1970 Belgian Grand Prix -- A Puzzle to Solve!!

[lindol]

On Saturday morning before qualifying for the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix my wife and I stopped in at the local charity shop to see if anything interesting was in the store. I was walking past the kiddies toys when I glanced down and my eyes caught sight of a picture of F1 cars on the starting grid. Yes indeed, I had found an old puzzle by the german company Schmidt, part of their Adventure Series, this puzzle having the name, Grand Prix.
Well, little Jonny's Christmas present from 1973 now belonged to me for only 10 Swedish crowns = just under £1!
I hope Brita isn't going to be upset with Jonny that he gave this away 38 years after he received it!

Well after running a few more errands we went home and opened a bottle of wine so we could get started on the puzzle, and around 8 hours later we finally had it completed in all it's glory. At that moment I wasn't sure which grand prix it was but there were many very good clues to help me find out.
First off the #10 car in the foreground was covered in STP stickers and also said March, I also spied a Kiwi on the drivers helmet. It didn't take very long to verify that this was New Zealand's Chris Amon. What made the search a bit longer than necessary was that I assumed the race was probably from the 1972 season since this was a Christmas present to Jonny, as written on the bottom of the box in 1973. So, searching the 1972 season I found out that Chris Amon wasn't driving for March, it was back in 1970 that he was with them. Ok, so I had the correct year, but then I had another false assumption, I saw the numbers written on the tarmac and assumed they were german as the germans I work with today always write 1's in that same way. This made me think it was either the German or Austrian Grand Prix, but these races didn't match the car numbers at this race. I then started looking at the other cars to see if they could help me figure which race this was. I searched for the #20 Gold Leaf Team Lotus car and found that this must be Jochen Rindt driving the Lotus 72 beside Amon. And then I looked at all the other teams for 1970 and I saw that one team with a blue car was Tyrell-Ford and that the #11 car was being driven by Jackie Stewart, verified with the helmet design. Wow, what a front row! The next row back was a red car with the number 27 which I found after a bit of a search was Jacky Ickx in the Ferrari 312B.
Still not sure of what race this was I started from the beginning of the 1970 season and started looking at you tube clips, on the forth race I found a match as it was the same front grid, which I could verify with a look at Wikipedia's 1970 Belgian Grand Prix page, this let me also know that just out of the picture and behind Chris Amon was Jack Brabham and with only a bit of nose cone showing from the third row was the BRM of Pedro Rodriguez who won this race!



There is a you tube clip for this race where you can clearly see the cars lined up, you can see and official running off the track at the last minute and you can even see the photographer in the very bright shirt sitting on the guardrail just as in the puzzle. I have also found another site which has this very picture the puzzle is based on and then another one from the same position mere moments after the race has begun.
Here are the links for the you tube clip and the photographs from the race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzgr5ZqLMjo
http://www.f1-info.cz/?gallery=f1foto/foto1970/04



What a great puzzle, and it spurred me on to look up a load of new information that I have really enjoyed finding out about too!

[dinizintheoven]

You're not the only one to do this; when I was quite a bit younger I was given a jigsaw merely called "Grand Prix". Even at that that stage I knew that Ferraris with 1 and 2 and McLarens with 27 and 28 meant it was the 1990 season. Unfortunately, which race it was has been lost in the mists of time.

I mounted the jigsaw when I'd finished it and hung it on my wall.

[dr-baker]

but then I had another false assumption, I saw the numbers written on the tarmac and assumed they were german as the germans I work with today always write 1's in that same way. This made me think it was either the German or Austrian Grand Prix, but these races didn't match the car numbers at this race.

As soon as I saw the number, it looked French to me as the French always write 1's in that same way too. I suppose having studied French at scholl, college and university, and France being my nearest foreign country (closer even than Wales or Scotland!), it is the foreign culture with which I am most familiar. As Germany might be for you?

But it is a great find, and I hope you enjoyed not only the first puzzle of putting the jigsaw together but also the second puzzle of identifying the GP in question!

[lindol]

but then I had another false assumption, I saw the numbers written on the tarmac and assumed they were german as the germans I work with today always write 1's in that same way. This made me think it was either the German or Austrian Grand Prix, but these races didn't match the car numbers at this race.

