Thoughts before the start
08/14/2014
"... One minute to go - the engines are already starting to my right and left ... I wonder if the gearbox will hold this time?... Starter! - hopefully the engine will fire up ... there, the rev counter jumps up ... always the same noise when starting ... 10 seconds, an eternity, you lose all sense of time ... a light rain has fallen - watch out!... five seconds ... Release the clutch slowly ... Speed up to 9000 rpm... they are already moving left and right ...
Go!"
These were Jo Siffert' s thoughts in a BP advertisement in 1964 , a large-format advertisement that used motorsport and the up-and-coming Swiss Formula 1 talent Siffert to draw attention to the qualities of BP petrol and oil products.
50 years have passed since then and Siffert's preparations for the start seem almost archaic. There was no huge team involved, no laptops to control the take-off process. The pilot was practically alone with his machine and could only hope that the car would start by itself ... as can only be seen today in historic racing ...
