Ronnie Peterson....

[Lucky13]

Died on this day 35 years ago at Monza and since that day, I don't like that track!

 

[stona]

Nobody, including Prof. Sid Watkins, could get to Peterson for more than ten minutes as the Italian police sealed off the crash scene. Peterson was pulled from his burning car by a fellow driver, in this case James Hunt, rather than a rescue crew.
Peterson's death was a tragedy but it did give impetus to the campaign mounted by men like Jackie Stewart for better safety at F1 circuits. Both procedures and Monza itself are far safer now.
I'm old enough to remember Peterson and Andretti driving those Lotus cars. He was a great driver.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Capt. Vick]

Always loved the paint on those JPS F1 cars. Sad, gastly loss...

 

[Lucky13]

True, some of the most beautiful F1 cars back then....

 

[buffnut453]

Never forget my Aunt and Uncle coming to visit one time when I was a nipper - brought me a Corgi JPS car...complete with the driver's head cocked to the side as if cornering hard, just like the pic in Lucky's first post. I'm glad the tracks and the cars are safer these days but we certainly don't get racing heroes in the mould of Hunt, Lauda or Peterson these days.

 

[Torch]

What I miss is the actuall handling of the cars in the past,you could see them drift,slip etc.,now the announcers go berzonkers if the drivers have to over correct a tad,I know it's not easy but there was true talent in the past.

 

[Lucky13]

Taken the fun out of it, nothing more than computers on wheels, not the same skills to win a race today, when it comes fuel stops, tires and whatnot, as back in Ronnie Peterson Co days, now you can change everything while they're racing, ignition, fuel, rpm etc...
Bet that they wouldn't last long in Ronnie's 72E Lotus, but he'd could probably easy adapt to all the modern gimmicks in today's 'hot wheels', heck, only thing missing is a cigarette lighter a' la Galland!

 

[Gnomey]

A ghastly loss indeed.

Got to love the old JPS Lotus colours, they weren't really done justice since they've been brought back...