Stirling Moss Television Programme BBC2

[chichestermini]

Did anyone else see this last night?

Sir Patrick Stewart profiles his childhood hero, the legendary British racing driver Sir Stirling Moss.
Together they explore Stirling’s career as a racing driver of incredible skill, and one who up held sportsmanship, referring to the 1958 Formula 1 season when his sporting attitude to arch-rival Mike Hawthorne effectively cost him the that year's world championship. (Must I remind some older folk here? )

As a younger mk1 mini owner on this forum, and of course knowing of Sir Stirling Moss, it really was fantastic to really enhance my basic knowledge of such a brilliant and 'ballsy' driver.

"Not that Stirling was a saint. Out of hours, he was your original 1950's playboy, ever ready to “meet the crumpet and have fun”, he recalls. The life of a racing driver then was, he reckons, “as good a life as anyone could ask for”

They discuss the effects of the crash and why it may just have been the best ever thing that happened to Stirling. Stewart drives a Vanwall Formula 1 car at the scene of Stirling's historic 1957 British Grand Prix victory at Aintree, a place that brings back special memories for Stirling. They also drive cars together from Stirling's racing heyday, including a Mercedes 300 SL gullwing, which they pilot along the route of the famous Mille Miglia road race in Italy, the scene of one of Stirling's most famous victories in 1955. It turns out, at 83, Stirling really hasn’t slowed down all that much.

Some beautiful archival footage, in amongst this documentary! I strongly suggest to watch if it was missed... (P.S. looks like there's more coming too, quoted below!)

"Racing Legends is a new series being shown on BBC 2 where high-profile car enthusiasts pay tribute to British driving greats and re-enact one of their most famous races. In the first episode, actor Patrick Stewart and former racing driver Stirling Moss travel to Florence in a classic Mercedes to retrace the route of Italy's most famous road race - the Mille Miglia. The next two episodes feature Chris Hoy on rally legend, Colin McRae, with the help of his father Jimmy, and James Martin on Sir Jackie Stewart, the three time Formula 1 champion."

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas, wish you all the best in the coming 2013.

Thom

http://www.stirlingmoss.com/sites/defau ... tewart.jpg

[LMM76C]

Older members know there is no "e" in Hawthorn....
The programme was better than we have come to expect from mainstream TV. The area where it was probably very wrong was the implication that the 62 Ferrari would have given SM a walkover WDC. By 62, the UK cars were getting back the power disadvantage of 61 and had advanced way beyond Ferrari in chassis design/set up. Even with Alf Francis spannering it at Rob Walker's, the 62 Ferrari would probably still have been a relative "dog". It was effectively the dominant 61 "Sharknose" without the sharknose and had made no progress.

The scheduled programme on Colin McRae tonight with Chris Hoy has apparently been postponed for "legal reasons" and the James Martin programme on Jackie Stewart substituted. Maybe for reasons related to McRae's fatal helicopter crash and the lapsed licence that somewhat tarnishes his image?