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Snapshot 1972: Nothing stops Jacky Ickx

At the Belgian Grand Prix on 4 June 1972, Jacky Ickx didn’t exactly cover himself in glory. His good humour didn’t fail him, though: after the race, he took his MV Agusta and photographer Rainer Schlegelmilch for a jaunt...

The Formula 1 race at Nivelles was a home game for the Belgian driver Jacques Bernard ‘Jacky’ Ickx, but the gods of fate were not with him and Scuderia Ferrari that day. After 47 laps, the car suffered a problem with the fuel injection that put Ickx out of the race, and meant he slipped to third in the Championship standings. And he had to watch 25-year-old Emerson Fittipaldi in his Lotus-Ford take the top step of the Belgian podium. After the race, Jacky Ickx climbed onto his MV Agusta and, with photographer Rainer Schlegelmilch accompanying him in his yellow Porsche 911, he went off for ride, posing for this picture during a break. What is Jacky telling Schlegelmilch, do you suppose? The best line to take at the next corner? 

Photo: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch/Getty Images