137 replies to this topic

[Louis Mr. F1]

Louis Mr. F1
Member

10-30-2000 18:03


This is a reproduction of a thread in the RC forum and i've been told that the Nostaglia is the more appropriate place, the format may seem a bit weired, (i don't know how to repost) but here it goes:


Since it's the off season and i would like to start a new
topic (something not related to M. Schumacher) for a
change. I've recently purchased a 86 Grand Prix review
book written by Nigel Roebuck and i found lots of the
articles very interesting and i'd like to share this with
you guys. For those who had followed the sport for a
longer period, this may bring back some good
memories. The following is an interview with Keke
Rosberg, his final year in F1


SEE YOU ON THE OUTSIDE
Keke Rosberg's last GP was wonderful, as striking a
race as he had ever driven, but although he was in
front from the early laps, went away into a huge lead,
he was never going to win in Adelaide. Not so long as
Prost was in second place. Rosberg wanted a victory
the last time around perhaps more than anything in his
racing life, but still was prepared to sacrifice it for his
teammate.
"Alain and i spoke about it before the start, i told him i
was going to go for it. This was my last afternoon in a
F1 car, and i wanted toremember it as something good
after a disappointing season." "it seems a logical thing
to do, by trying to get into the lead, set a quick pace,
i would force the williams guys to push, maybe use a
little more fuel thna they wanted. If Alain drove his
usual intelligent race, i thought in the late stages he
ought to be ahead of them - in which case i would let
him through to win the race and the WC. And if
anything happened to him, well maybe i would win my
last gp"

Here was a measure of the man, and of his respect for
Prost and Mclaren "i've no criticism to make of Alain
whatever," " As far as i'm concerned, he's the best
driver i've ever known - head and shoulder clear of the
rest"

"i've had a lot of silly car problems this yr, but they
could have happened in any team. It's just been a run
of bad luck that's hard to believe, and i did some
things wrong, too. But what has helped me is that the
atmosphere in the team has been so good, in the same
circumstances, it wouldn't have been like that at
Williams, i know that"

But surely there must be time when he glanced
envoiusly at the FW11 he passed up?
"No, never, not once. I made my decision to leave
Williams for Mclaren and i will always be glad i did.
Although Mansell and Piquet won nine races, but listen
i made up my mind at the end of 84 that i would quit in
2 years, and when the Mclaren offer came up, i was
happy to take it. Here i was getting an opportunity to
spend my last season with the most professional
team."
"A lot of people thought that i left Williams because of
Mansell. Wrong it's true i didn't want him there in th
efirst place, and we started off on the wrong foot.
After a few weeks, we got on absolutely fine and his
being there played no part in my leaving"
"i tell you this though, if i hadn't moved from Williams, i
might have quit several months earlier. Frank's dreadful
accident left a lot of the authority in the hands of a
man (P. Head???)who was one reason for my leaving.
We simply couldn't stand each other. No i have no
regrets about changing teams."

"people have asked me if i have considered changing
my decision, and i'd be lying if i denied it had crossed
by mind. but there are hundreds of reasons for me to
retire, for example, when i'm playing with my son that
is one of the most important reasons, but on the other
hand, t doesn't matter at all when suddenly i am in a
race car nd this is Australia, the finish! It would have
been much harder to stop if we hadn't had the stupid
fuel regulations, if it had just been a matter of car and
driver, and not having to look at the bloody fuel gauge
all the time. And i must admit i would have seriously
reconsidered if the new normally aspirated engine had
arrived earlier. All the teams will be running them in
1988, so it's just 1 year too late."


------------------------------
it's not the complete article (took too long to type it
all)and maybe you've read about this before, when i
re-read/watch the 80s gps, i found most of the drivers
are alot more outspoken and they certainly have their
own character. Rosberg is one of the driver who i
missed his style. don't forget, he's a Flying Finn.

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John B
Member

10-30-2000 18:21


I was reading through the book Prost coauthored on
competition driving yesterday. He had an interesting
passage about his driving style versus Rosberg's which
I'll post when I have the book in front of me. Basically
AP mentioned how both styles (early turn-in vs. late
breaking) could be effective at different points of the
corner, but he felt that his style was more effective
over a long race and season, in large part because it
had less error risk.

