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The 'nice blokes'

Started by David Beard , Mar 03 2006 21:51

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110 replies to this topic

#1 David Beard

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 21:51

Never mind the Big Ego thread...let's hear it for the Nice Blokes in motor sport. There must be a few?

I would start with Cliff Allison...

#2 David M. Kane

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 21:55

Brian Redman, Vic Elford, Dan Gurney, Mario...

#3 Keir

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 21:57

Chris Amon, Bruce McLaren, Mike Hailwood, Peter Revson, Masten Gregory

#4 WGD706

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 22:09

Denny Hulme.....

#5 philippe charuest

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 22:13

phil hill, alain prost

#6 MCS

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 22:17

Tom Pryce, Roger Williamson, Tony Brise...

#7 mp4

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 22:43

I want to mention Derek Bell and Hurley Haywood. Both completely stand up guys.

When I met them, on different occasions, they were incredibly polite and willing to put up with stupid questions from the great unwashed...

Let's add Manuel Reuter, at this point. I asked him to sign my program but had no pen. He went out of his way to find one. He could have told me to go away but didn't. That is class, ya know?

IIRC, that was the last year the GTPs raced at Watkins Glen with no chicane at the end of the straight. The Joest 962 was hitting 210 before the breaking point. Getting a signature may have had something to do with the fact I was wearing a "Joest do it!" Tshirt...

I still have that T!

#8 mclaren_jk

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 22:47

Originally posted by MCS
Tom Pryce, Roger Williamson, Tony Brise...

i heard david tremayne is working on a book about these three.

#9 Kpy

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 22:56

Roy Salvadori, Archie Scott Brown, Innes Ireland, Tony Rolt, Duncan Hamilton, Robert Manzon, Phi Phi Etancelin, Emmanuel de Graffenried, Maurice Trintignant ...................

#10 Kpy

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 22:57

.... Tony Brooks .......

#11 ensign14

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 22:58

Rick Mears is meant to be a super-classy guy.

#12 Twin Window

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 23:12

From my 'yoof' and only counting those I had some form of personal interaction with (otherwise how can you judge?) I would put forward the following;

Brett Lunger, Brian Muir, Martin Thomas, Roger Williamson, Steve Thompson, Peter Gethin, Clay Regazzoni, John Watson, Ian Ashley, Peter Revson, Graham White, Teddy Pilette, Rudi van der Straaten, Tom Belso, Guy Edwards, Howden Ganley, Mo Nunn, Stephen South, Gilles Villeneuve, Patrick Tambay, Patrick Neve and Pierre Dieudonne.

And I'll undoubtedly remember some more blokes who made a positive impression on a young chap in due course. [Edit: have done]

:up:

#13 Wolf

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 23:14

What is a nice bloke- an absolute star of the sport, who wins a race after a newcomer star suffers a DNF in a big lead, comes up to young talent, calls him a moral victor and something like his day has arrived? Or, when an absolute star of the sport sees an relative newcomer in a factory car struggle with a twisty track, on the verge of failing to qualify and leads him around the track helping him to get to grips with the track and qualify? Or wghen a successful factory team driver offers an absolute star of the sport who drives older car his own car, so he can try and win the race/c'ship, and takes a huge risk racing in a car he knows has fractured chassis? And I'm sure one would find numerous other examples like Collins, Brooks, &c, &c.

And how is this for a thoroughly nice bloke:

Posted Image

P.S. BTW, I don't think I've seen an definitive confirmation of the ID of the kid, when I raised the question in April 4th 1968 (a day on which this photo was taken) thread- is this young Damon?

#14 EDWARD FITZGERALD

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 23:23

Mike Thackwell .

#15 philippe charuest

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 23:36

why not von brauchitz , i thinq this thread have drift at least as much the "big ego " one already its said "nice guy" not great driver

#16 Twin Window

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 23:42

Originally posted by Wolf

What is a nice bloke

My initial criteria (ie from the perspective of a young, impressionable lad) is someone who was pleasant, and who was able to give a few special moments when they really didn't have to.

...is this young Damon?

As I think I said in the previous thread, to me the child looks like either Damon or Bridgette.

#17 Ray Bell

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Posted 03 March 2006 - 23:49

Originally posted by Twin Window
.....Brian Muir.....

