You probably never heard of him, but he was one of the F1 Mythical Figures of my childhood

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

along with Emerson Fittipaldi, Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Niki Lauda, Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve...

RIP.

Clay Regazzoni killed in road accident
Former Grand Prix driver Gianclaudio "Clay" Regazzoni has been killed in a road accident.

The Italian Ansa news agency said the 67-year-old Swiss, a former Ferrari driver, was killed in a collision with a lorry on a motorway near Parma.

Regazzoni won five of his 132 Grands Prix in an 11-year career, which ended when he was paralysed from the waist down in a crash at Long Beach in 1980.

Regazzoni spent five years at Ferrari and was second in the '74 championship.

Famous for his bushy moustache and relaxed personality, Regazzoni made his Formula One debut for the Italian team in the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix, in which he finished fourth, immediately establishing himself as one of the sport's most promising drivers.

[CottonBear]

1. RIP Clay. I remember him.

How ironic that he died in a highway car crash after surviving the career ending racing accident.

I used to follow F-1 and sports car racing. My favorite driver was Jackie Ickx.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. Ickx? I hated Jackie Ickx.

Whenever the drivers refused to drive in dangerous conditions, he'd be the one to break the strike and take to the track.

Later, he robbed Ayrton Senna of his first win while being race director at Monaco (1984).

He, like John Ashcroft, couldn't beat a dead man to the title -- thanks, I'm proud to say, to Emerson Fittipaldi.

[CottonBear]

3. Emerson Fittipaldi was a great driver too! We'll have to agree to disagree about Ickx.

He was my favorite sports car driver but not my favorite F-1 driver.

Thanks for the Wiki link!

[tigereye]

7. a guy has the last name Ickx?

is that his real name?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. Yep. Honest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacky_Ickx

[CottonBear]

16. Yes. He's Belgian. He won LeMans 6 times. n/t

http://www.jacky-ickx-fan.net/english/home.php


The famous Ford GT-40: LeMans 1969


Jacky Ickx - 1969 LeMans


Jacky and Clay

[northzax]

8. Bellof would have taken Senna

by the end of the race, the turbos were meaningless in the rain...

bet they're still hashing it out at the great racetrack in the sky.

And Ickx, for everything else, at least get the standing start into Le Mans

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. ...and be disqualified later on. He did lose his 3rd place.

Due to some excessive technical creativity by Tyrrell, the gist of which I don't remember right now.

[seemunkee]

14. I remember him too. Sorry I also liked Ickx

I was at Le Mans in 76 when he won for Porsche. My brother was at Nurbergring later that summer when Lauda had his crash.
We used to go to Watkins Glen every year for the Grand Prix and the 6 Hours races

[Call Me Wesley]

4. Of course I've heard of him, living in the same state he was from.

RIP, Gianclaudio.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. You mean canton? Ticino? -nt

[Call Me Wesley]

6. Yes, canton Ticino.

But if I say 'canton' here, only a few will understand.

[northzax]

12. ahh, Ticino

such fond memories...

[Call Me Wesley]

13. It's OK, I guess. ;)

But I'm not a native here.

[northzax]

17. nor was I

but it was a great place to grow up.

[Call Me Wesley]

18. You grew up here?

Which part, if I might ask? Locarnese or Luganese?

[northzax]

19. Montagnola

to be precise.

[bullwinkle428]

11. Yes - I remember him well...he was Niki Lauda's teammate

with Ferrari when I first got into F1 racing in the mid-70s as a kid. That picture has to be from '76 or '77. I didn't realize how old he was - he was 41 at the time of his Long Beach accident. F1 has become such a young man's game these days...I guess with the tremendous amount of $$ in the sport now, teams figure if the next Schumacher doesn't make himself known by age 20, it just isn't happening. RIP, Clay...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. It's Nurburgring 1976 - the Lauda crash race.

Notice the wet tyres.