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Gunnar Nilsson (including Brabham test pic) (merged)


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#1 ehagar

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Posted 28 October 2001 - 03:31

I was reading an article by a Swedish journalist (wish I could remember where I put it) about his time with Peterson & Nilsson in F-1... and how in the span of a year, they were both gone....

Nilsson sounded like a total extrovert and a pretty decent driver too... although when he complained about headaches Mario pestered him to see a doctor.... unfortunately it was really too late.

I often hear of the talents of Peterson, but to those who saw him race, what were your impressions?

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#2 Barry Boor

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Posted 28 October 2001 - 22:24

This must be close to the time of year that Gunnar died. I think that it is a great pity he will always be listed among the 'one Grand Prix' winners.

A very talented driver who I think was destined for much greater things.

A great loss.

#3 ehagar

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Posted 29 October 2001 - 05:34

Come to think of it, your quite right Barry... he died of cancer less than 6 weeks after fellow countryman Ronnie died.... Ronnie Sept 11, and Gunnar Oct 20th....

I found that article, was by Fredrik Petersen (a freelance F-1 journo from Sweden who started in 75) in an F1-Racing mag, Sept 1998 (kinda ashamed to admit I have a few copies of that toilet paper mag kicking around, but... Freddy is an interesting writer)

A few quotes from the article:

'In his pre-F-1 days, I'd been Gunnar's gofer. He told me which races he wanted to do, and my job was to find sponsors, organize the trip, drive to races with camper van in tow, go down to Italy and pick up F-3 engines, and get money from his mother to pay the bills. That was the hardest bit. Gunnar was a charmer, and few could resist him - except his mother. She was a tough lady who really didn't approve of his chosen career, and I got the feeling that Gunnar was a bit frightened of her....'

'Ronnie and Gunnar were complete opposites. If Ronnie said he'd pick you up at a certain time, he'd be there. Gunnar would forget. Punctuality was not his strong suit, he hated getting out of bed in the morning'

'Away from the track, there was no comparision (between Gunnar & Ronnie). We're talking James Hunt levels in terms of his appreciation of the finer things life can offer'

'Mario was on the provisional pole, and Gunnar simply couldn't match the American's pace. He was only 12th.... Why? For the first time I had known him, Gunnar looked worried... we talked for many hours.... the next day Gunnar bagged 7th place on the grid and on Sunday drove hard and well to 5th place.... A ton had been lifted off his shoulders'

Two races later:

'At Zolder, in Belgium, it rained.... Gunnar mastered the conditions like no one else and beat Niki Lauda's Ferrari in a straight fight to score a memorable victory'

'It was around the middle of 1977 that Gunnar started to complain of headaches and back pain.... He thought his helmet was too small - a theory he proved, in his mind, when he started to go bald.... when the season was over, he went to see a doctor friend, who didn't take long to diagnose what was wrong... it was cancer'

The thing I find amazing is the relationship between some of the drivers and media. Totally different from these days. Example:

'After about 15 minutes he came out and asked me to step inside. The other Swedish journalists objected to this preferential treatment. Ronnie was having none of it and told them: "Listen, you all travel on expenses and only pick the fun races like Monaco or Holland. Fredrik is a freelancer, pays his own way and covers all the races. He deserves a lttle bit extra." That day I got my scoop'

I cannot imagine todays F-1 drivers getting to know journos quite like that... although I suppose some of the older media types who know what not to print might still get a few nuggets...

#4 Dave Ware

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Posted 29 October 2001 - 21:23

Thanks for posting this, ehager. It was a nice insight into both drivers.

Dave

#5 RV_Canada

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Posted 29 October 2001 - 21:26

I have a piece of GN's JPS Lotus from Mosport in '76 or '77, can't remember which (I was only 8 or 9). He had a bit of a crash, and pieces of fibreglass were all over the trackside. My dad grabbed some for me :)

#6 Maldwyn

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Posted 17 November 2001 - 11:27

Originally posted by ehagar
Mario pestered him to see a doctor.... unfortunately it was really too late.

I read that GN knew something was wrong mid-season but given his win in Belgium he wanted to complete the season with Lotus before acting on his concerns. He had signed to drive for the new Arrows team in 1978 before the seriousness of his condition became known. :(

#7 William Hunt

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Posted 17 November 2001 - 16:25

Thanks Ehagar. It's articles like this that make me come back to this forum. Great stuff !

