Driver portraits.

[Deleted]

Yes, Rene', same helmet as his father.

Lorenzo, before being a kart racer, is an accomplished competitive horse rider, like his grown-up sisters (and father, too).

[chrisb]

Lorenzo Patrese, we spoke earlier of suitable motor racing name, surely this one has to be the best one! so Lucio, was Lorenzo named after Bandini?

[Deleted]

Chris, I don't really know, I didn't think about the Bandini connection, sounds nice.

I have never met Riccardo, but I understand reading and listening to interviews (in youtube) he's very careful with his son's prospects. He wants sport to be part of a balanced young man's growing up - like it was for him, for example, who was a junior skier at national level - but I believe he's taking it one step at the time. He's the first to know that to emerge as a top level performer is a lottery. Would be nice - to this old Patrese supporter - to have another "Max" in F1 in say ten years time, but reasonably it's unlikely.

[René]

The Patreses seem like a well educated and well balanced family, quite the opposite from the Verstappens! It would be great to see Lorenzo in F1 one day, we can always dream.

Does Riccardo still collect model trains? I remember he was an avid collector.

[Deleted]

I believe he still collects model trains.

Yes, family-wise the Patreses have always been quite educated and decent, solid middle class in a "conservative" town like Padua. Mother serious high-school teacher, brother Alberto for over thirty years top engineer at Alfa Romeo in Milan.

This is one of the reasons I always felt the "spoiled brat" tag he got in 1978 by Hunt was completely out of the mark. He was an exciting young gun coming up, who got bullied, instead of being managed properly. Things might have turned out quite differently.

[charleselan]

Sounds like a very well balanced family to me. It would be wonderful if young Lorenzo (I second that expression about the name, superb) were to follow in his dad's footsteps, and maybe go that bit further.

Yes! James Hunt got it wrong, but that was the guy he was, no grey areas even when out of order.

Riccardo is a top bloke, and I always preferred him to Mansell when they were at Williams .

[chrisb]

I must acknowledge I didn't know a great deal about Ricardo before F1, but his amazing drive in the overlooked epic GP - South Africa 1978, certainly put him on the map, I didn't like his tactics at Sweden - where Ronnie was very upset about the blocking, but that tragic day at Monza I thought the reaction and comments resembled a kangaroo court and a lynch mob that was not impressive and no-one came out of there without any credit,

James was an interesting person and as John says, black - white - no grey, but I have never been a fan of hurray henry's and that sort of elitism that James seemed to personify, but I enjoyed his driving in 76/ 77 and sadly towards to the end of James's life he seemed to have calmed down a bit and we were getting a much better picture of someone, but his vitriol towards Patrese was out of order, and of course Nigel Roebuck also disliked Riccardo for a time until he was properly introduced and realised as had the rest of us Riccardo was a thoroughly good bloke.

I thought the partnership between Patrese and Mansell was interesting, before all the electronic gadgetry kicked in Patrese had the upper hand and his dignity was a lesson to all when Mansell won his championship 

[charleselan]

Yes! Chris I know what you mean about the "toff" image, the old public school don't you know!!

Hunt did mellow a lot in his later years, and was a much finer man for it as well.

THe 1978 South African GP was a cracker, and that was one hell of a drive by Riccardo in the very new Arrows FA1, I loved that car and such a shame they were sued over it by Shadow. I did know quite a bit about Patrese and co in the lower formulas as European F3 etc was covered to some extent in Motoring News. A few years later I was sent a 1/43rd white metal kit of his Formula Three Chevron sponsored by Stebel. Although quite simple and a bit rudimentary it turned out quite well and good to have in my collection. 

[René]

Dec 31, 2017 17:31:06 GMT charleselan said:

I was at Spa in 1983 when Eddie was driving for Renault. We arrived on the Saturday morning for first practice and it was heaving down with rain (strange that at Spa) and under stout brollies we entrenched ourselves on the outside of the Kemmel Straight. There were quite literally rivers of water running across the road diagonally; Cheever hove into view hard on the power and quite literally the front of the car seemed to patter as it hit these rivers of water, he didn't lift at all. I think he was under the shadow of Prost there and was never going to emerge from that.

JC, I was at Spa that year too! Not on the Saturday, only on race day where I made these photos. Nothing like your pictures but you can see where I was!

[charleselan]

René, 

They are fantastic pictures and really capture Spa in all its glory. I would say that was on the approach to the "Bus Stop Chicane". The weather on race day was in total contrast to the Saturday which was truly terrible. I was up at Les Combes, first of all on the outside and then crossing via an underpass to the other side and then able to look down as the cars left Bruxelles all the way to Pouhon.

JC

[René]

Yes indeed, I was in between Blanchimont and the (original) busstop. It was a great place to watch. Too many high fences now.

At Les Combes is also a great viewing point, been there many times. But most spots are good at Spa, a fantastic circuit.

[chrisb]

gosh chaps I too was there at the bottom of Eau Rouge in the stands, getting into a disagreement whose seat was whose, curtesy of Page and Moy coaches, a nightmare of a journey a dream of an experience

[charleselan]

I just have to post this lovely moody shot of the magnificent Clay............

[Deleted]

What a beautiful shot. I think that was late 1972, with newly grown moustache.

I was a huge fan, the only driver I really cared for. I had the opportunity to go and meet him in August 1980, when he was at the Paraplegiker-Zentrum in Basel, and turned it down. Silly boy. Pretty much the only thing I regret in my life.

[charleselan]

Jan 12, 2018 19:03:46 GMT @lucio said:

What a beautiful shot. I think that was late 1972, with newly grown moustache.

I was a huge fan, the only driver I really cared for. I had the opportunity to go and meet him in August 1980, when he was at the Paraplegiker-Zentrum in Basel, and turned it down. Silly boy. Pretty much the only thing I regret in my life.

Clay and the 'tache were one, the man was a legend and the archetypical 1970's race driver.

I have two regrets; one not wishing to queue up to get a poster autographed by Jo Siffert; and secondly giving up waiting for over one hour to get Ayrton Senna to autograph a portrait photo I had taken of him. I don't like waiting, and for no matter who it might be .