37 replies to this topic

[potmotr]

Now this is cool news. Ricardo Patrese will test last year's (awful) Honda RA107 at Jerez on Tuesday.
He'll no doubt be faster than Jenson Button...
http://www.grandprix...ns/ns20745.html

[DOHC]

Patrese faster than Button? Gosh. It's time to stop watching F1.

[Dolph]

Isn't testing the wrong word. More like drive the car around a few laps...

[potmotr]

Patrese tested for Williams in 1997 (I think) and it was conducted as a full test.

By all accounts he did quite well.

[se7en_24]

Originally posted by potmotr
Patrese tested for Williams in 1997 (I think) and it was conducted as a full test.

By all accounts he did quite well.

A few years after he retired yes, that Williams test alone was 11 years ago now, longer than most F1 careers.

[Risil]

Originally posted by se7en_24

A few years after he retired yes, that Williams test alone was 11 years ago now, longer than most F1 careers.

Haha, after 11 years Riccardo's career was just getting started.

He had what you might call the geological approach.

[DOHC]

Given that his career almost ended 30 years ago, it seems a bit late to rethink driving in F1.

[Tenmantaylor]

Ended 30 years ago? Wasnt he Mansells team mate in 92?

[Atreiu]

Originally posted by Tenmantaylor
Ended 30 years ago? Wasnt he Mansells team mate in 92?

I think that was about his crash at Monza 78 in which Peterson was also involved, IIRC.
Some people blame Peterson's death on Patrese.

[sterling49]

Originally posted by DOHC
Given that his career almost ended 30 years ago, it seems a bit late to rethink driving in F1.

He drove a Williams Honda....in the '90s IIRC

[D A]

His final season was 1993.

[GiancarloF1]

Originally posted by potmotr
He'll no doubt be faster than Jenson Button...

Good flamebait.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by GiancarloF1


Good flamebait.

Sorry, didn't mean it to be. Was taking the piss! But I would like to see Ricardo go well.

[911]

Originally posted by sterling49


He drove a Williams Honda....in the '90s IIRC

It was the Williams-Renault.

[Craven Morehead]

cool news. RP is a classy guy, per sfw.

[AFCA]

Originally posted by potmotr
He'll no doubt be faster than Jenson Button...

Nope, he was 7 seconds off Button's pace at Jerez. The Brasilian did 20 laps. Patrese: ''I've enjoyed myself like a kid.''

[Ross Stonefeld]

Button or Riccardo is suddenly from Brazil?

[AFCA]

Errr Italian

----------------

Patrese back behind the wheel

Riccardo Patrese returned to Formula One yesterday for the first time in 15 years as he joined Honda in Jerez to drive the team's RA107 race car.

Patrese, who won six races during his 17 year Formula One career from 1977 to 1993, had joined the team at the Spanish circuit on Monday afternoon for a seat fit and engineering briefing. He also conducted reconnaissance laps of the 4.428km Jerez circuit in a Honda Civic Type-R with one of the team's engineers to familiarise himself with the track.

On Tuesday, on a bright and sunny morning, Patrese pulled out of the garage to take to the track in the Honda RA107. He completed five runs and set a fastest lap time of 1:30.210s on the Bridgestone demonstration tyres used for his guest drive.

Riccardo Patrese
"After 15 years out of Formula One, it was a dream come true and unbelievable to rediscover the speed of a Formula One car again today. I was able to get accustomed pretty quickly and found that my driving style did not need to change too much to adapt to a modern car. The speed was a bit of a surprise on the first couple of laps but at the end I felt very comfortable, although I'm sure my neck will ache a little bit tonight after the G forces. The whole experience has been an absolute pleasure and I would like to thank the Honda Racing F1 Team for giving me this feeling back and allowing me the opportunity to drive a really fast car again! It's good to know that at my age, I can still drive quickly and push the limits.

I just wish that I could have had more time in the car to improve my lap time. Hopefully they'll give me another chance sometime!"

