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Post by charleselan on May 8, 2020 14:56:22 GMT
That he did! We were the same age believe it or not, well to be accurate he is nearer Carl's than mine  . Mine was later in the year along with Barry Sheene. Miss him to this very day; can you imagine being at Goodwood with Gilles; Jim; Jochen; Ronnie and Ayrton all together, and not forgetting all those other burning stars who perished doing what they loved. |
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Post by René on May 8, 2020 16:16:24 GMT
That he did! We were the same age believe it or not, well to be accurate he is nearer Carl's than mine . Mine was later in the year along with Barry Sheene. Miss him to this very day; can you imagine being at Goodwood with Gilles; Jim; Jochen; Ronnie and Ayrton all together, and not forgetting all those other burning stars who perished doing what they loved. Miss him too JC. I am not his age but I have the same birthday, the 18th of January!  The Goodwood image you picture will always be a dream. But a very beautiful dream nonetheless!
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Post by chrisb on May 10, 2020 10:09:34 GMT
I miss so many of the drivers and JC, your comment to have seen them at Goodwood in their retirement years, oh, can you imagine, and of course they wouldn't take it easy - they would race, but with such fun,
was Gilles leaving Ferrari at the end of 82?
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Post by robmarsh on May 11, 2020 11:46:41 GMT
I miss so many of the drivers and JC, your comment to have seen them at Goodwood in their retirement years, oh, can you imagine, and of course they wouldn't take it easy - they would race, but with such fun, was Gilles leaving Ferrari at the end of 82? Chris, there were rumours that he was going to McLaren or that McLaren were trying to entice him there. I don't think it ever got close to being finalised though I am sure he thought about it a lot harder after Imola. |
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Post by René on May 11, 2020 16:04:46 GMT
I miss so many of the drivers and JC, your comment to have seen them at Goodwood in their retirement years, oh, can you imagine, and of course they wouldn't take it easy - they would race, but with such fun, was Gilles leaving Ferrari at the end of 82? Chris, there were rumours that he was going to McLaren or that McLaren were trying to entice him there. I don't think it ever got close to being finalised though I am sure he thought about it a lot harder after Imola. You're right Rob. There were advanced talks with McLaren and I believe also with Williams. After two 'lost' seasons in 1980 and 81, Gilles was looking elsewhere in case the 1982 Ferrari was another disappointment. The 126C2 wasn't but when the atmosphere within the team deteriorated it must certainly have been on his mind.
The only way he would have stayed I think if somehow Didier and him would have settled their argument and the team had supported them both equally. It didn't feel like that to him in the end but sadly we'll never know for sure.
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Post by charleselan on May 12, 2020 7:14:49 GMT
I seem to remember that it was Nigel Roebuck who insinuated that Gilles was in talks with Williams, not certain if it was just mere gossip however. If it had come to pass would that have meant a pairing of Keke & Gilles for 1983, that could have been tasty.
On the other hand had Gilles gone to McLaren there would have been no place for Alain Prost in 1984 as Niki would not have been pensioned off a year early, he still wanted that third WC.
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Post by chrisb on May 12, 2020 18:57:19 GMT
I'm not sure about the Williams deal, again mentioning Peter Windsor he seemed to think that Williams weren't that big a fan of Gilles, am I right in thinking that in those days teams could still run 3 cars? and Lotus with Gerard weren't totally out of the picture or the USA come to that
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Post by Carl on May 13, 2020 2:33:11 GMT
I'm not sure about the Williams deal, again mentioning Peter Windsor he seemed to think that Williams weren't that big a fan of Gilles, am I right in thinking that in those days teams could still run 3 cars? and Lotus with Gerard weren't totally out of the picture or the USA come to that I have a lot of respect for Peter Windsor from his days as onsite commentator on the American broadcast, part of a great team, with Bob Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett remote in a studio. His own venture into Formula One ended with poison dwarf ecclestone furious that money promised did not materialize, the worst possible sin to the rapacious runt. I've often wished Gilles Villeneuve had taken many deep breaths and not tried for pole at Zolder. He would almost certainly have stayed in Formula One and been champion several times. With his great talent, he'd put a reasonably competitive car on the front row anywhere. |
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Post by charleselan on May 13, 2020 10:46:38 GMT
I had a lot of time for Peter Windsor, and he was hugely supportive of the small magazine I published all those years ago. Also his website is excellent and his knowledge of Jim Clark's career/life is outstanding. However he soiled his credentials for me with his outpourings of Mansell worship in the mid 1980's which were akin to Nigel being the "Second Coming".
Surely anyone who knows the man would not even countenance the feeling that Frank Williams wouldn't have been a huge Gilles fan. His much beloved Alan Jones rated the guy enormously and that would not have gone unheard by Williams. Not sure about Patrick Head as he is a bit of an oddity when it comes to apparent human interaction.
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Post by René on May 13, 2020 16:40:13 GMT
I've often wished Gilles Villeneuve had taken many deep breaths and not tried for pole at Zolder. He would almost certainly have stayed in Formula One and been champion several times. With his great talent, he'd put a reasonably competitive car on the front row anywhere.
Yes, well said.
But the memory remains. For everyone who has seen him race he will always be one of the brightest stars in Formula 1's history. Salut Gilles.
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Post by chrisb on May 13, 2020 19:27:27 GMT
slainte Gilles,
like so many Carl, but for Gilles to have taken that moment to redress his thoughts a life would have been saved and thousands would not have mourned and Canada's first WDC would have been the Father not the son
It was Peter who alluded to Frank thinking Gilles was crazy, but anyone with any knowledge would have signed him, his ability to win from races such as Jarama and Monaco where a steady clever hand was needed and with Jones retiring and Carlos dithering that would have been a magnificent team Carlos and Gilles in a FW08, impressive, then the Honda, tragically not so
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Post by charleselan on May 13, 2020 19:36:39 GMT
I have said this on more than one occasion and that is Gilles mental state that weekend would probably have precluded his participation in the current period. It has been mentioned that he was fine that weekend and too much was made of his rancour towards Didier, but deep down in his subconscious he wasn't right!
A few days ago Chris mentioned that Peter Windsor had been discussing who was the better Gilles or Ronnie. It is of no matter to me to be honest, they were who they were and their loyal fans will support whoever. I loved 'em both, but Ronnie was my boy and that is it, Gilles was his likeness in some ways and a huge fan of Super Swede.
The difference between them was simple, Gilles was far more emotionally charged; Ronnie was a typical Swede and far calmer than his driving appeared to illustrate. Other than that they had many similarities the main one being an honest naivety that characterised them both.
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Post by René on Mar 31, 2021 11:01:53 GMT
About 6 minutes of pure joy. There are some mistakes in the captions here and there but that doesn't take anything away from the race fun.  |
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Post by Carl on Mar 31, 2021 17:41:53 GMT
About 6 minutes of pure joy. There are some mistakes in the captions here and there but that doesn't take anything away from the race fun. A fantastic reminder of the genius of Gilles Villeneuve that brought tears to my eyes and chills to my spine.
Thanks René! |
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Post by chrisb on Apr 1, 2021 9:12:23 GMT
that is just brilliant thank you Rene, what a wonderful just wonderful clip, I especially liked not just the obvious but the one on Patrese who was not always the easiest to get by, he must have recognised Gilles and considered his options if he had tried to prevent the overtake, just magical,
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. Mine was later in the year along with Barry Sheene.
