Neil
Supporter
Riverside International Raceway 1972
I was on Bob Peckham's crew during the '72 & '73 Can-Am season when we raced at Riverside and Laguna Seca. This was a new experience for me; here we were, among world- class cars and famous drivers with our second- hand McLaren M8C, a volunteer crew, and no sponsor at all.
Bob was a graduate mechanical engineer whose driving experience in race cars had been in a Lotus 23, but he had a good deal of talent which he displayed by his ever- higher place finishes in the subsequent Can- Am Series. His crew chief was his wife, a lecturer in math at the University of Arizona. Their paychecks were our team's only bankroll and we were competing with other race teams with million dollar budgets. Our crew was a small group of Tucson car enthusiasts with little to no experience in racing at this level.
The entries at this race were the usual collection of Can- Am cars- McLarens, Porsches, Lolas, the Shadow, and one lone Ferrari coupe, a 512F. This car was really unsuited for Can- Am as it had a much smaller displacement engine. The driver, however, was top-notch- Mike Parkes. The story that circulated at the track was that a kid who had made some money selling handbags made out of carpet (!) bought the car in Europe and entered it with Parkes as his driver. Although the Ferrari owner had absolutely no racing experience, his driver certainly did.
The race was relatively uneventful with the finish being George Follmer in a Porsche 917/10 TC First, Peter Revson McLaren M20 Second, and Mark Donohue, also driving a Porsche 917/10TC Third. Mike Parkes worked hard to place the Ferrari as high as Tenth and Bob finished just behind Parkes in Eleventh place. As the race cars pulled into the pits and shut off, the track was swarmed with excited spectators. Then it happened...
When Parkes stepped out of the 512F, the Ferrari owner jumped into the car with his girlfriend and drove it back on to the track! Black flags were waved furiously and the crowd yelled but that was taken as encouragement by the owner/driver. Finally the car was stopped and the car was disqualified.
Bob's car moved up from Eleventh to Tenth place. This resulted in an increase of $1500 in prize money, a sorely- needed commodity to our totally unsponsored shoestring effort, but I'm sure it must have been a disappointment to Mike Parkes, who worked so hard to place the Ferrari 512F as high as he had.
Note: The Ferrari was car #13, an unlucky number for sure!
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
I was on Bob Peckham's crew during the '72 & '73 Can-Am season when we raced at Riverside and Laguna Seca. This was a new experience for me; here we were, among world- class cars and famous drivers with our second- hand McLaren M8C, a volunteer crew, and no sponsor at all.
Bob was a graduate mechanical engineer whose driving experience in race cars had been in a Lotus 23, but he had a good deal of talent which he displayed by his ever- higher place finishes in the subsequent Can- Am Series. His crew chief was his wife, a lecturer in math at the University of Arizona. Their paychecks were our team's only bankroll and we were competing with other race teams with million dollar budgets. Our crew was a small group of Tucson car enthusiasts with little to no experience in racing at this level.
The entries at this race were the usual collection of Can- Am cars- McLarens, Porsches, Lolas, the Shadow, and one lone Ferrari coupe, a 512F. This car was really unsuited for Can- Am as it had a much smaller displacement engine. The driver, however, was top-notch- Mike Parkes. The story that circulated at the track was that a kid who had made some money selling handbags made out of carpet (!) bought the car in Europe and entered it with Parkes as his driver. Although the Ferrari owner had absolutely no racing experience, his driver certainly did.
The race was relatively uneventful with the finish being George Follmer in a Porsche 917/10 TC First, Peter Revson McLaren M20 Second, and Mark Donohue, also driving a Porsche 917/10TC Third. Mike Parkes worked hard to place the Ferrari as high as Tenth and Bob finished just behind Parkes in Eleventh place. As the race cars pulled into the pits and shut off, the track was swarmed with excited spectators. Then it happened...
When Parkes stepped out of the 512F, the Ferrari owner jumped into the car with his girlfriend and drove it back on to the track! Black flags were waved furiously and the crowd yelled but that was taken as encouragement by the owner/driver. Finally the car was stopped and the car was disqualified.
Bob's car moved up from Eleventh to Tenth place. This resulted in an increase of $1500 in prize money, a sorely- needed commodity to our totally unsponsored shoestring effort, but I'm sure it must have been a disappointment to Mike Parkes, who worked so hard to place the Ferrari 512F as high as he had.
Note: The Ferrari was car #13, an unlucky number for sure!
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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