Nick Fry, Honda Chief Executive Officer
"We are delighted to have been able to arrange this opportunity for Riccardo to drive the RA107, the first time that he has been back in a Honda Formula One car since the final race of the 1987 season where he raced for Williams-Honda in Adelaide. Riccardo adapted very well to the car today and there was plenty for him to get to grips with as Formula One has advanced so rapidly since his final race in 1993 and continues to do so with the introduction of new environmental technologies. Left foot braking, grooved tyres and a steering-wheel mounted clutch paddle were all new for Riccardo today, and his fastest lap time was very respectable considering that he was using demonstration tyres and a 2007 car. The team thoroughly enjoyed working with Riccardo today and we are delighted to have made his dream of returning to Formula One for a day come true!"

[potmotr]

I think it is a real shame Riccardo never raced in sportscars. I mean, he's still clearly very physically fit and has plenty of speed. I guess seeing what happened to Michele Alboreto may have put him off.
He's a class guy, with one of the best helmet liveries in the sport's history.

[arthurive]

Originally posted by potmotr
I think it is a real shame Riccardo never raced in sportscars. I mean, he's still clearly very physically fit and has plenty of speed. I guess seeing what happened to Michele Alboreto may have put him off.
He's a class guy, with one of the best helmet liveries in the sport's history.

Patrese was one of 3 (very good, not great) Italian drivers that were of the new generation in the late 70s.
Patrese, Alboreto and Elio de Angelis were the great Italian hopes of that era.
It had been a long time since Bandini's death (about 10 years) when these guys began their F1 careers.
Italian racing drivers had been a rarity in F1 after Bandini died, and these 3 filled a very large void.
Their careers are intertwined in some way, and I personally hope Riccardo is around for a very long time.
I like the memories from that era, even though the 3 of them didn't win very often, I believe they were all
quite talented.
I think it's a good thing that he is permanently retired.

[Andretti Fan]

Originally posted by potmotr
I think it is a real shame Riccardo never raced in sportscars. I mean, he's still clearly very physically fit and has plenty of speed. I guess seeing what happened to Michele Alboreto may have put him off.
He's a class guy, with one of the best helmet liveries in the sport's history.

Didn't Patrese drive in a few sportscar races in the early eighties for the Martini Lancia team?

[Slowinfastout]

Originally posted by Andretti Fan


Didn't Patrese drive in a few sportscar races in the early eighties for the Martini Lancia team?

Yup, he even won at Spa although under unfortunate circumstances (race shortened after big crash at Eau Rouge where Bellof was killed ), the Lancia LC2 was a FAST car...

[Youichi]

Originally posted by Andretti Fan


Didn't Patrese drive in a few sportscar races in the early eighties for the Martini Lancia team?

Only 43......

http://www.riccardop.../sportscars.htm

And I agree the LC2 was a glorious car, I saw one at donnington last year, and they still looks fabulous.

[DOHC]

Originally posted by Atreiu


I think that was about his crash at Monza 78 in which Peterson was also involved, IIRC.
Some people blame Peterson's death on Patrese.

Rather, some people blamed it on Patrese, hence my comment that his career "almost ended" 30 years ago. I think it has been fully clarified that the accident wasn't caused by Patrese at all.

[Maldwyn]

Originally posted by sterling49
He drove a Williams Honda....in the '90s IIRC

Riccardo raced a Williams-Honda once at the 1987 Australian GP when Bernie Ecclestone released him from his Brabham contract early so he could sub for the injured Nigel Mansell.

Credit to Honda for arranging Riccardo's run in the RA107 From the sound of it he enjoyed the experience, and it will be interesting to hear whether his views of current F1 cars are any different now having driven one.

[FLB]

Originally posted by Slowinfastout


Yup, he even won at Spa although under unfortunate circumstances (race shortened after big crash at Eau Rouge where Bellof was killed ), the Lancia LC2 was a FAST car...

IIRC, he also did Le Mans for Nissan in the late 1990s (1998?).

[Atreiu]

Originally posted by DOHC


Rather, some people blamed it on Patrese, hence my comment that his career "almost ended" 30 years ago. I think it has been fully clarified that the accident wasn't caused by Patrese at all.

I wasn't even alive in 78.
I was just posting what I remember picking up form some threads here and there.

[DOHC]

Originally posted by Atreiu


I wasn't even alive in 78.
I was just posting what I remember picking up form some threads here and there.