How we enjoyed the days we used to visit him at his workplace and at his Neutral Bay flat...

There's an earlier thread on this same subject, it has some fantastic reading in it... Charmers...

Not surprisingly, some of the same names have come up there too!

#18 ahe

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 00:29

Jerry Entin

#19 Wolf

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 00:29

Thnx for re-confirming it, Twinny.

Phillipe, are You fooling around with us? Wasn't he one of those who called a round of champus all around and a pint of beer for the lad (if not, the one)? I got the impression he was walking disaster out of the car, and I can't think of a single thing that would make You nominate him. Pls forgive me if You were serious- and I'd like to hear what You think of him...

#20 Barry Boor

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 08:03

Gerry Birrell

..I have to confess, when I saw the title of this thread I thought it was where the Monaco Historique attenders were going to announce their details! :blush:

#21 Stephen W

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 09:25

Frank Gardner - brilliant engineer & wonderful raconteur

Michele Alboreto - so un-Italian

Roy Salvadori - a gentleman

Tony Marsh - six times British Hillclimb Champion, F1 and F2 pilote and a thoroughly nice man

Francios Migault - considerate and knowledgable

David Purley - brave beyond my wildest expectations

Alan Jones - a great bloke

Derek Bell - Mr Smooth :cool:

#22 MCS

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 09:45

Originally posted by Twin Window
From my 'yoof' and only counting those I had some form of personal interaction with (otherwise how can you judge?) I would put forward the following;

Brett Lunger, Brian Muir, Martin Thomas, Roger Williamson, Steve Thompson, Peter Gethin, Clay Regazzoni, John Watson, Ian Ashley, Peter Revson, Tom Belso, Guy Edwards, Howden Ganley, Stephen South, Gilles Villeneuve, Patrick Tambay, Patrick Neve and Pierre Dieudonne.

And I'll undoubtedly remember some more blokes who made a positive impression on a young chap in due course.

Totally agree. Teddy Pillette, Mike Walker, Bob Evans and Mike Wilds also come to mind.

I was thinking about this earlier. It's interesting to see how many of these were "fringe" Grand Prix drivers i.e. only made a few starts, or never quite made it to that hallowed ground.

#23 humphries

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 10:43

Brian Muir.....introduced to him, chatted about the history of motor-racing and the next thing I know I'm having steak and chips in his motorhome provided by his equally hospitable wife...and he was like this with everyone. Having a circumspect view of most people involved in motor-racing it was most heartening to realise there were people like Brian.

#24 Ray Bell

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 11:06

Another of that ilk was Gary Campbell...

Salt of the earth. Great manner with people, you could feel at home talking to him anywhere and any time. Even when he put Jon Wallis down, he did it with the kind of manner you hear about... "He told him where to go in such a way he was looking forward to the trip."

They don't make people like him very often. Nor Peter Hopwood's type either. Great people.

#25 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 11:14

Gil de Ferran

Two CART titles when it meant something, an Indy500 win, the fastest qualifying lap period, and won his retirement race. In all that accomplishment never once did I think "hmm, I wonder if he could have done that differently" Even when he had incidents involving Montoya or Zanardi he still came out spotlessly clean.

He managed to be polite and professional without coming off as overdone or unnatural. The exception to every impression you have of a Brazillian racing driver.

If I could pick one racing driver to trade professional and personal accomplishment with, it'd be him.

#26 Teapot

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 12:50

David Piper...I met him in two occasions (two years ago in Monza and last year at the Castell'Arquato-Vernasca hillclimb) and he always appeared eager to spend some of his time chatting with me and my friends ( that day in Monza we, a noisy bunch of rather...er...peculiar characters, actually burst by chance in his garage - we were running away from the pit-lane, trying to avoid some marshalls that were heading towards us, supposedly aware that we were not allowed to stay there during the ALMS race and in the firm proposal to kick us out of the paddock - and after the first moments passed in awe, our trembling fingers pointed at the man, as he had just descended from the sky, he started to sign our programs and laid the basis for a wonderful afternoon!)

#27 Gary Davies

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 13:40

I had the pleasure of chatting with Thierry Boutsen in the Benetton pit on the Wednesday prior to the 1987 Australian GP. A thoroughly charming and modest fellow.

