Just arrived late this afternoon at Watkins Glen for the 2012 Vintage Grand Prix.
Driving up here from Ohio, I reflected on the fact that I have been coming here for 41 years now. My very first experience at Watkins Glen was the US Grand Prix in 1971, where as a young photographer I jumped into my Fiat 850 Spyder and set off for the Glen with no credentials, no hotel room and not much cash for the trip.
Of course, back then gas was like .29 and that Fiat got nearly 40 miles per gallon, so gas money wasn’t going to be much of an issue. As far as a hotel room, well who cared? I could always sleep in the car at the track if I had to.
I had packed about 20 rolls of film for my trusty Minolta SRT-101 camera (half color slides, half black and white) and was on my way.
Credentials? Didn’t even think about it. Just showed up at the track, bought a ticket and had no problem sneaking into the hot pits numerous times during the weekend. (Try that at a modern Formula One race!) Got some great shots too – man, there was Jackie Stewart, Francois Cevert, Denny Hulme, Peter Revson, John Surtees, even Mario Andretti! These guys were heroes to me, whom I had gotten to know through the best available information at the time – Rob Walker’s race reports in Road & Track magazine. Heck, I even got to meet Rob Walker!
Not only did I get to see these larger than life heroes up close and in person, I actually got to interact with them. It was like I was somebody – here I was, a 20 year old novice photographer who grew up on a farm in Ohio rubbing shoulders with legends of motor racing. I was not only in heaven, I was hooked for life.
Of course, that year Francois Cevert won his first and tragically his only Formula One race. Two years later, he would die in a violent practice accident in the esses. I was at the Glen for that as well. Motor racing both gives you a lot and takes a lot from you.
In the years that followed I returned many times to Watkins Glen, both as a photographer and later in the 1980’s as a team manager for a Camel GT team. So coming back here today brought back all those great memories – of triumph and tragedy, success and failure and most of all, the magic of Watkins Glen.
After arriving at the track and picking up my credentials (no more sneaking around) I did what I have done almost every year since that first year here – I drove a couple of laps of the old Watkins Glen street circuit, picturing in my mind what those brave drivers must have experienced as they flogged their Jaguars, MGs and Ferraris around that most daunting road circuit. How marvelous it would have been to have been here for those races!
Then it was off to Seneca Lodge for drinks in the bar, soaking up the atmosphere and nostalgia of one of the coolest racing bars on the planet. I could picture James Hunt standing on the bar after his Grand Prix victory and see Francois Cevert playing the piano after his win. This whole town is populated by the true spirit of motor racing and I am looking forward to soaking it up once again.
Tomorrow it is off to the Grand Prix Festival downtown and then out to the track to relive some of those great memories.
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