The Rainmasters

It has been a relatively rainy spring here, there ... and everywhere.

Interestingly, there are some drivers in motor sports history who smiled at the sight of rain before their race.

Many of these drivers were equal to their counterparts on a dry track, yet their sense of balance, and their ability to read the track and sense to minute shifts in the movement of their car gave them a clear advantage in a rainy race.

The list of such virtuosity in the wet spans the decades.

Rudolf Caracciola was one of the earliest maestros in the rain, earning the himself nickname “Regenmeister”, German for “Rain master”.

Dick Seaman’s drive of his Mercedes-Benz W154 at the 1939 Belgian Grand Prix ended fatally for him, but it was because he kept pushing even after building an unbelievable lead on an already challenging track. There is Phil Hill’s win, along with Olivier Gendebien, of the rainy 1958 24 heures du Mans in the Ferrari 250 TR. Sir Jackie Stewart showed utter bravery to take the 1968 German Grand Prix in the Matra MS10, driving in virtually invisible conditions.

Pedro Rodriguez, sharing a Gulf Porsche 917K with Leo Kinnunen, beat the second-place car by 5 laps in the rainy 1970 BOAC 1000km at Brands Hatch! James Hunt wrapped up his 1976 Championship racing to third place, after many delays, in the monsoon 1976 Japanese Grand Prix.

In the modern era, both Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna have shown their art in the wet.
Pen&ink and markers on Foamcore © Paul Chenard 2013

Senna’s drive of the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park in the less-than-stellar McLaren MP4/8 is the stuff of legends, or should I say, “Rainmasters”!

Olivier Gendebien - A Racing Talent

Belgian Olivier Gendebien and American Phil Hill celebrate their first of 3 Le Mans wins together; they also won together in 1961 and 1962. Gendebien also won in 1960 with fellow countryman Paul Frère.

Prismacolor on gray-brown archival stock © Paul Chenard 2010
Nicolas Cancelier Collection

Available as a 14.5"x 11" limited edition.

Their 3 wins together were with Ferrari; here they're driving in their winning 250 Testa Rossa.

Porsche RS60: the “Giant Killer”

Prismacolor pencils on gray archival stock, 12"x 9" © Paul Chenard 2008

Philip Powell Collection

Porsche AG entered into racing in 1951 with a modified 356 Coupé but their first fully purpose-built racing car came in 1953 in the form of the 550 Spyder.

The first major win for the updated 550A came at the 1956 Targa Florio, driven by Umberto Maglioli. The 550A was further developed into the 718 RSK, another successful winning racer.

These wins by the light small-displacement Porsche race cars against large-displacement 12-cylinder racers such as Ferraris gave them the reputation as “Giant-killers”.

For 1960, Porsche introduced the RS60, a further development of the RSK. Like the RSK, it sported sleek light-weight aluminum bodywork, a low center of gravity and a mid-engine layout. The 4-cylinder, 4-cam engines used were either 1.5 litres (150bhp) or 1.6 litres (160bhp). With a weight of less than 1,300 lbs, the RS60 was very nibble indeed!

For the 1960 season, the FIA stipulated that sports racing cars match more closely the specifications of production sports cars. The racers had to sport a full-width windshield with a minimum height of 25 cm, a luggage compartment and a streamline fairing behind the driver’s head.

The RS60 was very successful out of the box, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in the hands of Olivier Gendebien and Hans Hermann, followed by Porsche’s third Targa Florio win in the hands of Jo Bonnier, Hans Hermann and Graham Hill. It also won the European Hill Climb Championship.

These wins helped solidify Porsche’s position in North America, with Porsche going from class winners to overall winners.

In 2007, Porsche introduced the special edition Boxster RS60 in homage to the great racer.

Phil Hill driving a Ferrari 250TR, Le Mans 1958

Pencil on paper, 9"x 6" © Paul Chenard 2006

Phil Hill, co-driving with Belgian Olivier Gendebien, won his first of 3 Le Mans' in 1958. He later started driving Ferrari Formula 1 cars, becoming the 1961 Grand Prix World Champion.