Formula One - On This Day

Born on this day, Ukyo Katayama, Japanese racing driver, most notable for competing six years in Formula One. He participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting on March 1, 1992. He scored a total of five championship points, all of them for the Tyrell team in 1994.

Ukyo Katayama

At the sixth Rome Grand Prix there were five Alfa Romeos, four Maseratis, four Bugattis, one Talbot and one Mercedes-Benz. From the 15 cars at the start, 10 were still racing at the end. It began with a battle between Arcangeli in the new 2500 Maserati and Chiron's Bugatti. Continue Reading →

Round 3 of Grand Prix de France F2 Championship, the 3 hour Paris Grand Prix, held at Montlhéry, was won by Piero Taruffi driving a Ferrari 500.

Italian racing driver and twice Formula One World Champion Alberto Ascari (36), died. He was a multitalented racer who completed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Back to back World titles in 1952 and 1953 sandwiched an appearance at in the Indianapolis 500 in 1952. Continue Reading →

Alberto Ascari

In the Grand Prix at Zolder, Belgium, Niki Lauda in his Ferrari showed the way, sitting on pole and winning in a time of 1:43:53, 19.2 seconds over Jody Scheckter and his Tyrrell. Scheckter started ninth and drove very well but could not catch the Ferrari by the end. Continue Reading →

Amédée Gordini (79), Italian-born race car driver and sports car manufacturer in France, died. Gordini set up his business preparing Simca engines in Suresnes near Paris. His first successes came that year with victory in Bol díOr at Saint-Germain and this was followed by many other class victories including the Index of Performance at Le Mans in 1938 and 1939. Continue Reading →

Amédée Gordini

The 44th Belgian Grand Prix and the 32nd to be held at Spa-Francorchamps, run over 43 laps of the 7.0-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 301 kilometres, was won by British driver Nigel Mansell driving a Williams FW11. It was Mansell's third Grand Prix victory after his two breakthrough wins at the end of the previous season and his first in 1986. Mansell won by 19 seconds over Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna driving a Lotus 98T.

Nigel Mansell (Williams FW11 Honda) - 1986 Belgian Grand

At the Spanish Grand Prix held in Catalunya, Jacques Villeneuve sat on pole and won in his Williams with a race time of 1:300:35. Olivier Panis gave the Prost entry a wonderfully valued second place finish after starting twelfth on the grid. Jean Alesi was third after starting fourth. Continue Reading →

Start of the 1997 Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, 1997

A1 Grand Prix unveiled the provisional race calendar for its inaugural season, taking in a mix of established world-famous venues, exciting new state-of-the-art facilities and tight twisty street circuits.