As soon as I saw the number, it looked French to me as the French always write 1's in that same way too. I suppose having studied French at scholl, college and university, and France being my nearest foreign country (closer even than Wales or Scotland!), it is the foreign culture with which I am most familiar. As Germany might be for you?

But it is a great find, and I hope you enjoyed not only the first puzzle of putting the jigsaw together but also the second puzzle of identifying the GP in question!

I did indeed, it was at least 10-12 hours of fun and research about the sport we all enjoy!

[Aerospeed]

Nicely done - I can't finish a big puzzle like that!!

[leywso]

You're not the only one to do this; when I was quite a bit younger I was given a jigsaw merely called "Grand Prix". Even at that that stage I knew that Ferraris with 1 and 2 and McLarens with 27 and 28 meant it was the 1990 season. Unfortunately, which race it was has been lost in the mists of time.

I mounted the jigsaw when I'd finished it and hung it on my wall.

Did the puzzle feature a main picture of a race start, with four smaller pictures at the top of the puzzle? If so I had the same one, and it was the French Grand Prix 1990 that the picture came from. I loved that puzzle, even though the picture wasn't in focus.

[dinizintheoven]

I don't remember the four small pictures, but the main job not being quite in focus sounds incredibly familiar.

[leywso]

I don't remember the four small pictures, but the main job not being quite in focus sounds incredibly familiar.

Something like this?

[Yannick]

I don't remember the four small pictures, but the main job not being quite in focus sounds incredibly familiar.

Something like this?

Is that the start at Le Castellet 1990? The Ferrari with the #1 on the same grid as the beautiful green Benettons and Leyton House Marches?

[leywso]

...and Yannick Dalmas already struggling to keep up in the background!

[dinizintheoven]

Something like this?

No - the cars in the shot on my jigsaw hadn't turned a corner, it was dead straight with all the cars driving towards the camera.

I wonder if it was from Suzuka, before that crash? Though I was convinced Nigel Mansell was on the front row.

[Barbazza]

Could it be Estoril? The run down to the first corner isn't that different to that at RIcard and Mansell was on pole there. Also, he fluffed the start so the 2 McLarens lead into the first corner IIRC.

[leywso]

Something like this?

No - the cars in the shot on my jigsaw hadn't turned a corner, it was dead straight with all the cars driving towards the camera.

I wonder if it was from Suzuka, before that crash? Though I was convinced Nigel Mansell was on the front row.

This is the right one I say. The cars were indeed straight on in the puzzle, a couple of seconds before the picture I posted, which I found on the web. Mansell did indeed start on the front row in this race and was the lead car in the puzzle shot.

I love this forum- it's great to be able to talk in such inane detail about something that happened twenty years ago!

[nome66]

i would solve the crap out of this beautiful picture puzzle(if it were one)

[lindol]

Thought I'd show a few more pictures that are actually relevant to the puzzle that I started this thread about, not that I don't appreciate the enthusiasm of the other puzzle from the 1990s!










I think you'll agree these are some pretty great photos.

[FullMetalJack]

This photo in particular is amazing.

[lindol]

I agree, and here's a few more shots from that race.

[dr-baker]

This photo in particular is amazing.

Eau my rouge!

[madmark1974]

i would solve the crap out of this beautiful picture puzzle(if it were one)

You know you can get programs to do that on your PC, right?

For example, this ... http://www.flash-gear.com/puzzle/

(Disclaimer - I'm not endorsing the program, it's just the first result I found and seemed to be legit) ...

[AdrianSutil]

This photo in particular is amazing.

Totally agree, the days before massive advertising hoardings, catch fences and safety barriers. The circuits (especially Spa) looked so much more 'pure'.

[midgrid]

This photo in particular is amazing.

Totally agree, the days before massive advertising hoardings, catch fences and safety barriers. The circuits (especially Spa) looked so much more 'pure'.

I can see all the things you mentioned in there.

[AdrianSutil]

Yeah I kno so can I

just saying that if you stood in that exact spot these days, if you still can, the picture will be totally different.

[dinizintheoven]

I've just noticed the NSU advertising board in the background. Was there a time when rotary engines were allowed in F1? Hold up your fingers as you pass the pit wall to show how many engines you've had this season...