The Chequered Flag

[themaninblack 2,112]

Jim Rathmann has his obit via the Independent so well done to On The Last Lap and Drunkasaskunk...

[Octopus of Odstock 2,203]

Good stuff. Due to their penchant for sporting obits, it was a reasonable hope they would. Might have to think again about adding back Jack Ramsay onto my DDP final 20 as a result.

[Guest MightyMoose]

A thread has popped up on Autosport forums that Peter Gethin - winner of the 1971 Italian GP - has taken his final chequered flag.

 

Apparently he'd been ill for some time, but in my long time as a lurker here I can't recall him being mentioned.

[maryportfuncity 10,657]

Gethin, last guy to win a GP in a BRM, right?

[Rotten Ali 600]

I'm thinking Beltoise won the 1972 Monaco GP.

[Octopus of Odstock 2,203]

Gethin had been ill for a long time, but only recently had taken a significant downturn for the worst - he was still attempting to attend events earlier in the year.

Very sad news - 71 is not that old. A strange year this year in racing - not many of the old stalwarts have passed, but lots of the guys who raced in the 1960's and 70's have.

 

RIP, Peter.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

New Zealand V8 hoon racing car driver Jason Richards has died:

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-16/v8-driver-richards-dies/3735258

 

 

I thought he might have been the son of another high-profile NZ racer, Jim Richards, but there is no mention of a connection in the article or on his Wiki page.

[angryGreatness 96]

New Zealand V8 hoon racing car driver Jason Richards has died:

 

http://www.abc.net.a...ds-dies/3735258

 

 

I thought he might have been the son of another high-profile NZ racer, Jim Richards, but there is no mention of a connection in the article or on his Wiki page.

 

A hit for 2 DDP teams if an obit surfaces.

[Rotten Ali 600]

Autosport Forum - reports death of Jorge Martínez Boero - chest injuries at the start of the Paris-Dakar event in Argentina.

[Red Flag 84]

Quite odd that it has come so soon into the event...

 

Still quite a few ex-F1 oldies around:

 

Paul Pietsch (100) - the oldest surviving F1 driver (and only survivor of the very first season, I believe) and also founder of Auto Motor und Sport, the German motorsport magazine

 

Robert Manzon (94) - French driver with 2 podium finishes in the 1950s

 

Jose Froilan Gonzalez (89) - the man who took Ferrari's first F1 win in 1951

 

Roy Salvadori (89) - drove for Cooper and Aston Martin amongst others in the late 50s and early 60s; also won Le Mans in 1959

 

Carroll Shelby (88) - won Le Mans with Salvadori; famous for his eponymous car company

 

Jack Brabham (85) - oldest living former champion; suffers with kidney disease and is also deaf

 

Hans Herrmann (83) - drove alongside Fangio in the Mercedes team in the 1950s, with 1 podium finish

 

Stirling Moss (82) - now winding down, having officially retired from racing (again) in 2011, although still regularly appears in public. Had a serious accident at home just under 2 years ago from which he recovered

 

Dan Gurney (80) - Americna journeyman driver of the 1960s, the man Jim Clark supposedly feared the most

 

Tony Brooks (79) - former Ferrari and Vanwall driver, winner of 6 F1 GPs

 

Nino Vaccarella (78) - another Le Mans winner (1962) and Ferrari factory driver

 

John Surtees (77) - only world champion on 2 and 4 wheels; lost his son 2 years ago but remains active in motorsport; recent campaign for him to get a knighthood failed to get him on the New Years Honours List

 

I'd also throw in Murray Walker, who's now 88 sounding very old these days, and Frank Williams, who's 70 this year and has now almost completely stepped back from the team that bears his name, along with Patrick Head (65) who announced his effective retirement this week

[Red Flag 84]

Giampiero Moretti, founder of the MOMO car parts company and successful endurance racer in his spare time, has died at 67

[Red Flag 84]

Roberto Mieres - former Maserati F1 driver (and Olympic sailor for Argentina)

[Octopus of Odstock 2,203]

Born 20 years and one day later than Mieres was fellow "M" surnamed racer, Francois Migault. Sadly, he too, joins Mieres in the great racing track in the sky. Due to cancer, judging by this photo, he aged a lot in his last years - http://www.lemainelibre.fr/actualite/francois-migault-est-mort-29-01-2012-27962

[Lard Bazaar 3,800]

http://www.news.com.au/national/oscar-mcintyre-dies-in-superbike-world-championship/story-e6frfkvr-1226281452144

 

Up-and-coming Superstock rider Oscar McIntyre killed in a support race at Phillip Island.

