"Cult hero" drivers
#101
Posted 22 June 2013 - 08:37
Colin McRae. Valentino Rossi. JPM. Jean Alesi. etc.
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#102
Posted 22 June 2013 - 09:14
#103
Posted 22 June 2013 - 11:17
Alesi: Pure passion for driving. Fighting the car, making stupid mistakes but wining the peoples heart. He's a Legend.
Giggi Galli: The same that Alesi but in a rally car. Always giving a show. **** efficiency.
Eddie Irvine: the talented playboy that got the best he could get and enjoyed it: Money, fast cars, women. Living la vida loca.
Olivier Grouillard: He was not that fast, nor that charismatic, but his helmet design was awesome and the front runners were afraid of lapping him co's he would never look at his mirrors. That's enough for me.
#104
Posted 22 June 2013 - 11:51
#105
Posted 22 June 2013 - 12:18
Sideways through the water splash at Rally Oz still gets some people talking! (Crazy Russians are good for many things.)
#106
Posted 22 June 2013 - 12:22
Evgeni Novikov!!!!!!!!!
Sideways through the water splash at Rally Oz still gets some people talking! (Crazy Russians are good for many things.)
He's a kind of Russian Colin McRae... If he keeps it on the road he will be a regular podium contender.
#107
Posted 22 June 2013 - 15:02
Ukyo Katayama, he seemed to always have something going on, and it usually was something weird.
Could be wicked fast on his day though, and at one time was considered for a Benetton-drive, which he turned down because he had cancer. He overcame the illness and stuck around for a few more years though, still doing his thing.
Quite a character outside the sport too, surviving cancer and having some 'adventurous' times with his other passion: mountain climbing.
Gotta love the story of how he decided he needed to race in the UK to improve his chances of reaching F1; so, he moved to Paris, on the mistaken belief that it's in Great Britain!
#108
Posted 22 June 2013 - 15:10
Yeah I think whoever said that Japanese often tend to become cult heroes, sound about right. Their culture is a bit different and unique for others, it seems sheer and pure bravery is more in regard there!
#109
Posted 22 June 2013 - 15:16
#110
Posted 22 June 2013 - 22:44
Rob Speak, stock car driver who has held the F1 world title AND the F2 world title (8 times!) AND has been banger world champ (a title of sorts but still deeply significant to everyone who's held the title or tried to) and on his day can either be the very best oval racer you ever saw......or can be a complete play-to-the-crowd-and-doesn't-wanna-win-in-the-wrong-way pantomime villian.....he's dynamarmite lol
This is vintage Speak, the first 6 or 7 laps are truly sublime, every shot efficient and measured and very effective....
This is also vintage Speak, panto thug ********.....lol
i know a guy with a Speaky tattoo on his back.....that's kinda above and beyond in stock car terms
a real bonafide cult hero
#111
Posted 22 June 2013 - 23:48
#112
Posted 23 June 2013 - 00:12
#113
Posted 23 June 2013 - 01:17
#114
Posted 23 June 2013 - 01:17
Clay Regazzoni
Ronnie Peterson
Patrick Depailler
Arturo Mezario
#115
Posted 23 June 2013 - 07:12
JD McDuffie.
#116
Posted 23 June 2013 - 09:09
Haha, I didn't even know that one, classic! I do recall something about him just staying in bed for several days on end when he was younger, so he wouldn't have to eat and could use the money he saved on food for new tyres.Gotta love the story of how he decided he needed to race in the UK to improve his chances of reaching F1; so, he moved to Paris, on the mistaken belief that it's in Great Britain!
#117
Posted 23 June 2013 - 13:58
#118
Posted 23 June 2013 - 14:19
Vittorio Brambilla, "The Monza Gorilla".
Brambills...................................
He could equally well have been called the Monza "guerilla" as he took no prisoners on or off the track and knew every trick that wasn't in the book.
The fact he was born in Lesmo and died (while mowing his lawn) in Monza only adds to his legend :-)
#119
Posted 23 June 2013 - 14:31
Barney Olfield
Bernd Rosemeyer
Tony Brooks
Archie Scott-Brown
Innes Ireland
Chris Amon
Tom Pryce
Tony Brise
Ronnie Peterson
Gunner Nilsson
Rober Kubica
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#120
Posted 23 June 2013 - 14:35
Dan Gurney.
A truly nice guy apparently the only man Jim Clark worried about when he saw him in thr mirrors.
#121
Posted 23 June 2013 - 21:08
#122
Posted 23 June 2013 - 22:55
#123
Posted 24 June 2013 - 06:57
#124
Posted 24 June 2013 - 16:33
Inoue, no joke.
he has a great sense of humour.
#125
Posted 24 June 2013 - 17:20
David Purley!
Oh yes, and a true hero in every sense of the word.
#126
Posted 24 June 2013 - 20:21
Tony Drummond
Barry Lee
Nuff said!
Edited by Fatgadget, 24 June 2013 - 20:23.
