Mike Spence: ‘He was a true gentleman’
We delve into the Motor Sport vaults and pick out a piece from 2006 about F1 ‘quiet man’ Mike Spence
The quiet man, June 2005
Non-championship Formula 1 races of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s used to be where A-listers kept themselves sharp for the points-scoring meetings, while second-string drivers had a chance to shine. However, the first edition of the most celebrated non-championship event – the Race of Champions – saw the emergence of an upcoming star.
Sixty years have gone since promising Lotus driver Mike Spence announced himself at that Brands Hatch race, seeing off Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren and Jochen Rindt. Paul Fearnley remembers a promising career cut short by tragedy in a June 2005 archive piece.
Following the RoC, Spence’s next triumph came at the non-championship 1966 South African GP, before he was moved aside at Lotus for Peter Arundell. As Fearnley points out, the Brit didn’t complain, he got on with it. A quiet character belied an underlying steel, forged by overcoming polio as a child and being a tank commander during national service.
“There was no side to Mike,” said Tim Parnell, one of his team managers, with Jackie Stewart adding, “He was a true gentleman.”
Following his Lotus rejection, Spence plugged away across ’66 and ’67 with Parnell’s privateer team and then the works BRM squad, but looked potent in the 1967 World Sportscar Championship when driving Jim Hall’s Chaparral 2F with Phil Hill. Having led at both Daytona and Sebring, it all came good when Spence and Hill won the finale at Brands.
“Mike gave us what we needed,” said Hall. “He was quick and didn’t damage the car.”
When Lotus talisman Clark died in 1968, Colin Chapman brought Spence back to test the gas-turbine Lotus 56 for that year’s Indy 500 – and race it too if all went well. Testing at the Brickyard, he set a lap of 169.555mph – then the second-fastest of all time – before a shunt at the deceptive Turn 1. A front wheel struck Spence on the head, ripping his crash helmet off. He died in hospital later that day.
The Brit hadn’t even needed to run his fatal lap. Having set the pace in the works Lotus, his off came while helping the Granatelli team dial in its 56. “That was typical of Mike,” said Parnell. “He was the nicest bloke I ever met in motor racing.”
To read the full story visit our online archive.
IN THE SPIRIT OF BOD AND JENKS
On this month… Bod’s book, lousy Lotus and tandem times
In other words
May 1950
Editor Bill Boddy makes frequent mention of his new tome The Story of Brooklands Vol III – “I had been driving a pen too long and cars too infrequently.” Over at Goodwood’s Easter Meeting it was ideal weather for reading indoors: “The topical remark was, ‘How cold!’”
Feel the squeeze
May 1962
In part 19 of Fragments on Forgotten Makes we focus on the interwar Tamplin – a tandem-seater, 980cc cyclecar. “Passenger’s legs extended beside the driver,” recalls now-retired chief Edward Tamplin. “When ladies were carried, this arrangement found favour with men.”
Gathering Moss
May 1998
Stirling Moss gets a byline writing about his all-time favourite driver Fangio: “If someone tried to carve him up, he wouldn’t get angry. He’d just wag a finger.” Elsewhere Jack Sears is no fan of the Lotus 40: “Richie Ginther said it’s a Lotus 30 with 10 more mistakes.”