The Editor: ‘A galaxy of stars celebrated Motor Sport’s centenary’

Our centenary dinner took place last month at London’s Dorchester – the high-water mark for Motor Sport’s 100th anniversary celebrations. As with all birthday parties there is a nervous moment before the guests arrive when you begin to wonder whether anyone will turn up. For us, this was doubly acute since we were aware that the dinner was taking place in the middle of a Formula 1 triple header, a couple of days after the Austrian Grand Prix and a few days before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

In the end we needn’t have worried. A galaxy of stars turned out to celebrate with us and make it a night to remember. Seeing so many racing legends together in a room at the same time was a true pinch-yourself moment – Derek Bell chatting to James Calado, David Richards breaking bread with Damon Hill, David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan cracking jokes, Richard Attwood deep in conversation, and Adrian Newey dodging questions about his future plans…

I was sat next to our guest of honour Sir Jackie Stewart who spoke about what the history of the magazine meant to him – his older brother Jimmy introduced him to it – and, of course, his memories of Denis Jenkinson: “We knew all of the journalists very well because they would be wandering around the paddock in those days so we became close. And I think Jenks was probably the best motor racing journalist that there ever was. He was a great writer.” The pair famously fell out because, as Sir Jackie put it, “I closed the Nürburgring,” but there was obvious pleasure in the fact that they made up in later years. Sir Jackie’s verdict on Motor Sport? “It’s been the best F1 magazine for years and it still is.”

He wasn’t alone. Allan McNish talked about the magazine being “such a special part of so many of our careers. It’s inspired many generations of drivers as well as engineers, team owners too.” Adrian Newey mused on the fact that, “So many people in this room, including myself, have read it since pretty much the age at which we could read. The fact that the green and white cover is still on the shelves all these years later is absolutely outstanding.”

Ross Brawn, who was representing the Grand Prix Trust, which was our charity partner for the evening, was typically thoughtful: “I always think of Motor Sport as the gentleman’s racing magazine, a very high-quality racing magazine. I always read Mark Hughes – don’t often agree with him… but the balance of content is always fantastic. It is one of those contemplative reads and you just sit there and read about motor sport… and occasionally I get tempted by the adverts in the back.”

“A galaxy of stars turned out to celebrate our centenary anniversary”

The evening also paid tribute to the 10 cars that made our shortlist for the Motor Sport Race Car of the Century campaign, which was sponsored by Richard Mille, that purveyor of extraordinary watches but also a company with a genuinely deep affinity to motor racing. Along the way we crowned Formula E with our special Innovation Award – which was presented to the series by Kiran Haslam, the chief marketing officer of Diriyah, which hosts Saudi Arabia’s rounds in the all-electric championship.

As you now know the winner of our Race Car of the Century was claimed by the Lotus 49 after several thousand readers voted for it ahead of the McLaren MP4/4 and Porsche 917. Damon Hill made the presentation to Clive Chapman – a moving moment. In front of them was the Lotus 49 in which Damon’s father, Graham, had won two Monaco GPs; the car, of course, was one of the greatest creations of Clive’s father, Colin.

“My dad would be tickled pink – as I’m sure would Colin – to know that together they worked on a car which has been recognised in this way,” said Damon. “It is a tremendous honour that the readers of Motor Sport have voted for the Lotus and we are proud, as the Hill family, to have been involved in an amazing project like this.”

In the crowd was Bob Dance, Graham’s engineer, now 89. When asked about the 49, he appeared almost lost for words.

I have to say that I was not surprised at the choice of winner by Motor Sport’s readers. OK, so the car and the era, and its association with Jim Clark, all mean that we have a natural affinity with it, but I think there was something else at play too: our readers see beyond mere statistics in assessing true value. You clearly recognised that, despite not being the most successful Lotus, it is the most important.

Yes, it broke new ground in so many ways, but in being the first to use the Cosworth DFV engine it effectively created the F1 that we have now. As Newey explained: “It gave the little English teams like Brabham, McLaren, Tyrrell, Williams and, yes, Lotus a competitive engine with which they could race, and beat, the factory teams like Ferrari. It totally changed the Formula 1 story forever.”

Thank you to the thousands of readers who voted in our Motor Sport Cover of the Century. It was a close run thing in the end but the winner was the June 1955 issue, with the now iconic image of DSJ and Stirling Moss celebrating their Mille Miglia victory. Like the Lotus 49 it’s a worthy winner and an era defining moment to boot.

Joe Dunn, editor
Follow Joe on Twitter @joedunn90

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