Our new puzzle: Racing Rarities – A snapshot from the ‘Oops!’ department

Mostly drawn from the archives of our photography partners XPB and Grand Prix Photo, every week from Tuesday we present a little piece of motorsport history. Tell us who you can recognise (Example: Jo Siffert, Monza, 1970) and join in the guessing game for the honour of it – there’s nothing to be won. Send your answer to: mathias.brunner@speedweek.com. The closing date for entries is midnight on Sunday of the current week.

Entry is free of charge. The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over. Employees of the participating companies are excluded. The judges’ decision is final.

Any data provided as part of the quiz will be used solely for the purposes of running the competition and will not be passed on to third parties. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.

For the new puzzle, here’s a clue: the sparse crowd of spectators at a well-known section of a well-known track had something to look at.

Our clue for the last question was: He was regarded as a motor racing prodigy, but it soon became clear that he was merely playing second fiddle.

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Der Neuseeländer Mike Thackwell in Montreal 1980

Foto: Grand Prix Photo

The correct answer from last time: New Zealander Mike Thackwell in his Tyrrell-Ford Type 010 in Montreal in 1980.

The talented Thackwell’s Grand Prix career lasted just five race weekends. At the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, the man with the distinctive ‘T’ on his helmet became the youngest GP driver at the time (19 years and 192 days), but he didn’t get very far.

In a crash caused by the stars of the day, Nelson Piquet and Alan Jones, Jean-Pierre Jarier’s car was damaged; the Frenchman was Tyrrell’s number one driver at the time. Thackwell was subsequently forced to hand his car over to Jarier and was unable to take part in the second race. This was because Mike was the team’s number 3 driver, and Derek Daly’s car had also been damaged in the crash.

In Formula 1, with inferior machinery from Arrows, Tyrrell and RAM-March, Thackwell was never able to demonstrate what an outstanding racer he was. The eccentric Thackwell was partly to blame for this himself.

Mike was only interested in racing; he detested self-promotion. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Formula 1 became a huge business, but Mike couldn’t care less about that side of the sport.

After his earlier Grand Prix appearances, Thackwell turned his attention to Formula 2, but a serious testing accident at Thruxton in 1981 set him back. He suffered head injuries and comminuted fractures to his heel.

Thackwell finished runner-up in the Formula 2 championship in 1983 and was European champion in 1984, as a works driver for Ralt.

He also drove endurance races for Peter Sauber in a Sauber-Mercedes before the Swiss team became the Silver Arrows. Together with Henri Pescarolo, Thackwell won the 1,000 kilometres of the Nürburgring in 1986.

By the end of 1988, Mike had had enough of motor racing and called it a day – at the age of 27.

This wasn’t a problem for him. He had repeatedly stated that he only wanted to race for ten years anyway and would then prefer to do something else.

He subsequently flew helicopters on the North Sea and worked as a teacher in England. This free spirit now lives on the south coast of England, spends a lot of time surfing and has become perhaps the world’s fastest disabled driver. To this day, he is regarded as one of motor racing’s greatest lost talents.

It was not until 1984 to 2017 – and Brendon Hartley – that another New Zealander lined up on the starting grid for a World Championship race. Hartley, whose Formula 1 career ended in 2018, was followed by Liam Lawson in 2023.