At one point AP writes "Note that the cars themselves
lend themselves to either sort of style." Interesting
because that didn't seem to be the case when Prost
and Rosberg were 1986 teammates. Rosberg had a
difficult time getting the most out of the Mclaren, with
no wins while Prost pulled off the WDC.
__________________
(This message has been inspected by FIA)

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FerrariFanInTexas
Member

10-30-2000 23:12


Louis:

I've just been reading Alan Henry's "50 Years of Grand
Prix Racing" from Autocourse, and based on what he
writes about KR and the Williams Team, it was Patrick
Head he was referring to. Apparently there was some
dispute about whether KR's aggressive driving style
was too harsh for the Williams in the early stages of
the race, leading to a lot of DNF's and early
retirements. There was also an undercurrent that
because KR smoked and did a lot of not very healthy
things, he lacked fitness, and thus drove worse.

KR's response to this is that he had to drive very hard
at the start, because the tires were not up to full
pressure at the start and the handling was atrocious.
His view was that he had to "manhandle" the car
around for a few laps until the tires came up to
temperature (and thus pressure). His exact comment
when asked about this issue is that the comment from
Head was "bullshit".

At least, this is what I recall sitting here in my office.
I'm always (as usual) prepared to be found wrong on
my recall of minutiae.

Avanti Ferrari!

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Mosquito
Member

10-30-2000 23:28


Ouch!!!

Invasion of the scary peeps from the dark dungeons of
the 'Nostalgia forum'!!!!

Run, run while you can!

Sorry, could't restrain myself....
__________________
I exercise my right to be stupid

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Mila
Member

10-31-2000 00:19


Rosberg had 8 mechanical DNFs in 86. to boot, he lost
a couple of good finishes at Imola and Hockenheim by
running out of fuel in the dying laps.

remarkably he finished on the podium only once in
86--a 2nd place behind his teammate at Monaco. some
may recall that Rosberg's race was spectacular. from
9th on the grid he was running 5th by the end of the
first lap. he later picked off Alboreto and Mansell on
the track, and Senna during the Brazilian's tire stop.
Keke proved his masterful racecraft that day.

Senna, like others, held high regard for the Finn. I
don't believe that this is lost when RB states that Keke
is the one GP driver he would have liked to race
against. as Hunt pointed out once, Rosberg was a hard
man--hard, but fair.

at Mclaren, Rosberg had a few factors working against
him:

one, was the brilliant Prost.

two, was the driving style of the brilliant Prost, which
was, comparatively, not so greatly hampered by the
understeery characteristic of the Mclaren.

three, the Mclaren was not the best car in the field.
so, in order to top the Williams boys, Ron and Co.
sensibly put all their eggs in one basket. after all, Prost
was the proven driver on the roster.

four, first impressions mean a lot. from the get-go,
Rosberg and designer John Barnard did not get along.
at the first pre-season practice at Rio, Barnard ordered
the Finn to take it easy--something beyond the
comprehension of Keke. so, needless to say, the new
guy made an impression all right, in the armco--the
chassis was a write off. Rosberg proceeded to make
some tactical errors early in the season, which all the
more put the team's focus on Prost.

after all that, the agreement he held with Prost for the
Australian round was a testament to his sense of
professionalism.

its funny that Alan Henry was brought up by
FerrariFanInTexas. I remember a scathing article
written by him at the end of 86. in explaining the
different driving styles of Prost and Rosberg, he
stopped short of referring to the Finn as a hack. very
disturbing. did Keke kill Henry's dog or something?

in light of the quote provided by Louis Mr. F1, I don't
know what to think of Rosberg and Mansell. Rosberg
was asked a couple of years ago to write the
introduction to a book on Mclaren. ignoring the actual
subject of the book, the passage begins something like
this: Frank signed Mansell, so I quit to join Mclaren.

anyway, I could go on and on about Rosberg. thanks
for bringing him up.




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Spot
Junior Member

10-31-2000 12:51


If I may, I would like to add something from my addled
memory.

I recall Barnard complaining about Rosberg's style at
the time, and in response to Keke complaining about
the setup of the car not being to his liking, stated that
he refused 'to put the back of the car at the front'. It
was only in the last few races of '86 that Keke got his
own way, and he was suddenly more competitive.