#127
Posted 17 July 2013 - 01:33
Oh come on, a world champion and the best driver of the late 70s-ear;y 80s? they are not cult drivers, they were la creme de la creme!!!!Gilles Villeneuve
James Hunt
#128
Posted 17 July 2013 - 01:56
JJ Letho: because he had the coolest name in F1 ever. And he was a great promising driver until he cracked his head
Lella Lombardi: a chick in F1 in the mid 70s....racing Huint, Lauda, Brambilla, Regazzoni, Scheckter, and so on. And scoring a top 6 in Spain in 1975.
Taki Inoue for being possibly the worst F1 driver in moder era. And he agreed on Twitter. This was his F1 career highlight..... Inoue
Bruno Senna!!!!!! No reason to explain why!!!!!
Andrea De Cesaris, the fastest and most talented driver to never win a GP in modern F1 and the crashiest too
Elio De Angelis....born rich, born very good looking, born in Rome.....talented, gave Ayrton Senna a run for his money at first.....lost his life in one of of F1's worst ever cars
Ivan Capelli: raced Ayrton Senna face to face on a Layton House....goes to Ferrari...gone in 6 months. The loudest mental breakdown I can remember in F1
Stefan Johansson who replaced Arnoux at Fwerrari and led his second race with Ferrari at their 'home' race, the San Marino Grand Prix, and two laps from home passed Senna's out of fuel Lotus to the delight of the Tifosi and would probably have won if his Ferrari 156/85 had not run out of fuel just half a lap after taking the lead.
Mika Salo - never won a GP because he had to hand it over to Eddie Irvine
Arturo Merzario - If you had a chance to follow him in his after Ferrari days in the Merzario team.....I met him and his team in Rio de Janeiro in 1978 as a child....reminds me of an army in a Monty Payton movie....but the passion was infinite
#129
Posted 17 July 2013 - 03:13
AKA the 'ICEMAN'
WAS (2001-2009)
IS (2012-)
WILL BE (as long as he likes)
the cult hero for me....
[P.S - i don't care what 'cult hero' definition is. it doesn't interest me ]
special mention
Peter 'holywood' Solberg
#130
Posted 17 July 2013 - 03:41
I'm gonna add a group of guys i saw racing in person ,
Gary Scott one of the most determined flat trackers i ever saw , who finally won a American Motorcyclist Championship despite biting the hand of Harley Davidson to get the best bikes he could.
Lennie Pond all round nice guy who deserved better rides but a least showed you could win the Rookie title with a backyard garage team against a well funded long established team with a driver being groomed for nascar superstardom.
Lloyd Ruby, Vitor Meira the heartbreak of their careers is that they will never be on the Borg Warner trophy but despite that they tried their best as long as they could.
Baxter Price , Travis Tiller , Rick Newsome, Jabe & Ronnie Thomas , Carl Long , Nascar field fillers too most , but the very drivers most willing to take time to answer questions of the fans every chance they could.
Ed Carpenter you gotta love a driver who carries the baggage of being the step son of man who's actions many have diagreed with in the past , and is now becoming one of the better oval racers racing .
Paul
#131
Posted 17 July 2013 - 05:00
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen
AKA the 'ICEMAN'
WAS (2001-2009)
IS (2012-)
WILL BE (as long as he likes)
the cult hero for me....
[P.S - i don't care what 'cult hero' definition is. it doesn't interest me ]
special mention
Peter 'holywood' Solberg
Kimi is a WC, doesn't qualify
#132
Posted 17 July 2013 - 06:21
For me....
JJ Letho: because he had the coolest name in F1 ever.
It's spelled JJ Lehto.
#133
Posted 17 July 2013 - 07:25
Like those other tilting-at-windmill teams like Osella and Coloni. And, of course, Life...Arturo Merzario - If you had a chance to follow him in his after Ferrari days in the Merzario team.....I met him and his team in Rio de Janeiro in 1978 as a child....reminds me of an army in a Monty Payton movie....but the passion was infinite
#134
Posted 17 July 2013 - 09:05
Arturo Merzario - If you had a chance to follow him in his after Ferrari days in the Merzario team.....I met him and his team in Rio de Janeiro in 1978 as a child....reminds me of an army in a Monty Payton movie....but the passion was infinite
His cult hero status still seems to be alive and well - he was besieged by autograph hunters and well wishers at Goodwood last weekend. And looked the coolest guy in the place too.
#135
Posted 17 July 2013 - 11:56
Great guy, always positive and without, as far as I can see, a bad word for anyone. Racing career devastated by Brands hatch crash in '88 but he still came back to F1 and Le Mans.
#136
Posted 17 July 2013 - 21:46
Guy Martin?
#137
Posted 17 July 2013 - 23:20
#138
Posted 18 July 2013 - 09:33
Sir Sterling Moss
I would have thought all the truly elite drivers would be ineligible under the terms of the OP.
And be very careful with spelling on a thread about cults.
#139
Posted 18 July 2013 - 09:39
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#140
Posted 18 July 2013 - 19:43
Alesi
Kobayashi
Montoya
Petter Solberg
Berger
Badoer(Bad odour) just had to.
#141
Posted 18 July 2013 - 19:49
#142
Posted 18 July 2013 - 19:58
Colin McRae might well fall into the category, despite his success?
Well at times in his career he did act like another four letter word beginning with C...
(Just joking)