39 replies to this topic

[nitro]

do formula 1 drivers undergo any kind of dope tests bfore or after the race...and is the use of certain performance enhancing products banned ...since an enhanced level of performance can be achieved using these drugs..

[dmj]

I remember some rumours surrounding Nigel Mansell in late '80s but I don't remember exactly how it developed...

[Liam]

Racing driver's, not just formula one driver's, but those in the lower formula too, are subject to the Internationl Olympic Committe's drug rules, just as almost any internatioanl sport.

[ghinzani]

A promising french f3 driver Sebastien Enjolras (I think thats near the name anyway) got caught for smoking pot - he received a 6 month ban and unfortunately when he was making his comeback got killed at a Le Mans test day in a WR, sometime a couple of years ago. Nascar ace Tim Richmond failed some tests but then it was revealed after his death he had AIDS so it was probably drugs to combat the disease.

[Catalina Park]

Originally posted by dmj
I remember some rumours surrounding Nigel Mansell in late '80s but I don't remember exactly how it developed...

[Rainer Nyberg]

Would James Hunt have passed a test during the 1970s...?

[Leif Snellman]

Originally posted by dmj
I remember some rumours surrounding Nigel Mansell in late '80s but I don't remember exactly how it developed...

As I remember it, some reporter wrote that Mansell had failed a test but that FIA had ignored the results as it would harm F1. As "proof" it was mentioned Mansell's changed personality with extremely aggressive behavour before the races and curious fatigue after the races. I think Mansell sued the reporter.

[Vitesse2]

There's some discussion of this in this thread:

http://www.atlasf1.c...&threadid=26714

And then there were Fangio's magic pills:

http://www.atlasf1.c...&threadid=26817



And I thought Noige was the dope ....

[Catalina Park]

Mansell would test positive as soon as he opens his mouth.

[fines]

In 1981 there was a rumour that Marco Lucchinelli used doping. That was the year he suddenly turned into a world class rider and even snatched the world championship. Even back then, when I was fourteen, I always thought this was a load of bull. You can enhance your stamina by using drugs, but at the same time your reactions would suffer. There's no way a racing driver could enhance his performance by using pills or whatever.

[fines]

Oh, by the way, I believe Mark Martin was tested positive with Viagra...

[dmj]

Originally posted by Rainer Nyberg
Would James Hunt have passed a test during the 1970s...?

Would anyone?

[Carlos Jalife]

Here in Mexico it was often mentioned that Piquet was suspicious of using white powder, people swearing he was trashed at the end of GP and would reappear a few minutes later completely fresh (certainly not at the podium whre he fainted). I was never his pit marshall so I didn't check but he seemed like he was always a bit tired, before and after, very laid back so I doubt he was using something to rev him up and only lasted for the 2 hour race.
And of course Achille Varzi used heroin with the wife of one of his teammates (by the way, was the trend abouth drivers pilfering other's wives ever started? Varzi and Caracciola -different wife- could start the discussion).

[nitro]

sounds like f1 in the past had speed ,,sex ,,drugs n booze ....a far cry from the current situatation the only exception being eddie irvine but then again it seems like he's just a boy scout compared to the greats of the bygone era

[Buford]

Then there is the story of Al Unser Jr. http://espn.go.com/r...09/1403741.html

[fines]

Originally posted by Buford
Then there is the story of Al Unser Jr. http://espn.go.com/r...09/1403741.html

That is a very, very sad story! But, umh, not really surprising seeing how his career developed lately...

[ghinzani]

Fines, as your the Indy expert can you shed any light on the Gordon Smiley rumors or indeed on the crash?

[fines]

Me? The Indy expert? Surely that's Buford, folks! I can't fill in any substance on the Smiley case (if ever there was one)!

[Buford]

There were rumors that many of the younger drivers were using cocaine, not only outside the cars on their own time, but also just before getting in the race cars, in those days. I don't know if it was true, but I do know that is where the money came from, for many of them at that time. I got this from mechanics on the cars. I was told names.

I did not believe they were doing it at the times they were driving myself because coke is only about a 30 minute high. What would be the purpose? Any benifit you might gain would be needed at the end of the race, not the first few laps. But for a qualifying lap, who knows? I don't know if Gordon was or wasn't. But I was told many were, including one 500 winner.

[fines]

30 minutes???? Were you using the bad stuff?

