Story by Willem Oosthoek
During chassis 2452’s year of inactivity, tremendous changes had taken place in sportscar racing. The rear-engined revolution was in full swing and even Maserati had come out with a rear-engined model, the Tipo 63. The front-engined Tipo 61 Birdcage had been out of production for a year, so how would Bill Krause perform in this three-year old car. Well, not bad at all! At Riverside’s 1961 Times Grand Prix he qualified the Tipo 61 on the fourth row with a time of 2’06”6, despite dropping a valve during his run. He did feel bad about Connor losing his ride and offered him his own D-type/Chevy. It did not work out, since the tall Arizona driver would not fit the Jaguar cockpit.