Reject Birthday Topic

[tommykl]

February 27th is the birthday of 3 F1 drivers.

Ebb Rose would have turned 86. Born in Houston, his F1 career is limited to a DNQ at the 1960 Indy 500. His John Zink-entered Moore wasn't fast enough to qualify. He died on August 27th 2007 in Harris, aged 82.

Peter Revson would have turned 72. Born in New York, he just happened to be an extremely talented driver with heaps of cash in reserve, as he was heir of the Revlon cosmetics empire. Anyway, impressive performances in junior categories saw him signed by Reg Parnell for a handful of races in 1964. Underwhelming results saw him get tired of F1, and he quickly turned to sportscars. Great results saw him signed as a one-off deal for Tyrrell for the 1971 USGP, 7 years after his last F1 start. He retired after his clutch failed, but was still signed by McLaren for 1972. He quickly began to pile on the podiums, scoring four in total, and even his and McLaren's first pole at Mosport to finish 5th in the title chase! The next year, he scored just as many podiums, but two of those, however, were victories, in Great Britain and Canada. Despite once again scoring fifth in the championship, he left McLaren to go to Shadow. After retiring from the first two races, Revson went to Kyalami for a test session before the first race.Approaching Barbeque Bend, a suspension bolt failed and pitched Revson into the barrier at 220 km/h. The car instantly caught fire in the massive impact. Revson was 35.

Pedro Chaves turns 46. Born in Porto, he was portugal's brightest hope in F1 for a few years. After a mediocre rise through the ranks, things went much better when he lost 10kg on his way to the British F3000 title. After a handful of races in International F3000, he made the step up to F1, as a paid-driver, not a pay-driver. However, the Coloni was ugly, slow and heavy, and Chaves' season was even worse than expected. He never managed to even get close to prequalifying. After being paid ten times less than the contract stipulated, he left the team. After turning to GTs and Indy Lights, he turned to rallying, where he still competes to this day.

Two drivers also died on this day.

Bobby Ball died 57 years ago. Born on August 26th 1925 in Phoenix, he entered the Indy 500 in 1951 and 1952, qualifying both times. In 1951, he finished 5th, but retired early on in 1952 with gearbox problems. On January 4th 1953, Ball was taking part in the first race of the AAA season in California, when he tangled with Andy Linden coming into turn 1. Both cars flipped, and Johnny Tolan followed suit. Tolan was unharmed, Linden had a broken shoulder, but Ball had suffered critical head injuries. After spending 14 months in a coma, Bobby Ball died at the hospital in Phoenix from a basal skull fracture, having never regained consciousness. He was 28.

Ettore Chimeri died 51 years ago. Born in Ladi on June 4th 1921, Italy, he had the Venezuelan nationality, and was his country's first driver. After some local racing, he entered the 1959 Indy 500, but couldn't start. The next year, he entered the Argentine GP, but retired due to physical exhaustion. On February 27th 1960, he was practicing for a sportscar race in cuba, when he lost control of the Ferrari he was driving. He flew over a chain-link fence, the car rolling several times. Ettore was 38.

[JeremyMcClean]

Happy birthday Pedro! The ultimate reject of F1

[Bleu]

Today, two rejects celebrating.

Ingo Hoffmann turns 58 today. He participated three South American (Brazil twice, Argentina once) Grand Prix's in 1970s. However, he is best known as Brazilian stock car legend, having won Stock Car Brazil title no less than 12 times.

Sébastien Bourdais turns 32. He won International F3000 title in 2002, and moved to Champ Cars where he won four straight titles in 2004-07. He then moved to F1 with Toro Rosso. He finished 7th twice in his first season and 8th twice in his second season, before being dropped between German and Hungarian GPs.

Among with rejects, it's Mario Andretti's birthday. He turns 71. One of the most versatile racing drivers ever, he was 1978 Formula One World Champion, 1967 Daytona 500 winner, 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner and four-time IndyCar champion.

Two now late rejects were also born on this day:

* Albert Scherrer, born 1908. Swiss driver participated his home race in 1953, finishing 9th. He passed away in July 1986.
* Antonio Creus, born 1919. Spanish driver started one race, Argentina 1960 where he retired due to exhaustion. Creus died in February 1996.

