50 replies to this topic

[tyrrellp34]

Any other fans of Patrick Depailler here..???

[Buford]

Originally posted by tyrrellp34
Any other fans of Patrick Depailler here..???

I never particularly was but I recently looked at the tape of the Ronnie Peterson death crash and Partick was the first into the fire with James Hunt right behind. Something definately that should be remembered about him.

[tyrrellp34]

Yes, that’s true. He was very moved after this crash. As you know, Patrick and Ronnie never have been the best friends before. If you can see on the video Patrick is trying to kick off the dashboard of the burning car to remove Peterson. It was the time when Patrick Depailler was almost every day in London to visit Gunnar Nilsson who was suffering on internal cancer. Sweden lost 2 racing drivers within 5 weeks....

[PD_78]

Depailler fan here !!!
I realy dont' know that Patrick did follow so closed Gunnar illness. It's one more fact that define the MAN that Patrick was.
Regards from Portugal.
Paulo

[tyrrellp34]

Great to see you here again, Paulo!!!

[PD_78]

By the way tyrrelp34:

How do you saw 1977's Tyrrel boys season ?
It seems that Patrick was consistently quicker than Ronnie.
For many people in this time Ronnie was the fastest F1 driver...

[tyrrellp34]

I want to mention what Niki Lauda mentioned once. “When Ronnie joined a team the mostly drop down”. And this was also in 1977 with Tyrrell. The biggest difference between the driver Ronnie Peterson and Patrick Depailler was the length and the weight. If Ronnie would be “a stone lighter (or two)” it would be much easier for him. Patrick was very small (jockey) and have had just 57Kg. The other problem was the beginning tyre war between Good year and the new brand in F1 Michelin. Ken wasn’t interested to spend more money to get yet better tyres... Also the designer left Tyrrell after Monza.
By the way.. when Patrick heard that Ronnie sign the contract with Ken in Monza 1976, he called his boss to tell him that he would leave the team. Next to James Hunt, Ronnie Peterson was a big mental problem for Patrick Depailler.

[tyrrellp34]

Words from Patrick Depailler:

“A lot of people hate to test, but I don’t understand. How can they not be pleased just to be in a racing car? And if they are not, why are they doing this?”

“It was one of the most difficult moments of my life telling Ken that I would not continue my work with him. For me, it was like leaving a family.”


“Give me a car that won’t break, and it’s my job to keep it from going off the road.”

“The most beautiful day in my life was in 1967, when I was at home in Clermont-Ferrand, packing my baggage, putting them in the Alpine to go for three years to Alpine in Dieppe as a driving mechanic-pilot.”

“I like circuits where the driver still has a big part to play, even in a poor car. But unfortunately those are the ones that have become very dangerous in this ground effect time. Everything about the ground effect cars is wrong! I think I am courageous, but I am not mad. “

[Kpy]

Originally posted by tyrrellp34
Any other fans of Patrick Depailler here..???

Count me in ..................

You must get this month's Automobile Historique - a 14 page article on the man from Clermont-Ferrand with loads of pictures.

If you have difficulty finding a copy their email address is automobilehistorique@online.fr

[eldougo]

Thanks for reminding us of this great PERSON, he was such a NICE person
with no hang up unlike people in this..... I meet him over the years
both in f2 / f1 he just loved to drive an was dam good at it.

[tyrrellp34]

There are rumours around which says that Patrick Depailler has had a red- green blindness. I think it was his former mechanic Jo Ramirez who mentioned that.

How do you think about it?

[David M. Kane]

To really appreciate Patrick Depailler you have to view the video, "Lap of
the Gods". He is fantastic in the six-wheeler! His car control was scary.
He was a very brave driver.

I was fortunate enough to see him drive the six-wheeler at Watkins Glen
and he was amazing, particularly when it got a little damp.

During practice he had been following Hunt and a piece had come off of Hunt's car, a piece of exhaust or something like that and Patrick approached Hunt with this naughty smile and said in his broken English, "James I know you don't like me, but you don't have to throw things at
me!"

[PD_78]

Originally posted by tyrrellp34
There are rumours around which says that Patrick Depailler has had a red- green blindness. I think it was his former mechanic Jo Ramirez who mentioned that.

How do you think about it?

I remember read in a 70's motorsport newspaper that Patrick suffered color-blindness.

[tyrrellp34]

Another great Depailler story was, when his Tyrrell stopped caused of electrical failure in free practise far away from the pits at the old Nürburgring. After he recognise that “just” a small thing was the reason, he climb over the fence and asked some spectators for tools. He repaired the car by his own hands and went back to the pits.

[2F-001]

To really appreciate Patrick Depailler you have to view the video, "Lap of
the Gods". He is fantastic in the six-wheeler...

