyway, the car got up in the air and that was that.”

Matthews suffered head and eye injuries, and to this day has no sight in one eye. "

Cheers, Ian

[Pete]

Thanks for all that, motorsport can be dangerous! Tragic story.

The results of that race are here :

http://touringcarracing.net/Races/1973% ... %20GP.html


Back on track I'll try and post the pic of Mendham's 731 HOP on it's roof later. Another illustration of how cars who's significance is highlighted so much nowadays for posterity but were just another Mini to rag about back in the day. So many of these 'significant' cars ended up in a heap and ultimatley parted out. I was offered a significant early racer recently, which didn't work out for reasons way too weird to describe here, but despite the fact that 90 % of the car was missing it's still miraculous that some of these cars survived in any shape or form!

[rich@minispares.com]

ive seen those pictures before (on 10/10ths I think), but it certainly makes you realise how the safety and strength of cars racing in modern historics has moved on (and in the right direction)

[BigWig]

John Aley can't remember Mo's car that ended up in the breakers, so therefore what happened to it remains a mystery.

I never realised John Aley's history beyond roll cages, this is worth a read: http://www.johnaley.co.uk

[irlmin]

John Aley can't remember Mo's car that ended up in the breakers, so therefore what happened to it remains a mystery.

I never realised John Aley's history beyond roll cages, this is worth a read: http://www.johnaley.co.uk

Thanks for the link , what a brilliant story .
G