At Least The Second Greatest Driver Of All Time
Sadly,Sir Stirling Moss died today.
Strangely, he is one of the few celebrities, with whom, I have shaken hands. Most of the others were probably jockeys before or after a race.
It was at Olympia, where I went with my family to see the Christmas equestrian event. Sir Stirling was one of the celebrities running round the crowd collecting money for charity in a bucket.
How many of today’s celebrities would do that?
My greatest memory of Sir Stirling was watching on the TV, as he won the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.
He was driving an underpowered Lotus 18 and throughout the race he fought off three Ferraris to win by a few seconds.
Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss has just been on Radio 5 talking about his new book, All My Races.
I was fourteen when I saw him bring off one of the most difficult wins of all time. It was in Monaco in 1961. He was on pole and managed to keep in front of the three Ferraris after taking the lead early on. They were much more powerful cars and as they harried Stirling’s Lotus for lap after lap, it would only be a matter of time before they overwhelmed him.
But that time never came. There’s a video with a few shots of the race.
I shall be buying the book.
The Anonymous Widower 