[MightyMoose 10]

Waiting for the rain to clear, (in the vain hope of shutting Michael Waltrip up) at Daytona and the announcers happened to mention that Ned Jarrett, Ken Squier & Barney Hall - well known in Nascar circles- were all absent from the race this weekend due to health issues.

 

Certainly with Jarrett, it could be one for the radar (though unlikely to get a UK obit imo).

[Red Flag 84]

Indeed. Ned Jarrett is a former NASCAR champion who became a commentator after retiring. His son Dale has followed the same career trajectory. Ken Squier is the closest thing NASCAR have to Murray Walker. Barney Hall's a radio commentator, I believe

 

In other related news, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who now races in NASCAR, got a bit lucky in the Daytona 500 yesterday:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPRTD4Qj6lM

[maryportfuncity 10,657]

When Michael Schumacher made his comeback into F1 I said in this very thread that he didn't have one more win left in this level of the sport, let alone the championship he said he could win. Ahead of what must surely be his last ever F1 season, what does anyone else reckon? I still think he won't win a GP this year.

[Red Flag 84]

He won't win in normal conditions unless Mercedes build a much better car. However, if the circumstances play into his hands (and he has shown he's still just as adept at handling things like rain as he was in his prime), he could snatch one. But it's very unlikely given that he hasn't as much stepped on the podium yet, let alone got close to winning, though that's as much down to the domination of Red Bull and the gulf between the top 3 teams and the rest as it is down to Schumacher being older and slower than he once was, and that's unlikely to change this year. I should imagine Vettel will win the title again, as he gets ever closer to Michael's records

[our Sydney 11]

_{I said this on a previous post, I think Mr Schumacher is heading for a big crash. The Mercedes car is close enough to the pace that it should be doing occasional podium placings. This combined with the previous record of the team principle and the team in it's first season and how the team as a whole performed before he joined it all put alot of pressure on him. I think this was demonstrated by his increasingly agressive driving last season and the aparently bigger chances he was taking with his own and fellow drivers safty as the season went on. He should have retired at the end of last season, I think this season he will get even more agressive and take further chances until somthing big happens.}

_{Best regards}

_Syd

[maryportfuncity 10,657]

Hmm, interesting opinion. There hasn't been a fatality in an F1 race since Ayrton Senna was killed chasing Schumi's illegally modified car which explains Schumi's subsequent fit of tearful remorse when he equalled Senna's total of wins; cos deep down he knew he was a MURDERER!!!!!

 

Well, for a long time anyway.

[Rotten Ali 600]

It's more a music topic post but Jim Nabors is best known for his annual rendition of Back Home Again In Indiana at the Brickyard. This year he won't be there again in person since he is due some heart operation. Instead they will be showing a special tape recording and I guess it may well be his final fairwell, so the speedway have it in the can ready to be rolled out from here on in case he does not make it back in person ever again.

[Paul Bearer 6,109]

Trending at the mo on twitter Lee Richardson speedway rider.

[Red Flag 84]

Must have missed the passing earlier in the week of American motorsport legend Carroll Shelby. A winner of Le Mans in 1959 and briefly an F1 driver, he was most well-known for founding the Shelby American sports car tuning company which famously developed special versions of the AC Cobra and Ford Mustang

 

EDIT: Ah, missed the thread

[maryportfuncity 10,657]

One serious injury, some minor ones after that pit fire yesterday. Back in the day when some dead pools allowed "any one..." picks this would doubtless have prompted a debate about whether any one F1 mechanic was allowable, or whether the dead pooler would have to specify the team.

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqjuL75byLs

[Octopus of Odstock 2,203]

Les Leston, former Grand Prix racing driver, turned racewear accessory kingpin and a former DDP pick by my good self, has died after a long illness - http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/news/octanenews/283282/les_leston_19202012.html - not a good year for the drivers of the 1950's, that's the 5th this year.