Hunt vs Lauda

[Bren]

Did anybody see the above documentary on BBC 2 last night - hugely enjoyable - really did go back to an era in Formula one when the sport was dangerous.

 

It also harked back to an era when sports personalities actually HAD personalities - Shunt liked the women, and the fags, and the booze.

 

Unlike the tofu eating, pilates performing facsimiles we class as personalities today.

 

Actually I exclude professional footballers from the last group - they seem to like indulging in illegal substances and spit roasting young women, however this does'nt mean they have a personality.

 

I remember many moons ago seeing a photograph of James Hunt and Barry Sheene on a yacht together - they looked like proper playboys posing for the camera.

 

We probably won't see their like again.

[Rocket88]

There's a Hollywood [Ron Howard directing] film coming our shortly on the very same subject. "Rush", I believe it's called, which doesn't sound too promising. The good news is Keanu Reeves isn't in it..........

[maxpower]

i watched that last night..... laughed when they guy said that hunt told lauda " you're the only guy who can be in a fire and come out looking better" 

[Guest benno]

yes was good, did anyone switch over to bbc4 to watch The Killer Years straight after?

[Spiny Norman]

It was a cracking show.

From back in the days when men were men.
Wouldn't see the little bum-fluffed prima donnas nowadays getting up to half the shenanigans that Hunt, Lauda, Fittipaldi, Regazzoni etc did.

 

While I was disappointed to learn the new film 'Rush' wasn't about Geddy Lee & his mates, I'll still be interested in watching it when it comes out. The Senna film seems to have opened up a little market for some of the older F1 characters.

[Sigmund Fraud]

No discussion of 'when men were men' F1 could be without a mention of Gilles Villeneuve.

 

The man was a proper petrolhead, and his somewhat aggressive driving style was allegedly the same when he was driving his Ferrari 'company car' on the road... Legend !

[Spiny Norman]

That's a classic piece of racing, one of the top 10 ever.

[Jim Bell]

Never realised Ferrari were so shady back in the day.

Giving Itallians a bad name.......................Oh wait.

[M'coli]

That's possibly the best footage I've seen of the Arrows A2 as well...

[HMC]

Great footage of villeneuve

[Shep Shepherd]

Going to watch it later

[freebird]

yes was good, did anyone switch over to bbc4 to watch The Killer Years straight after?

Yes, saw that, quite incredible.

I had no idea just how many drivers had been killed season in season out, the whole sport was utterly lethal.

I found it very sad and very sobering ( not that i was pissed or owt) and anybody who wasnt touched by the efforts of David Purley to save the life of a colleague and his utter despair at failing would be truly heartless.

Tragic.

[MrDuke]

Regarding the 'clean-cut dullards' that apparently populate F1 now, IMHO some of the blame lies with the sponsors, who have a shocking amount of control over their drivers. I remember reading an article about Hamilton during his first season, and it seems he wasn't allowed to take a dump without an agent making sure he was doing it nicely. Apparently drivers are not supposed to unzip their race suits when they're on camera, in case the collar folds back and obscures one of the logos.

 

And I still believe there's a direct link between how risky a sport is, and how much fun it is to watch. I don't mean that seeing horrific injuries or death in any way enhances it (it doesn't), but when drivers knew there was every chance of being killed with each race, there was that bit more adrenaline flowing, and they gave it a lot more balls. Oh yeah, and the fact that they had to physically manhandle the cars round the circuit rather than just steering them obviously made a difference.

[Rebuilda]

I was at that race, on the south bank. My first GP race set the bar quite high.

Went on to marshal the rallycross in 84 / 85 / 86 at Brands. Always pulls a few strings watching that era of motorsport especially there.

To race an F1 car in those days you needed balls... and a wheelbarrow 

[Shep Shepherd]

Yes, saw that, quite incredible.

I had no idea just how many drivers had been killed season in season out, the whole sport was utterly lethal.

I found it very sad and very sobering ( not that i was pissed or owt) and anybody who wasnt touched by the efforts of David Purley to save the life of a colleague and his utter despair at failing would be truly heartless.

Tragic.

 

I watched the documentary straight after watching the Hunt vs. Lauda one. I sat open-mouthed with tears in my eyes when the Roger Williamson/David Purley footage was shown

[TimothyClaypole]

Yes, saw that, quite incredible.

I had no idea just how many drivers had been killed season in season out, the whole sport was utterly lethal.

I found it very sad and very sobering ( not that i was pissed or owt) and anybody who wasnt touched by the efforts of David Purley to save the life of a colleague and his utter despair at failing would be truly heartless.

Tragic.

 

I saw that in full on another program and I'd rather not have seen it again, truly horrible to watch.

[seth]

Quoted from Wiki but worth repeating.

 

"Purley was awarded the George Medal for his courage in trying to save Williamson"

 

Sadly he is also one on the list that should prevent anyone involved in motorsport from ever getting involved in flying.