Absolutely By winning in Le Mans and endurance series they also can put some indirect pressure on Formula One deciders for the future. Formula one is becoming too elistist with money and apparence. This is a smart move to my opinion.
Unfotunately, while Surtees was a CBE, he was never a "Sir". I have believed for years that he should have been knighted, since what he did - winning world titles on both 2 wheels and 4 - was extraordinary and unlikely to be repeated. He certainly brought honor and acclaim to Britain. If Jack Brabham and Jackie Stewart can be knighted, so should John Surtees, and even if he's deceased, it's still not too late.
Thanks for the correction and I totally agree. If I ever would have been fortunate to see and talk to him, I’d always call him SIR.
The rumor is that they never knighted him because he won the titles driving Italian machinery. It doesn't make sense they gave a knighthood to others but never him. Sad.
One was crashed. https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/03/14/chassis-change-for-51-ferrari-hypercar-after-prologue-accident.html
I like the fact that the Garage 56 team included a British former F1 World Champion, an American multiple NASCAR champion, and a German multi-winner touring car and sports car champion. Nice diversity.
Well this could get interesting... https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/multiple-parts-confiscated-from-hypercar-entries-lmp2-class-winner/ One thing I don't like about Le Mans is there always seems to be some sort of post race technical drama. Then again, How IMSA handled the MSR cheating at Daytona this year wasn't any better.
The cars all went through thorough scrutineering before the race. So why should anyone think there would be anything illegal now? Are the cars kept in a "parc ferme" after scrutineering or can the teams still fiddle with the cars?
Well, this is Le Mans and the ACO. They are experts in throwing these kinds of bombshell, from time to time. Le Mans has a poor track record in terms of fairness, and consistency. One can expect anything: lack of transparency, manipulation of results, late penalties, favouritism, etc ... I hope nothing will come out from this year's witchhunt.
Yep, I think a few years ago a Ferrari was penalised after the finish to lose the GT category win. Also ask Mario Andretti. One year he was due to race a Mirage (for GTC Phoenix) with his son and his nephew. His car passed scrutineering, only to be barred on race day because a small infringement was brought up at the last minute. In the past, they used to say that the safest way to avoid trouble at Le Mans was to have at least 1 French driver onboard. One year, Luigi Chinetti pulled out his 5 Ferraris from the grid because they argued that one of his drivers hadn't qualified. In the 60s, the scrutineers refused the Lotus entries because the cars had 4 wheelnuts at the front to 5 at the back. Chapman had new hubs and wheels machined and presented the cars again; they were refused on the grounds they were unsafe. "You had 5 nuts at the back, now you have only 4. That's dangerous !" Chapman went home, never to race at Le Mans again. The list is never ending. There are very zealous "commissars" brought from different parts of France at this occasion, and very often they compete among themselves to who will be the strictest. There are always more applications than room on the grid ...
This is purely a French wrong attitude concerning bureaucracy. They need to justify their job so they want to be the stricter’s one.
