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Post by René on Jun 10, 2018 9:46:01 GMT
40 years ago on his way to victory!  |
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Post by robmarsh on Jun 11, 2018 7:09:49 GMT
Lovely pics of GV testing the turbo cars. The test cars looked prettier than the race cars especially the first iteration of the 126ck.
It was lovely to see the 312T3 being driven by JV yesterday. It was one of my favourite Ferraris in no small way to GV driving it. It was also nice to see JV showing some emotions when talking about his dad.
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Post by René on Jun 11, 2018 15:41:56 GMT
Lovely pics of GV testing the turbo cars. The test cars looked prettier than the race cars especially the first iteration of the 126ck. It was lovely to see the 312T3 being driven by JV yesterday. It was one of my favourite Ferraris in no small way to GV driving it. It was also nice to see JV showing some emotions when talking about his dad. Rob, the first turbo car that made its debut in the Italian Grand Prix in 1980 was indeed a better looking car than the version raced the year after. The body lines were more elegant.  |
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Post by mikael on Jun 12, 2018 0:37:09 GMT
Slightly out of context - except for the time/period; but some really interesting onboard clips:
Jacques Laffite onboard, practice at Monza 1978
Mario Andretti onboard, practice at Anderstorp 1978 |
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Post by Carl on Jun 12, 2018 3:29:00 GMT
Slightly out of context - except for the time/period; but some really interesting onboard clips:
Mikael, The context is just right. I've always loved the Ligier with Matra engine and somewhere on the track is Gilles Villeneuve. He must have been awed to be in a Ferrari at Monza.
Andretti was a great driver, but his 79 seems almost easy to drive. He was one of many World Driving Champions to have the best race car.
Cheers, Carl
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Post by mikael on Jun 12, 2018 4:11:03 GMT
A very interesting photo. The flat-12 engine engine is flat indeed!
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Post by René on Jun 12, 2018 19:15:50 GMT
A very interesting photo. The flat-12 engine engine is flat indeed! Yes, very flat! A superb design with its very low centre of gravity. Perfect for 70's style F1 cars.... but not ideal for a ground effect car because it is also very wide. One of the best sounding engines ever though. |
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Post by René on Jun 12, 2018 19:35:27 GMT
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Post by chrisb on Jun 13, 2018 20:21:04 GMT
Rene, that is just beautiful man,
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Post by René on Oct 11, 2018 15:55:26 GMT
This Belgian documentary about Gilles was broadcasted about a year ago on tele and I found it now on Youtube. The voice-over and subtitles are in Dutch but I wanted to share it anyway as there is so many unique footage to see. Some interviews are also in English so that is probably more easy to follow, other parts are in French, Dutch or German. But I'm sure you'all find it intersting.
Edit: the second half of the documentary is about Imola and Zolder. Very dramatic and tragic, as well the interviews and the images. Just so you know before watching.
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Post by charleselan on Oct 12, 2018 10:41:05 GMT
This Belgian documentary about Gilles was broadcasted about a year ago on tele and I found it now on Youtube. The voice-over and subtitles are in Dutch but I wanted to share it anyway as there is so many unique footage to see. Some interviews are also in English so that is probably more easy to follow, other parts are in French, Dutch or German. But I'm sure you'all find it intersting. Edit: the second half of the documentary is about Imola and Zolder. Very dramatic and tragic, as well the interviews and the images. Just so you know before watching. Brilliant René, No problem for me as I am multi lingual  . JC |
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Post by Jamie on Oct 12, 2018 20:43:31 GMT
I well I hardly understood a thing but just watched from start to finish and really enjoyed it 😁
The accident footage is still shocking isn’t it?
René and Patrick feel the loss deeply still.
I’d be very interested to hear what Joan was saying about Peroni?
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Post by René on Oct 12, 2018 22:11:05 GMT
I well I hardly understood a thing but just watched from start to finish and really enjoyed it 😁 The accident footage is still shocking isn’t it? René and Patrick feel the loss deeply still. I’d be very interested to hear what Joan was saying about Peroni? It's a very touching documentary, isn't it? I will do a translation of the most important comments. |
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Post by René on Oct 13, 2018 14:43:52 GMT
I have translated the documentary so it makes more sense to you. The comments by Jody Scheckter and some comments by Gilles are not in here because they are in English. All the other spoken words, voice over, race comments and the comments by Joann and others are translated.
I do not want to start another Gilles/Didier debate but I feel this is a very important and well made documentary with the people who were there and very near to him. An important part of Formula One history.
_________________
Opening interview with Gilles:
Zolder is supposed to be one of the most difficult tracks in the world, is that true?