And one non-reject too
* Elie Bayol, born 1914. Drove seven Grand Prix's, finished 5th in Argentina 1954 and 6th in Monaco 1956. Passed away in May 1995,

Two drivers died on this day:
* Timmy Mayer, just after his 26th birthday. He participated 1962 USA Grand Prix where he retired. He then drove in Tasman series and killed while practicing for eighth and final race of 1964. He had success earlier in the series with four podiums but no victory. He was fourth in final standings, but it is remarkable who were drivers ahead of him: Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme! Timmy Mayer's brother Teddy was McLaren team boss in 1970s.
* Charles Pozzi, born in 1909 and died in 2001. Drove his home race in 1950 finishing 6th.

[tommykl]

Well, now Bleu's done it, that's some pressure off my back for today.

[dinizintheoven]

Waaaaaaaaaaaait a minute... tommykl, why are you classifying Jean-Pierre Wimille, Kenneth Bear, Franco Cortese and Chas Mortimer (to name four) as rejects? Bear and JPW were both killed in the late 1940s, so they competed in races to Formula 1 regulations but which could not be for World Championship points because the championship didn't exist; Cortese and Mortimer competed in the early 1950s but only in non-championship races. So should any of these be considered as rejects? If we're taking it on placings, despite the non-championship nature of the races, then surely Cortese (two 5ths, 4th, and an unspecified podium) and Wimille (eight wins!) have well and truly unrejectified themselves.

[tommykl]

Yeah, sorry. I just counted them as rejects because, technically, they are, having never taken part in a championship race. Anyway, I still write about them because that's how I really get a feel about their achievements...if that sentence made any sense...

[tommykl]

March 1st is the birthday of a true reject.

Leroy Warriner would have turned 92. Born in Indianapolis, the American entered 5 Indy 500s. He is a true reject in that he never qualified for any of them. Despite being entered in very competitve cars (Kurtis Krafts) by fairly competitive owners, he couldn't qualify in 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956 or 1958. He died on January 2nd 2003 in Indianapolis of a heart attack, aged 83.

However, six drivers died on this day.

Alexander Orley died 40 years ago. The American, born in December 23rd 1911, entered four non-championship races in France and Germany. In 1948 and 1949, he entered the Grand Prix du Salon, first in his Todd (his real surname) Special, then in a Veritas Meteor. He never finished any of them. Then, with Formula One running to F2 regulations in 1952, he entered two de facto F1 races, the ADAC Eifelrennen and the Avusrennen, in his Orley Special. He had to withdraw from the first of them, but managed to start the second. However, he was painfully slow, and wasn't classified at the finish. He died approximately on March 1st 1971, aged 59.

Peter Walker died 27 years ago. Born on October 7th 1912 in Leeds, he is better known as being a driver in the firs ever World Championship race, and for winning the 1951 Le Mans 24h. In the 1950 British GP, in an ERA, he qualified 10th, but only drove two laps before handing the car to Tony Rolt, who drove a further three laps before retiring. He returned in 1951, tking a good 7th place in the factory BRM. He came back once more in 1955, in a Stirling Moss-entered Maserati for the Dutch GP, retiring with wheel problems after qualifying in 10th once more. He took his last F1 start in the British GP that same year, retiring with throttle failure. He died in Newtown of a pneumonia, aged 71.

Wolfgang Seidel died 24 years ago. Born on July 4th 1926 in Dusseldorf, he drove on-and-off in F1 from 1953 to 1962. He made his first start in 1953 for the German GP in a Veritas, where he finished 16th. His next entry came 5 years later, in 1958, in Belgium and Morocco for Scuderia Centro Sud. Qualifying near the back, he retired both times. In 1959, he entered the Monaco GP for Scuderia Colonia, but the car was unavailable, and Seidel couldn't start he returned the next year in Italy, driving a private Cooper. Qualifying 13th, he finished a career best 9th. In 1961, Wolfgang had his largest F1 program since the start of his career, entering 4 races for Scuderia Colonia. However, he didn't pay the entry fee in Belgium, so couldn't start. In the other three rounds, he could only finish 17th in Great Britain. 1962 was his last F1 season, driving out of his own pocket this time. After a one-off for Ecurie Maarsbergen in Holland (he wasn't classified at the finish), he retired in Great Britain, then hit a new low, as he was unable to qualify for his home race. He died in Munich, aged 60.

