Sunday, December 23, 2018

Brands Hatch Tyre Test 1986

Time to dip into the McCabism personal photographic archive. The occasion here is the 1986 pre-Grand Prix Tyre Test at Brands Hatch.

Proper drivers, proper cars, and a proper circuit.

Nigel Mansell zipping down the pit-straight in a car weighing less than 700kg.
Stefan Johansson's Ferrari, in the days before people from Northern Europe and South Africa introduced the Scuderia to the exciting world of stable balanced downforce.
Nelson Piquet, plotting and scheming as he brakes for the hairpin at Druids.

Ayrton Senna negotiating the curved flow at Hawthorns.
Poking my camera over the bridge parapet to get a shot of Keke Rosberg accelerating down the hill to Clearways.
Nigel Mansell in the pits, complaining of an excessive surface/bulk tyre temperature delta, and some inconsistent behaviour from the Y250 vortex.
Ayrton Senna cresting the rise after the sylvan delights of Dingle Dell, and preparing to turn into Dingle Dell corner.
Keke Rosberg in the McLaren, somehow living to tell the tale without a halo for protection.

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