Well, I was, and I still remember the live broadcast of that awful event...

Worse still, I remember coming to work next morning and hearing that Ronnie Peterson had died just half an hour ago. That was very painful, especially as I had followed Peterson's early career since 1967 by going to many of the national F3 events he raced in and won, and then to some of the F1 races that he shone in.

Still, it was more of a racing accident, and Patrese was not to blame, in spite of all rumors.

[Maldwyn]

Originally posted by DOHC
Patrese was not to blame

It's a shame that, 30yrs on, that fact is sometimes forgotten. It's also a shame that this subject should be introduced into a thread about Riccardo being given the opportunity to run a modern F1 car

[Jerome]

You're right, but that's just the way it is. Remember, James Hunt was slandering Patrese untill his death during his BBC commentary work. And very recently, Mike Doodson, columnist at GrandPrix.com, found it necessary to blame Patrese that Riccardo was still alive, and Ronnie Peterson was not...

Idiots are everywhere...

[Keffo]

Riccardo Patrese drives wife crazy in Civic Type-R

[swintex]

Originally posted by Keffo
Riccardo Patrese drives wife crazy in Civic Type-R

Fabulous… and Jeremy Clarkson take note, barely a squealing tyre to be heard.

[Risil]

Originally posted by Jerome
You're right, but that's just the way it is. Remember, James Hunt was slandering Patrese untill his death during his BBC commentary work. And very recently, Mike Doodson, columnist at GrandPrix.com, found it necessary to blame Patrese that Riccardo was still alive, and Ronnie Peterson was not...

Idiots are everywhere...

The fact still remains that Patrese was using a section of the track he shouldn't have, and had indeed been agreed before the race to have been off-limits. Undeniably, it would be excessively harsh to blame Patrese for the accident, when the shambolic nature of the start procedure, medical attention and even circuit design is taken into account; but it's a common tendency to associate tragedy to a comprehensible, tangible entity rather than a shadowy mass of forces and factors, or worse still simple indifference...

It seems inconstent to accept Patrese's human failings in this regard, but to deny Hunt's and Doodson's.

[Jerome]

Originally posted by Risil


The fact still remains that Patrese was using a section of the track he shouldn't have, and had indeed been agreed before the race to have been off-limits. Undeniably, it would be excessively harsh to blame Patrese for the accident, when the shambolic nature of the start procedure, medical attention and even circuit design is taken into account; but it's a common tendency to associate tragedy to a comprehensible, tangible entity rather than a shadowy mass of forces and factors, or worse still simple indifference...

It seems inconsistent to accept Patrese's human failings in this regard, but to deny Hunt's and Doodson's.

Hunt and Doodson are entitled to their opinions. But Mike Doodsons comments were totally uncalled for, because they were placed in a column about a totally different subject. A side-remark, sort of. And that's not fair. Just as unfair and unethical were James Hunts lashings of Patrese. Hunt should have realised he had power as a BBC commentator, he explained F1 as an expert to a broad, not very knowlegdeable audience. He could have said: 'Sorry people, I just can't stand Patrese because of Monza 1978.' But he didn't. He was just saying over and over and over again that Patrese was an incompetent driver, that someone else should take his place... Murray Walker, in that respect, was a bit of a coward. Because he totally disagreed with James, but did not have the balls to say: 'Listen James, I love you dearly, but please stop talking that crap!'

That doesn't mean we can't discuss the Monza accident at all. There has been a very interesting and long discussion in the Nostalgia Thread, a fascinating read.

[Slowinfastout]

Originally posted by Keffo
Riccardo Patrese drives wife crazy in Civic Type-R

hahahaha thats hilarious, great clip!

[mursuka80]

Originally posted by Keffo
Riccardo Patrese drives wife crazy in Civic Type-R

[Maldwyn]

There now is a video of Riccardo's test in the RA107 on Honda Racing TV at www.hondaracingf1.com.

[AyePirate]

Originally posted by Keffo
Riccardo Patrese drives wife crazy in Civic Type-R

Love how Patrese just has the same slight smile the whole time he is giving his wife the lateral G torture.