The best driver?

[afterburn 549]

^ Little out of CONTEXT ! ! ! ^ ??

[RWebb]

Barney Oldfield

[Pazuzu]

I get to hang out with Jim Clark's Lotus mechanic, he's full of stories, good and bad. Full of regret too...some part of him still blames himself on the crash even if it's been determined over and over again that it was not a mechanical mistake made with the car.

But boy howdy sitting over beers with someone who has been on the front line of international racing for the past 50 years is a hoot.

[afterburn 549]

weird story
I was a kid when i herd he crashed.....but who ever what ever reported it said he dodged people or kids...........
might have been a knee jerk report........and no one has ever said that again

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

I get to hang out with Jim Clark's Lotus mechanic, he's full of stories, good and bad. Full of regret too...some part of him still blames himself on the crash even if it's been determined over and over again that it was not a mechanical mistake made with the car.

But boy howdy sitting over beers with someone who has been on the front line of international racing for the past 50 years is a hoot.

Mike- Just curious, was it a tire going bad? Could you share some insight on the incident? The era of Colin Chapman and driver relationship is fascinating. For different incidents, both Clark and Chapman had to contend with the courts for negligence. Must have been enormous pressure for them on a personal level.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

The best?

Fangio, probably, maybe Moss.

Nah, Fangio. Five world championships. Four teams. A record that stood for 46 years.

So many great things can be said of Fangio but this wonderful read shows what the mans compassion was like and his non-selfishness character: (long read) http://www.sportscardigest.com/1956-sebring-12-hours-grand-prix-race-profile/ At age 44, still going strong and departing from Enzo soon after this race.

[afterburn 549]

From all accounts that i have read, it was thought to be a tire.

[tevake]

Fangio's record certainly stands up through time. That he won in cars from many builders and with different teams show that his results were not just the outcome of dominate cars. A true great!

Sebastian Loab and for us here Walter Rohrl are clearly fantastic drivers. How ever their choice of series doesn't put them on the radar as much as more mainstream high profile series.

Cheers Richard

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

Mike- Just curious, was it a tire going bad? Could you share some insight on the incident? The era of Colin Chapman and driver relationship is fascinating. For different incidents, both Clark and Chapman had to contend with the courts for negligence. Must have been enormous pressure for them on a personal level.

There's exactly one person who knows what happened in that crash, and he died in it. I thought it was on a back stretch in the forest, and there was basically no one right there to see it, but it's before my time and I haven't read that many reports about the event.

Dave Sims (his mechanic at the time) was a teenager, and it still haunts him that he might have not torqued some bolt right, or not put some locking tab in or whatever, but as afterburn said, it seems that every examination and study of the crash attributes it to a flat tire at speed, probably from debris or separation, but nothing that was done wrong in the garage.

[porsche4life]

More modern.... But Thomas Kristensen has more LeMans wins than anyone, by a pretty wide margin. That isn't by accident...

[intakexhaust]

VINMAN- Your post on 'rain man'.

Thank you for reminding of me of one the best. Shame on me for not mentioning earlier Ayrton Senna.

This documentary does lack some needed subtext but an excellent insight into Senna. Commentary, especially from Prost is worth listening.


What the?? Someone takes the time to upload and then suspends an account??

[afterburn 549]

I think "Smoky Yunick" should be mentioned too

[URY914]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

I think "Smoky Yunick" should be mentioned too

Isn't this thread about drivers?

[afterburn 549]

He was a driver...

[James Brown]

Nicky Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher. there i said it, top 3 (not in order) I chose them because of how hard they drove with the equipment they had. always pushed it to the razor edge

[Aragorn]

I have a hard time saying one driver is the best overall if they only dominate in one type of racing with the best car. Each modern Driver seems to be good at the type of racing they do: Loeb and McRae in Rally, Schumacher and Senna at F1, Dale Sr. and Petty at NASCAR. But when it comes down to it, they have had the best cars by far at the time they dominated.

In the 60's drivers were different. John Surtes won Championships both on 2 and 4 wheels. Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt won in just about anything they drove. That to me shows a mastery of the skill of driving overall. Just knowing how to drive the best equipment in one form of driving doesn't seem to be enough to get you to the top of the pile.

Modern drivers like Jimmie Johnson who dominated Off Road Truck racing and NASCAR and Jeff Gordon who has won championships at USAC and Midgets as well as NASCAR show a mastery of various different types of racing. They seem to be the same breed from the 60's who are masters of driving. Just my .02 cents.

[URY914]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

He was a driver...

Yea, he drove his pickup to work.

[afterburn 549]

Originally Posted by URY914

Yea, he drove his pickup to work.

He got his Name "smokey" for being smokin fast

[RWebb]

True - later, he switched to building cars - but as shown above, few recall his early life...

[URY914]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

He got his Name "smokey" for being smokin fast

I looked up his on-line bio on several sites. None of them reference a driving career.

And his nickname....."At 16, he had a short career but earned his nickname by piloting a motorcycle with an engine that smoked. A fellow competitor who had trouble remembering Yunick's first name simply called him "Smokey." "

You guys need to do better than that.