I regard Patrick as the most exciting driver of all on ''Lap of the Gods''. The footage of him at Long Beach and in the wet at Montreal are hugely entertaining too - they always raise a 'gasp' or two at our 'beer-and-video' evenings...

[King Nigel]

Patrick was a damned good driver and there's a terrific review of his whole career in the last issue of French magazine Automobile historique. If you can find it ...

[tyrrellp34]

Maybe, I am wrong... but does Nigel Mansell also admire P. Depailler?

[Kpy]

Originally posted by King Nigel
: there's a terrific review of his whole career in the last issue of French magazine Automobile historique. If you can find it ...

You can find it by emailing automobilehistorique@online.fr
They will post worldwide.
Usual disclaimers.

[King Nigel]

For sure he admires those kind of drivers so I'm pretty sure Nigel would have loved to race against him. Unfortunately, he started his first GP a few days after Patrick's fatal accident.

[tyrrellp34]

Very interesting, King Nigel!!

[Jeroen Brink]

Originally posted by tyrrellp34
There are rumours around which says that Patrick Depailler has had a red- green blindness. I think it was his former mechanic Jo Ramirez who mentioned that.

How do you think about it?

Were those colours not dominating his helmets' colour scheme?

Patrick DPJ was a great man: courageous and genuine.

[maxim]

I too have a pleasant recollection of Patrick.
I'll never forget his great victory at Monaco 1978 when IIRC he became the 1st Frenchman to lead the WDC.
Lotus 79 turned up in a short time and his dream faded away.

[FEV]

I'll never forget his great victory at Monaco 1978 when IIRC he became the 1st Frenchman to lead the WDC

I think Jean Behra was the first French to lead it (in 1956 ?). But he was the first French to score a WDC pole in Anderstorp 1974 IIRC. Still a classy drive by Patrick that day - I mean making an 008 win a race !!!
Re the "Automobiles Historiques" I can only add that the latest issue is a muct-have for any Patrick Depailler fan. Nice private pics (on with Loïc is beautiful). The comments do not bring much light and are sometimes odd (like the 1975 Nürburgring sportscar fiasco).

[maxim]

You're right FEV, Jean Behra led 1956 WDC after 2 rounds (10 points) over Fangio (9) and Moss (8).

[Mac Lark]

I well remember the day I got the news of Patrick's accident. My brand new wife and I went out for dinner and I ordered a bottle of French wine in his memory. I still recall it cost $14 which in NZ in 1980 was a lot of money.

He was a great battler - i think a great nostalgia forum topic might be 'Who was the second best ever French racing driver?'

Try and decide between Depallier, Laffite, Cevert, Arnoux, Pironi, Alesi, Behra...

And I haven't even got to Jarier, Jabouille, Tambay, Panis etc etc

[Jeroen Brink]

Speaking of Behra: Patrick was a big fan of him

About his Monaco win: One of the few occasions that everybody in the paddock was happy with the result.

[King Nigel]

'Who was the second best ever French racing driver?' But who's the first ?
Ok, I'm kidding (and i'm French) ...

[FEV]

Originally posted by King Nigel
'Who was the second best ever French racing driver?' But who's the first ?
Ok, I'm kidding

I assume you mean the obvious answer would be Jean-Pierre Wimille

[ensign14]

Originally posted by FEV

I assume you mean the obvious answer would be Jean-Pierre Wimille

Or Georges Boillot? Robert Benoist? Leonce Girardot? Fernand Charron? 'Le Chronometre'? I bet they were quite good in the rain!!

I think you could make a VERY good argument for Boillot or Benoist over Wimille and Prost, but of course Wimille lost his best years to the war

[fines]

BTW, does anyone know what happened to Loïc? He had some respectable results in FRenault in the mid-nineties, but then quickly disappeared. What's he doing now?

[tyrrellp34]

Don't forget Didier Pironi or the great Jean-Pierre Beltoise!

[FEV]

Michael,
About Loïc, there is a short interview of him in the Automobiles Historic feature. He stopped driving now and became a journalist. He worked for a motorcycling mag and is now working for Auto-Plus IIRC. After F.Renault he went racing GTs in Canada alongside Bruno Laffite and was also linked with "Raël" the guy who thinks he is a reincarnation of Jesus Christ and who, when he is not trying to race cars, is the guru of one of the most ridiculous religious sects around. Loïc's last races were during a partial GT2 schedule in ALMS or GrandAm in 1999.

Or Georges Boillot? Robert Benoist? Leonce Girardot? Fernand Charron? 'Le Chronometre'? I bet they were quite good in the rain!!

And Louis Wagner, Louis Chiron, Victor Hémery, Jules Goux Prost would be happy to be in the top 10 in my book And if we consider that "best driver" does not mean "best Grand Prix driver", than Jean-Luc Thérier, Jean Rolland or Bob Wollek would put the "professor" several spots back

[tyrrellp34]

Loïc Depailler was also driving the Mosler Raptor into the North American Road Racing series together with J. Babosa. He drove lap record at Lime Rock and was Vice champion in the same year. I regret a lot that he retire from racing!!! A funny guy with a lot of determination!!!;)

[karlth]

Originally posted by King Nigel
'Who was the second best ever French racing driver?'