#28 RS2000

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 14:07

Originally posted by Wolf

And how is this for a thoroughly nice bloke:

A bloke who would have been 70 years old today, 4th March.
I have just been for a chat with my neighbour, here at the opposite corner of the UK, who grew up in the Scottish borders next to Edington Mains. The one thing she says could get him not exactly angry but certainly riled was the difficulties he faced getting planning approval to modernise the house. She even does an impression of him complaining about it - but I have no idea how accurate it is!

#29 HDonaldCapps

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 14:27

Cameron Argetsinger, Mike Argetsinger, John Fitch, John Bishop, Richard Petty, Ken Schrader, Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, and Mark Donohue for starters.

Of the many already named, Bruce McLaren and Jim Clark are two that always cause me to be thankful for the random fates which allowed me to actually spend time with them and see that they were exactly what I thought they would be -- Nice Blokes.

Oh, a few very nice blokes who must be mentioned -- Doug Nye, Gary Doyle, and Gianni Cancelleri.

#30 FLB

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 15:24

Jaques Lazier and Robbie Buhl both seemed to be nice guys when I met them at Richmond last year.

But the one who took the cake and ran away with it was Leo Mehl. A thoroughly pleasant gentleman. I had the impression he was genuinely interested in what I had to say... :blush:

I asked him about the Indy tyre fisaco the week before and he didn't run from the question. He didn't squirm and he didn't look pissed off at being asked that question, quite the opposite in fact. He was glad to give me a historical perspective :clap:

Another one who was nice to me (among others) was one of Johnny Herbert's mechanics at Benetton in 1995. He took a good hour talking to a small group of us at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix 'Open Day'. It's an afternoon before the meeting properly begins, where the pitlane is open to the general public. It was supposed to end at 6. It ended at 6:20 for us

: I don't know his name, but he had tattooes all over, grey/white hair and wore glasses. I was very happy to see him celebrate Herbert's victory at Silverstone...

#31 kayemod

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 16:41

'Uncle Ken' Tyrrell.

#32 philippe charuest

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 17:25

Originally posted by Wolf

Phillipe, are You fooling around with us? Wasn't he one of those who called a round of champus all around and a pint of beer for the lad (if not, the one)? I got the impression he was walking disaster out of the car, and I can't think of a single thing that would make You nominate him. Pls forgive me if You were serious- and I'd like to hear what You think of him...

it was some irony of course . its because many name mention here were im sure great driver who could be admire for there skill but i doubt that they could be categorise as "nice guys " . great (and not so great ) drivers a rarely nice guy, by my definition a nice guy is someone who doesnt have an over inflated ego, who respect other people, who have the sense of humor , who is honest and have a minimum of civism and social awareness not many f1 driver fit that pattern

#33 Antoine Pilette

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 17:31

Ragnotti. Always up for a chat and a laught a the Renault stand at various events. A couple of years ago, a friend and I saw him five times in few months and he always wants to give an autograph even if you already have one.

Hans Hermann. Met him at a Mercedes PR event in Brussels and a really small group of person listened to him thru his translator in a corner. Top guy!
Interesting that 99% of Mercedes customers attending the event ignored him or were not interested. Gave him a Pilette book as he remembered racing against my uncle, I got really puzzled when he asked me to autograph the book for me... world going up-side down during five minutes!

I used to hang-out with Erwin Mairesse, son of Willy, and he's a really nice bloke, always there to help.
On the other hand, having Vanina Ickx as a passenger and telling me I was a bad driver because I was lost in a city unknown to me... kinda bruised my ego:D

#34 Paul Parker

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 18:10

Mike Hailwood. Relaxed, no sign of an ego, completely normal and very pleasant. I was protesting the construction of the M25 along with a large crowd of others outside the London Motor Show sometime during the mid-70s and he stopped to chat on his way in.

#35 WGD706

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 19:02

Originally posted by Paul Parker
Mike Hailwood. Relaxed, no sign of an ego, completely normal and very pleasant.

A bit OT, but "German businessman Michael Ohoven, the man behind the Infinity Media film company is planning to make a film about the life of Mike Hailwood. Infinity has been in business for six years and is now a leading independent film maker and financier. Ohoven, a former RTL executive, was trained as a financier with Commerzbank but has shown a talent for finding not only money but also good stories for his movies and is currently enjoying much success with Capote,a film about the life of writer Truman Capote. The film, which stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, and Chris Cooper, has been nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture.
The company has been working closley with Hailwood's widow Pauline and has set writer Paul Pender at work on a script."
http://www.grandprix...ns/ns16332.html

#36 Frank S

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 20:53

Cal Rayborn: quiet, confident demeanor, and an ability to be focused and intense with regard to the (racing) business at hand, while maintaining genuine interest and easy, natural fluency in more human-level interactions.

