Existing Users: Because of an update to the forum software you will need to reset your password. Please use the "Forgot?" link on the sign in form to do so. If that doesn't work, send me an email at feedback@forzaminardi.com and I'll sort you out!
Another legend leaves us. 83 years old, at St. George's Hospital in London, surrounded by his wife and two daughters.
7 time motorbike champion between 1956 and 1960 (had he stayed there, he would have wn as much as Hailwood, Agostini, Rossi) and F1 world Champion with Ferrari in 1964, taking advantage of Hill and Clark's inconsistency. Also started his own team, although with less success than Brabham and Mc Laren.
He survived many friends, but tragedy struck in 2009 when his son Henry was killed in a F2 event at Brandts Hatch, his head being hit by the flying wheel detached from another car that had spun ahead of him, similarly to what happened a few years later to our Justin Wilson.
RIP John, hero of the two and of the four wheels.
Comments
But riding a bike on the road is becoming growingly dangerous......
One of the "missed World Champions", with Moss, Brooks, von Trips, Peterson, Villeneuve, Arnoux, Pironi, Kubica, maybe Reutemann, maybe Laffite, maybe Massa. To show his greatness, just one episode: at Jim Clark's funeral, in 1968, Clark's father told Dan that he had been the opponent Jim feared and respected most. 'Nuff said.
Ickx - no. Journeyman. Alboreto - no. Inconsistent. Bellof - no. Fast, but career too short to tell. Ruetemann - absolutely no. Opportunist at best. Massa - no. Lacked the killer instinct. Laffittie - no. Not really tier one. Kubica - ummmm. Really though, we did not see enough to say he missed out. Pironi - no. He was never as fast as Villeneuve really.
The problem with bright lights is that they dazzle. I always think about two drivers from the recent past. Fisichella & Frentzen. When they forst came on the scene I recall thinking how impressive they were to watch and how fast they could be on their day. Both I thought, had a chance at being the champ. The longer they drove though, the more average they became. The Fish could still turn it on for most of his career in qualifying, but often went missing in races. His time at Ferrari was plain embarassing.
Vale Gurney - The very first champagne waster.....and incredibly talented driver
I got to see him race in Adelaide in 1988 I think it was. What a contribution he made. Very sad that it would seem that his lungs - which were his main problem in the big crash - were essentially what got him in the end.
Vale