The Mechanic's Gallon

I came upon the phrase ‘the mechanic’s gallon’ a while ago. Teams in the 60’s were trying to save weight and make the car as light as possible, inc. putting as much fuel in the car at the start of the race so that it lasted JUST to the end. This generally worked but a few times ran out of fuel with a few laps to go. So unbeknownst to Colin Chapman, the mechanics when fuelling the car would add an extra gallon, just to make sure it was enough, hence the ‘mechanic’s gallon’!

https://mechanicsgallon.blogspot.com/

Eine durchschnittliche Folge dieses Podcasts dauert 33m. Bisher sind 21 Folge(n) erschienen. Jeden Tag erscheint eine Folge dieses Podcasts.

Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 2 hours

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Peter Burns, part 2 of 2, recorded 23rd January 2023


 Download part 2 of the audio here  Gary continues his interview with Peter, you can watch the whole conversation on YouTube.


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 February 10, 2023  33m
 
 

Peter Burns, part 1 of 2, recorded 23rd January 2023


Download part 1 of the audio here  Our guest this time is Peter Burns, who, although not on the front line in the pitlane, still wracked up 35 years in motorsport. After being involved with the organisation of the inaugural Dubai Grand Prix in 1983, he then worked for McLaren in Formula One, being in at the very start of hospitality provided by the teams for their sponsors. In this role he got to know very well people like Alan Prist, Ayrton Senna, David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen...


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 February 10, 2023  53m
 
 

Ron Tauranac


Another interview from our archive, this time with the late Brabham and Ralt designer Ron Tauranac. Notoriously reticent to be interviewed, I heard from him after I sent him a copy of the interview, he said he wished he had said more! Ron is interviewed by my friend Alan Morgan. Audio podcast is here. You can also watch the interview at https://youtu.be/pPHC1JY0kW4


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 January 19, 2023  32m
 
 

Robin Day, part 3 of 3


In part 3 Robin tells us what it was like to work for Bernie, working on the BT55 then on to Leyton House March in 1987. Then it was a move to Indycar but still with March, back to the F3000s then lastly six months at Pacific Grand Prix in 1993.All three parts of the interview are also on YouTube at https://tinyurl.com/mryh6f8xAudio podcast is here.


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 December 6, 2021  n/a
 
 

Robin Day, part 2 of 3


 Part 2 continues with the McLaren move to Woking and the extra workload courtesy of Mr. de Cesaris. Then it was testing with Niki Lauda, the drivers strike at Kyalami, switching to Brabham then back to McLaren then another return to Brabham and running Stirling Moss in the car at Brands Hatch.All three parts of the interview are also on YouTube at https://tinyurl.com/mryh6f8xAudio podcast is here.


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 December 5, 2021  n/a
 
 

Robin Day, Part 1 of 3


Our guest this time is Robin, a 15 year F1 veteran. Robin was born in Uganda and was brought up in Kenya. Straight after his apprenticeship with British Leyland he decided to build and sell his own motorbike. In 1978 he was poached by McLaren. He worked on the first MP4 and with driver Andrea de Cesaris. There are memories of John Watson's British Grand Prix win and his 'light bulb moment' at Zandvoort. All three parts of the interview are also on YouTube at https://tinyurl...


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 December 4, 2021  n/a
 
 

Ed Taylor, part 3 of 3


Part 3 sees Ed back in F1 running the Yamaha Engines truck for Brabham and then Jordan. It was into Historic F1 with BMTR tyres and finally he teamed up with European Minardi running their two-seater F1 cars. Podcast can be downloaded here, watch the interview on YouTube


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 October 10, 2021  n/a
 
 

Ed Taylor, part 2 of 3


This part sees Ed working at Leyton House March running with Judd engines. He tells how the truckies made a little extra money at the end of the season,  how he finished with Leyton House and then back into F3000 with Bromley Motorsport.  Podcast can be downloaded here, watch the interview on YouTube.


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 October 9, 2021  n/a
 
 

Ed Taylor, part 1 of 3


This week we speak to Ed Taylor whose first job in motor racing was in F1 with tyre supplier Goodyear. He tells us what was put into the tyres instead of air, what it was like when he attended his first tyre test at Silverstone, setting up the stillborn Benetton Trussadi project and when that didn't work out it was into F3000 with Middlebridge Racing. Podcast can be downloaded here, watch the interview on YouTube.


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 October 8, 2021  n/a
 
 

Doug Garner


Today we chat with Gold Leaf Team Lotus mechanic Doug Garner who tells us about how he got started working for Lotus Cars before being poached by the race team next door to work on his first race car, the type 56 Indycar.  After Indy 1968 he moved on to the F3 team to work on the 41X with John Miles driving. For 1969 it was back to Indy with the type 64 and drivers Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt and Mario Andretti. After that it was into building and racing the legendary Lotus 72 in 1970...


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 September 28, 2021  n/a
 
 
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