Jackie Holmes died 16 years ago. Born on September 4th 1920 in Indianapolis, he entered 4 Indy 500s from 1950 to 1953. Entering 4 times in 4 different cars, he only qualified in 1950, in the Olson, and 1953, in the Kurtis Kraft. However, Holmes retired both times. In 1950, he spun out, and in 1953 an oil leak ended his race. He died in Indianapolis, aged 74.

Ian Connell died 8 years ago. Born on October 15th 1913, the Brit enetered 6 non-championship races in 1946 and 1947. In 46, he entered the Grand Prix des Frontieres, but he couldn't qualify. Out of five races in 1947, he retired thrice and finished 7th in the other races. He died aged 89.

Lee Drollinger died 5 years ago. Born on May 20th 1927 in Champaign, he entered the 1960 Indy 500 for Ray Brady. He couldn't qualify the Kurtis Kraft. He died in Mahomet aged 78.

Four GPs were raced on this day, all of them in South Africa (1969, 1975, 1980, 1992).

[tommykl]

Only one event in F1 today, and what an event.

Gabriele Tarquini turns 49. Born in Giulianova, he destroyed all comers in karting, before a midfield career in F3000 saw him score his first F1 drive: a one-off for Osella at the 1987 San Marino GP. After qualifying in last, he retired on lap 26. He then signed full-time for Coloni in 1988. After qualifying for the first five races of the season, finishing 8th in Canada, he DNPQ'd 6 times over the season, also scoring 2 DNQs. He then drove for AGS in 1989, qualifying for the first six races, managing 8th in San Marino, 7th in the USA and even 6th in Mexico for his only career point! However, he DNQ'd in Great Britain and then DNPQ'd every other weekend. In 1990, still for AGS, he scored 7 more DNPQs and 5 DNQs, only finishing once, with 13th in Hungary. Still for AGS, things didn't change for 1991. After three DNPQs and 7 DNQs, he decided enough was enough, and signed for Fondmetal for the last three rounds. Qualifying in Spain and Japan, finishing 14th and 12th respectively, he DNPQ'd once more, for the 25th time in his career. In 1992, the Fondmetal was mildly competitive, but awfully unreliable. Qualifying for every race, even qualifying 11th in Belgium, he retired all but once in 13 attempts. He managed 14th at Silverstone, before the team went bankrupt. After this, he returned for one last time as replacement for the injured Ukyo Katayama for Tyrrell, at the 1995 European GP, finishing 14th. After F1, he converted to tin-tops, and won the BTCC in 1994, the ETCC in 2003 and the WTCC in 2009 (becoming the oldest ever FIA World Champion).

[dinizintheoven]

Only one event in F1 today, and what an event. Gabriele Tarquini turns 49...

...and what you'll never find mentioned anywhere, so it seems, is his role as chief test driver for Maserati. (See also: Andrea Montermini for Pagani, PHR for Bugatti... not bad jobs for F1 rejects, are they?) Remembering that I'd seen him on Top Gear once, I tracked down the episode... and here it is. (Get it before it's removed!) The relevant segment starts at 3:19, the bit with Tarquini in it starts at 7:59.

[eytl]

Well well well ...

3 March is not only the birthday of Nicolas Kiesa (remember him?), but that pales into insignificance compared to this earth-shattering milestone:

Happy 50th birthday to the one, the only, the great Perry McCarthy!!!

[dinizintheoven]

Definitely worth celebrating. In fact, I'm off to Sainsbury's to get a cake!

And of all the drivers I ever watched in the last 21 years, when the "forgettable drivers" thread came up, Nicolas Kiesa was the only one I genuinely forgot about.

[tommykl]

Apart from those two rejects (of whom I'll also give a brief career description), two other drivers, one of which is a reject, the other never took part in a championship race (happy now, dinizintheoven???).

Robert Gerbout would have turned 105. Virtually nothing is known about this driver. Noone knows where he was born or where and when he died. The Frenchman, mainly an F2 and sportscar driver, entered one F2 race when F1 was run to F2 regulations: the 1952 Cadours GP, in his own Lombard. He did not qualify.