#8 Milan Fistonic

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Posted 17 November 2001 - 18:28

Ehagar

Fredrik Petersens wrote a book about Peterson and Nilsson. It's called The Viking Drivers and it was published in 1979 by William Kimber.

The cover blurb says that Fredrik Petersens was at Nilsson's bedside when he died.

#9 ehagar

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Posted 17 November 2001 - 18:46

Thanks for the info Milan

Difficult to find though, hence a bit pricy. I've found a few copies for between 90-450 bucks CDN....

To anyone out there, what are some good sites for searching for used books?



#10 Stefan Ornerdal

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Posted 18 November 2001 - 14:33

To anyone out there, what are some good sites for searching for used books?



www.chaters.co.uk has been most helpful. www.simonlewis.com is another good bookstore.

Stefan

#11 Mohican

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Posted 19 November 2001 - 16:18

Having watched the '78 Italian GP on live TV, I well remember Peterson' funeral; and how all the great drivers of the day (Lauda, Watson, Hunt, Andretti, Scheckter, etc) were present to carry the coffin - but above all I remember Gunnar Nilsson: gaunt, brave and very obviously terribly ill, walking behind the coffin as he was much too weak to participate in the ceremony.
Impossible personal bravery.

None of you have mentioned the foundation set up by Gunnar in his final days to help finance cancer research. An extremely worthy cause, which found great success in racing circles but disappeared off the scene a few years later. Does anybody know what happened to it ?

All in all, a truly terrible time, and an incomprehensible loss to Swedish racing.

Since Ronnie and Gunnar, there has really only been Stefan Johansson, Richard Rydell and Kenny Brack - of whom only Johansson made it to F1 although Brack actually got as far as a testing contract with Arrows before he got fed up with Walkinshaw and went off to America.
Where he won the IRL championship in '98, Indy in '99, was 4th in the CART championship his first year in '00 and finished runner-up this year after leading it all through the summer; so he is obviously pretty handy and at least as good as Gunnar Nilsson - the same goes for Stefan Johansson, who had a much better F1 career than most people realise (he holds the record for the greatest number of podium finishes without actually winning, which is something to savour at least).

But none of them was anywhere near as good as Ronnie Peterson - one of the true greats.

#12 Gary C

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Posted 19 November 2001 - 19:36

oh yes!

#13 ehagar

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Posted 19 November 2001 - 20:36

Originally posted by Mohican

None of you have mentioned the foundation set up by Gunnar in his final days to help finance cancer research. An extremely worthy cause, which found great success in racing circles but disappeared off the scene a few years later. Does anybody know what happened to it ?


I can't read the following page, but...

http://www.cancersti...stiftelsen.html

So it might still be around.

#14 Stefan Ornerdal

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Posted 19 November 2001 - 21:29

Yes, it's still around. And quite healthy too, 2-3 millions Swedish kronor per year is raised for cancer research.

The website also says that if Gunnar's cancer had happen today, he could have been saved.
:cry:

Stefan

#15 Rainer Nyberg

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Posted 06 October 2002 - 22:14

Just wanted to resurrect this old thread for the sake of some lesser known events.

Gunnar first tested a GP car at Goodwood in October '75, when he was invited to test a Williams FW for Frank Williams. He completed no less than 154 laps, and he commented that the car was surprisingly easy to drive. He actually went 0.5sec under the current inofficial lap-record set by Vittorio Brambilla, which must be regarded as quite an outstanding achievement. Gunnar also told that Frank actually offered him a drive on the spot, but that Gunnar was still under a March contract so he had to decline...

The picture below shows Gunnar at speed once again testing, this time at Silverstone, a few weeks after the Williams test. Now behind the wheel of an Brabham BT44B.

He also held talks with Lotus and McLaren before the 1976 season but finally opted to remain with March for a combined F2/F1 effort.

Of course most are familiar with the fact that a disgruntled Ronnie Peterson was exchanged for Gunnar Nilsson early in the '76 season and Gunnar made his GP début for Lotus after all...

