Indycar - Brands Hatch circa 1970?

[Homer]

Hi all, just a couple of pics I came across from when Indy came to Brands Hatch.

[bry3500]

I reckon thats 1978

[Howard Wood]

I was there in 1978 and it would be one of the most entertaining races I have ever seen. One time Drag racer Danny Ongais was soooo much quicker than anyone else, from memory must have lapped virtually the whole field before the engine broke. This was a really early road course race for the USAC (now Indycar) series and the regular USAC guys who had come up through oval racing really struggled which meant that there was lots of overtaking and big lurid moments. Made the then current F1 cars seem very tame as those USAC cars by comparison had 700 plus hp and very little grip.

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, that was really incredible! Those cars sound amazing too. Interesting that there were quite a few guys in the field with road racing experience but Ongais was just so much faster than anyone else. Did this event ever happen again or was this a one-off?

[David McKinney]

There was one race at Brands Hatch and one at Silverstone and that was that - until the advent of Rockingham much later

[Yeah yeah na]

I think they had a one off event in the days of CART in around 2003? Someone may correct me on that though...

[David McKinney]

They? Brands Hatch?

[Yeah yeah na]

Sorry to bump an old thread here but it sprung to mind as I come across a YouTube video today showing the race I mentioned above at Brands Hatch in 2003, won by Sébastien Bourdais, quite an action (accident) packed race!