STIRLING MOSS – A TRIBUTE

In our March Spotlight Feature we paid tribute to Sir Stirling Moss, one world motorsport greatest ever drivers, who passed away in April this year.

While he raced at the very highest level in Formula 1 for 10 years, he won 16 races out of 66 starts, and was a runner up in the world driver’s championship on 4 occasions. There is no doubt he should have won the title, and he was certainly better than many who did.

In a career spanning 15 years he took the top step of the podium over 200 times in all forms of racing, and he was a versatile driver, winning the 1955 Mille Miglia in record time.

He always preferred to drive for English teams if possible and he preferred the privateer rather than the factory drives. He always drove the wheels of the car which some say contributed to his bad luck on occasions.

His career would have undoubtedly lasted much longer had it not been for a near fatal crash at Goodwood in April 1962 when he left the circuit while trying to pass the slower car of Graham Hill, hitting a grass bank at over 100mph. The crash left him in a coma for a month, and partial paralysis for over 6 months.

Always fast, but always fair, his character as a true Sportsman will forever be personified in the reports of events at the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix, when three races from the end of the season, his friend and rival for the title, Mike Hawthorn, was under threat of disqualification after being accused of reversing on the track. Sir Stirling came to Hawthorn’s defence in the steward’s room and Hawthorn’s second place was upheld. It turned out that the points Hawthorn kept in Portugal were the difference in him taking the title and Moss coming runner up 3 races later.

He continued to race in Historics for many years, finally hanging up the famous white helmet at the age of 81.

Passing at the age of 90, Sir Stirling Moss will be considered by most as the greatest racing driver of his generation, and by many as the greatest ever to race at the pinnacle of motorsport.