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Sudsbouy
Member

10-31-2000 16:16


Yes, I recall the difficulties that KR had with Barnard. I
believe that Barnard got so pissed that he intentionally
stonewalled KR on setup just to teach him a lesson. A
rather disturbing way to waste talent and money (I'm
sure the sponsors appreciated this tiff).

Thank you.
__________________
Suds!!

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david_martin
Member

10-31-2000 18:35

This probably belongs in the Nostalgia forum - I know
there are lots of Rosberg fans there.

For me he was something on an enigma, his
"grab-the-car-by-the-throat" style and famous cigar
smoking, drinking and partying lifestyle was in complete
contrast with his performance on perhaps the most
physically challanging and precise circuits, street
circuits. Four of his five wins came on the street -
Monaco, Dallas, Detriot, and Australia (and the Dallas,
Detriot and Australian races were run in some of the
hottest conditions for races during the 1980's),and he
had a 2nd a Long Beach and again at Monaco.

Truly one of the last great characters of F1, a bit of a
dinosaur in some ways, but still the holder of the
fastest ever lap in F1.



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mhferrari
Member

10-31-2000 23:33


Where can you find those year review books? And
about how many pages are they?
__________________
Michael Schumacher-1994, 1995, and 2000 World
Driving Champion
Scuderia Ferrari-2000 World Champion
Give Jarno Trulli a Ferrari!

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Louis Mr. F1
Member

11-01-2000 01:54


well, i found the book at the Toronto Toy Show where
there's a vendor selling some of his F1 onyx models and
F1 books, i was surprised to find this book and the
picture quality (John Townsend) was very good to me.
the listed price was $20 CDN, and because i've also
purchased 3 older Onyx models, the seller basically sold
the book to me for $5 cdn.
and i love reading the articles and the pictures of the
Marlboro Mclaren, JPS Lotus, United Colors of
Benetton, Brabham all look very good to me. the book
is about 180 pages, if you are interested, i can search
a local auto book store as my memory seems to recall
that it may carry this one, maybe. and now i want to
find the 85 review as well.

when i rewatched the 83 Review tape, Rosberg was
challenging for the leading Ferrari of Tambay at Long
Beach USA, on the first lap, he was weaving behind
the Ferrari but, maybe because of cool tires, he spun
his car 360 degrees, and he managed to save it from
hitting the wall and then proceeded to attack again, at
the end he and Tambay collided at the hairpin,
Rosberg's Williams was down on power i believe, but he
was sliding his car through the corners. very good to
watch. a bit like the young Alesi.

I also recalled there's a US GP (Dallas 84??), Rosberg
was involved in a fight with Mansell's Lotus, i think
Rosberg was upset about Mansell's earlier tactics that
he shut the door on Mansell very bluntly to show his
displeasure, anyone recall this to confirm my memory?

Rosberg also used to drive for the little known
Theodore F1 Racing Team, owned by a HK racing
fanatic, Teddy Yip. Anyone with special info/memory
on this particular partnership?? as i'm also interested in
this one and only one Chinese owned racing team.

Or should i repost this whole thread to the Nostalgia
Forum, how can i do that?

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Indian Chief
Member

11-01-2000 02:23


If he did lack fitness, isn't it odd that it was him who
survived hot races and not guys who were used to hot
weather, like Piquet and Patrese?
__________________
The Eternal Optimist

IP: Logged

[fines]

Uuuhh, Piquet and Patrese were used to hot weather? Tell me then what happened in Brazil 1982

[Don Capps]

To me, Rosberg was one of the Real Racers. He didn't blink, gave 100%, and was just fascinating to watch in action. I saw him in Formula Atlantic & 'Can-Am' and later in F1. I just liked the guy. Funny, but after he and Niki Lauda retired I pretty much lost interest in the current scene and have never quite got any real enthusiasm back for 'F1.'

Prost, Senna, Mansell, and so on just weren't my sort of folks.

[jmcgavin]

Rosberg is the last top driver I can remember that smoked, in this climate of F1 I guess hes likely to be the last unless some of the other have a quiet fag behind the motorhomes....

Didn't he admit after a while that he retired too soon??

[david_martin]

Originally posted by jmcgavin
Rosberg is the last top driver I can remember that smoked, in this climate of F1 I guess hes likely to be the last unless some of the other have a quiet fag behind the motorhomes....