Otto Stuppacher would have turned 64. Born in Vienna, he started racing in hillclimbs, where he was hugely successful, beating a certain Niki Lauda to the national title in 1971, and sportscars, where he was decidedly less successful. After announcing his retirement in 1972, he returned three years later in sportscars, without any success. In 1976, the organizers of the Austrian GP hosted a young drivers race, where the top 2 would earn enough money to be able to sign up for the actual F1 race. However, Stuppacher and Karl Oppitzhauser, the top two, were refused entry. Stuppacher started a petition amongst other drivers, but due to being relatively unknown, he couldn't get in. Later, with the OSAC providing financial support, he rented an old Tyrrell 007 for three races towards the end of the 1976 season. In Italy, he qualified 14 seconds off the pole, and did not qualify. After qualifying, however, three other drivers were stripped of their best times, and Otto found himself on the grid. He couldn't start the race, however, as he had already returned home. In Canada and the United States, he didn't qualify either in the Tyrrell, with a car bearing the "Austria is beautiful" slogan, finishing 13 and a mammoth 28 seconds off pole. He immediately retired from motorsports. He dropped off the radar completely, and was only heard from again when he was found dead in his Vienna apartment on August 13th 2001. Otto was 54.

Perry McCarthy turns 50. Born in Stepney, his rise through the ranks was slow, to say the least. British Formula Ford champion in 1983, he spent three years in F3 and two years in F3000 before moving to endurance racing. After winning a good deal of money, he got the second driver seat at the Andrea Moda F1 team for 1992. However, at the San Marino GP, he was refused entry because his Superlicense was revoked by Bernie. After appeal, Perry finally managed to "properly" drive an F1 car. However, things didn't exactly go according to plan. In 10 entries, he couldn't drive three times, and only actually set a time thrice, auring the owrst conditions possible. He was mistreated by the team, who sent him out in Belgium with a very faulty direction, almost killing Perry. After the team was refused entry for the Italian GP, McCarthy's career was done, and he returned to sportscars, where he still drives to this day. He is better known for being Top Gear's first Stig, and even better for the way he was fired from the show: announcing the best-kept secret in the world of TV in his autobiography: "Flat-out, flat broke: F1 the hard way".

Niolas Kiesa turns 33. Born in Copenhagen, he won coutless titles in karting, and was British and European FFord champion in 1999. After mediocre seasons in F3, he moved up to F3000, taking a few minor points positions. In 2003, he signed for a Danish team: Den Blå Avis. His season was mildly successful, but the high point was a victory at Monaco, obtained under hilarious circumstances: the leader, Bjorn Wirdheim, slowed down on the last lap to wave to his mechanics, but slowed before the finish line, allowing Kiesa to storm to victory. In late 2003, Nicolas got the chance of his life. Justin Wilson having left the Minardi team to drive for Jaguar, Kiesa was signed as second driver for five rounds. Despite finishing every race, he was very underwhelming, only managing a sole 11th place under the rain at Indy as best result. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't signed up for 2004. He now drives sporadically in Touring Cars and Sports cars.

Two rejects also died on this day.

Ernst Loof died 55 years ago. Born in Neindorf on July 4th 1907, he was first a motorcycle legend, taking the German championship 8 times in 9 years, and was mainly known as the designer of the Veritas cars. However, he also drove one world championship race when it was run to F2 rules: the 1953 German GP - in a Veritas of course - where he retired with fuel pump problems after qualifying 21st. He died in Bonn from a long and painful cancer. Ernst was 48.

Lella Lombardi died 19 years ago. Born on March 26th 1941 in Frugarolo, Lomardi is the only female driver to score points in an F1 race. Her F1 career started in 1974, entering the British GP in a private Brabham. Despite not qualifying, she currently still holds the record for the highest number of a car that competed in qualifying, 208. She returned in 1975, running a full program for March. Despite an overall disappointing year, she managed 7th at the Nurburgring, and even 6th at the red-flagged Spanish GP, earning half a point! for the last race at Watkins Glen, she drove a one-off for Williams, but she was unable to take part in qualifying proper. In 1976, she drove for March in Brazil, but a 14th place saw Lella get fired. She then drove her last four F1 races for the RAM team, only managing 12th in Austria. After continuing to race in sportscars, taking three victories, she died a few days before her 51st birthday in Milan from cancer.