GV: Everyone has his opinion but I like to race in Zolder.
Why?
GV: It has a lot of 90 degrees corners which I like and it's a fast track.
Then some newsflashes about the accident.
Voice over: Gilles Villeneuve was born and raised in Berthierville, a small village in the Canadian province Quebec. At a young age he marries Joann, a girl from a nearby village. Villeneuve dreams of a life as a race car driver but his modest origin does not make it easy. He learns to race on the ice fields of Canada with snow mobiles, a popular sport in Quebec. With the money he earns racing snow mobiles he buys his first single seater, to race in the Formula Atlantic series. Joann and the kids, Jacques and Mélanie, accompany him from race track to race track throughout the country where they witness Gilles's early successes. Formula One is still a distant dream.
Joann: For us F1 was still a distant dream and I think that Gilles looked at the Formula One drivers with the eyes of a kid.
Voice over: But then the stories of this Canadian talent with a spectacular style reached the other side of the ocean. And then one day, there's a phone call from Italy.
Joann: When Ferrari called us we said to eachother: this is a chance of a lifetime.
Jochen Mass (JM): Gilles was obviously very talented and he had an unbelieveable will to win. He was spectacular from the start and immediately faster than us.
Voice over: In 1978 Gilles wins the Canadian Grand Prix, his first victory in F1. The tiny Canadian is an instant hero for fans all over the world.
Christian Tortorra (CT): They called it 'Villeneuve fever'. He was also a good looking young man and his Canadian accent was charming. Everyone worshipped him. He was straightforward, not complicated. Genuine. Fearless.
Jody Scheckter.
René Arnoux (RA): Gilles had no long term vision on the championship. He won races but Gilles's problem was that he demanded the maximum of his car every race, every time. The absolute maximum.
That is why his car was always finished by the end of the race but somehow he still managed to finish many times but again, his car was 'exhausted'.
CT: Zandvoort was unbelievable. He was going very fast but then he got a flat tyre. And he thinks: 'ah well, bad luck but I still have a chance. Allright, I have a flat but I can still reach the pits and have the wheel replaced.'
He had a very strong will and believed they could change the wheel while in reality there was nothing left of the rear suspension! That is an image that people remember for a very long time. He drove almost the entire lap on three wheels. And he wasn't going slow which made the damage even worse. He only knew how to go 100%.
Interview: Are you not too hard on your material?
GV: Maybe, but I don't want to lose speed. If it's possible to keep the same speed while being more careful I will but I guess they just need to build stronger cars.
Voice over: During the 1979 French Grand Prix Gilles finds his ideal rival in the Frenchman René Arnoux to show his unique driving capabilities. It will be a legendary dual right on the limit.
RA: Gilles and I knew eachother very well. We had a strong feeling of respect towards each other. We kept overtaking and our wheels touched.
Voice over: The race is won by Jean Pierre Jabouille but everyones attention is for the battle for second between Arnoux and Villeneuve.
CT: The unbelieveable thing about this duel was that it could only happen because they trusted each other. Otherwise it would have ended in tears.
Patrick Tambay (PT): Some thought it was madness, others thought it was genius. I shouted: 'Bravo, genius!' They are not ballerinas, they are racing drivers. That is how it should be.
RA: At a certain point I was in the middle of a corner and looked aside to him and thru his visor I see his eyes. Of course only a fraction of a second, I didn't keep looking! I almost felt like laughing. You don't really laugh but I knew he was fighting the same fight as me. And I watched him persisting with his fight. I thought he is not going to give up and he didn't of course!
When you race wheel to wheel and one of you gives up or goes slower, then you're airborn. One wheel will go over the other and you're gone. We knew from each other that we wouldn't do that. We knew none of us would give up. Eventually he beat me with half a wings distance. He was second and I was third but it was unbelieveable.
Joann: He was happy like a child and went completely besurk! He said it was fantastic. "We touched and passed and repassed." That was a good memory for him, it was great.
Gilles and Jody.
Voice over: For the 1979 season Gilles gets a new teammate at Ferrari, the experienced South African Jody Scheckter.
Joann: At first they didn't know each other very well but soon a strong friendship developed. The understanding was very well between them with a lot of respect.
Jody.
Voice over: Ferrari dominates the 1979 season. Both Villeneuve and Scheckter still have a shot at the title. The Italian Grand Prix at Monza will be decisive. The tension is very high.
Interview: Is the Monza race important for the championship?
GV: Yes, for me certainly. I need to win this one to remain in the race and improve my chances. I am only interested in the win.
Jody.