I can tell you that smoking is a little bit of a Finnish hobby - Mika Salo, in years past, has often been spotted lurking behind the motorhomes sneaking a cigarette like a naughty schoolboy. If I recall correctly Jean Todt made him promise to cut that out before the coveted red overalls were handed over while Schumacher had his leg in plaster last year.

On the subject of Keke's apparent tolerance for high temperatures during races - clearly none of those authors who express surprise about his performances in the heat have ever experienced a proper Finnish sauna, typically at least 85 degrees celcius (often hotter) and 100% humidity. In Finland there is an old saying - "if the sauna and koskenkorva (Finnish Vodka) don't make you feel better you are going to die!". Did not seem to slow Keke down too much....

[jmcgavin]

come to think of it, virtually all the races he won were v demanding loads of others hit the wall etc
Dijon in the ground effect era, i remember other driving having to wear straps to keep their heads upright (Tambay I think), Monaco 83, Dallas 84, Detroit and Aus 85

'hard as nails' is the phrase I believe

[CVAndrw]

Originally posted by fines
Uuuhh, Piquet and Patrese were used to hot weather? Tell me then what happened in Brazil 1982

Reduced cockpit airflow due to a lower windscreen fitted overnight. Not to mention the exhaust fumes billowing from Villeneuve's turbo Ferrari which Piquet was breathing for twenty-eight laps before pressuring Gilles into a mistake and going on TO WIN THE BLOODY RACE!!! Nelson's favorite victory, by the way.

[T4E]

I came to think that who was Keke's manager at the time? Was he a manager to himself?

I just thought that it must have been quite a job to be his manager, as he seemed to be a bit straight forward if he didn't like someone. As he is still today... It sure isn't a wonder that anyone of his clients (Lehto, Häkkinen, Panis) haven't been a Williams driver.

T4E

[Spot]

Originally posted by CVAndrw

Originally posted by fines
Uuuhh, Piquet and Patrese were used to hot weather? Tell me then what happened in Brazil 1982

Reduced cockpit airflow due to a lower windscreen fitted overnight. Not to mention the exhaust fumes billowing from Villeneuve's turbo Ferrari which Piquet was breathing for twenty-eight laps before pressuring Gilles into a mistake and going on TO WIN THE BLOODY RACE!!! Nelson's favorite victory, by the way.

OK, how about Piquet being physically sick in his helmet in the Las Vegas car park GP?

[fines]

Originally posted by T4E
I came to think that who was Keke's manager at the time? Was he a manager to himself?

I seem to remember Domingos Piedade as Keke's manager, though maybe I'm completely wrong here.

Originally posted by T4E
It sure isn't a wonder that anyone of his clients (Lehto, Häkkinen, Panis) haven't been a Williams driver.

T4E

Well, Keke actually engineered a Williams contract for Mika Häkkinen in 1993, but the whole thing collapsed when Frank needed Peter Collins to get his entry reinstated. He had missed the deadline, if you remember...

[Don Capps]

I have always been convinced that Keke would have been a great Sprint Car driver. He just has that persona -- tough as nails and fair as can be. And someone who never says die -- anyone who can from zero points to World Champion in one season has my vote. He did in a car that was good, but not great. He also did so in a season marred by constant turmoil and where he wasn't exactly much of anyone's favorite son. Everyone gets hung up on the statistics and misses the remarkable story of that achievement. No one gave him the Championship, he had to earn it. And it was by no means a sure thing even when the season was winding down....

[Rainer Nyberg]

fines
Keke had a german manager at the time but his name escapes me at the moment.
I believe they were also together promoting Volker Weidler.

Rainer

[fines]

Could it be Werner Heinz? He lives not all that far from me and I once met his sister, btw... It was at a "Volksfest" and we were both quite a bit drunk , but I remember she didn't speak too highly of him...

[Louis Mr. F1]

i also recall Keke had a few incidents with Senna in the 85 season,

Brands Hatch, KR was trying to pass Senna's Lotus but was chopped bluntly by the Brazilian, KR spun, lost a lap after a pit stop. When he returned to the track, he was right in front of the leading Lotus, now with Mansell's Williams behind him. To pay back the Brazilian, KR refused to let him through to lap him and with confusion, Mansell slipped pass the Lotus and went onto win his 1st ever gp.
(imagine if this happens in 2000, what kind of outburst it'd create)

also, Australia85, Senna was chasing Rosberg's Williams and before the pit entrance, (maybe KR was coming into the pit, and slowing) Senna hit the back of the Williams and lost the nose. i believe Rosberg went on to win the race.

the fight between Senna and Rosberg was always good to watch as these two didn't give an inch to each other.

