Over the last few weeks since Stirling Moss passed away on Easter Sunday, much has been written about him and they all acknowledge that he was one of the best motor racing drivers of his time, and yes …., that’s even though he didn’t win a Formula One Championship Title.
He was a regular visitor to Australia and competed in many of our Tarmac Rallies including the first Targa Tasmania in 1992, numerous Classic Adelaide’s and only a couple of years ago he was again in Australia for the Adelaide Motorsport Festival.
Sir Stirling loved open road endurance races and one of his most famous victories was in the 1955 Italian Mille Miglia, where he and Denis Jenkinson in a Mercedes- Benz 300SL set a record time (which still stands today) of 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds. To put that time into perspective, they averaged 157.650 km/h or 97.96 mph for the 1,597 km or 992 mile course.
I was lucky enough to meet Sir Stirling on several occasions and had the pleasure of interviewing him in Melbourne at a Grand Prix function where this photo was taken. On all occasions, he was a humble gentleman with a wicked sense of humour, who always had the time to talk to anyone who came up to him, and he will be sadly missed by so many motor racing fans.
Many tributes have been posted of Sir Stirling Moss, however I thought this one featured on Sky Sport was one of the best:
However, one of the most heartwarming stories featuring Stirling Moss in his later years, was when Lewis Hamilton and he did a lap of Monza in 2015 in 2 very special Mercedes: