20 replies to this topic

[Eric]

We all know your current F1 preferences.  What about your real racing heroes from the past in any series?  Why?

In chronological order:
Emmerson Fittipaldi - The 1989 Indianapolis 500 not only got me started with following racing, it also made me an Emmo fan.
Alan Kulwicki - His sponsor was Hooters!  Just kidding.  He was a true underdog and the last owner-driver to win the championship.  Alan did it his way (up the a##, according to Piotr) and did a lot with a little.
Davey Allison - He was a star.  He was a great driver.  His car was really cool.  Damn I miss Davey.  I can't believe he died before he got the title...
Alex Zanardi - He was the best CART racer I ever saw.  He was dominant, he was fast, he could overtake, and he was a great guy.  Zanardi inspired me later in life when he lost his legs and went on to do so much more.  Just goes to show you gotta get out there and try stuff when you have no disabilities because if you can do so much with a disability, just think of what's possible without one.
Greg Moore - Greg was the young star in CART and boy was a he a helluva racer.  I know he would've been a champion with Penske.  The 1998 US 500 that he won stands out, so does the Rio 400 (I think that was what it was called) he won with an outside pass on Zanardi.
Dale Earnhardt - Loved to hate him, learned to love him.  Dale was born to race stock cars, best damn racecar driver period.  Best there ever was, best there ever will be.  Dale was a great man, he did the right thing and didn't make it public.  He did work for charity but never mentioned it in public.  Dale was The Man.  He just was.
Adam Petty - The kid was the future of Petty Enterprises, the kid who was gunna bring it all back to prominence.  And he had his dad's heart.  The Victory Junction Gang camp was his original idea.
Kyle Petty - Turning tragedy into charity is just great.  His 19-year-old son died, and he carried out his son's dream of helping kids.  Great work, Kyle.

Drivers who inspired me, but I wasn't a fan of:
Bobby Hamilton - Damn.  Living in a station wagon eating scraps from a garbage can to being a NASCAR racer.  Hamilton had it rough as a kid, real rough, but he made it so far.  Then he unexpectedly died from a long battle with cancer.
Bobby Hamilton, Jr. - To have a decent year in Busch right after his dad died says a lot.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - He has to deal with it all.  His father is dead, and now he's the most popular driver.  Junior doesn't want attention, wants his driving to talk for him.  He wants to lead a quiet life away from all this s##t, and the fans and the sport won't let him.  Junior had a strict dad, no doubt, too.
Ernie Irvan - 10% chance of living.  Lives.  Comes back to race.  3 years later, same track that tried to kill him, he wins there.

Drivers I was a supporter of but didn't inspire me:
Bobby Labonte
Terry Labonte
Helio Castroneves
Paul Tracy
James Hinchcliffe
Fernando Alonso
JPM
Scott Speed

[raw]

The Stig - I wanna be like him when I grow up

[Eric]

raw, on Dec 21 2007, 08:59 PM, said:

The Stig - I wanna be like him when I grow up

Yeah, it's common for people to want to be like me when they grow up.  Seriously, I am The Stig.

Okay, so, uhh...what the **** is the The Stig, exactly

[Autumnpuma]

Jim Clark: I've read quite a bit about the boy from the Borders and every single account tells of a man that, at his fastest, was only using 7/10ths of the speed and talent available to him. There are a few accounts of Jimmy showing the world what 9/10ths looked like...and it looked like God himself came down from on-high and blessed a Lotus. Jim Clark, to me, was the perfect driver; a man born to sit behind the wheel of a racing car. I could say more, much more, but I'll direct any interested party to purchase one of the many fine books on Jimmy and read up.

Gilles Villeneuve: Another driver like Clark with phenomenal car-control and freakish speed...especially in the wet. His on-track judgment was at times lacking, but he made up for it in pure fighting spirit and blazing, dynamic cornering. When I remember Gilles it's always opposite-lock and sideways through a bend. He was the pure spirit of racing. Anyone that prays at the altar of racing lights a candle for Gilles.

Nigel Mansell: I dithered over this one as I was tempted to put The Professor ahead of The Lion, but I'm feeling in a Lion-ish mood right now. Nige was fairly stupid on technical matters and always arrogant beyond belief, but when he was in a racing car he was a Lion. Have you ever seen a lion take down a zebra? Not a lioness, mind, but a lion. I tell you that lion begins to run and you think 'he'll never catch that zebra' and, before you loose the 'bra' in that sentence, the lion is amidships and, with one swipe, has pulled the zebra down. Mansell is well-named, I think. The Lion's driving was aggressively simple, yet almost impossible to duplicate without real talent. He was either 100% on the throttle or 100% on the brake. There was no in-between. Black or white; full-arse forward or nose-grinding braking. When Mansell returned to partner Hill, The Lion went out and set a qualy time that Hill said afterwards "I had to race within an inch of my life to match his [Mansell's] time". Indeed.

I'm afraid I've run out of steam and beer (which amounts to the same thing for me) and I'll leave my list at that.

[Bro.]

Well I've already mentioned my hero the other day which By The Way if anyone missed it was David Purley.
Alot of the other racing drivers which I have seen I admire like Mark Webber or Lewis Hamilton or Mika Hakkinen or Jean Alesi are all favourites of mine and I do admire for their driving skills buy my hero is David Purley.

R.I.P David Purley

[The_Fast_Days]

My mate Craig. Qualified last in a kart race due to tyre failure, went out on a worn set finished second after spinning twice. Also, used common tools, elbow grease and lots of time to personally balance the pistons & valves in the engine, and raised the rev limit from 12,000 to 12,300. Personally I'm skeptical of this, could anyone with more karting knowledge fill me in?

EDIT: Actually, don't fill me in, just tell me if it's possible!!

Edited by The_Fast_Days, 22 December 2007 - 02:52 PM.

[Rainmaster]

In some sort of order:

Ayrton Senna - possessed an otherworldy quality, quite possibly the fastest ever and wielded supreme wet weather ability. Donnington 93'. A pure racing driver, although a flawed genius.
Jim Clark - for his ability to dominate a race while only using part of his ability (Jackie Sewart once remarked 'he doesn't even use all the track' whilst watching Jimmy). Arguably the most naturally gifted driver ever and a gentleman as well.
Gilles - bravery, fighting spirit, heart and passion, car control and a fair driver who never resorted to dangerous tactics (towards others).
Jochen Rindt - see above
Niki Lauda - for coming back from that crash and numerous other achievments, but basically for doing things his own way.
Alain Prost - for all of his great achievements and having the balls to stick to his beliefs (like sitting out the Australian GP of 89').
Jackie Stewart - for all that he's done, pulling out of racing when he was still on top, and running his own team with success.
Mika Hakkinen - for sticking it to Schumi, having a great sense of humour and seems like a good man.
Fangio - the first great driver, need I say more?
Nuvolari - I've heard he was pretty damn good, in anything. A pure racer in a dangerous era. Also I think it was him who suggested to a certain Enzo Ferrari to start his own company.

Kimi - a pure driver, speed and aggression. No PR bulls##t (hello Lewis, Fernando)
Valentino Rossi - brilliant, I'll say no more.
Marko Asmer - F1 champ in the making.

[DOF_power]

>
^
Normally I hate these lists as I'm not a driverfan and I despite the idea of driversport but:

Colin Chapman - a driver capable of battling with the best but gave that up because he knew that most GP races are won in garages

Bernd Rosemeyer - still the fastest of all Grand Prix drivers ever, and can you say 390 km/h on the AVUS in a streamline C type ?!

Jack Brabham - true total package, driver, mechanic, engineer, designer, team boss 3 times F1 WDC + BTCC champion, F2 European champion;

[DOF_power]

Rainmaster, on Dec 22 2007, 06:52 PM, said:

In some sort of order:

Ayrton Senna - possessed an otherworldy quality, quite possibly the fastest ever and wielded supreme wet weather ability. Donnington 93'. A pure racing driver, although a flawed genius.

Let me see, 1993 McLaren MP4-8:
- traction control
- launch control
- semi-automatic
- fly-by-wire throttle
- ECU mapping
- active suspensions
- 2 way telemetry
- and who knows what else from TAG

Still great race and great driver skill.
Thing is Senna got into F1 in 84 with the fuel consumption rule, meaning he never drove an electronics free F1 GP car in his life.

Quote

Jim Clark - for his ability to dominate a race while only using part of his ability (Jackie Sewart once remarked 'he doesn't even use all the track' whilst watching Jimmy). Arguably the most naturally gifted driver ever and a gentleman as well.

Well not quite that much of a gentleman, when he wasn't winning. He raced in the states after losing the Indy 500 just so as to prove that he couldn't possibly have been defeated by anything but bad luck.

Edited by DOF_Renault_BMW, 22 December 2007 - 08:21 PM.

[ykickamoocow]

The_Fast_Days, on Dec 23 2007, 01:51 AM, said:

My mate Craig. Qualified last in a kart race due to tyre failure, went out on a worn set finished second after spinning twice. Also, used common tools, elbow grease and lots of time to personally balance the pistons & valves in the engine, and raised the rev limit from 12,000 to 12,300. Personally I'm skeptical of this, could anyone with more karting knowledge fill me in?

EDIT: Actually, don't fill me in, just tell me if it's possible!!

Yes it is possible. Common tools are all you need to make chnages to your go kart but you do have to be reasonably smart to know what your doing. It sounds like yor friend has a 2 stroke engine as 4 strokes dont need so much attention to operate properly. I actually raced my Go Kart today (i have a 4 stroke) and as i was coming into the pits my brakes just died. I ended up flying over the footpath and nearly taking several people out  

[Silver_Arrows]

Quote

Still great race and great driver skill.
Thing is Senna got into F1 in 84 with the fuel consumption rule, meaning he never drove an electronics free F1 GP car in his life.

Electronics may be an aid in wet weather, but whether your car is electronic or not, I feel driver skill always shows up most in the wet, and I also feel that Senna was the best wet weather driver of all time, and the only driver I know of who could drive on slicks in the wet and still score good results

[DOF_power]

Silver_Arrows, on Dec 23 2007, 07:24 PM, said:

Electronics may be an aid in wet weather, but whether your car is electronic or not, I feel driver skill always shows up most in the wet, and I also feel that Senna was the best wet weather driver of all time, and the only driver I know of who could drive on slicks in the wet and still score good results

I agree about skill in the wet, but Senna being the best wet driver, that's something I disagree.
Caraciolla, Rosemeyer and Fangio were all rainmasters. Some of the things these men endured in the wet vastly surpass Senna's wet performances.

[Rainmaster]

Caracciola was supposedly the best wet weather driver ever...and to add to the list of wet weather masters you'd have to include Jackie Stewart and Michael Schumacher.

[Autumnpuma]

DOF_Renault_BMW, on Dec 22 2007, 12:00 PM, said:

Well not quite that much of a gentleman, when he wasn't winning. He raced in the states after losing the Indy 500 just so as to prove that he couldn't possibly have been defeated by anything but bad luck.

Jimmy was, like all great drivers, determined to win. He knew his speed against other drivers and knew as well that bad luck was his greatest opponent. This has nothing to do with being (or not being) a gentleman. If you don't understand that, I'll not be able to explain it. Jimmy was considerate to other drivers on-track and that is where the nickname 'Gentleman Jim' came from. Here are some examples of how Jim was a gentleman when losing.

In 1967 Jimmy lost the WDC to the Brabham boys, despite having more race wins. Here's how Formula1.com relates the incident:

"He [Denny] finished on the podium in six other races and by the end of the season had accumulated five more points than Brabham to become the 1967 World Champion. Any thoughts that he didn't deserve it were not shared by Jim Clark, who had four race wins to Denny's two. On the podium at the season finale in Mexico, where Clark won and Denny was third, the great Scot invited the embarrassed Kiwi to share the victor's laurel wreath."