[Mila]

right, Rainer Nyberg, Rosberg's manager was Ortwin Podash (my spelling could be incorrect). but I'm not sure about WHEN Rosberg took on his services.

Louis Mr. F1, you had asked about the Rosberg/Yip association, so I consulted my handy copy of Keke's biography:

Yip apparently possessed a lot of character; he had a hankering for "the good life." moreover, he LOVED racing. instead of finding proper sponsorship, Yip simply poured his own money into the team. rumor has it, he made a fortune in Burma after WWII; he's cited as a Hong Kong businessman, but, I believe, he made his home in Macau as well.

Rosberg also stated that the team was being mismanaged by Sid Taylor. there we many fraught times, and there was a lot of in-fighting.

the team had Cheever at the start of 78, but after two disappointing rounds, the American had enough. this seems to have been a wise career move. Rosberg's first experience in the car ended when the cockpit filled with fuel from a leaky tank. and so the story went with the Theodore. as Keke, relates, the car was designed by Ron Tournac (again, correct spelling?), and redesigned by every man on the street.

Keke was my driving hero. his career was a lesson in perseverance and self-belief. it's remarkable that he was given a chance by Williams, seeing that he had little to show after four seasons in F1. the fact that he won the WDC in 82 was truly poetic.

[tombe]

The correct name of Keke's manager is Ortwin Podlech.


Tom

[CVAndrw]

Originally posted by fines

OK, how about Piquet being physically sick in his helmet in the Las Vegas car park GP?

Yuck! Happened to James Hunt, too. Piquet also managed to pee in his driving suit more than once, and had a habit of falling asleep on the starting grid- his mechanics would have to wake him up at the five minute signal.

Back to Rosberg: here's Niki Lauda, summing him up in To Hell and Back:

“A fast driver. Takes himself so unbelievably seriously that he overlooks the really important things, the result being that he never seems to appreciate what is going on around him. I have noticed that you can never look him straight in the eye"

ibid: Monaco 1985...I wander down to the Tip-Top bar and order myself a whisky. Rosberg comes striding in, sits down. Out of the blue, he turns to me and says:

‘Don’t you think all of this is stupid?’

‘Come again?’

‘It’s sick how we drive around here in our little bathtubs. It makes me want to throw up. I really felt like walking away from it all today.’

That makes two of us, I reassure him…I had spent the whole day like that, toughing it out, and along comes Keke that same evening and says the whole business makes him sick. At that moment, I felt some empathy with him- which is saying a lot, if you know the man.”

More Rosberg/Piquet tomfoolery: remember when Keke decided to retire, and issued a typically (in Piquet’s opinion) pompous, whining press release complaining about Williams (with whom Keke had won the World Championship, and for whom Nelson was currently driving), McLaren, F1 in general and God knows what else? So Nelson (typically) felt compelled to dash off his own press release, a dead-on parody of Keke’s, in which he announced he was not retiring, and how much he liked Williams, Brabham, F1 in general and God knows what else. Denis Jenkinson commented that you could either say “What a load of rubbish!” or fall down laughing, and announced that henceforth Piquet was officially his favorite- note: not necessarily the best, but his favorite- racing driver.

But that 162 mph lap of Silverstone, and his and Senna’s opening laps at Adelaide- a little bit of history and an absolute character, no argument.

[jarama]

Mila,

the correct name of the by then Theodore designer was Ron Tauranac.

[Louis Mr. F1]

Mila, CV Andrw and co.

thanks for the story/history, very informative. i didn't realize KR had a poor time in his early career, i was too young to know that.

i also believe Senna, Hakkinen, Irvine also drove for Yip's Theodore F3 Team @ Macau

[Mila]

a list of drivers who have competed for Teddy Yip: (I nicked this from a website, so this time, if there are any, the spelling errors are not my fault.)