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#16 Rediscoveryx

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Posted 06 October 2002 - 22:19

Thanks for lifting this one up again Rainer :up:

#17 LittleChris

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Posted 06 October 2002 - 22:58

I believe that it was testicular cancer that Gunnar suffered from and it is correct that it is very treatable these days as long as males check themselves regularly for lumps. The Gunnar Nilsson Foundation raised funds for and succeeded in having built a wing at the Charing Cross hospital in London named after Gunnar.

#18 bill moffat

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Posted 13 October 2002 - 17:36

Quite right Little Chris. Testicular tumours (generally either seminomas or teratomas ) are eminently treatable these days. Like most cancers the prognosis depends on the speed with which the diagnosis can be achieved . Delay in diagnosis will often result in metastases ( spread of the cancer beyond the original primary site ). The story goes that Gunnar did defer treatment as he was fearful that his forthcoming contract with Arrows would be affected.

His legacy is a cancer trust and an oncology wing at Charing Cross Hospital, London. I saw him race in F3 and F1. Could have been as good as Ronnie Peterson. Trivia associated with his career/death : he drove a RED Lotus in his last GP (Imperial Tobacco branding at Fuji) , the Brabham BT46B fan car made its second (and last) competitive appearance at the GN trophy meeting @ Donington in June 79 and..in the fundraising campaign after his death a Lotus 76 ( rather than a 77 I seem to remember ) appeared outside Charing Cross Hospital. I doubt whether a DFV has been heard down the Fulham Palace Rd. since....

#19 AndersF1

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Posted 04 December 2002 - 22:29

Didn't Gunnar Nilsson have an extremely short career before F1?
I read somewhere that he bought a Super Vee as an impulse from someone at a gas station, who was fed up with his car. I think this was 1972 and he started racing in the European series in 1973.
This is his career after that( http://www.silhouet....rs/nilsson.html ) :
1974 - German Polifac F3 (March)
1975 - British F3 (March) champion, 74 points. Switched to Formula Atlantic
at end of season - won last five rounds (Chevron)
1976 - 15 F1 GP (Lotus), 11 points, 10th. (3rd Spain, Austria, 5th Germany,
6th Japan). Sportscars (BMW 3.0 CSL): 1 win (Osterreichring) with
D.Quester
1977 - 17 F1 GP (Lotus), 20 points, J8th. 1 win (Belgium). (3rd Britain
4th France, 5th Brazil, Spain)
1978 - Died of cancer in Charring Cross Hospital.


I don't think that would be possible today, buy a lower formula car on impulse when you are 23 and without any prior racing experience, including go-karts, end up in one of the better F1 teams 4 years later, winning your first GP the year after...

But I don't know if this story is true, maybe he had some former racing experience, before buying the Super Vee?

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#20 Marc

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Posted 05 December 2002 - 00:17

Gunnar and Ronnie ...
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#21 mp4

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Posted 05 December 2002 - 00:28

Originally posted by RV_Canada
I have a piece of GN's JPS Lotus from Mosport in '76 or '77, can't remember which (I was only 8 or 9). He had a bit of a crash, and pieces of fibreglass were all over the trackside. My dad grabbed some for me :)

:up: :up: :up:

My brother has one of the front wheels from Gunnar's Lotus 77 in his house. I'd rather not say how it was aquired but is a nice momento from a great driver.
When Tamiya offered a 1/12 scale kit of the Lotus 78, we built it in his livery as a sign of respect.

Cheers

#22 Mohican

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Posted 05 December 2002 - 11:17

Great to see this thread re-activated. Ronnie and Gunnar deserve EVERY recognition.

#23 Rediscoveryx

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Posted 05 December 2002 - 16:57

Originally posted by Mohican
Great to see this thread re-activated. Ronnie and Gunnar deserve EVERY recognition.


Amen to that :up:

#24 conjohn

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Posted 20 October 2003 - 05:30

Spare a thought today for Gunnar Nilsson, who succumbed to cancer on this day 25 years ago. :cry:

#25 FredrikB

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Posted 20 October 2003 - 05:50

Vila i frid. :cry:
He had just buried Ronnie. :(

Will we ever se two Swedes in this sport again?

/Fredrik

#26 rdrcr

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Posted 20 October 2003 - 06:01

Don't know about two of them, but the recent F3000 champion Bjorn Wirdheim has a test drive in a Jordan next week.

And then there was Stephan Johansson but that's too OT - see the brief bio on Nilsson in the TDIMH thread.

