Tragically former Grand Prix driver Clay Regazzoni was killed in a car crash in Italy yesterday, Friday 15th December 2006. He was 67 years old.The Swiss driver is reported to have collided head on with a truck on the A1 Motorway near Parma, Italy.

During his career Regazzoni drove for Ferrari (above), BRM, Ensign, Shadow and Williams and gave the Williams team their first Grand Prix win at the 1979 British Grand Prix (below). That victory turned out to be the last of his five wins.

He returned to Ensign for the 1980 season but was crippled in a horrifying crash at Long Beach when his brakes failed at the end of the straight and he ended up hitting a concrete wall at full speed. Being confined to a wheel chair didn’t dampen his competitive spirit and he could be found competeing in sports cars, historic rallies,  as well as off road events such as the Paris-Dakar Rally as well as commentating on F1 for Italian TV.

I always remember him as one of the great “gentleman” drivers of his era, a man of courage, talent and natural speed combined with an ever present twinkle in the eye and a cheeky grin.

His untimely death is an ironic tragedy.

What better way to remember him that watching him at work behind the wheel of an F1 car.. 

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 16th, 2006 at 11:48 pm and is filed under Drivers, Formula One. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.