Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Breaking news - Australian Grand Prix update

[Douglas Anderson (dnt]

Wow Les – still a lot of bumps on the course and you look pretty darn official.

Thanks for sharing

Doug

 

From: Les Thompson <les21 [at] ix.netcom.com>
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2020 2:07 PM
To: Douglas Anderson <dnt [at] dock.net>
Cc: 'The FerrariList' <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: Breaking news - Australian Grand Prix update

 

Doug,

 

Lots of good times and a lot of change.

 

Knew about the 1975 race and the events leading up. Three years out of the Air Force and starting a family, so Committee of 300 membership was out of the question. In 1980, a friend had a three day ticket, but couldn't attend on Friday. He loaned me the ticket, that was my first time at the circuit.

 

In 1981, a Long Beach MG club member came to a Lotus West meeting and said they were looking for workers. I signed up and worked on the outside of Ocean that year. Great view of the 'Linden Leap', on the apex there was a large manhole cover. The F1 cars would skip a bit as they went over it. the shifter karts would get airborne over it. Ocean went away in 1983 when they moved the straight onto Seaside. 

 

Went from outside the circuit to the F1 garage area in the convention center. When that went away moved back outside. I currently manage inside the circuit from halfway down Seaside to the Pits. My guys assist in security at Victory Circle, so there's always a show there.

 

Have photos of Colin Chapman on the pit wall up on Ocean. Met Mickey Thompson and several more of the drivers that were the hero's in my day. Have a shot with Linda Vaughn and her autograph on one of my credentials. 

 

Miss the old F1 days with different motors and cars, now more akin to watching a Barber Saab race. Was going to call it quits at 35, but changed my mind and decided this year would be my last. Just turned 73 and it's starting to feel more like a job than fun.

 

Did all the IMSA races at Del Mar back in the late 80's, early 90's. Those were fun, lots of competition and a lot mellower crowd.

 

Here's a shot of me hard at work making sure the Kool cigarette girls are safe.

 

Cheers,

Les

 

-----Original Message----- 

From: Douglas Anderson 

Sent: Mar 12, 2020 7:53 PM 

To: 'Les Thompson' 

Cc: 'The FerrariList' 

Subject: Breaking news - Australian Grand Prix update 

 

WOW Les - - 40 years working at the Long Beach.  What fun.

 

 

 

I can recall in about 1975 Chris Pook and Gurney came up to the San Fran Bay area, to a hotel in Marin County, and were looking for sponsors - $5,000.  Hmmmm – that’s about half the price of a new Porsche – and anyhow – he said the whole thing could go bust.  Anyway – they were going to test the track with F5000 just to see if it would work.  Too rich for a red jacket, and special seating for something that may not last.  Well we all got that wrong – it’s the longest running street track to date.

 

 

 

So anyway I went down to the first test race in ’75 - the F5000 race mainly because the guy that sold me a 1951 Porsche was racing his F5000 and my folks lived down in L.A.  The guys name was (and yes – ‘was’ is correct but that’s another story involving a ski boat) Dick Workman who owned Workman Motors on Pine St. in the heart of the San Francisco business district.  Flawless body man and painter and a bit crazy.  [Picture this – a race held at Sears Point in Sonoma, about 50 miles north of S.F., Dick raced his big block Cobra there over the weekend.  Come Monday morning he gets up, jumps it this Cobra and drives out of his home in Mill Valley, across the Golden Gate Bridge - - - IN his Cobra . . . with race numbers on the sides and hood, open exhausts and roll bar through business traffic up Van Ness and to his shop in the heart of San Francisco.  How do I know?  He passed me on the GG Bridge doing an un Godly speed at 7:00 a.m..  Damn near blew me and my ’66 Sea Sand colored VW bug off the bridge.  Good ol’ Dick – I recall he had a real serious look on his face.  Thumped right past me at speed and was GONE.]  Anyway – Dick was the only accident at the Long Beach F5000 race practice – at the END of the pit row on Ocean Blvd.  Dick took the Coca Cola ad seriously that sang “Things go better with Coke.”  Totaled his car and nearly him as he was air lifted to the hospital.

 

 

 

Yeah, that was the race course that went down the long Shoreline Drive, made a tight 180 at The Queens Hairpin (that’s gone) and then a left and UP the hill to Ocean – then a short chute in front of the pits and a sharp right DOWN Linden (I think) to the bottom and a hard left.  The bangety bang sound the cars made at the bottom of Linden was the chassis bottoming out and axels breaking.  Formula one did no better.  It was either the next year or the following year that up to Ocean and down Linden was dropped off and just straight thru on one level was and is the new course.  Oh – one more – the next year, 1976 - Jody Shectker stuffed it at the Queens Hair pin going pretty darn fast off the longest straight.  The car is stopped but Jody is hunkered face down as low as he can go - - race officials run over to him and he’s ok.  So one the officials asks – why were you all hunkered down when it was all over?  Jody replys – “Well it was quiet and I knew it was either all over or I was in the air and I sure didn’t want to land on my head.”

 

 

 

This was way before TV.  I sure miss going there for F1.

 

 

 

Doug