Classic onboard camera lap - ride with Johnny Dumfries at Adelaide ‘86

In the first of a new series, we delve into the archives to bring you a classic slice of onboard camera action from the start of the 1986 Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide. Our inaugural chauffeur is Lotus driver and Scottish aristocrat John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute - more popularly known as Johnny Dumfries…

The 1986 Australian Grand Prix is best remembered for the thrilling world championship showdown that ended in tyre-bursting heartbreak for Nigel Mansell and unfettered jubilation for Alain Prost - but it was also one of the very first races in which a modern-style onboard camera was used. Johnny Dumfries’ Renault-powered Lotus 98T was selected as the car to carry the new hardware, and it turned out to be a shrewd move as the future Le Mans 24-hour winner found himself in the thick of some scintillating action. We join Dumfries for the frantic opening lap at the popular 3.780 km street circuit, during which he witnesses a wheel-banging incident at the start which rules Michele Alboreto’s Ferrari out of contention and a first corner clash between Benetton’s Teo Fabi and Ligier’s Rene Arnoux. Having started 14th, Dumfries finished the first lap in 12th, but at the chequered flag he’d risen a further six places to sixth - his second F1 points finish in what was his 15th (and ultimately final) world championship start.