MikeHughes Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 I am sure that a number of TR Register members will be aware of the privately entered TR5 that competed in the 1969 Targa Florio. The car featured on the cover of David Vizards book "Tuning Standard Triumphs over 1300cc" .It was entered by Demetriou Racing and driven by Nick Faure and Andrew Smith. The car was very standard apart from stiffened suspension but qualified very well in a time of 44 minutes which was over 3 minutes quicker than the only other car in its class, a Ferrari! Unfortunately all did not go well in the race as it crashed out on lap 3. To my knowledge there is no commercially available record of the race but I have recently found a 7 minute clip on a website www.racingdeal.com.If you scroll down to the videos section you will find 1969 Targa Florio and about 3 minutes in you will see the car. There is also an excellent photo of the car in Paul Parkers superb book "Sports Car Racing in Camera 1960- 1969. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dykins Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 (edited) Good film Mike It is also on Youtube Only appears to be one person in the car Regards Peter Edited December 4, 2010 by dykins Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Hi Peter, it's a race, not a rally, two drivers but they change over at some point . . . . Hi Mike, nice reminder of a car and race long forgotten in TR circles. Demetriou sponsored Nick Faure in the British Touring Car Championship, his Porsche 911 in those days being considered a touring car, and if I recall correctly Demetriou imported various obscure Italian exotica, amongst other things. There was a showroom in Bayswater anyway, and cars there I'd never even heard of let alone seen before ! I'm not convinced Demetriou had much to do with the TR5 though. At the time I was involved with Chevron, and heard several comments about the TR5's Targa performance from other drivers - to the general effect that it was being driven so far over the limit that an accident was inevitable. I think the accident was caused by electrical failure rather than driver error though. No question, it was an incredible performance. The co-driver, and I think owner, was possibly Alan rather than Andrew Smith - and I think an Aussie ? I'd be amazed if the car had no more than just stiffened suspension, as the impression I had was that it had qualified far above any reasonable expectation. Cheers, Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jellison Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Mike - could not find the link and the other youtube one did not work for me - loads of 1969 Targa utube vids though. I have some massive tomb sitting next to my bed on the Targa - list all results. The Fezza was out on lap 3 too, a a 275 GTB-C/3.3 driven by Vito Coco and Alessandro Federico. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Hi Jon, try this link http://www.racingdeal.com/Videos.aspx click on 'please choose a video' and then from the drop down menu '1969 Targa Florio' and then click 'OK' Does your massive tome by any chance confirm the TR5 drivers and entrant as per my thoughts above ? Cheers, Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
angelfj Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 I am sure that a number of TR Register members will be aware of the privately entered TR5 that competed in the 1969 Targa Florio. The car featured on the cover of David Vizards book "Tuning Standard Triumphs over 1300cc" .It was entered by Demetriou Racing and driven by Nick Faure and Andrew Smith. The car was very standard apart from stiffened suspension but qualified very well in a time of 44 minutes which was over 3 minutes quicker than the only other car in its class, a Ferrari! Unfortunately all did not go well in the race as it crashed out on lap 3. To my knowledge there is no commercially available record of the race but I have recently found a 7 minute clip on a website www.racingdeal.com.If you scroll down to the videos section you will find 1969 Targa Florio and about 3 minutes in you will see the car. There is also an excellent photo of the car in Paul Parkers superb book "Sports Car Racing in Camera 1960- 1969. Mike 6:54 into the You Tube video if you're looking for the TR5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeHughes Posted December 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 Alec You are correct it was Alan Smith not Andrew Smith and I do believe he owned the car although I am not aware of his nationality. Nick Faure definitely qualified the car in that time but I do not know who was driving when they retired although my records definitely indicate it was an accident that caused its retirement. Nick Faure, of course, had a long and distinguished career racing mainly Porsches including several drives at Le Mans. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 Hi Mike, no doubt that it was an accident, and a big one - but I'm sure there was something unusual about it, electrical failure knocking out the engine, something like that, causing the car to go off. Half the course seemed to be lined with stone walls, the attrition rate was always pretty high, any mistake was ever likely to sideline a car. Nick Faure was one heck of a driver, I've seen him put in some memorable performances in the 70s and 80s, one of those guys who seemed to be able to wring the most out of a car that wasn't quite on the pace - keep it going steadily and out of trouble, then go for broke in the latter stages as others faltered. He could really punch above a car's weight in qualifying too, the blistering banzai technique right at the end ! Cheers, Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jellison Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 Confirmed as angelfl http://www.amazon.com/Targa-Florio-20th-Century-Epic/dp/8879112708 - not sure the wife paid $555.99 for mine! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeHughes Posted December 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 Jon My Targa Florio book was written by David Owen and published by Haynes in 1979 and cost me less than £10! Not sure if its still in print. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 Hi Mike, having raised this interesting piece of TR5 history, perhaps you might be able to make contact with Nick Faure and solicit his recollections of the 1969 Targa Florio ? That could make a fascinating article for TR Action . . . . Cheers, Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave McDonald Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 The contemporary June 1969 Motor Sport magazine report by DSJ makes only the following references:- In the entry list "The smaller cars and GT cars were mostly driven by locals, but among them were ....., Smith/Faure with a Triumph TR 2 1/2 litre,...." After the race driving back from his vantage point around the circuit after it reopened to the public, "At Polizzi we saw .... and the Faure/Smith Triumph TR with a big dent in the passenger's side;..." No further illumination on what happened to it. Dave McD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jellison Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 Mike - you can borrow it any time The Porsches did pretty much own the place from the early 60's. The funniest thing was reading about the Lemans Chaparral 2F (in this and a few Can-am books I have on them) trying to do well on the tight roads (1967). http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Targa_Florio-1967-05-14.html http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6489/2fmonza673ay.jpg ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.