1985 European Grand Prix

[Sabrejet]

European Grand Prix, Brands Hatch 5 and 6 October 1985. Zenit SLR again, but better weather this time, and being Brands, closer to the action. Back then most of the circuit was lined with concrete posts, four or five-strand wire up to armpit level and a great deal of good fortune. I can never recall anything getting propelled into the crowd but by the early 1990s the wire had changed to chain-link and you needed to stand on a table to look over the top of it. It was indeed a golden era.

 

McLaren MP4/2B of John Watson. He was filling in for Niki Lauda, who had suffered a wrist injury at Spa. This was the only time a car with No.1 was raced by a non-World Champion.

 

The Tyrrell-Renault 014 of Ivan Capelli. Solid chap Capelli, who would do better things with Leyton House March.
 

Williams FW10B of Nigel Mansell; he won the race, his first F1 victory.

 

Keke Rosberg, Williams FW10B. He finished 3rd.

 

Nelson Piquet in the Brabham BT54, Paddock Hill Bend. I think this was Saturday evening. Not a great photo because I seem to have focussed on the crowd. Still learning. The BT54 was a good car but Piquet only took one win in it (France). I’d love to think that one of the two cars at this race was the ‘super sub’ BT54 which stood in at Brands the following year after the BT55 proved a failure.

 

Marc Surer was a solid No.2 to Piquet at Brabham in 1985, having replaced François Hesnault who suffered three retirements and an ignominious DNQ in the first four races of the season. Surer meanwhile managed a series of good finishes including a 4th in Italy.
 

I really liked the look of the RAM-Hart 03 (even built the Tameo/Meri kit of it), seen here driven by Philippe Alliot. It was a typical Gustav Brunner design and echoed elements of his later Ferrari Indycar. I used to own a Skoal Bandit jacket too! Alliot retired in the race due to engine failure.

 

Poor Elio de Angelis had done well at Lotus, scoring wins in 1982 and 1985. But he couldn’t compete with Senna’s prodigious talent. He finished 5th.

 

Second in the race but another pole by Senna in the Lotus 97T. This was the race where he was visibly faster into Paddock Hill Bend. It’s not often that you can see that a car is faster, but that was Senna, and this was another demonstration of his supreme talent. Sadly his Lotus wasn’t a match for the Williams but he largely made up for it.

 

Derek Warwick, Renault RE60.

 

With BMW M12 power the Arrows A8 should have been a contender but didn’t really deliver. This is Gerhard Berger on the run up to Druids.

 

Thierry Boutsen in the Arrows A8 BMW. He’d finish sixth and managed a season best second in San Marino.
 

 

1985 was a season of treading water for the Toleman team. Its TG185 still had the four-cylinder Hart 415T powering it but the arrival of Benetton sponsorship began its change in fortunes. Rebranded as Benetton for 1986 and with Gerhard Berger and BMW power the 1986 car managed to win a race and be competitive just about everywhere. This is Teo Fabi during practice and race, having a minor off at Paddock Hill Bend.

 

Riccardo Patrese, Alfa Romeo 185T [*correction: it's a 184TB after the 185T proved such a dog - see comment below]. For a change both cars finished the race, but only in 9th and 11th.

 

Eddie Cheever, Alfa Romeo 185T [again, it's a 184TB]. Both he and team-mate Patrese were wasted at Alfa. Patrese would go on to win with Williams and Cheever proved to be the consummate all-rounder with victories for Silk Cut Jaguar in sportscars, wins in the Indy Racing League and took the big one at Indianapolis in 1998.

 

Jacques Laffite, Ligier JS25. He’d be a lap 58 engine-related retirement.

 

The Ferrari 156/85 of Stefan Johansson.  

 

Pierluigi Martini was a decent driver, often stymied by poor machinery. He would be the first race retirement, after an accident on lap 3. But the Minardis did look good, despite their very unreliable Motori Moderni engines and the dubious honour of having Carlo Chiti in charge.

 

 

Christian Danner in the Zakspeed 841 on Saturday (with West sponsorship on show) and in the race with it camouflaged. These were the days of cigarette sponsorship, which had to be covered for race day at the British and German rounds due to local regulations.

 

Haas-Beatrice-Lola ran a few races in 1985 with a single THL-1 Hart for Alan Jones. The following year the team would be up to two cars and the Ford TEC V6-powered THL-2 with input from Adrian Newey. 
 

Edited May 28 by Sabrejet

[Windy37]

Brilliant photos,  great memories. 

Thanks for sharing 

Gary

[Roger Holden]

Thanks for these great photos from a golden age at Britain's best F1 venue.

 

Just a minor correction; the Alfa Romeos are both 184TBs, to which the team had reverted having given up on the 185T. A clear sign of a team looking at the exit door....

[Sabrejet]

19 minutes ago, Roger Holden said:

Thanks for these great photos from a golden age at Britain's best F1 venue.

 

Just a minor correction; the Alfa Romeos are both 184TBs, to which the team had reverted having given up on the 185T. A clear sign of a team looking at the exit door....

 

Thanks for that v. muchly - I have to admit I don't remember this at all but on looking at the 1985 British GP photos I see that Cheever was running a 184TB and Patrese's car (in parc ferme) was a 185T. Even image searches seem to show a confused mix. I've put a note in the text above!

[othertales]

What a golden age of F1 that was—thank you so much for bringing those photos along for all of us to enjoy!

[Malc2]

Fantastic, thanks for posting those. I like your commentary as well.

You have managed the panning shots superbly.

Did you take any in the pits area?

Malc.

[Sabrejet]

1 hour ago, Malc2 said:

Did you take any in the pits area?

Malc.

 

Not this time. I'm not sure we did a pit walk on this one, though we certainly did the following year. I'll post those soon.

[Flintstone]

Great photos. thank you

[Kitkent]

Fantastic pictures again! Brands Hatch is still the best track in England methinks. Chris.

[FridayAgain]

I can't believe I missed this!! So glad to see more photos of this era, absolutely incredible stuff, thank you again for taking the time to sort through the photos and post them.

[johnlambert]

9 hours ago, Kitkent said:

Fantastic pictures again! Brands Hatch is still the best track in England methinks. Chris.

I've spectated at a few circuits over the years, starting at Brands, but also Silverstone, Donnington Park and Oulton Park. The local topography at Brands Hatch makes it by far the best circuit for watching racing. Silverstone, for all its prestige, isn't really a good place to see much of the action. Oulton Park and Donnington have some good vantage points, but nothing quite like the Kent circuit.

[Kitkent]

I went to the tyre testing for this race,myself and a friend got taken into the pits for the day by Jackie Oliver the Arrows boss! This included walking through their transporter and meeting Gerhard Berger,who Jackie fussed over,he was thinking of more sponsorship probably.Anyway I was definitely under prepared as I only have 3 pictures so I must have had the end of a film. Two Arrows pics obviously,one is the interior shot of the A8 and one McLaren. My  abiding memory of the day was definitely Marc Surer out on track on his own in the Brabham BMW,being far quicker than anyone else that day,we watched him at Clearways and this was quite scary to see. Chris.