#27 Ralliart

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Posted 20 October 2003 - 06:33

Yes, a time, especially, to remember Gunnar Nillson. My impression is that he wanted to leave Lotus after '77 because he wanted, at least, equal number one with Mario Andretti for the '78 season (and that Colin Chapman, of course, wanted Constructors and Drivers titles) and when that wasn't gonna happen he signed with Arrows, I believe. Nilsson, presumably, knew as much as Andretti when it came to what's-in-the-pipeline-at-Lotus, so does anyone feel that, perhaps, Nilsson was ill-advised to leave Lotus for '78 when he, again presumably, would have run Andretti for the title? Of course, in leaving Lotus, Nilsson allowed Ronnie Peterson (I think they had only one argument between themselves in all the times they raced each other) to replace him. Again, I do not know the facts, only what I've read or perceived. It seems Nilsson didn't stay at Lotus long enough, Peterson was fated not to stay at Lotus long enough while Andretti stayed too long.

#28 petefenelon

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Posted 20 October 2003 - 09:29

Originally posted by conjohn
Spare a thought today for Gunnar Nilsson, who succumbed to cancer on this day 25 years ago. :cry:


:(

Gunnar was the first 'international' racing driver I ever met - along with his team-mate Alex Ribeiro in '75.

#29 Mohican

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Posted 20 October 2003 - 10:07

Nilsson came into F1 in 1976 as a March driver, having dominated the British F3 scene the previous year. After one race, Peterson had had enough of Lotus and walked out - which lead to the two of them changing places with Nilsson very suddenly becoming JPS Lotus team leader. After only one race..."team leader" as Lotus had Bob Evans in the second car. The latter was however quickly replaced by Mario Andretti after the Parnelli team folded after the second race !

The Lotus 77 (which had all kinds of strange things originally, such as inboard front brakes that stood clear of the bodywork) came on slowly during the year - and Andretti established himself as no 1 during a season that is largely forgotten due to the Hunt/Lauda situation but which did end by his winning the Japanese GP. This was Lotus' first win since 1974 (with Peterson, of course), but its significance for the following year was largely overlooked at the time.

Ironically enough, Peterson meanwhile drove an underfinanced March 761 way faster than it should have gone; look at the grid positions for that year and you will be impressed. And of course he won one race, at Monza and in a March...

In 1977, the Lotus 78 suddenly was the car to beat on speed (although it was not that fast in a straight line); and Andretti, and to a lesser degree Nilsson, ran at the front all year. Nilsson won the Belgain GP at Zolder (with Lauda's Ferrari in second place); admittedly in freak weather conditions, but still.
Following this, he wanted (more) equal status for 1978 - which of course Chapman was not prepared to give him (probably quite right too; Gunnar was a good guy, but not - at least not then - in Mario's league); hence his signing for the new Arrows team, which a lot of people thought a very daring/strange move at the time.

Sadly, he never got to drive the car due to first being diagnosed with cancer - although he kept refusing to acknowledge or confirm this, until it was all too obvious to everybody - in the winter of 1977/78. Seeing his supposed no 2, Riccardo Patrese, very nearly winning the car's second race in South Africa must have been hard - and made harder by the fact that that race was in fact won by Ronnie Peterson, driving a Lotus 78...

1978 was a terrible year for Swedish motor sport, with Peterson being killed at Monza and a visibly dying Nilsson attending his funeral; where he was too weak to stand for more than a few minutes at a time. I remember the pictures of Andretti, Lauda, Scheckter, Watson et al. carrying Ronnie's coffin - with Gunnar following behind. Simply awful - and harrowing even today, 25 years later.

Nilsson was very, very brave about his cancer, and fought it to the last - establishing the Gunnar Nilsson Foundation for cancer research that raised a considerable amount of money.

#30 Maldwyn

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Posted 20 October 2003 - 12:21

I was recently reading Barry Gill's "International Motor Racing 1978" in which he said that Gunnar Nilsson had signed for Shadow for the 1978 season. Presumably, little was known about the Shadow/Arrows split at the time of publication?

Gunnar is sadly missed :cry:

#31 FredrikB

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Posted 20 October 2003 - 12:24

Thanks Mohican!

