Clay Regazzoni

http://www.totoservice.it/e_clay.html

Gives a short bio on this Swiss legend. But I'd like to know more: what was his driving style, did others respect him, was he a ladies man, etc. As a Swiss, I'd really like to know more about my countrymen racer.

I heard he was a bit of a winner with the ladies...

As a Swiss he was somewhat in Seppi's shadow but he was highly respected in his day. He rose quickly in status and was still highly regarded when his career came to an end.

As i remember he was a quick driver with a lot of passion and a brave person.

He saved Hailwood from being burned inside the car and was saved on a different occasion by somebody else.

At the start he overtook one or the other car most of the time, he really was a good starter. In the race tended to be a little too optimistic, probably because he was too passioned.
So he could not cope in the race with 'cool heads' like Lauda, Fittipaldi, or Stewart.

He has become famous anyhow.

There is a story going which may have been the reason why Regazzoni got sacked from Ferrari by the end of 1976:

In 1976 Regazzoni launched a fashion brand with his name, mostly jeanswear, in Italy and Switzerland. Obviously he didn't design it, just somebody used his name for promotion. As a distinctive sign they used the Ferrari prancing horse which was sewn on one of the rear pockets of the trousers (this was obviously in the stone age of exclusive brand rights. Today one would be sued for billions if he would use this symbol illegally....).

One day Enzo walked (or drove or was driven...) in Maranello and saw some girls, wearing Regazzoni's jeans. This sent Enzo on a ballistic trajectory. He screamed. "I will not have girls wearing my symbol on their fat arses!" (In italian, this might sound a bit more expressive and dramatic...). When he inquired about this outrage, he found out that Regazzoni's fashion line used his symbol. This was the end of Regazzoni at Ferrari...


Bert

I thought it was Hailwood who saved Reggo at Kylami? Anyway, he
was a little ragged with the car the times I saw him at Watkins
Glen. He was very big on sawing the steering wheel, so I would
agree that he was aggressive. He was friendly guy who appeared to be well liked by the other drivers. If I remember correctly he
had a very good F2 career also. His style was much rougher than
Ickx, his teammate at Ferrari.

Originally posted by David M. Kane
I thought it was Hailwood who saved Reggo at Kylami?

Indeed he did, at the start of the 1973 race. Mike the Bike received the George Medal for Courage for his actions.