Joann: Jody was in front of Gilles at Monza. Gilles was faster but he kept his word. Simple as that. It would never have crossed his mind to break his word. He simply kept his word. Even if he saw what happened. He thought: "I am losing the championship here".
Jody.
PT: He could have been World Champion then but he respected the agreement. That is why later he couldn't understand the behaviour of his new teammate.
Voice over: the next two seasons are less successful as the Ferrari is not very competitive and reliable but he still wins two prestigious races due to his talent and perseverance but when he has a competitive car again in 1982, Gilles has only one goal: winning the championship.
CT: For the 1982 season he had a competitive car again. Finally, so the championship was a realistic goal again. He was ready I believe. This was the year.
Gilles and Didier
In 1981 the Frenchman Didier Pironi became Gilles's new teammate.
CT: At first the cooperation was excellent between them. They visited each other in at their respective homes, they were friends. Mates. They got along really well, as drivers and as friends but intellectually there was a difference. Pironi had studied and Gilles was not very educated. Pironi on the other hand was very confident, a good talker, eloquent. Two different worlds.
Joann: In the beginning they were good friends and had a lot of fun together. But there was something that bothered me. Something made me feel uneasy.
Didier got married one week before the San Marino Grand Prix. And then this uneasy feeling from the beginning became stronger because I thought: "if he's such a good friend, he would have invited us to his wedding".
RA: Didier was much more calculated than Gilles. They were two opposite personalities. Also how they approached a championship or a race but also in daily life.
CT: Didier was a man who could really bite into something, set a goal. It was clear he wanted to become champion no matter what. At any price and he didn't hide that.
PT: Didier was very focussed, a clear career plan. He always took decisions that worked for him but he respected the rules. I thought. What happened next doesn't need much explaining.
Race comment: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Imola for the San Marino Grand Prix.
CT: What happened there in Imola, that is... not only scandalous but on a human level it beat everything.
Race comment: Villeneuve in the lead. The order: Villeneuve 1, Pironi 2. This can be a one-two for Ferrari. Now with two Ferraris in the lead you can ask yourself, will Villeneuve and Pironi challenge each other or will they get an order to remain in position?
Joann: Imola is a track with high fuel consumption and there was a problem with the fuel comsumption. And when they were in the lead, Gilles and Didier, they both knew they had to go slower to be able to finish the race. Gilles was first, Didier second. And the honour code within the team was that the one who is leading stays there. Gilles slowed down by several seconds a lap.
Race comment: Pironi is an intelligant lad, very calculated. I guess he'll be satisfied with second although he is following Villeneuve very closely. Oh, what happened there? Villeneuve goes wide and Pironi takes the lead.
Joann: Didier used the opportunity to pass him but Gilles thought to himself "we have this agreement, this code of honour in the team so no problem. He is just showing of. "
CT: And a great show they gave. A great interaction between Villeneuve and Pironi.
Race comment: Attention, Villeneuve attacks! Is he passing him? No! They shouldn't play with fire. But Villeneuve is leading again.
Joann: When Gilles was leading again, they showed the sign 'slow'. So Gilles slowed down again.
Race comment: Here we can see the Ferrari signs: Gilles 1, Didier 2. That is the only thing they show when they pass the pits. I think the positions are now final.
PT: Gilles was the one who had to win. The situation was clear and so were the instructions.
Race comment: And Pironi takes the lead again! Pironi in the lead.
Joann: It was clear to me then that Didier was serious. He was fighting for the win, not for the show.
Race comment: It seems common sense is all forgotten. Only two laps to go and Gilles is trying to overtake him on the inside. Yes, Gilles Villeneuve takes the lead again. I am sure the positions are now final.
CT: And the rest is history. A few hundred metres before the finish, the one who had to finish second overtook him and it was finished.
Race comment: They are into the last lap. I cannot imagine that Pironi will play 'all or nothing' now. He will surely prefer to finish second instead of ending in the barriers. But Pironi, oh he takes the lead again! Pironi wins.
Joann: I was at the time keeping so I knew that when Didier overtook Gilles, Gilles was going slower according to the team's orders. So it was easier for Didier to overtake Gilles. And at the end there was simply not enough time to retake the lead.
Race comment: The last inter Ferrari dual was also in Italy, in Monza in 1979. With Scheckter and Villeneuve.
PT: Gilles kept his word in 1979 to his team mate and the team. And now, Didier didn't.
PT: Maybe it was an instinctive reaction. Maybe an unreasoned decision by a driver. Some stop thinking when they put on their helmet. But Didier Pironi was an intelligent man who was very calculated. And that was very difficult for Gilles, he felt betrayed.