--
Frank S

#37 MCS

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Posted 04 March 2006 - 21:31

Originally posted by Ray Bell

How we enjoyed the days we used to visit him at his workplace and at his Neutral Bay flat...

There's an earlier thread on this same subject, it has some fantastic reading in it... Charmers...

Not surprisingly, some of the same names have come up there too!

Hadn't seen this - cheers Ray. :up:

#38 Vicuna

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Posted 05 March 2006 - 01:15

J.Mass, D.Warwick, S.Johansson, P.Tambay

#39 Cirrus

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Posted 05 March 2006 - 09:29

Roberto Moreno.

My dad and I helped him out in a very small way when he first came over to England, and I was chatting to him at Silverstone a couple of years later. Someone passing by asked me if I could tell them the time the time. I said "Sorry, I can't, my watch broke yesterday". Roberto immediately took his watch off, gave it to me and said "Here, have mine" - I've still got it.

Ron Tauranac also speaks very fondly of his time working with Roberto.

#40 Gerald Swan

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Posted 05 March 2006 - 18:12

I always thought that if you looked up "gentleman" in the dictionary you would see "Rob Walker"

Gerald.

www.lolaheritage.co.uk

#41 Michael Clark

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Posted 05 March 2006 - 19:23

Neil Bonnett (RIP) and Donnie Allison

Norman Beechey

#42 Kpy

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Posted 05 March 2006 - 22:04

Originally posted by Twin Window
From my 'yoof' and only counting those I had some form of personal interaction with

My criteria too, but I didn't stop at my youth, which ended before yours began! I really should have mentioned John Bolster, who began my interest in the early '50s by his enthusiasm and kindness when I was at school with his son, and years later Jim Hall, Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, David Piper and Nino Vaccarella, all of whom have put up with me for far longer that I had any right to expect.

#43 ian senior

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Posted 06 March 2006 - 08:59

Tony Trimmer. An under-achiever perhaps as a driver, largely through no fault of his own, but friendly and approachable at all times. Disturbing someone's lunch is not a very god thing to do in any circumstance, but he didn't mind a bit and was more than willing to have a chat when I thought it was more important for him to talk to me than eat.

#44 Twin Window

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Posted 06 March 2006 - 09:32

Originally posted by Kpy

My criteria too, but I didn't stop at my youth...

The reason I stopped there is because things change dramatically when you switch from one side of the fence to the other. Originally I intended posting another list of the 'good blokes' I've encountered since becoming an industry employee, but have since decided against it as it would be way too long.

#45 Mohican

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Posted 06 March 2006 - 09:42

Extraordinary that nobody have mentioned Ronnie and Gunnar.

#46 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 06 March 2006 - 10:03

Originally posted by Twin Window
The reason I stopped there is because things change dramatically when you switch from one side of the fence to the other. Originally I intended posting another list of the 'good blokes' I've encountered since becoming an industry employee, but have since decided against it as it would be way too long.

Do you find yourself becoming more impressesed with the people you do like, knowing what you know about how the world turns?

I have a mental list of "if I assembled my ideal racing team..." and its not really based on CVs, though all of the dream team would meet performance requirements.

#47 wdm

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Posted 07 March 2006 - 09:58

Ron Flockhart

#48 Paolo

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Posted 07 March 2006 - 10:21

Ricardo Divila, Nick Tombazis

#49 MonzaDriver

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Posted 07 March 2006 - 12:54

Originally posted by Twin Window
The reason I stopped there is because things change dramatically when you switch from one side of the fence to the other.

Yes we could understand very well this. But remember also that everytime you tell us something
particular, it's an eye-opening information.
Ciao.

MonzaDriver.

#50 Catalina Park

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Posted 08 March 2006 - 06:49

Kevin Bartlett
Bob Holden
Murray Carter

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The 'nice blokes'

#1 David Beard

#2 David M. Kane

#3 Keir

#4 WGD706

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#6 MCS

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