Long Beach GP – 50 Years Later with Brian Redman

Colorful, aerodynamic race cars are foundational to the dreams of those with a passion for speed and a zest for life. Drivers that risk life and limb are the heroes both in our fantasies and in real life. Conquering the very first Long Beach GP was Brian Redman. High performance motorsports, like Formula One and IndyCar, thrills the senses and dazzles the eyes. Brian recalls those past triumphs, failures, and hints at the next step in the ongoing evolution of the sport.

AutoDesignO: Being that it is the 50th anniversary of the Long Beach Grand Prix, trying to project forward, where do you see racing in 50-years from now?

Brian Redman: Everybody will be doing it sitting at their desk with a monitor, and it’ll be a World Championships and world champions with, you know, millions of dollars of money at stake (laughs all around)!

Interview and photos by John Grafman. Q&A by Fast Lane Driving School’s Larry Mason with Brian Redman.

Larry Mason: Here is the world famous Mr. Brian Redman, winner of the first ever NOW Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach back in 1975…

Long Beach at that Time was all Brothels and Bars

Brian Redman: It was amazing. Long Beach at that time was all brothels, and bars, and old people’s homes. And we look at it today, 50 years later, it’s absolutely amazing. I’m sure the Long Beach Grand Prix had a lot to do with that success of Long Beach itself.

I was very lucky in the race, was only last session of qualifying on Saturday in Turn 1, which is off Ocean Drive and over a jump. It wasn’t really a jump, but went right like this (as he gestures) and there was just time to give it full throttle in second gear for just a moment before you came to a tight left-hander. And the car went sideways. I didn’t actually hit anything. But I said to Jim Hall, the engineer, there’s something the matter in the gearbox, and he said we’ll take a look. I hate to do it the night before the race, but the limited slip had broken, and they put a new one in. 15-laps into the race it broke again.

So then I had to be very careful not to give it too much throttle in the corners and especially going over the big bumps coming up, I guess it’s Pine to Ocean Drive. And so it held together and we won.

I was like fourth at one point behind Mario (Andretti), Tony Brise and Al Unser. Of course, I was dropping the back, as the differential was breaking. They didn’t want to slip. So then I see Mario stopped on the road – you know, the broken axle – and Tony Brise stopped with the same thing or a gearbox. And then Al Unser stuck in the wall. I think something broke on the suspension. So now. I’m leading, it’s unbelievable. So it was a very, very lucky win.

To Finish First, You Must First Finish

Larry Mason: So well, they always say to finish first, you must first finish this. And back then we didn’t have the reliability of the cars that we have today either. So you have to be gentle. You really had to have a good mechanical feel of mechanical sympathy for the car, didn’t you?

Brian Redman: Well, I think that’s the main reason that I beat Mario for two years to the championship. And Al Unser the third year, because they were basically they were bit harder on the car. And I think it’s my extensive long distance experience of feeling what the car could take, because as you say, today they could go flat out from start to finish – but not 50 years ago.

Ohh. I mean a good example is Richard Attwood who won Le Mans in 1970 for Porsche. The first win ever for the 917. He started 14^th, and we had three cars in the race, three 917s. The John Wyer Gulf, and the extra cars being driven by Mike Hill, the World Motorcycle champion, and David Hobbs. I was with Jo Siffert as usual, he and I won eight races in ‘69 and ‘70 clinching the championship for Porsche for the first time. Jo and I were leading by four laps at about 1:00 in the morning – pouring rain, and he came from behind three, star cars in the chicane – just by the pits, and even curved out to pass them. And right in front, the Porsche “Bitty” missed a gear.

The 917 engine would go to 8,400 for 40 hours. If it went once to 8,600 or 8,800 it would break… and they went to a lot more than 8,800 (laughing)! Richard and Hans Herrmann finished, starting so far down, but they were in the lead by 8 or 9 in the morning. They were in the lead and stayed there. They all broke. It was unbelievable.

Larry Mason: All the tracks and cars that you’ve driven over your entire career. Tell us about your favorite tracks, your favorite race car and why.

Every Time at Spa, I Think – I’ll Be Dead Tomorrow

Brian Redman: Well, a favorite track after the race was Spa-Francorchamps. To me, that was the most difficult track. The Nürburgring, which was 14 miles, 170 corners, I knew every inch of it, and I won there three times. But to me, Spa was more difficult because of the speed. I won the five-times and the very first time I went 1966 in the GT40. I’ve been driving a Lola Can-Am car in England. I thought that I could drive anything, anywhere. Well, after the first day of practice on Friday at Spa, I almost retired from racing. I could not believe how fast we were going all the time. For me, that was a big challenge. The ‘Master Kink’, which was the four-miles straight and then you go through a farmyard. That’s where Jackie Stewart had his famous accident where he’s upside down in the BRM (British Racing Motors) with the gas pouring over him. We came into the “Kink” at 240 miles per hour. Went through it at just about 180. And so every time at Spa, I think – I’ll be dead tomorrow. And yet, I managed to win that five times!

I finished third in my second Formula One race, and now it’s the third race at Spa-Francorchamps – The Belgian Grand Prix – only about a month after Jack Ickx and I had won the 1,000 kilometers in the John Wyer GT40, and about on the 9th lap the suspension broke on the Cooper. I had an enormous accident and went over a barrier. There were very few barriers but this place had one and they rolled over. As it rolled over, my arm got trapped between the car and the barrier and had a compound fracture of the right arm. Three wheels came off – one hit a course worker who was badly injured. He had a rupture spleen and a heart attack. So, we were taken to the university teaching hospital.

It May Not Be Possible To Save Your Arm

Of course, Dr. Lord Moran, Professor Lord Moran – the surgeon. There’s no specialist in those days – [just] general surgeon. He’d been an assistant to Winston Churchill in World War II. So he got me on the table, and this would probably be 4 hours after the accident, and he looked down and he said, “Mister Redman, it may not be possible to save your arm.” I said, “Thank you, professor.” He says, “Why are you smiling?” I said, “Because I’m here!”

LM: Yeah, especially back in the day, you lost a lot of friends.

BR: In long distance sports car racing I lost 6 co-drivers in four years. 68, 69, 70, and 71.

LM: Well, for a lot of different these days, like we’ve said, favorite car.

BR: Well, it has to be the Lola 332 prepared by Chaparral, because I had so much success and what a great team.

I Turned Down an Indy Drive in ‘74

You know when the SCCA changed the rules and allowed USAC come in to Formula 5000 in 1974, suddenly all these Indy heroes came in. Mario Andretti, Bobby Alison, Gordon Johncock, Johnny Rutherford. The only one that was really good was Mario. The others were learning fast. I turned down an Indy drive in ‘74 because I saw how hard it was for these Indy guys to adapt to road racing.

LM: So there is a Lola 332 here this week, at least one. Vince Tjelmeland is running in the Danny Ongais car. Any chance that you’re going to pop in there and maybe boot him out and take some laps?

BR: Well, one of the Boraxo cars are here. Actually, two different chassis, one was 75 and the other one was 76, but they were both Boraxo. And one of them is here with Rick Parsons, the owner from Chicago. So if I come down, I’ll probably just pop into it!

 

The Checkered Flag – Kyle Kirkwood placed first at the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Brian Redman had the honor of being the first-place driver at the first Long Beach Grand Prix, 50 years earlier. Brian is still a spry, brilliant gentleman at 88 years of age. While some elderly race car drivers pull into the pits indefinitely, Brian simply downshifts until the next straight. His engagement and tales of the track are enough to keep the sport alive for decades to come.

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