Interesting read. I was around back then but only 11, so i don't remember that much.
But i do remember some pictures well.
One if them is the funeral with the coffin and Gunnar. :(


/Fredrik

#32 Mohican

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Posted 21 October 2003 - 10:10

Originally posted by Maldwyn
I was recently reading Barry Gill's "International Motor Racing 1978" in which he said that Gunnar Nilsson had signed for Shadow for the 1978 season. Presumably, little was known about the Shadow/Arrows split at the time of publication?

Gunnar is sadly missed :cry:


Interesting. Had never heard that Nilsson signed for Shadow before; always understood him having signed for the "new Oliver team"; i.e. Arrows.

The whole Shadow/Arrows situation in the winter of 1977/78 is difficult to comprehend in the light of modern racing. In the event of something similar happening today (mass resignations of the design/management team) there would certainly be lots of non-competition or "gardening leave" clauses applied.

Arrows was set up by Alan Rees, Jack Oliver, Dave Wass and Tony Southgate - all formerly of Shadow. To which should be added Franco Ambrosio, one of the main Shadow sponsors (whose largely forgotten importance is reflected in the first Arrows car being called the "FA1"), and of course the supposed no 2 - and later star - driver: Riccardo Patrese, who had made his F1 debut for Shadow at Monaco in 1977.

So, where did this leave Shadow ? Who on top of everything else had also lost their no 1 driver Alan Jones to Williams.

In retrospect, Shadow (sponsored by Tabatip cigars) did a lot better than could reasonably be expected that year, with the cars driven by Hans Stuck and Clay Regazzoni - whereas I would argue that Arrows, that are remembered as doing so well in their first year, in fact did not come up to expectations. Patrese ran well all year, although as we all know he upset a lot of people and was for years afterwards stigmatised for having supposedly caused the Monza accident. However, given that the 1978 Arrows team to all intents and purposes was really the race-winning Shadow ream of the previous year, they should have done better; particualrly after solving their sponsorship problem by attracting Warsteiner sponsorship through their no 2 driver Rolf Stommelen.

Having said that, their cause was not helped by being sued left, right & center by Don Nichols of Shadow - but how can Oliver & Co have ever expected to get away with stealing the Shadow design ?

#33 Mallory Dan

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Posted 21 October 2003 - 12:17

Mohican

Don't agree with what you said about Arrows in 78. Surely the fact that Patrese was in only his first full F1 season is significant, and very nearly won in ZA. What a result that would have been, for both him and the team, this is another of those "What ifs..."Stommelen I imagine was only ever there because of the sponsors, so Riccardo was essentially on his own in trying to develop the car, and the later one too after the Court case. We know that he was not to blame for the Peterson accident, though I do accept he may have been a bit hot-headed generally. I don't accept that they should have done better.

If we look at Shadow, they had the car they intended to use, a reasonable budget, and 2 very experienced drivers, one of whom was a regular winner, and some time WDC nearly man. I know that they'd lost the bulk of their technical team, but IMHO they were the ones who had the poor season that year.

I suppose the Court case affected both teams though, and after all, in that year everyone apart from Ferrari were made to look pretty third rate.

#34 Ralliart

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Posted 21 October 2003 - 12:41

While I wouldn't argue that obtaining Warsteiner sponsorship was beneficial nor that probably they wanted a German driver but Rolf Stommelen was QUICK as well as being real experienced.

#35 Ruairidh

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Posted 21 October 2003 - 20:23

Originally posted by conjohn
Spare a thought today for Gunnar Nilsson, who succumbed to cancer on this day 25 years ago. :cry:


:cry:

........and my eternal thanks for being one of the folks who brought Lotus back from the wilderness they were in in 1975

As for whether the move was initially to Shadow or Arrows, well my memory is truly failing me and my 1976 Autosports/M News are in boxes which I cannot spare the time to dig into........although now this is going to bug me until I get chance to look it up.

#36 f1steveuk

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Posted 18 March 2006 - 20:38

I have only ever seen one picture of Gunnar Nilsson's test in a BT44, but if there's one, there must be more?? What was the whole story, and how did his times compare. Another lost talent.

#37 AAA-Eagle

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Posted 19 March 2006 - 21:37

Rainer Nyberg's post with a picture: http://forums.autosp...477#post1033477

#38 Twin Window

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Posted 19 March 2006 - 21:45

Thanks, Marko - threads now merged.

