BRM trophy makes second Monza appearance

One of the silver trophies on display at the Heritage Centre in South Street was flown to Italy in the summer of 2005 to become the centrepiece for the celebrations of a unique triumph for British Racing Motors based in Bourne.

It was won at the Monza circuit on 12th September 1965 by Jackie Stewart for his first ever grand prix success and was reunited with the winner at a reception to mark the 40th anniversary of his remarkable achievement shortly before the start of this year’s Italian Grand Prix.

Champagne flowed and cheers rang out as Stewart, now Sir Jackie, again picked up the magnificent cup which was his prize for winning the race at the age of 26. It was only his eighth world championship and Stewart, now 66, and a subsequent Formula 1 team owner from 1997-99, went on to win 26 more grand prix events.

That season, he had joined Graham Hill at BRM and on his debut, scored his first championship point. At Monza, he qualified third and chased Jim Clark for the lead in an intense slipstreaming battle with Hill, Lorenzo Bandini and John Surtees. Clark’s race ended dramatically when his fuel pump failed on lap 63. Hill looked set for victory but made a mistake on the penultimate lap and the young Stewart flashed past the chequered flag in first place.

Austrian motor racing journalist Helmut Zwicki, aged 65, who was there, recalled: “Jackie Stewart was a very, very friendly winner. He had no arrogance. We loved him immediately.”

Stewart, son of a garage owner from Dumbarton in Scotland, is remembered as the man who transformed the image of motor racing from a specialised amateur stance to a level matching golf, tennis and football at a time when the perception of sport was changing throughout the world. He subsequently became world champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973 and in 2000 was elected president of the British Racing Drivers Club. He was awarded the OBE in 1972 and knighted in 2001, an honour which he described as more important than his first win or any world championship. He retired from driving in 1973, having won 27 of his 99 races, a record at that time.

The Italian Grand Prix trophy of 1965 was among more than 60 cups, salvers and rose bowls presented to the Heritage Centre earlier this year by Rubery Owen Holdings Limited, the Midlands engineering firm that eventually took over the motor racing company founded at Bourne by Raymond Mays. They include trophies presented to BRM at racetracks around Europe where their cars were successful in Formula 1 Grand Prix events in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Austria, Monaco, Belgium and Italy, together with three rose bowls awarded in consecutive years to top driver Graham Hill after winning the United States Grand Prix in 1963, 1964 and 1965. Other awards were won in Australia, South Africa and of course in Britain.

The collection is displayed in four specially built cabinets in the Raymond Mays Memorial Room on the first floor of Baldock’s Mill where the Heritage Centre is situated and can be seen during opening hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The Monza cup, which was sent out to Italy for the anniversary celebrations, was later taken to Goodwood Park in West Sussex where it was displayed during the historic motor race revival weekend before being returned to Bourne.

WRITTEN SEPTEMBER 2005

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