CT: The sad thing is that Villeneuve and Pironi were real friends. That is what it all provoked. Villeneuve was hurt. For him it was a sincere friendship, he was not calculated. But the other guy was.
Race comment: There they are, the first three. Pironi in red and behind him Alboreto but Villeneuve is not there. I don't see Gilles.
Joann: He was so furious he didn't want to go on the podium. With a lot of effort I convinced him to climb on the podium. Not for the team, not for finishing second but for the audience who didn't know what just happened.
CT: He was completely defeated. He couldn't smile although he just finished second. But when he came from the podium, oh dear. He started to swear in his Quebecan dialect. Luckely most didn't understand him because he used some strong language. He called him (Didier) all the names he could think of. "It was scandalous! Ferrari, you can look for another driver, I've had enough!"
He walked to his motorhome where I interviewed him. He said: What a shit action, what a cheat, what a hypocrite, etc. He explained they had almost no fuel left. "It would have been madness to continue at full speed and not finish the race. That would have been stupid."
So I go outside and I see the journalists talking to Pironi. He sees me coming and asks: Why is he so mad? I said: Excuse me? Why is he so mad? And in a reflex I play him the tape I just recorded. I said, listen what he is blaming you. Pironi's face turned white...They never talked again, not one word.
RA: Or you are his friend, or not. He was very strict at that. When Gilles was finished with someone, it was like a guillotine that falls. Finished forever.
CT: If Imola hadn't happened, he would never have wanted to take revenge. But after Imola he had to show who was the best. And that the other guy was a bastard. How? To be faster than him.
Race comment. This is it. See you in two weeks time in Belgium.
Ronald Bruynseraede, race promotor (RB): Zolder became internationally known because of the F1 Grand Prix. We were with a very small group of people who organized the race. Who looked forward to this event the whole year, a lot of work for three days F1. It was like new year, halloween and christmas at ones and everyone was happy when everything worked out and it was sunday evening without any problems. Then you were happy and already looking forward to next year.
Voice over: All the teams are preparing for race day. Saturday qualifying is the ultimate chance to gain a good starting position for sunday's race. Villeneuve is preparing for his last qualifying laps.
CT: Gilles was less cheerful than usual. His family was not there, it was the first communion of Mélanie so Joann stayed in Monaco with little Jacques.
Voice over: The camera teams and commentators of the BRT (Belgian broadcaster) have a last repitition before live coverage. So the moment itself was not broadcasted live.
Race comment: This is Gilles Villeneuve who was 5th yesterday and this morning 6th fastest.
CT: Whatever he tried with the setup, Pironi's Ferrari was faster. So he has his tyres changed for another attack to better Pironi's time. But he fails, Pironi is still faster.
Race comment: This is Villeneuve in the pits. And Pironi who just arrives at his team.
PT: He wanted to better Pironi's time, no matter what. The battle was on. He wanted to beat him at any price. Out of rivalry and out of pride.
RB: There were only two, two and a half minutes to go.
Jody.
CT: The question is: why did Mr. Villeneuve start another lap with worn down tyres? With these qualifying tyres you cannot do ten laps. When he did his time we knew it was done for the saturday. There was no way he could improve but he sees that Pironi is faster than him. So he tries again for one fast lap.
It was pure rage, pure rage. I will have you. That was it.
JM: I saw him in my mirror. My tyres were gone so I had to go slowly. I was in the middle of the track, a little bit to the right. But he thought I would go to the left, the fast lane. I tried to go a little to the right to make way. I saw him coming in my mirror. But he decided to go right what was not possible any way.
Race comment: Accident. It's Villeneuve. It seems he is not in the car anymore. There he is.
JM: I got out of the car. There he was, against the fence. He had his balaclava still on but not his helmet. I saw his eyes wide open, it was terrible.
Race comment: That is Jochen Mass, the man in the blue overalls.
RB: I immediately stopped the session because the severity was clear to me. Doctors and race officials were all there very fast.
RA: Mass, who was in front of him, made a wrong estimation. He was looking in his mirror but that is only very small. And from the moment Mass understands that Gilles is approaching very fast he goes to the right while Gilles was already passing him on the right. Wheels collided, the car was airborn and Gilles got thrown out of his car.
Sorry to say it like this but a more stupid accident is almost impossible. Impossible.
The ambulance arrived very fast but I already knew. It's finished. The end.
But you know, something like that becomes clear very fast.
Joann: Jody told me the news. He called me. When you get that call that has been your biggest fear for so long, you deny all the facts. And you say to yourself, 'they will take care of him in the hospital''. Jody did his best to make me understand that it was much worse than that.