Vern Schuppan
Desiree Wilson
JJ Lehto
Geoff Lees
Derek Daly
Patrick Tambay
Rupert Keegan
Eddie Cheever
Tiff Needell
David Kennedy
Bobbie Unser
Brian Redman
Tommy Burns
Eddie Irvine
Stefan Johannson
Jan Lammers
Rubens Barichello
Tony Brise
Marc Surer
Mika Hakkinen
Christian Fittipaldi
Alan Jones
Ayrton Senna
Emmanuele Pirro
Keke Rosberg
Johnny Herbert
Roberto Guerrero
Clay Regazzoni
Martin Brundle
Mario Andretti
Bruno Giacomelli
Roberto Moreno
Mauricio Gugelmin
Mike Mosely
Alan McNish
Bobby Rahal

back to Rosberg, indeed his hard times continued at Fittipaldi in 80 and 81. again according to Keke, it was Wilson Fittipaldi and Peter Warr who kept the team running, as the situation was very much "living hand to mouth."

[Ray Bell]

Add to that list Allan Moffat, who I believe drove his Elfin 600.
And at Adelaide in 85, the clash with Senna was definitely a 'brake test' as Rosberg went pitwards... was in just the right spot to see that happen.

[David J Jones]

won't ever forget that all time record lap at Silverstone

[T4E]

fines: Yep, I remember it now when you mention it. I hoped at the time when Mika's choises were McLaren and Williams that he would go to the former team. That's because I thought Williams' pendulum was about to start swinging back, and at the same time it seemed that the only way was up for McLaren.

Fortunately my wishes came true... And the prediction also prooved right. But of course it took more years than I expected for McLaren to pull it again together.

Now back to Rosberg. I think it was pretty interesting to hear that at the time Keke was just entered F1 (I heard it, because I was a bit young at the time... (born -75)), the Finnish press ignored totally Keke's undertakings. Keke used to call to some Finnish reporters that what was happening and how things had went for him, but the reporters didn't find his stories too interesting.

Keke got fed up with their attitude and from then on he was a bit harsh towards Finnish press...

Of course age has smoothened some of his edge, but still he is sometimes pretty sarcastic towards some typical "stupid" questions.

JJ, Mika & Mika (and now also Kimi) haven't had same kind of problems...


T4E

[HistoryFan]

I have a question about the parents of Keke Rosberg. Both was Rallye-drivers. Are there any infos about their career? And pictures?

And are they Sweds? Because Rosberg is born in Sweden...

[David M. Kane]

Don Capps:

I agree as Keke had what I call "fast" hands in the mould of Peterson et al.

[Oho]

Originally posted by HistoryFan
I have a question about the parents of Keke Rosberg. Both was Rallye-drivers. Are there any infos about their career? And pictures?

And are they Sweds? Because Rosberg is born in Sweden...

No his parents are Finns who were temporarily living in Stockholm where his father was getting a degree in veterinary medicine not offered at university level in post war Finland.

[giacomo]

Originally posted by Louis Mr. F1
"i tell you this though, if i hadn't moved from Williams, i
might have quit several months earlier. Frank's dreadful
accident left a lot of the authority in the hands of a
man (P. Head???)who was one reason for my leaving.
We simply couldn't stand each other. No i have no
regrets about changing teams."

Frank Williams' road car accident can't have been one of the reasons for Keke Rosberg quitting the team, as it happened when Rosberg already was a McLaren driver.

[giacomo]

Originally posted by jmcgavin
Rosberg is the last top driver I can remember that smoked, in this climate of F1 I guess hes likely to be the last unless some of the other have a quiet fag behind the motorhomes....

I think Sandro Nannini was a regular smoker.

[john aston]

Some of the current crop- Rosberg , Vettel don't look old enough to even buy fags.And - US readers - I mean cigarettes of course.

[brandspro]

Originally posted by giacomo
Frank Williams' road car accident can't have been one of the reasons for Keke Rosberg quitting the team, as it happened when Rosberg already was a McLaren driver.

What he's saying is that, had he stayed at Williams for 1986, he would have retired months earlier than he did, because of the ramifications of FW's accident. Personally, I've always felt that Patrick Head would benefit enormously from squeezing his backside into a car and running a dozen laps or so. He might then come to realize that the soft squishy bit in the middle of the car is every bit as important a part of the equation as all of his nuts and bolts.

[giacomo]

Originally posted by brandspro
Personally, I've always felt that Patrick Head would benefit enormously from squeezing his backside into a car and running a dozen laps or so. He might then come to realize that the soft squishy bit in the middle of the car is every bit as important a part of the equation as all of his nuts and bolts.

