274 replies to this topic

[Andrew Stefanoni]

www.corriere.it reported that Clay has died in a car accident on the highway beetween Milano and Reggio Emilia today....

RIP

[JacnGille]

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :

[flat-16]

One would be hard-pushed to think of a more noble and generous sportsman.



Very sad news indeed.



Justin

[stardust]

Clay Regazzoni is dead in Italy for a car accident near Parma.

[Calorus]

Commiserations to his family.

[Andrew Kitson]

Very sad news indeed, especially after all he went through at the end of his career, to have his life cut short like this. A very tough competitor ( just ask JYS or Peter Gaydon ), has there ever been a racing driver ( along with Bandini ) with a better sounding name? RIP Clay.

[lukywill]

very emotional news.

a very sympathetic person.

the f1 driver.

[RTH]

Sad news indeed, am I right in remembering he gained Williams first GP win ?

[FLB]

This is hitting me HARD. I've just finished reading his biography...

[flat-16]

Originally posted by RTH
Sad news indeed, am I right in remembering he gained Williams first GP win ?

I believe so.

I haven't read Regga's bio, but I also believe (I've read several accounts) that he played a big part in getting Lauda's career off the ground as well.

A genuine link with the past has left us....


Justin

edit: Regga's Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia..../Clay_Regazzoni

[John M Cannon]

How terribly sad.

God Speed with you always, Clay...

[Pedro 917]

Very sad news indeed, RIP Clay.

[BorderReiver]

Very, very sad.

I had the enormous pleasure of meeting him once very briefly. A fabulous driver, a massive hero and a great man.

RIP Clay

[Uxoros]

I'm devastated by this news. How shocking and sad. I saw him for the first (and last) time this summer at Montreux.

[Andrew Kitson]

Originally posted by RTH
Sad news indeed, am I right in remembering he gained Williams first GP win ?

Yes indeed, Silverstone '79.

[Racer.Demon]

RIP, Gianclaudio...

[murph27]

Very sad news........ May God bless and watch over you and your family...

[The Kanisteri]

rip

[Arjan de Roos]

Addio Clay...

[fuz]

Oh dear.... shocking news...

RIP Clay

[RDM]

Sad news.

[snash]

Sad news indeed...RIP Clay.

[Rockford]

What terrible, shocking news.

RIP Clay. You were the best.

[kenny]

RIP

[jorism]

very, very sad...

[RDV]

A sportsman and true gentleman, and very good friend.... arrivederci Clay...

[F1Fanatic.co.uk]

What a sad shock to learn this news.

[scousepenguin]

Awfully sad news. Thanks for the memories, Rega.

[Jones Foyer]

Very sorry to hear. He was a great guy. Honda did some promotional work with him driving a modified NSX that was just beautiful. Godspeed, Clay.

[Richard Jenkins]

Excellent driver, and an inspiration to others. A good, funny, passionate human being. We can ill afford to lose the likes of Clay Regazzoni.

I'm afraid I can't really put a more coherent tribute down as, quite frankly, I'm much too upset.

RIP.

[Doug Nye]

As Clay would have said - Oh ----. Godspeed.

DCN

[David M. Kane]

I always remember how he encouraged others. My friend Tom Hollfelder's daughter had terrible accident, got a terrible infection I believe, that wiped out all the progress to the full recovery she was headed. So Clay taught to drive a hand controlled Ferrari Challenge car. I then believe he helped set-up a hand controlled Mustang GT for the Speed Series. It had a specially modified Aston-Martin padel shift that Ford helped with.

I hope I never forget that great smile of his.

[WHITE]

[Penword]

Couldn't have been more than a couple of weeks ago that I read an interview Nigel Roebuck conducted with him in his first season with Ensign (1977). Very interesting guy.

As I understand it he suggested Ferrari hire Lauda in 1974, since the two had been teammates with BRM the previous year.

[jonpollak]

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/56037

god rest him.
Jp

[HEROS]

I can't believe it. He was one of my favorite drivers.

RIP

[FLB]

Originally posted by Penword
As I understand it he suggested Ferrari hire Lauda in 1974, since the two had been teammates with BRM the previous year.

He had a fall-out with Lauda after the Austrian published his first book, Protokol. Lauda was quite critical and wrote that one of the reasons that Regazzoni was 'fired' from Ferrari was because Old Man Ferrari had been pissed off about a brand of jeans that Regazzoni was promoting. The jeans' desing had a Prancing Horse on the back pocket and Ferrari was angry that his driver had used his beloved Cavallino 'sullo culo', literally 'on his ass'.

[zakeriath]

RIP

[Intratable]

RIP Clay...

[Gary C]

This is the first time today I've logged on to TNF & find this. Awful. God rest you, Clay.

[Dave Ware]

Damn. A true link to the past. A true character back when all drivers were characters.

My dad saw him interviewed on TV some time ago. As he sat in his wheelchair, he was asked if he wished he could race again, and his eyes lit up when he answered in the affirmative.

A short thread here regarding Regga:

http://forums.atlasf...hp?postid=22547

Damn these public roads. He would have been safer on a racetrack.

Well, now he can sit there with Vittorio, sip Chianti and talk about the good old days...

Dave

[Fiorentina 1]

Sad news indeed. There is word that he may have had a stroke or something, which caused the crash. My uncle saw him yesterday at the post office in Lugano, chit-chatted with him and he seemed fine.

RIP. Great driver, great person. He will be missed.

[Barry Boor]

This is a very sad day.

Thank you for the pleasure you gave us, Clay.

[Stefan Schmidt]

Very sad, I was in touch with him since two years, he was telling the best stories via email.

R.I.P. Gianclaudio "Clay" Regazzoni

[David Force]

Another real racer has gone.

No doubt when St Peter opens the gates to look out he will see nobody there as dear old Clay will already have jumped the gun and be inside just like he always did at Monza !

[DOHC]

How sad. Saw him behind the wheel a good number of times in the 70s. Great man.

[Lada Lover]

RIP Clay.

Clay was an inspiration to me after my accident.

[caneparo]

addio Clay...addio, riposa in pace

[szautke]

Very sad, condolences to the family

[john aston]

This type of news normally induces a moment of sadness.But I feel profoundly upset by news of Regga.Great name, great looks ,great driver and a decent man. I saw him race many times and he just epitomised what being an Italian racing driver was all about.Yes yes ,he was Swiss- nominally, just as Jean Alesi is nominally French.