The 1973 and 1979 South African GPs took place on this day, as well as the 2002 Australian GP.

[dinizintheoven]

Otto Stuppacher would have turned 64. ... In Canada and the United States, he didn't qualify either in the Tyrrell, with a car bearing the "Austria is beautiful" slogan, finishing 13 and a mammoth 28 seconds off pole. He immediately retired from motorsports.

Life Racing Engines, Mastercard Lola, Subaru-powered Coloni, can you hear me, your "records" had already taken one hell of a beating!

[tommykl]

March 4th is the birthday of five F1 drivers.

Carl Forberg would have turned 100. Born in Omaha, he entered the first three Indy 500s in the F1 era. However, he only qualified in 1951, eventually finishing the race in 7th. He died on January 17th in Brownsburg, aged 88.

Nino Vaccarella turns 78. Born in Palermo, he entered his first world championship race in Italy, in 1961. The Scuderia Serenissima De Tomaso (and the only race for the Conrero engine, effectively a rebadged Alfa Romeo) couldn't finish the race. He returned the next year for three races: Monaco, Germany and Italy for Scuderia Venezia. He DNQ'd in Monaco with the Lotus before switching to a Porsche for the Nurburgring, finishing 15th. In Italy, he reverted to the Lotus, and finished in 9th. His next and last F1 start came for the 1965 Italian GP, for the Ferrari factory team. However, he retired, but was still classified in 12th. After continuing to race sportscars, he returned to his old job as a lawyer, and still races in historical races.

Jim Clark would have turned 75. Born in Kilmany, he is often regarded as one of F1's best drivers of all time. His first F1 season came in 1960, driving six races for the Lotus team, for whom he would drive his entire career. THe 1960 season yielded two fifths and a third. In 1961, he took two further podiums. 1962 was his coming of age, and he took three victories to second in the championship. In 1963, he took seven wins on his way to the crown. 1964 was somewhat worse, but he still managed three wins and third in the championship. 1965 was once again a great year, Clark taking six wins and the title. 1966 was decidedly worse, as the Lotus was incredibly unreliable. Clark still managed one win and sixth in the championship. In 1967, he took four wins, but again, bad reliability saw him lose the championship to the more consistent Hulme. In 1968, he started the year well, with a win in South Africa, but he made the decision to enter an F2 race at Hockenheim on April 7th 1968. Inexplicably, the car careened off the circuit, disintegrating amongst the trees. Clark was 32.

Satoshi Motoyama turns 40. Born in Tokyo, he was hugely successful in Japanese F3000 and GT, scoring him a drive as Friday test driver for Jordan at the 2003 Japanese GP. After the test, there was no incentive to sign him on again, and he returned to F Nippon and JGTC.

Jos Verstappen turns 39. Born in Montfort, his rise through the ranks was quick, to say the least. He made his F1 debut in 1994 for Benetton. In his 10 races that year, he scored two podiums (in Hungary and Belgium) and a further fifth to score ten points. In 1995, he is loaned by Flavio to Simtek, where he would qualify higher than he should have. However, the car was unreliable, and he only finished once (12th in Spain) before the team went bankrupt. In 1996, Jos signed for Footwork, but he only finished four times, mainly retiring due to accidents (five times in total). He scored just one point in Argentina. The next year, he signed for Tyrrell. His season was mediocre, and he scored no points, only managing 8th in Monaco, and he was sacked in favour of Ricardo Rosset when Craig Pollock took over the team. He found a seat mid-season at Stewart in 1998, after Jan Magnussen was fired, but only managed 12th in France as best result. In 2000, after a one-year break, he signed for Arrows next to Pedro de la Rosa. His season was mixed, with three accidents and 5 points, with fourth in Italy as best result. He stayed at Arrows in 2001, but the car wasn't quick at all. He still managed to take 6th in Austria, though. In 2003, after another break, he signed for Minardi, but the car wasn't a world beater. His best result was 9th in Canada. After that disappointing season, no one signed him for 2004, and his F1 career was over. He currently races in endurance races, after a brief stay in A1GP, where he managed a win in Durban.