[Buford]

The 5 or 6 times I did a line or two in my life at a party when it was offered, yeah, that is about all it lasted. But it very well could have been the bad stuff. Pretty well stepped down. I always agreed with the Robin Williams line, "Cocaine is God's way of telling you, you have too much money." The high certainly didn't seem worth the money I knew it cost. But maybe the really good stuff was, I don't know. It was all over the place in the 1970s. Everywhere I went, racing activities and non-racing.

But I did speed in college and that would last 12 hours or so. I only did it for marathon studying sessions after goofing around all semester. I could see doing speed for racing I suppose but I never needed it. I had to crank down to stay on the track, not speed up. I had to psyche myself down, not up. I was hyper enough all on my own. But I can't see why anybody would think doing coke was a benifit to racing. I'm pretty sure a lot of guys did though. And the Indy Car and Sports car team mechanics in those days were never straight. I mean a whole lot of them and big time teams too. They didn't have big crews then. They worked 7 days a week all year round. They were speeding all day, coking all evening, and smoking pot to get slowed down enough to sleep 3 or 4 hours before it all started the next day. That is something a lot of people will say has to be bullshit. But it isn't.

[FEV]

Originally posted by fines
In 1981 there was a rumour that Marco Lucchinelli used doping. That was the year he suddenly turned into a world class rider and even snatched the world championship. Even back then, when I was fourteen, I always thought this was a load of bull. You can enhance your stamina by using drugs, but at the same time your reactions would suffer. There's no way a racing driver could enhance his performance by using pills or whatever.

I didn't know that Michael, but I remember 'Lucky' did time around 1989 for drug dealing... He was still in SBK at the time IIRC. I have no souvenirs of anyone saying he used drugs for doping at the time and anyway I agree with you that there is no way a driver can enhance his performance with drugs. Maybe the rumours in Lucky's heydays could have come from notorious 'gangsters' he could have been friend with ???
Incredibly sad story about Al Jr... I too never had heard of all this... Really sad

[Carlos Jalife]

This Unser thing I was discussing back in 1997 with Alex Pombo, who did
the ESPN latinamerica stuff for CART, after I saw the man at a race and his
behaviour after the race was unbelievably sloppy, like he was high on
something. Back then Alex would tell me it was a big secret and nobody would
benefit by trashing Little Al and all the US journalists had something like
a secret pact and they were all hoping he'd get better with time, and I also
kept quiet, never mentioned anything in my radio program and in my site, but
now it is just getting worse. I was talking to Alex and we all regret not
saying something to get the guy under help. I wonder if he can be helped
now. And he used to be so charming when I interviewed him and everything.
It's so sad.....

[Joe Fan]

Originally posted by Carlos Jalife
This Unser thing I was discussing back in 1997 with Alex Pombo, who did
the ESPN latinamerica stuff for CART, after I saw the man at a race and his
behaviour after the race was unbelievably sloppy, like he was high on
something. Back then Alex would tell me it was a big secret and nobody would
benefit by trashing Little Al and all the US journalists had something like
a secret pact and they were all hoping he'd get better with time, and I also
kept quiet, never mentioned anything in my radio program and in my site, but
now it is just getting worse. I was talking to Alex and we all regret not
saying something to get the guy under help. I wonder if he can be helped
now. And he used to be so charming when I interviewed him and everything.
It's so sad.....

Actually, I remember reading in the newspaper sometime in the mid 90's that Al Unser Jr. got caught with pot. So, I don't think it was really a big secret in 1997 but cocaine use may have been. Cocaine is terrible stuff that damages your heart. I hope that every journalist publicizes drivers who are using cocaine because doing so make enemies in the short term but will do more good for the individual in the end.

[ghinzani]

One of the problems with Coke is that its so difficult to spot in the bloodstream, dissapearing after a couple of days. Maybe thats how Al could hide it. Hope he's doing well in the clinic, his cars looking quick at the moment.

[Haddock]

There were rumours that the reason that Rene Arnoux was sacked from Ferrari either because of drugs or alcohol problems.

Of course, nobody who knows is willing to speak about Arnoux's dismissal in 1985, but suffice to say there was something that someone had to hide. Nigel Roebuck mentions it in this week's 'Ask Nigel' - admitting he knows why Arnoux was fired and hinting it had to do with something that was making his driving 'very erratic' the previous year - which is I suppose a possible result of driving while either drunk or on drugs. Who knows ?

Didn't know about Mansell though.

[VAR1016]

Originally posted by fines
Oh, by the way, I believe Mark Martin was tested positive with Viagra...

Allegedly, the Marquis de Portago (and Porfirio Rubirosa) never needed it.....

PdeRL

[Amaroo]

Originally posted by Catalina Park
Mansell would test positive as soon as he opens his mouth.

