50 years ago ,On the 22nd January John Michael Hawthorn , Britains first and reigning f1 racing driver left his work at the tourist trophy garage in Farnham and sped over the hogs back for an appointmenT in London,, he never made it, as his green jag vdu881 sped onto the A3 near guildford, he lost control , crashed , the headlines the next day simply read "MIKES DEAD"50 years on a book launch was attended by mikes girlfriend at the time and murray walker amongst others, on sunday there is a memorial service in his adopted home of farnham , followed by a proccesion of 30ish million quids worth of vintage motors around the town,, if you think order fans are zealots then two mike fans have recreated versions of his jag,, even down to the registration, albeit the other way round at 881 vdu, i pass the crash site daily where a memorial tree was planted 10 years ago, he has a small cul de sac named after him in farnham,, and the team he won f1 in 1958 ,, ferrari, the only team from the era still racing,, mike couldt stand enzo, though he used the connection to sell his cars.his epitaph reads ,, a gay and gallant sportsman,, did he invent gay disco,, who knowes.
from safety to where?
