One of the most extraordinary episodes in motor racing played out 65 years ago this month. The setting was the Hotel Lincoln in central Havana where on the evening of February 23 1958 the five-time reigning world champion Juan Manuel Fangio was chatting to friends in the lobby when a gang burst in, pointed a gun at him and told him to get into the waiting car.
Fangio was in Havana for the Cuban Grand Prix, which so far has taken place on just three occasions: in 1957, 1958 and 1960. The race had been dreamt up by the military dictator Fulgencio Batista. History does not record whether Batista was a racing fan, but he did see the potential of a glamorous event attended by world-renowned drivers in increasing Cuba’s profile and attracting more tourists – especially Americans – to the casinos of his capital.