>>Heh ...What the hell is a "40-weight ball bearing" anyways? J.C.
J.C.
40-weight ball bearings were 1st introduced in racing during the 1957 season of Formula One. They were used by the Vanwall Team in cars driven by Stirling Moss and Roy Salvadori.
SIDE NOTE:
Reasons not to FLY with Roy Salvadori on a flight to South America....
"The whole trip took about three days, by which time
we ran out of booze - Ecurie Ecosse were also on the flight. To while away the time we were invited onto the flight deck where the crew made us most welcome. I think it was Ninian Sanderson,
the captain and I sitting on the floor playing gin rummy, with the 'plane on autopilot..."
1. He will drink all your booze.
2. He likes to play cards with the Captain.]
END SIDE NOTE:
Although very expensive, the reduced rolling resistance/friction proved so superior to the old style (standard weight) ball bearings that Enzo Ferrari made a formal complaint to the FIA insisting they be banned not only from F1 but from the english vocabulary "until the end of the world"! From that day forward, they were never mentioned again in racing circles. Nothing could come close to matching 40-weight BB's until the introduction of the Tyrrell P34 6 wheeled F1 car in 1976.
With Mike Olsen's mear mention of that technology, he has removed himself from the list of drivers with any chance of testing for a Ferrari F1 ride and risks being banned from all FIA competitions! Brave man.
40-weight ball bearing equiped Vanwall: