hello,
i was asked to share some shots from the only race, the xp had in rainy spa back in 1968.
i was lucky enough to have a father with racing ambitiones, and we visited lots of races in the 1960ies, one of which was the 1000km race at old spa-francorchamps.
yes, it was a typical wether in the ardennes mountains, and in the touring car support-race before the start of the 1000 km race , some competitors had already scrapped their cars at the eau rouge bend.
during grid formation of this support-race, the xp arrived this morning, rather late ,on a trailer. in the german press, the plywood prototype was announces as a car for very brave drivers , not only for the track, as old spa was famous for horrifying scenes especially in wet conditions, but mainly for the car, not only as it looked so strange with its angular body shape , most because of the plywood structure under driver and pure formula 1 technics..
the xp coming in the morning, heavy load even for an american van
when the grid for the main 1000km race was formed, thankfully rain had stopped a little bit during this procedure, the xp was pushed at the back of the field, as it obviously hadn´t run well in practice or did not had practice at all, my school-french wasn´t good enough in those days to understand the speakers explanations .
some strong men are necessary, to push the xp up the hill at spa starting lane, behind the deep sanderson 302 with the martin formula 1 engine and checron b8. !@+*#@ rain-coats were the best dress on this day.
when the race started, rain started again heavily, and the xp went behind all cars down to eau rouge , very slowly, it seemed, the engine was still cold and the accidents in the support-race before called for a softy beginning.
xp started from the back of the grid, water-fog filled the air
during the race the rains became very heavy, and the xp wasn´t the only car, where the mechanics were busy with towels to dry the cockpits and the windscreens, which was nicely visible from the grandstand just opposite of the pitlane.
the xp came in several times, and it was stopping always longer than the other competitors, with some men running nervously around it, opening and shutting the huge perspex-doors.
xp coming in for beeing serviced , better dewatered
lots of cars had wet ignition
the end of the game
mid of the race, the car was stopped once again and finally pushed by hand to the main-exit to paddock at the bottom of the pit-lane. unfortunately after this, the rain stopped and at the end , even the sun came out and dryed the track, so jacky ickx could proove the capabitilty of the john wyer gulf gt40 against the fast porsches.
after the race, i saw the xp again, already fixed on its trailer, ready for the way back to wiltshire.
i took some pictures there, but it was very crowded around this spectacular prototype, so it was hard to get some propper shots of it.
than i never heard any more about this car, but often looked at home my super-8 movie from this race, today perhaps the only motion-pictures of this car in its short period of racing history.
some years ago i made a video copy of all my old super-8 movies from 1960-ies races, and today i have tried to take some shots from the screen, of course not the best ones, as in motion , the pictures look lots better and clearer than in the digital copies, but nevertheless , i hope you enjoy a bit these rare documents from the golden age of sports-car racing and from the xp´s only race at old spa , now 41 years ago (by the way, i was 16 years old.....)
klaus
i was asked to share some shots from the only race, the xp had in rainy spa back in 1968.
i was lucky enough to have a father with racing ambitiones, and we visited lots of races in the 1960ies, one of which was the 1000km race at old spa-francorchamps.
yes, it was a typical wether in the ardennes mountains, and in the touring car support-race before the start of the 1000 km race , some competitors had already scrapped their cars at the eau rouge bend.
during grid formation of this support-race, the xp arrived this morning, rather late ,on a trailer. in the german press, the plywood prototype was announces as a car for very brave drivers , not only for the track, as old spa was famous for horrifying scenes especially in wet conditions, but mainly for the car, not only as it looked so strange with its angular body shape , most because of the plywood structure under driver and pure formula 1 technics..
the xp coming in the morning, heavy load even for an american van
when the grid for the main 1000km race was formed, thankfully rain had stopped a little bit during this procedure, the xp was pushed at the back of the field, as it obviously hadn´t run well in practice or did not had practice at all, my school-french wasn´t good enough in those days to understand the speakers explanations .
some strong men are necessary, to push the xp up the hill at spa starting lane, behind the deep sanderson 302 with the martin formula 1 engine and checron b8. !@+*#@ rain-coats were the best dress on this day.
when the race started, rain started again heavily, and the xp went behind all cars down to eau rouge , very slowly, it seemed, the engine was still cold and the accidents in the support-race before called for a softy beginning.
xp started from the back of the grid, water-fog filled the air
during the race the rains became very heavy, and the xp wasn´t the only car, where the mechanics were busy with towels to dry the cockpits and the windscreens, which was nicely visible from the grandstand just opposite of the pitlane.
the xp came in several times, and it was stopping always longer than the other competitors, with some men running nervously around it, opening and shutting the huge perspex-doors.
xp coming in for beeing serviced , better dewatered
lots of cars had wet ignition
the end of the game
mid of the race, the car was stopped once again and finally pushed by hand to the main-exit to paddock at the bottom of the pit-lane. unfortunately after this, the rain stopped and at the end , even the sun came out and dryed the track, so jacky ickx could proove the capabitilty of the john wyer gulf gt40 against the fast porsches.
after the race, i saw the xp again, already fixed on its trailer, ready for the way back to wiltshire.
i took some pictures there, but it was very crowded around this spectacular prototype, so it was hard to get some propper shots of it.
than i never heard any more about this car, but often looked at home my super-8 movie from this race, today perhaps the only motion-pictures of this car in its short period of racing history.
some years ago i made a video copy of all my old super-8 movies from 1960-ies races, and today i have tried to take some shots from the screen, of course not the best ones, as in motion , the pictures look lots better and clearer than in the digital copies, but nevertheless , i hope you enjoy a bit these rare documents from the golden age of sports-car racing and from the xp´s only race at old spa , now 41 years ago (by the way, i was 16 years old.....)
klaus