For fans of British comedy there is an Alan Partridge(Knowing me knowing you) sketch somewhere on the web where he interviews "France's second best racing driver".

"You are nearly at the top of your profession, how do you cope with the pressure?"

[ensign14]

Aha!!!! "My next guest is the pits!" It was Michel Lambert!

"So, Michel, when you're driving along, do you ever think 'Sacre bleu, I've forgotten to set the video for "Top Gear"'?"

[tyrrellp34]

Who knows the surname of Patrick’s girl friend Valerie?

[tyrrellp34]

Does anybody know more about the motorcycle races from Patrick Depailler 1962-1966 when he was with Norton and Bultaco??????

[tyrrellp34]

By the way.. Loïc Depailler was also on the Grid in 1994 or 1995 for Philippe Streiff’s elf master karting at Paris Bercy. He replaced P. Martini which was heart in practise. Unfortunately Loïc was out after 3 corners after crashing with another driver.

[Leif Snellman]

While I'll not call myself a Depailler fan I'll always remember him for his impressive start in the 1978 Monaco GP.

[fines]

Originally posted by tyrrellp34
Does anybody know more about the motorcycle races from Patrick Depailler 1962-1966 when he was with Norton and Bultaco??????

He certainly wasn't a works rider for Norton, and probably not for Bultaco - at least I can't recall that! Remember, in those days everybody could buy a Norton Manx and go Grand Prix racing.

[tyrrellp34]

Yes, but Patrick Depailler also was French national motorcycle champion in 1963 with 50cc Norton and in 1966 with his 250cc Bultaco. The Bultaco was a really hot bike at that time. After the accident of Jean-Pierre Beltoise in Reims 1964, it was impossible for J-P Beltoise to race motorcycle races for some moth. This was the chance for Depailler who lent the Beltoise Bultaco from Jean-Pierre. Both has met each other for the first time in Mothlery, Paris when Patrick won a race with his Norton bike in heavy rain, which impressed the spectator Beltoise very much.
Later, when Patrick was a Grand Prix star he bought the most worst huge and overpowered motorcycle, the 6 Cylinder (Flat) Benelli, which was the Suzuki Hayabusha from that period of time.

[fines]

50cc Norton???

[tyrrellp34]

Sorry, Benelli 50cc of course!!! ==> Thank's Marius for clarification!!

[Depa]

tyrrellp34

Also I am myself a fans of Patrick, in these years I have tried to collect given but they are not complete for that extraordinary and infinite history of the Patrick life.

[marhal]

I am not a Depailler´s fan, but I remembered him as a good driver, a genuine one, miles away of the actual nerd drivers....................

And I admire France as the birthplace of wonderful drivers..........Wimille, Behra, Trintignant, Cevert, Depailler, Laffitte, etc.......................

[tyrrellp34]

Where was Behra born??

[Patrick Italiano]

A friend of mine provided a bit of space to upload scanned pictures, and I happened to find this pic in an old Autosprint.
The drawing had been made by a mechanic at the Imola boxes when it was made official that Depailler would drive for Alfa Romeo in 1980.

[MarkWRX]

I was generally a fan of just about any driver who drove for Tyrrell. I remember watching a documentary on Ken Tyrrell last year, on Speed Vision, and he was talking about the past and some of his favorite drivers and cars. At one point, he stopped talking and his eyes watered up and he said "...and then we lost Patrick." His wife was in the scene too and she heaved a big sigh and also started to tear up.

I just remember him as charming man, with a great sense of humor (something that F1 generally lacks today) and, of course, as a very good driver.

Mark

[damamaho]

In his biography "LA COURSE EST UN COMBAT" there's a beautiful picture of him during the FRENCH GP (moto) 1966 on his 250 cc Bultaco. He tells about the Motoraces in a chapter. At the same time he followed race courses and raced a Lotus Super Seven. His first race was in this car in 1964.
But, to me, Patrick was the guy who always wanted to sit in a racing car and drive!
DAMAMAHO.
www.asag.sk/danny.htm

[tyrrellp34]

Originally posted by MarkWRX
I was generally a fan of just about any driver who drove for Tyrrell. I remember watching a documentary on Ken Tyrrell last year, on Speed Vision, and he was talking about the past and some of his favorite drivers and cars. At one point, he stopped talking and his eyes watered up and he said "...and then we lost Patrick." His wife was in the scene too and she heaved a big sigh and also started to tear up.

I just remember him as charming man, with a great sense of humor (something that F1 generally lacks today) and, of course, as a very good driver.

Mark

Where can I find that Tyrrell documentary?