Bridgehampton Races 1957

[dougie]

Here's a great period video of early sports car racing at the "new" Bridgehampton race track.

Spoiler...Austin Healey wins!

 

[HealeyRick]

That's a great video, Dougie, and really shows what amateur racing was like back then. Here's another by Mr. Stanfill:

I spent a lot of time as a spectator at Lime Rock and it's really interesting to see how much how the track environment has changed while the course itself remains pretty much as it was originally laid out

 

[John Turney]

The music on both of those sounds suitable for a Sunday drive.

 

[pdplot]

Brought back memories. I never ran on that track but I was in the pit crew of my friend Jim Silberman and his Alfa - maybe it was a year later. Anyway, he was running well until a wheel collapsed, pulled through the studs and he wound up in the sand. I was there in my 1957 Porsche coupe listening to the news on the car radio waiting for the traffic to clear. It was the same day General DeGaulle took over in France (from Pierre Pflimlin) as another government - the Fourth Republic - fell. I also attended the 1953 Bridgehampton race - the last race held on public roads in NY State. A spectator got killed when he ran across the road in the middle of a race. First time I ever saw and heard a Ferrari and an Allard.

 

[RDKeysor]

Narrow tires and sand all over the corners, pretty scary stuff. Surprised we didn't see more cars going off the course.