I believe to remember that Patrick Head did exactly that, IIRC with a FW06.

[David M. Kane]

In the day James Hunt smoked ocassionally.

[EcosseF1]

Lauda occasionally smoked small cigars and continued to do so even during his McLaren comeback, much to his health "guru" Willi Dungl's horror...

[JB Miltonian]

I seem to remember a pre-race commentary at one of the Detroit Grands Prix, in which American journalist Brock Yates opined that the award for "The Biggest Jerk in All Motoring Racing" unquestionably went to Keke Rosberg.

[KWSN - DSM]

Keke Rosberg was everything I want in a driver, he was very very talented. But most likely not in the mould of a Prost, Senna or Schumacher, his dedication and application was however of the top drawer, I do not think he ever drove a so-so race.

He is my all time favorite.

[Stephen W]

I met Rosberg on several occasions whilst he was driving Chevrons for Fred Opert in F2. He has a great sense of humour, especially when he asked me to help him finish building-up his car!

My memories of him in F1 are many - winning the International Trophy in the pouring rain & setting a banzai qualifying lap at Silverstone in the Williams-Honda are just two. I was a big fan - I even bought the tee-shirt!

[stuartbrs]

I have the 85 - 88 Grand Prix review books written by Nigel Roebuck, does anyone know if there are anymore?

[former champ]

One of the most thrilling Formula 1 drivers I've ever seen, no question.

[Phil Rainford]

That qualifying lap at Silverstone 1985:



Kind regards

Phil

[EcosseF1]

Originally posted by JB Miltonian
I seem to remember a pre-race commentary at one of the Detroit Grands Prix, in which American journalist Brock Yates opined that the award for "The Biggest Jerk in All Motoring Racing" unquestionably went to Keke Rosberg.

Rosberg had a falling out with Carl Haas over a Can-Am contract IIRC. Haas then apparently tried to block him from getting the Williams drive. I wouldn't be surprised If Yates is big buddies with Mr. Haas.

[JacnGille]

Is my memory failin me? I only remember KeKe drivin the Newman-Freeman Can Am Spyders, not Haas Lolas.

[COUGAR508]

Originally posted by stuartbrs
I have the 85 - 88 Grand Prix review books written by Nigel Roebuck, does anyone know if there are anymore?

I have the ones for 1987, 1988 and 1989. I don't think that a 1990 edition was published. Pre-1985, I'm not sure.

[KWSN - DSM]

I was downloading some F1 clips early last year (file sharing they call it).

There was a driver parade, all the drivers are the back of a truck.

Keke was in his yellow (ICI?) driving suit, and stood calmly smoking a cigarette while waving to the crowd.

[David Beard]

Only Keke could spin 360 degrees on the first lap of a street circuit race, not hit anything, and not lose a place!

[weisler]

Keke will always be one of my favorites. One of my first motor sport related memories was watching a tape of Long Beach, 1983 and Keke's opening lap. After seeing that one lap, I was hooked on F1! So was my Dad, but he was lucky enough to be there in person...

The man was truly fearless

[COUGAR508]

Originally posted by weisler
Keke will always be one of my favorites. One of my first motor sport related memories was watching a tape of Long Beach, 1983 and Keke's opening lap. After seeing that one lap, I was hooked on F1! So was my Dad, but he was lucky enough to be there in person...

The man was truly fearless

Keke was probably at his most exciting in 1983. As well as Long Beach, he produced amazing drives at Spa and Monaco.

[bigears]

Originally posted by David Beard
Only Keke could spin 360 degrees on the first lap of a street circuit race, not hit anything, and not lose a place!

An excerpt from the F3000 race at the 1986 Birmingham Superprix from my website:

"...Altfrid Heger as he enjoyed the pleasure of experiencing a double gyration, flat in fifth gear and still missed the Armco barriers! "

Bear in mind, he was aided by Hurricane Charley!

[David Beard]

More cool spin recovery...

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

[David McKinney]

Speaking as one who has experienced a 360 in a car driven by Rosberg, this is making me very nostalgic ;)

[David Beard]

Originally posted by David McKinney
Speaking as one who has experienced a 360 in a car driven by Rosberg, this is making me very nostalgic ;)

Don't be such a tease, David!
Whole story, please...