One F1 driver also died on this day.

Bill Aston died 37 years ago. Born on March 29th 1900 in Stafford, he is better known for being the creator of the Aston NB41. However, he was also a driver, and entered three races in 1952 counting towards the world championship. The fact he was 52 years old didn't deter him, and he managed one start, in Germany, where he retired with oil pressure troubles. He died in Lingfield, aged 73.

The 1972 and 1978 South African GPs were held on this day, as well as the 2001 Australian GP.

[tommykl]

March 5th is the birthday of two F1 rejects.

Graham McRae turns 71. Born in WEllington, the New Zealander was hugely successful in F2, F5000 and the Tasman Series, but also entered a sole F1 championship race: the 1973 British GP in Frank Williams' Iso-Marlboro. After qualifying in 28th, he retired on lap one, the only driver to do so in a reason separate to the famous accident at Woodcote corner caused by Scheckter, who ended Andrea de Adamich's racing career. McRae actually retired with a faulty throttle. After formula One, he continued racing, and was also seen in CART as late as in 1987.

Luciano Burti turns 36. Born in Sao Paulo, he was very successful in the lower series, without actually winning any open-wheel championship apart from some karting. After a good campaign in the 1998 British F3 championship, he was signed as Stewart test-driver, his first F1 drive. When the Stewart team was bought by Jaguar, he was kept on as test-driver, getting his first break at the Austrian GP that same year, where Eddie Irvine fell ill. Qualifying 21st, he eventually finished in 11th place. When Johnny Herbert retired from F1 after the 2000 season, Burti was hired as second driver for the whole season. Qualifying mostly in the midfield, he finished three of his first four races, managing 8th in Australia. However, he was fired after the San Marino GP, and was quickly signed by Prost, replacing the even more disappointing Gaston Mazzacane. He was usually he very reliable driver, retiring only twice and managing another 8th place in Canada. At Hockenheim, though, things went wrong. At the start, his Prost launched off the back of Michael Schumacher's slow-starting Ferrari, and caused a pile-up in which Luciano flipped over. He was uninjured in the accident. At the next race in hungary, he once again retired after leaving the track. In Belgium, things went even worse. While fighting for position with Irvine, he left the track at high speed, and Burti's car was trapped under the tyre barriers, ending his season. Afterwards, he was unable to find another drive. He now races in Brazilian Stock Cars, being mildly successful.

Two drivers also died on this day.

Tom Pryce died 34 years ago. Born on June 11th 1949 in Ruthin, Wales, he is mostly remembered for the tragic circumstances of his untimely death. After a normal rise through the junior ranks (marked by an accident in F3 at Monaco where he was thrown into a shop window while pushing car, breaking his leg), his first taste of F1 championship racing came in the 1974 Belgian GP for Token. He retired from the race. He was refused entry to the Monaco GP due to lack of experience. He retaliated by winning the supprting F3 race. He was signed as replacement driver for the deceased Peter Revson at Shadow, scoring his only point of the year at the Nurburgring. In 1975, the Shadow was a marked improvement, and he even managed pole at Silverstone, but retired, being the first victim of the rainstorm that hit the track at the end of the race. Apart from that, he scored 8 points and tenth in the championship, with third in the rain-hit Austrian GP. The next year, the car was again competitive sometimes, and Pryce took another podium in Brazil, as well as six more points throughout the season, taking an overall 12th place in the championship. 1977 was decidedly more difficult. The car wasn't competitive, and Pryce seemed to struggle as much as his teammate Renzo Zorzi. At the South African GP, Zorzi stopped on the track with a blown engine. A small fire declared itself on his car. Two marshalls crossed the track with fire extinguishers, just as Pryce went over the crest. He struck the second marshall, and the fire extinguisher he was carrying struck Tom in the face, wrenching his helmet off and almost decapitating the Welshman. He was 27.

Ernie de Vos died 6 years ago. Born on July 31st 1941 in Holland, the Canadian was hugely successful in F Junior in the early 1960's. This success led Peter Broeker to knock on de Vos' door, as he was looking for a second driver for the Stebro team. Ernie was then entered for the 1963 United Stated Grand Prix, but the second Stebro was never prepared. After the 1964 season, he decided to retire from motorsport at just 23 years old. He died in a road accident in Nokomis, USA, aged 63.

