National Hunt racing (won 3 times (1973, 1974, 1977), runner up twice (1975, 1976)); Mr Frisk (1990) (the last winner to date to be ridden by an amateur jockey and still holds the record for the fastest time); Aldaniti (1981) (ridden by Bob Champion shortly after he had recovered from cancer. His story was made into a film); and Foinavon (1967) (won at odds of 100/1 after a mêlée at the 23rd fence resulted in the majority of the field falling or refusing. Foinavon was far enough behind at that point to avoid the confusion and ran on to win by 20 lengths.
1981 French Grand Prix 1981 French Grand Prix The 1981 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon on 5 July 1981. It was the eighth race of the 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 80-lap race was won by Alain Prost, driving a Renault. On home soil, Prost scored the first of an eventual 51 Grand Prix victories, in a race that was stopped after 58 laps due to heavy rain and then restarted, with aggregate times determining the final positions. John Watson finished second in his McLaren-Ford, while Nelson Piquet, who had been leading in his Brabham-Ford