• June 18 down the years

Birth of the Bear

1936
The birth of New Zealand's only world champion, Denny Hulme, in Nelson. He was known as "The Bear" for his taciturn manner and fast temper, but those close to him held him in huge esteem. He was a racer's racer, with nothing flash about him in any way. He finished second to Brabham in the 1964 Formula Two series, and he joined his boss' Formula One team for 1965. His first season was solid enough, with his best result a fourth place in the French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand. In 1967 he not only scored his first win, at Monaco, but notched up another at the Nurburgring and pipped Brabham to the crown. Having also raced in the CanAm sports car series for compatriot Bruce McLaren's team in 1967, Denny moved across to the McLaren team for his Formula One racing in 1968 as well. And he stayed with the team until he retired from Formula One seven years later, scoring six more wins, two of which came in 1968 as he ranked third overall behind Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart. After a strong 1972 campaign that yielded a win, at Kyalami, two second-place finishes and four thirds, Denny's final win was in the Swedish Grand Prix of 1973, the first year of the classic McLaren M23 chassis. During this time Denny also continued to race with huge success in CanAm, clinching the title in both 1968 and 1970. Denny returned to racing, only for fun, in the 1990s and died of a heart attack while racing a touring car at Bathurst.

1960
A foretaste of the tragedy which was to follow the next day at the Belgian Grand Prix came when Stirling Moss crashed his Rob Walker-entered Lotus practising for the race, the car rolling over a grass bank and throwing him clear. He suffered broken legs and nose. Another Lotus, driven by Mike Taylor, also crashed when it developed a steering fault, leapt a ditch and plunged into woods. He escaped with broken ribs. Lotus considered withdrawing but after parts were flown in from the UK it decided to carry on. The next day Alan Stacey died when his Lotus crashed.

1989
Thierry Boutsen scored the first of his three F1 wins at the Canadian Grand Prix, but the headlines were made for all the wrong reasons by Nigel Mansell who was disqualified on the parade lap after ignoring warning lights at the end of the pit lane. Ayrton Senna has appeared set for the win but his McLaren-Honda stopped in a pall of smoke with three laps remaining.

2000
Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello completed a Ferrari 1-2 at the Canadian Grand Prix, but there was another frustrating day for championship wannabe David Coulthard who finished seventh after being hit with a stop-go penalty after his mechanics continued working too long on his McLaren while it was on the grid. Barrichello protected his team-mate's back in the closing stages, leading Schumacher to comment: "He's a good man … one day I will pay him back."

1967
Dan Gurney nicked the Belgian Grand Prix from Jackie Stewart after an eventful start which saw Graham Hill stall and John Surtees' Honda engine blow up and Michael Parkes' Ferrari overturn. Stewart was hampered by a gearbox fault which necessitated him holding the car in gear for the final ten laps

1967
The death of Giacomo Russo, an Italian who raced under the pseudonym Geki. After a mass pile-up in a Formula 3 race in Caserta, Beat Fehr stopped his car, got out and ran down the track to warn the oncoming racers of the damaged cars on the track ahead. The next group included Geki, who was unable to avoid colliding with and killing Fehr. Geki's Matra then crashed into a wall and he died in the subsequent fire. One other driver was also killed.

1950
The Belgian Grand Prix was the fifth race in the inaugural World Championship season and was again dominated by the trio of Alfa Romeos driven by Nino Farina, Juan-Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli. Briefly, Raymond Sommer in a Talbot-Lago led the field as the Alfas pitted, but his engine blew soon after the halfway point. Ascari then took the lead but when he too pitted the Alfas went ahead again with eventual winner Fangio leading Farina and Fagioli.

1961
A Ferrari clean sweep at the Belgian Grand Prix, with Californian Phil Hill winning the race to go into the lead in the drivers' championship over Taffy von Trips who finished second.

1960
The death of Al Herman after sustaining serious injuries in a Midget car crash at the West Haven Speedway. He competed in five grand prix all at Indianapolis with his best finish, 11th in the 1955 race, earning him the title of "Rookie of the Year".

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