In 1962 Jimmy lost the crown to Hill in an inferior, but reliable BRM and said jokingly to Hill "Well, we let him have it this time...he deserves one, at least"

Now DOF I realize your main intent is to degrade the great drivers, so you'll no doubt come back with this tale and that tale, proving, essentially, that you know nothing about what the term 'gentleman' actually means.

[pumpdoc]

You are all wet, Mario Andretti, he could and did win in many classes and did so with aplomb.

[DOF_power]

Autumnpuma, on Dec 23 2007, 10:16 PM, said:

Now DOF I realize your main intent is to degrade the great drivers, so you'll no doubt come back with this tale and that tale, proving, essentially, that you know nothing about what the term 'gentleman' actually means.

Nah, my point is that I'm not really adept of superstardriversport as for that is one if not the most important reason as to why motorsport is being killed. If Bernie can sell his superstars to the addicted masses the rest then is irrelevant. I liked the good old days when it was about innovation/improving the breed/setting new standards in design and performance and the drivers were sacrificed.
I always feel an empty-ness of something that isn't right of fake whenever I watch motorsport because the innovation and performance just isn't there. And I also feel a disgust whenever I hear a motorsport conversation starting with "driver(s)".

When I started watching F1 it was different.

Edited by DOF_Renault_BMW, 24 December 2007 - 05:16 PM.

[Eric]

pumpdoc, on Dec 23 2007, 07:41 PM, said:

You are all wet, Mario Andretti, he could and did win in many classes and did so with aplomb.

I wish I had gotten to see Mario Andretti race.  I saw a little in the last part of his career, but nothing from the prime.  I was born too late.  I missed the prime of the Indy 500; I started in 1989 when the 21-year American win streak was snapped.  Good place to start, but I missed all the legends.  All I have is ESPN Classic the Saturday before Indy, YouTube, and a nice book about the first 90 Indy 500s.

[Eric]

DOF_Renault_BMW, on Dec 22 2007, 02:50 PM, said:

Colin Chapman - a driver capable of battling with the best but gave that up because he knew that most GP races are won in garages

After seeing the STP Lotus 56 wedge they brought to Indy in a book I just got, I love Colin Chapman.

However, I hate him for bringing the rear engine to Indy, as I prefer the front-engined roadster look

Actually, I'm glad he brought it; I wish Indy still had rear-engine vs front-engine and hell let's add mid-engine.

No doubt everything Lotus came out beautifully.  Shame today's F1 assheads can't make the cars look good.

[DOF_power]

Cars do look good, just that they're spoiled with winglets.

[Argento Reloaded]

my list:

Fangio, Moss, Clark, Ickx, Lauda, Gilles, Walter Rohl, Derek Bell, Ronnie Peterson, Stefan Bellof, Alonso, Alesi, Prost, Sandro Munari, Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, John Surtees, Jacques Villenueve.

[Yoda McFly]

Hrm ... A little late joining, but whatever ...

Mario:  Because, he was (is, in theory) Mario.  He did what he did.

Colin Chapman:  Others have pointed out his greatness.

GV:  There's a reason my kart carries a 27 when possible.

Nige:  Much, positive and negative, has been written about him.  Simple facts:  in '93, he came to the 'States, and nearly won our "Greatest Race" in his rookie season.  Yes, it's often (especially in F1) more about the car and its prep than the driver, but ... In the end, no matter how good the car is, it's the driver that brings it home.

Jimmy Clark:  'Nuff said.

Allesandro Zanardi:  I wasn't a big fan of his in CART before his less-than-auspicious return to F1.  In truth, in his first stint in F1, I saw one of the multitude of "also ran" drivers.  It can be said that his CART glory was "big fish in a small pond" ... But ... To get back into a car and do what he's done since Lausitz '01 ... We should all strive to have half of what he has hangin' ...

I'm tired, cranky and sober ... that's enough for now.

ciao