The 1977 South African GP was held on this day.

[JeremyMcClean]

Hideki Noda's B-day is tommorow, he was a good driver, rejectful wise

[tommykl]

Alright. To tell you the truth, I'm not really motivated to keep this up. I won't have much time to do this, so I'm afraid I'll have to stop writing out full reviews. I'll write a brief weekly report, with the drivers or GPs with the dates, but that's about it.

Sorry everyone!

[Bleu]

Hideki Noda turns 42. Three Grand Prix's in 1994, three DNFs. Next year he was set to drive for Simtek but couldn't find the money, so he lost his drive.

Rudolf Schoeller died in 1978. Born in 1902, he participated one race, German GP 1952, and retired with suspension failure.

Three Grand Prix's held on this day: South African GP 1970, Australian GP 1999 and 2004.

[Bleu]

Only reject celebrating birthday today is Michael Bartels who turns 43. Standing in for Johnny Herbert who had F3000 commitments, he tried to qualify for four races in 1991, but didn't succeed. Outside of Formula One, he won GT1 World Championship last year with Andrea Bertolini.

Bob Gregg was also born on this day, back in 1920. He failed to qualify for 1950 Indianapolis 500. Gregg died in 2002.

Ludwig Fischer (b. 1915) died on this day in 1991 and Duane Carter (b. 1913), driver with one podium in Indy 500, died in 1993.

Australian Grand Prix 1998 was held on this day. Debut for two rejects, Tora Takagi and Esteban Tuero!

[dinizintheoven]

This is not a birthday, but there's something else you might have missed.

20 years ago to this day - on the morning of 8th March 1991, the people of Portugal celebrated. They had their first Formula 1 driver since Mário Veloso de Araújo Cabral, way back in 1964. He was Pedro Chaves, and he was going out onto the track at Phoenix to pre-qualify. If he had no idea of what to expect, he soon would. "He is a capable driver, but what chance has he got?" said the BBC's Grand Prix 91 magazine. With a ridiculously bad Coloni C4 to attempt the job with it, he missed the pre-qualifying time by miles, and so began the story of the least competitive car in the 1991 season. His 13 consecutive DNPQs in a single season had only ever been beaten by Claudio Langes (14 DNPQs in 1990) and Aguri Suzuki (16 DNPQs in 1989) - and that's only because he gave up after the 13th attempt which never even happened.

We will never forget.

[Pointrox]

Today we celebrated birthday of one of very few Swiss drivers, that is Gregor Foitek, who turned 46 today.
Foitek took part in seasons 1989 [Eurobrun and Rial] and 1990 [Brabham and Onyx]. He participated in 22 Formula One Grands Prix, entering seven and finishing only two: Monaco GP (finished a close 7th) and Mexico (finished 15th), both in 1990 with Onyx.
He also had a handful of DNPQs, DNQs and retirements like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XncCr1h-qBg

Nowadays he's running a family business of Ferrari and Maserati dealership - Foitek Automobile.
More about the Foiteks here: http://www.foitekautomobile.ch/front_co ... p?idcat=58

[Pointrox]

It's high time to resurrect this topic, and I hope you will contribute to it

Tomas Enge turns 35.
Son of successful touring car driver, Bretislav Enge. Unlike most drivers, he began his career driving... a Ford Fiesta, aged 16, just a few hours after receiving his driver's licence.
He's been also a quite succesful driver in lower formulae.
His first encounter with Formula One took place on 10 December 1999, when he tested a 1999 Jordan.
As a Prost GP's 3rd driver, he filled in for Luciano Burti for the last 3 races of the season, debuting at Monza. His debut was also his best result of 12th.
Then he raced at Indianapolis (14th) and Suzuka (retired, brakes failure). He was known for crashing his cars twice during his 3 appearances - in the USA and in Japan.
He also raced in F3000 (he was about to become a champion in 2002, but failed a drug test at Hungaroring), A1GP, IndyCar and recently - in tin-tops such as GT1 and LMP1.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Happy birthday to Jean-Louis Schlesser!



And Eddie Keizan!



