hunt vs lauda on bbc 2 great insight into F1 racing in the 70s between the two.. and beejezuz - just how dangerous were the tracks... interlagos - wire fencing with concrete poles around the track no run off. and the cars just look wrong with huge rear tyres and tiny fronts.. very ungracious looking motors in that era
Really enjoyed that. Looking forward to the Ron Howard film. Hats off to nikki for getting back in a car after what he went through.
The hare and the tortoise are getting ready for their race, when the hare looks over and says, "Hey, you've got no hair." The tortoise replies, "I'm a tortoise, I'm not supposed to have any hair." "On your marks", says the starter. "Look at you, you weird bastard," says the hare, "you've got no ears either." "I'm a tortoise, I'm not supposed to have ears." "Get set." says the starter. "Oh my God," says the hare, "you are an ugly fucker... you're skin is all wrinkly." "Look, I'm a tortoise. I'm supposed to have wrinkly skin." Just before the starter fires the gun, the hare stands back and says, "I'm not racing you; you're Niki Lauda!"
just switched over to bbc 4 and continued to watch F1 - the killers years... shocking images of death and the conditions in which they used to race. bandini burning to death in a ferrari trackside while the race goes on and harrowing footage of david purley trying to save roger wwilliamsons life while burning to death in a stricken car while others drive on and marshals just stand and watch.. for those that didnt see it I have found a video on utube of that incident. until seeing this complete program I had no idea just how barbaric the racing used to be and the complete incompetence of race organisers with no regards to safety. I knew it wasnt good - but that shocked me.. jackie stewart did so much to make change
Great program... I remember the season well, but I had forgotten just how far back and how deeply ingrained Maclaren's whinging goes... They got caught cheating three times that year, and every time they blamed someone else ( it's the Spannish, it's the Italians, blah, blah, blah... ). You'll notice that their team boss never actually denied that they were cheating ? Just bleated about other people pointing it out. HOWEVER - drivers in that era, Hunt and Lauda especially, were EXTREMELY brave. Others too - John Watson helped pull Lauda out of the burning car. It's a shame that it rained so heavily for the last race in Japan - it would have been great to see the two of them race to the line for the championship - but I don't think anyone can possibly blame Lauda for stopping. He did go on to win the championship again the following year. I can't believe that it's 20 years since James Hunt died - maybe it's s sign of getting old, but it all seems like only yesterday... "Sex, the breakfast of champions !"
Without people like Lauda being brave enough to say "no - this is too dangerous" it would never have got any safer. That was the era when on average two drivers were killed every year...
Niki Lauda - now there's a man who most definitely would have deserved a knighthood had he been 'ours'. Always reminds me of :-