Surgeon Leuven Hospital: He was in the deepest possible coma, no reaction at all. That was immediately clear. There was a larger distance between two cervical vertebraes than there should be and that is a very, very serious condition. Nothing we could do anymore. This is fatal, fatal from the moment it happened. The car got airborn at very high speed, made a circular movement that created so much g-forces that he was thrown out and his neck was stretched. He was already clinically dead before he hit the ground.
PT: Accidents are always dramatic and always stupid. Since then, I detest Zolder. This year my son raced there in Formula BMW. That was a very difficult weekend for me, very difficult. I was so relieved when it was over.
Surguon: Mrs. Villeneuve and Mrs. Scheckter came to me and I explained to her he had died. I always pronounce these words very clearly: he is dead. You need to be very clear in these circumstances.
Joann: When you lose the person that is most dear to you, then there is only this person who is lying there and yourself. I watched him going away very peacefully.
Jody.
Joann: Didier was very touched and upset by Gilles's death. He lost his friend already before he died. And so, there was no way to make it up, to make it right again. He hoped he could make up with his friend. After Gilles's death this was no longer possible. That was very difficult for him to cope with.
Voice over: Only short after the race in Zolder Pironi has a severe accident at Hockenheim. He survives but is lost forever for Formula One. A few years later he starts to race super fast offshore speedboats. This ends dramatically as he dies after a brutal crash near the British coast.
CT: The paradoxical and amazing thing after Pironi's death was that his wife was pregnant of a twin. I was bewildered when I heard it that she named her boys Didier-Gilles and Gilles-Didier. Then you ask yourself questions, not? There are things we don't know. Did Didier feel guilty deep inside? Who shall say, we will never know.
Jacques
Jacques: After his death I made a switch in my head. Suddenly I was the man of the family. I couldn't be a kid anymore. At first, the first week, it was very hard but after that I tried to continue with my life. I looked ahead, like my dad. Never look backwards. I am the same. It gave me the strength to continue.
PT: Jacques became the person he is thanks to his father. I guess he wanted to follow in his footsteps.
CT: Obviously it is not that easy. You are Gilles Villeneuve's son and are constantly reminded. It was more a handicap at first.
Jacques: The fact that my father became a Formula 1 driver was very special in Canada, especially for the Quebecans. But when I became a F1 driver that was already considered normal. So I had to go a step further and become world champion.
Race comment: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome live from Jerez de la Frontera for the last race of the championship. Michael Schumacher is leading Jacques Villeneuve by one point. They are both starting on the first row, a dream scenario. Villeneuve on pole and Schumacher along side him.
Jacques: The last race in Jerez in 1997 was unbelieveable. The tension was very high. Partly because Michael was driving for Ferrari. In Italy they talked as much about Villeneuve as about Schumacher. Especially about my father and then about me. Ferrari had not won a championship for a long time so it was an important moment.
Race comment: Villeneuve has gained a lot of time the last two laps. He was at 2.5 and now only three tenths of a second behind Schumacher. He is giving it all but where can he pass him? That is a problem although Villeneuve is clearly faster. There is not much room to pass on this track.
Jacques: I surprised Michael because I was still a long way back before I braked. He realized too late I was trying to overtake him.
Race comment: Villeneuve is passing him! They hit each other and Schumacher gives him a push! Maybe Villeneuve becomes World Champion today! Schumacher is stuck in the gravel, Villeneuve is champion!
Jacques: That is something that my father and I would never have done. Every person has a different understanding of what is acceptable or not.
Race comment: Let's have another look. Schumacher realizes he gets passed and then he pushes him. This is on the edge of what is acceptable.
This is a very strange reaction by Schumi. Look at his hands at the wheel.
Jacques: I wasn't angry because he helped me win. He got stuck and looked like a fool so why should I be angry?
Race comment: What an image. Schumacher must be thinking 'all this effort, I was leading' and now he sees Villeneuve coming by. Villeneuve is World Champion!
PT: That day I commentated for Canal+. It was a great moment. I was very happy, touched and proud. Not only for him but also for Gilles. There we were, two old mates, witnessing the success of the little boy.
That is how it is, it is never over.
RA: He was the successor of his father. He did what his father couldn't anymore.
CT: We were wearing yellow wigs and so, it was crazy. He came to me and hugged me and said: "Voilà, it is accomplished". That is the only thing he said. It is accomplished.
Interpred it as you want but I understood immediately.
This was my father's dream and I achieved it.
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Post by Jamie on Oct 13, 2018 17:09:59 GMT
Brilliant René!
Thank you so much
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