A busy and, sadly, tragic day in Formula 1 and racing history when Denny Hulme‘s 1967 Monaco Grand Prix victory for Brabham-Repco over Graham Hill Lotus-BRM and Chris Amon came under a cloud as Amon’s Ferrari teammate Lorenzo Bandini fought for his life following a late race accident while lying second.
Also at Monaco Patrick Depailler took his first F1 win driving a Tyrrell-Cosworth 008 in 1978 ahead of Niki Lauda in Brabham-Alfa Romeo and Jody Scheckter’s Wolf-Cosworth, while Ayrton Senna’s McLaren-Honda MP4/5 won in 1989 from teammate Alain Prost and Stefano Modena, who came from pre-qualifying his Brabham-Judd to finish third.
Mika Hakkinen won the 2000 Spanish Grand Prix from McLaren-Mercedes MP4 teammate David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari after early leader Michael Schumacher was slowed after his Ferrari his one of his mechanics during a pit stop. There were no issues for Schumacher at the 2006 Grand Prix of Europe as he beat pole man Fernando’s Renault and Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa at the Nürburgring.
Looking back in history, the AAA Champ Car Series was busy on this day as Tom Kincaid’s National took the 1910 Atlanta Auto Association Trophy, while Jimmy Murphy’s Miller Duesenberg and Pietro Bordino’s Fiat won the 1922 Cotati races. Dave Lewis’ Miller win the 1927 Atlantic City Race, where Frank Lockhart completed the fastest ever board track lap at 240km/h – a speed that was only exceeded by Jim Hurtubise’s 1960 Indy 500 pole lap!
Achille Varzi won the 1933 Gan Premio Di Tripoli a Bugatti T51, Karl Ebb’ Mercedes-Benz SSK took a surprise home victory in the 1933 Finnish Grand Prix and Jean-Pierre Wimille’s Bugatti T59 won the 1939 The Coupe De Paris at Montlhéry. Also 1939 Hermann Lang won the radical Mercedes-Benz W165’s only race before Italian organizers changed the rules and War intervened. More recently, Peter Collins’ Maserati 250F took the 1955 Silverstone International Trophy and John Love’s Cooper T79 Climax won the 1967 Bulawayo 100 at Kumalo in Rhodesia.
In sportscars, Arturo Merzario and Brian Redman’s Ferrari 312PB won the 1972 Spa 1000km, a race which Lucas di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis’ Audi R18 e-tron quattro won in 2017, while over in the US, 00 (USA), May 7-Mauro Baldi and Didier Theys’ Doran-Judd won the 2000 Homestead and Jan Magnussen and Max Angelelli’s Riley-Pontiac the 2007 Laguna Seca ALMS races
In the World Rally Championship meantime, Fulvio Bacchelli’s Fiat 131 Abarth won the ‘77 Rally New Zealand and there were three Corsiacan rallies on this day, won by Markku Alen’s Lancia Rally 037 in 1983, Didier Auriol’s Toyota Celica in ’94 and
Colin McRae Subaru Impreza in ’97, while Mattias Ekstrom’s Audi S1 toom 2018 German World Rallycross honours at Hockenheim
On the day that NASCAR legend Bobby Labonte, DM racer Christian Abt and F1 drivers, Gaston Mazzacane and Laurens Vanthoor were born, Don Prudhomme became the first drag racer to run the quarter mile in less than seven seconds at Carlsbad, California.
British Formula 1 driver Mike Spence (31) died during practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 0n 7 May 1968, hardly a month after his double world champion Lotus teammate Jim Clark died in a Formula 2 race crash.
