• October 19 down the years

Britain's first F1 champion

Stirling Moss poses with Mike Hawthorn © Getty Images

Enlarge

1958
Britain's first Formula 1 world champion. For a while now, people had been expecting it to be Stirling Moss. He'd finished second in the championship to Juan Manuel Fangio for the last three years, and was one of the most talented drivers of all time. And now Fangio had retired. But Moss was still with Vanwall, the British team he'd joined the previous year. He'd won the last two races of that season - but a new rule replaced alcohol fuels with aviation gasoline, which caused problems for Vanwall's large-bore engines. They still won the inaugural manufacturers' title - but they struggled against the new Ferraris, and it's a credit to Moss' great skills that he came close to being individual world champion. In fact he would have been but for his own sportsmanship. He won the Portuguese Grand Prix in August, while Mike Hawthorn was disqualified for second place for push-starting his car after a spin. Moss spoke up for Hawthorn at the inquiry, and Hawthorn kept his six points for second place. The last race of the season was today's Moroccan Grand Prix in Casablanca. Although Hawthorn started on pole, he set off carefully to avoid the clutch trouble which affected him that year. Moss won the race easily and picked up a bonus point for setting the fastest lap, which he did three times. But Phil Hill rode shotgun behind his Ferrari team mate Hawthorn, who finished second to pinch the Championship by a single point. Moss was runner-up for the fourth year in a row and never won the title. Hawthorn died in a traffic accident the following year (January 22).

1991
In the rugby union World Cup, England lost their opening match to New Zealand (October 3). So instead of playing their quarter-final at Twickenham, had to face France in Paris. The stage was set for famous full-back Serge Blanco to impose his running game on the boring roast-beefs. Instead he came out fighting. After only four minutes, England winger Nigel Heslop tackled him under a high ball - and Blanco knocked him out with a punch. No sending-off, but England were given a cushion by the three points from the penalty - followed by another one a few minutes later. France also kicked two penalties - but England scored a try in between, Jeremy Guscott running up to Blanco before putting Rory Underwood in. So England led 10-6 at half-time. With Paul Ackford and Wade Dooley cancelling out Olivier Roumat in the lineout, the French forwards could never win enough clean ball to set up their backs, and even when Jean-Baptiste Lafond scored an equalising try, England continued with their safety-first game. Rob Andrew kept kicking high and long, and Jon Webb added his third penalty goal with only four minutes left. There was still time for a try to make the game safe. Scrum-half Richard Hill kicked high from a scrum, Lafond caught the ball but was driven backwards, and England captain Will Carling got his reward for some important tackles by scoring a try. Webb's conversion made the final score 19-10. Blanco trudged off after winning his 93rd and last cap, a world record at the time - and France's coach Daniel Dubroca manhandled the referee in the tunnel. England's reward was another semi-final away from home...

...at Murrayfield, where Scotland won another quarter-final today. The Scots had been girding their loins and other parts of their anatomies for the visit of Western Samoa, whose fearsome tackling had traumatised Wales (October 6) and given Australia a scare three days later. But Scotland took them on full-frontally. Driving into the tackles they knew were coming, they pushed the Samoans back and deprived them of loose ball, Scotland's big full-back Gavin Hastings joining in as an extra flanker to engage the defence. Despite having the wind in their faces, Scotland led 13-3 at half-time and sealed a 28-6 win with John Jeffrey's second try six minutes from time. Hastings kicked 16 points and Western Samoa's great run ended without a try. England beware on October 26.

1993
Sally Gunnell set a world record at the World Championships. At the Olympic Games the year before, she'd overtaken Sandra Farmer Patrick to win the 400 metres hurdles (August 5). Same again today in Stuttgart - only tougher, much tougher. Farmer Patrick set off at a fierce pace to burn off Gunnell's sprint finish. Sally pulled level on the last turn, but this time the American stayed with her all the way. Who wanted it more? Well, both and neither. Farmer Patrick needed a major title, while Gunnell wanted to go one better than her silver medal from the last Worlds. This mutual desire left only five hundredths of a second between them at the end, Gunnell clocking 52.74 seconds to break the seven-year-old world best. Her new time lasted only until the next World Championships (August 11, 1995), but she completed the set by winning the European title in 1994.

1968
Olympic gold for Britain. Bob Braithwaite had made his Games debut four years earlier at the age of 39, when he finished seventh in trap shooting. Today he missed two of his first 13 shots but none of the last 187. No-one else came within a shot of his 198, which equalled the world record. Braithwaite was the first British marksman to win an Olympic gold medal in 44 years and the last to win one with a shotgun for another 32 (September 20).

On the same day, solid American decathlete Bill Toomey was leading after seven events but nearly missed all three attempts at his opening height in the pole vault. He went on to clear 4.20 metres and set an Olympic record of 8,193 points in winning the event. Toomey's future wife had won a gold medal for Britain four years earlier (October 14).

Still at these Mexico City Olympics, Australian swimmer Mike Wenden won the 100 metres freestyle. His time of 52.2 seconds broke the world record shared by two of his opponents, Ken Walsh and Zac Zorn of the USA. Zorn had been ill for a week and finished last; Walsh won the silver; and bronze went to another American, a brash 18-year-old called Mark Spitz. Scotland's Bobby McGregor hoped to go one better than his silver medal in 1964 (October 12), but finished fourth. Wenden went on to add gold in the 200 free.

1986
The nearest England's men have ever come to being world champions at hockey. They had the advantage of playing the World Cup at Willesden in north London, where they beat West Germany 3-2 in the semi-final after extra time. But in today's final, Australia took the lead through Terry Walsh after only five minutes and doubled it through Jon Bestall after 24. Jon Potter pulled one back deep into the second half and England made chances in the last few minutes, but Australia won the Cup for the first time. Still, England had put down a marker: two years later, Great Britain won gold at the Olympic Games (October 1) after beating Australia in the semi-final.

© ESPN EMEA LTD