#39 ghinzani

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Posted 20 October 2008 - 06:34

Thirty years ago today he passed away. How many lives did his charity help to save I wonder?

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#40 Paul Hurdsfield

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Posted 20 October 2008 - 06:57

Originally posted by Milan Fistonic
Ehagar

Fredrik Petersens wrote a book about Peterson and Nilsson. It's called The Viking Drivers and it was published in 1979 by William Kimber.

The cover blurb says that Fredrik Petersens was at Nilsson's bedside when he died.


Wow is it really thirty years :(

I bought the book at the time, It's a good read, if you can still get it :up:

#41 Stephen W

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Posted 20 October 2008 - 08:40

Posted Image
Above: It's practice and Gunnar chases Mario in the Lotus 78s at Silverstone 1977

Hardly seems 30 years. :(

#42 Psall

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Posted 20 October 2008 - 18:56

30 years ago today not only a great racing driver, but also a great human died. Gunnar may not have been one of "the greatest racing drivers" (well we don´t know what he would´ve achieved if he had´nt been diagnozed with cancer), but in my opinion, as a founder of the cancer foundation, he achieved much more. Hundreds of thousands of people will forever be grateful.

Gunnar Nilsson - A great racing driver, a greater human being.

#43 HistoryFan

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Posted 07 April 2011 - 21:24

I was recently reading Barry Gill's "International Motor Racing 1978" in which he said that Gunnar Nilsson had signed for Shadow for the 1978 season. Presumably, little was known about the Shadow/Arrows split at the time of publication?

Gunnar is sadly missed :cry:


In "Die Formel-1 Asse unserer Zeit" by Achim Schlang is written about Nilsson should drive a private Lotus in 1978, backed by an American airline company.

More information about that?


#44 subh

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Posted 11 November 2014 - 12:53

Has there been an article about Gunnar Nilsson in Motor Sport during the last few years?  I felt sure there had been but I can’t find it.  Can anyone let me know when?  Thanks.



#45 Marc Sproule

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Posted 11 November 2014 - 19:39

visuals.....

 

https://www.flickr.c...@N03/4431490274

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/14255921498



#46 sstiel

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Posted 24 December 2017 - 19:02

Motor Sport magazine published an article by Chris Witty its November 2008 issue which can be read online: www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-2008/72/friend-and-fighter

Also, ahem, one I did for Vintage Racecar: www.cancerstiftelsen.com/?id=2

Happy Christmas everyone

 


 



#47 Weaverbird

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Posted 14 April 2021 - 09:56

As I mentioned somewhere else in previous thread, I have the Lucky Draw Programme for The Gunnar Nilsson Film Show 1979, a charity event organised by the British Motor Racing Marshals' Club  (I was one of many who helped raise funds for the Campaign Gunnar set up to raise money for specific cancer treatment equipment for London's Charing Cross Hospital).  The hospital is near Barnes, where I lived and my flatmate and I visited him there about 3 weeks before he died.

Inside the brochure is a tribute by Ian Phillips, which starts:  "I would like to be remembered as somebody who did something for other people rather than the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix"   ......'were the last words of racing driver Gunnar Nilsson as he launched the Cancer Treatment Campaign bearing his name just two days before he died.'     Full article and scanned programme available to post on this forum when and if I can figure out how to upload!

I also have a copy of The Viking Drivers by Freddie Petersens - excellent book.



#48 sstiel

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Posted 14 April 2021 - 17:00

As I mentioned somewhere else in previous thread, I have the Lucky Draw Programme for The Gunnar Nilsson Film Show 1979, a charity event organised by the British Motor Racing Marshals' Club  (I was one of many who helped raise funds for the Campaign Gunnar set up to raise money for specific cancer treatment equipment for London's Charing Cross Hospital).  The hospital is near Barnes, where I lived and my flatmate and I visited him there about 3 weeks before he died.

Inside the brochure is a tribute by Ian Phillips, which starts:  "I would like to be remembered as somebody who did something for other people rather than the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix"   ......'were the last words of racing driver Gunnar Nilsson as he launched the Cancer Treatment Campaign bearing his name just two days before he died.'     Full article and scanned programme available to post on this forum when and if I can figure out how to upload!

I also have a copy of The Viking Drivers by Freddie Petersens - excellent book.

Thank you @Weaverbird. Fredrik has been very supportive.