Masten Gregory, the guy doing the demonstration lap from "Paris, France" was actually born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He started his racing career before seat belts were used in racing cars and was initially noted for jumping out of his stricken race cars before they crashed into oblivion. He'd get injured in the process, but he would survive to race again, something more than a few of his peers could not manage. He did eventually die at a somewhat early age... in bed.
Very cool to see/hear Gregory. He was one of racing's most enigmatic characters late 50's - mid-60's. Top-notch sports car driver, and could hold his own in F1. Finished 3d at Monte Carlo in '57; I believe first American with a Grand Prix podium finish, if not first to score World Championship points.
Joseph Leiper - almost. Harry Schell - who was born to American parents in Paris, and was therefore an American driver - finished 4th in a Vanwall at the '56 Belgian GP, for which he scored 3 points.
If Harry had been healthier, and Masten had been able to drive something other than those tired Maseratis, one of them might have beaten Phil to the title. Which is =not= discounting PTH one bit.
A very historical video, 1966 was the year I came to Montreal as a child, it was magical in so many ways. I still remember my fun times doing 150+ on the elevated city highways... We don't do that anymore, no....
@@gt40mk21 @Peter Mayer Phil Hill finished second to Mark Donohue at Mosport Park in the Nickey Chevrolet Chapparal. IDK why the car wasn't at Montreal.
Amazing to find this video! I was there at the race. My friends and I were camped in an area overlooking the back straight. There as a slight hump in the middle. Due to the rather primitive aerodynamics of the time, there was an occasional tendency for cars to get airborne here and do a backflip. One driver, Hugh Dibley, if I remember correctly, did a flip during practice or qualifying and ended up buried in the bushes of a hill off to the left of the straight. Amazingly, he could walk away! For the rest I can remember the two McLarens of Bruce and Chris Amon running in close tandem together during practice.
Do you remember the race very well? I'm in the process of recreating the race series in simulation, and I'm thinking of even creating videos that re-create each actual race as accurately as possible, for the sake of preserving history and showing folks how great this series was. I will be posting info about what I'm hoping to do in the 2 main Can-Am group pages on Facebook. I would love to get info from you on what you remember!