63 and 67 respectively.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Today is the birthday of none other than!

*drum roll*

MASAMI KUWASHIMA!!!

[Pointrox]

Patrick Friesacher turns 31.
Austrian driver debuted in 2005 alongside Christijan Albers, and was inconsistently slow in qualifying - from 0,5 to 2 seconds behind his teammate... and wasn't any better while racing.
His best result of 6th was his only point finish... and even then he finished dead last, and shortly after he was replaced with another Dutch driver to keep company with Albers, that is Robert "Bobby D" Doornbos.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Today, is the birthday, of the great namesake of this forum! The one, the only...

JEAN-DENIS DELETRAZ!!!



And we still don't know what he was doing, do we?

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

An F1 career lasting one corner thanks to JJ Lehto

Immortal words from Jamie and Enoch! And they can only be talking about;



Marco Apicella! He's now 46!

[Pointrox]

Stephan Sarrazin turns 36.
His career in F1 was a bit longer than Marco Apicella's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvTdm1YmT1o


Also, Alan Jones is 65 but he's not a reject. Anyway - happy birthday!

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

If I'm not wrong, tomorrow Pastor Maldonado will celebrate his 27th birthday.

[wmetcalf68]

If I'm not wrong, tomorrow Pastor Maldonado will celebrate his 27th birthday.

Where I am, there is 1 hour 47 minutes until his birthday if you're right!

[Bleu]

I have to bump thís because one of the F1 Rejects heroes (although he isn't actual reject) is celebrating his 50th birthday today.


Congratulations Michael!

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

I have to bump thís because one of the F1 Rejects heroes (although he isn't actual reject) is celebrating his 50th birthday today.


Congratulations Michael!

Happy birthday.
He should be a sort of honourary reject anyway!

[JeremyMcClean]

I have to bump thís because one of the F1 Rejects heroes (although he isn't actual reject) is celebrating his 50th birthday today.


Congratulations Michael!

Happy birthday.
He should be a sort of honourary reject anyway!

He already is!

[pi314159]

Happy birthday HWNSNBM!

and also two other rejects, Jean-March Gounon and Gimax

[Bleu]

Special congratulations to Jean-Marc Gounon, who turned 50 today. This year is great regarding 50th birthday of rejects as someone mentioned already in the other topic. Along with Gounon, we can celebrate Fabrizio Barbazza, Paul Belmondo, Taki Inoue and Jean-Denis Deletraz. Also born in 1963 were Mauricio Gugelmin, Stefano Modena, Ivan Capelli, Ukyo Katayama and Erik Comas - easy to say that all those five could have achieved much more in F1 than they actually did.

[Bleu]

And by the way, other drivers who are set to reach full tens this year. Rejects bolded.
90: Chuck Weyant, Neal Carter, Ken Kavanagh
80: Nino Vaccarella, Bob Bondurant
70: Tony Trimmer, Francois Mazet, Arturo Merzario, Mike Fisher, Hans Heyer, Vern Schuppan, Tom Jones, Helmut Marko, Alan Rollinson, John Miles, Chris Amon, Max Jean, Leo KInnunen, Tim Schenken, Bertil Roos, Jacques Laffite, Wilson Fittipaldi
60: Bobby Rahal, Ingo Hoffmann, Satoru Nakajima, Derek Daly, Lamberto Leoni, Nigel Mansell, Miguel Angel Guerra, Jacques Villeneuve Sr., Desire Wilson
40: Giancarlo Fisichella, Jan Magnussen, Cristiano da Matta
30: Adrian Sutil, Scott Speed, Christian Klien, Bruno Senna

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

Happy birthday HWNSNBM!

and also two other rejects, Jean-March Gounon and Gimax

A little too late, but... happy birthday HWNSNBM!

[FullMetalJack]

And by the way, other drivers who are set to reach full tens this year. Rejects bolded.
40: Cristiano da Matta

da Matta's 39!!! Holy shite!

[dinizintheoven]

A little too late, but... happy birthday HWNSNBM!

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Your name can't be mentioned,
It's papayas if we do.

(brings on papaya-flavoured cake with 32 candles in it)

[pi314159]

Tony Gaze, Australia's first Formula 1 driver (and reject) celebrates his 93rd birthday today.