Paul,
Nice to see the occasional yarn spun, once again. We were getting too serious.
Joe (A)
<< Hi Jim
-You got it was Ninian Sanderson. He drove a TR with Bobby Dixon in Ken's
1955 team and later drove the twin cams. As you say, he won Le Mans in an
Ecurie Ecosse D Type in 1956 with Ron Flockhart - and he finished 2nd the
following year with John Lawrence.
'Nin' was a truly wonderful character, (and driver) and 'fun' was an
essential ingredient of the sport for him (like old Damdonger on the list).
A typical example of his quick wit, which I'll always cherish and have
often related, happened at Le Mans circa 1963. To set the picture at that
time, a famed Scottish 'fighting' Regiment, based in a place called Minden
in Germany, had just been involved in some sort of major riot in the town.
Fisticuffs of considerable proportions with the locals was involved and the
incident was so serious it hit the BBC news and the international papers
etc.
We were all in a bar in Le Mans and 'Nin' was having 'several' beers with
my father and Rob Slotemaker and a few others. A German came up to the
group and asked for a light. He then made the mistake of asking Nin what we
were all doing at Le Mans. Nin replied, with his Scottish vogue
deliberately deepened and accentuated, "We're just down for the day from
Minden." - The German smiled nervously, thanked him for the light and a few
seconds later vanished from the bar with his friends.
Best wishes
Paul
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