302 replies to this topic

[Ray Bell]

The distance from the grid to the point where Savva pulled his stunt in 1969 is over two miles...

A staggered grid is not going to make any difference at all over that distance. But the crash did show that there was a need to be more aware of the speed and closeness of the big cars which had emerged in numbers since 1967.

I'm sure there were no specified penalties announced.

[Russell Burrows]

Among those blokes scratching a living racing bikes on the Continental Circus, some, should the correct size bike was knackerd for some reason, would chop and change their 7R's/G50's, 350/500 Manxes in order to claim their all important start money. Etiquette and self preservation dictated that if one was using a big engined bike, the gremlins would force a retirement before the race ended. A 350 7R was indistinguishable from a 500 G50, and most cannot pick a 350 Manx from a 500. A similar situation occurred later with the appearance of Yamaha strokers; many a 350 morphed into a 351/4 for the 500 race.

[Graham Clayton]

1979 Indianapolis 500 – several CART teams use a larger wastegate pipe, but welded inside it a washer with an opening of 1.470 inches, which was the minimum size for the opening. The washer created back pressure, which over-rode the pop-off valve, giving more boost to the engine, and increasing horsepower. The cars of Dick Ferguson, Steve Krisiloff and Tom Bigelow were disqualified and their teams fined $5,000 for “altering their wastegate exhaust pipes by the addition of restrictions which significantly affected the air flow”.

Edited by Graham Clayton, 26 December 2013 - 21:29.