[David M. Kane]

There is nothing in life that Tim Richmond did not taste or sample! I'm sure he did drugs recreationally, it was hinted at pretty strongly in the press.

James Hunt was strictly into smoking cigarettes and booze.

I too have heard the drug rumors related to Rene Arnoux, but I thought
there was an underaged girl in the equation too.

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by David M. Kane
There is nothing in life that Tim Richmond did not taste or sample! I'm sure he did drugs recreationally, it was hinted at pretty strongly in the press.

James Hunt was strictly into smoking cigarettes and booze.

I too have heard the drug rumors related to Rene Arnoux, but I thought
there was an underaged girl in the equation too.

Richmond died of AIDS - was it from unprotected sex or intravenous drugs use?

Hunt was reputed to have taken acid and smoked pot on race weekends....

Those are the rumours surrounding Rene - altho I thought the girl in question was'nt underage but rather she was Enzos grandaughter.

[FEV]

What about Jan Opperman ? Was it all hype or was he really a pot-smoking hippie ? At the time of his Indy debut (1973 ?) a few lines in the French Sport-Auto mag said something like : "in order to have a real go at racing at Indy this year, racing-hippie Jan Opperman decided to cut his hair and stop smoking marijuana". From what I read in this thread, cutting his hair would have been enough !

[LittleChris]

Apparently Thomas Enge has failed a dope test taken in Hungary. See Autosport.com or BBC Online

[Stefan Ornerdal]

According to German satellite channel DSF, they have found Cannabis in Tomas Enge's test.

Why do they take such risk's? I know about quite a few speedway-riders who got their careers ended for a smoke. Sad, isn't it?

Stefan

[LittleChris]

Apparently this was the 5th time he'd been tested whilst racing in F3000 and the previous 4 were negative. Seems strange he'd suddenly start using a substance knowing that he was likely to be tested again

[Vicuna]

Originally posted by dmj
I remember some rumours surrounding Nigel Mansell in late '80s but I don't remember exactly how it developed...

Teo Fabi and Nigel Mansell were the first two drivers to be dope tested in 1985.

They carried out exhaustive tests on Mansell and ultimately camr to the conclusion that, without any doubt, he was a dope.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Vicuna


Teo Fabi and Nigel Mansell were the first two drivers to be dope tested in 1985.

They carried out exhaustive tests on Mansell and ultimately camr to the conclusion that, without any doubt, he was a dope.

I have vague memories that Nigel was so dehydrated (or had "shy kidney syndrome", who knows ) that he had grave difficulty producing a sample after one race.

Unrelated - well, vaguely related - wasn't it Dieter Quester passed a kidney stone during the Sebring 12 hours a while back - and kept on racing? Now that's a tough guy...

pete

[Buford]

Originally posted by FEV
What about Jan Opperman ? Was it all hype or was he really a pot-smoking hippie ?

Yes and so were pretty close to a majority if not a big majority of the drivers in the 1970s, both road racing and oval racing, including me, and a large percentage of the crewman, corner workers, and everybody else around racing (in the USA). It was a generation gap thing. Guys in their 30's and over were into beer. Guys in their 20's were into pot. The crewman were into pot and speed. Speed to stay up for long hours, pot to come down.

[Vicuna]

Originally posted by petefenelon


I have vague memories that Nigel was so dehydrated (or had "shy kidney syndrome", who knows ) that he had grave difficulty producing a sample after one race.

Unrelated - well, vaguely related - wasn't it Dieter Quester passed a kidney stone during the Sebring 12 hours a while back - and kept on racing? Now that's a tough guy...

pete

Was Dieter the guy that once turned up to practice in a gorilla suit?

[Anorak Man]

There's a wonderful picture of James Hunt quaffing a fistfull of proprietry medicine prior to an event to calm his diarrhoea (and nerves).

'Parently it was an 'habitual thing', and there's no question he would have failed a drugs test today.

The reason is, the innocent stuff was 'Diocalm', well known to all travellers.

It contains a morphine derivitave, which has marked anti-peristalsis effect locally, on the bowel, and almost certainly centrally, on the brain.

It's contraindicated in cats, which are hypersensitive to morphine, instead of calming it makes them go err 'wall of death.

AM

I wonder if that's what the Big Cat's drivers took to cause them to leap up the Monza grid yesterday?

[Leif Snellman]

Originally posted by LittleChris
Apparently Thomas Enge has failed a dope test taken in Hungary. See Autosport.com or BBC Online

For those who not already know. Enge has lost his F3000 championship title
and has received a suspended 12-month ban from racing.