5 replies to this topic

[DMJC]

Just wondered what others might have to say, particularly Doug Nye, on the subject of what i think was a great natural talent, lost to racing seemingly because he just tired of it? I read somewhere that this Kiwi became a school teacher, but i remember him best in F3 and mostly F2, where i thought he was the fastest driver in that class since Jochen Rindt....of course he also ran in F3000 too. I can't remember but i think he won both the F2 and F3000 Championships??? If that was so, then i would think he was the only driver to do so.

I used to see F2 at every chance i got, my favorite race ( of the whole year infact) was the Easter Monday meeting at Thruxton, where in the seventies, and eighties i experienced every sort of weather from snow to rain to blistering sunshine, over several years attending.

I loved F2, although i only saw the tailend of the 1600cc formula, i always enjoyed the 2000 version. The main reasons i think, were that there was a choice of marques ( I was a particular sucker for the Maurer...in black it was possibly the best looking F2 car of all time!), there were so many, apart from the March, Lotus,Chevron brigade, there were the fabulous Tolemans, the Wheatcroft-Abarth....the Elf, the Pygmee,Martini....etc.etc...then the engines, wow, Ford,BMW,Renault Alpine, Abarth,Ferrari,Honda,Hart and so on.....and it was great to see F1 drivers like Ronnie Peterson take on the up and coming drivers, the Graded system, whereby the F1 driver did not score points was a good idea too, as it meant that having F1 drivers in the races, did not affect the championship points scoring....F2 was fantastic, and went to some brilliant circuits too,such as Albi and Pau, to name a couple, very often, even back then when GP racing seemed to have more RACING to it, F2 would be pressing it's case as the best series around!

Yes, many happy hours spent watching F2, around the country, but going back to my earlier point, what happened to Mike Thackwell? I know he was sort of the youngest driver to run in a GP ( think he qualified but brokedown on the grid in Canada??), but i thought he would go on to be an F1 WCD, i'm sure he had the talent, and he was a genuinely nice all round bloke too!

[Cirrus]

Why not start here....

http://forums.autosp...light=thackwell

[DMJC]

Thanks, i read the thread you pointed me to, very lively too! There was some comment from some about not having heard of him ( points to an F1 obsessed person, as opposed to an enthusiast),and some comment that was made as to his talents.

In my humble opinion, the guy was top draw, no doubt about it and many talented drivers who went on to have great F1 careers, were soundly beaten by MT at his sublime best......he was damn hot in anything with 4 wheels and an engine!

And, regardless of his smoking habits ( probably not much worse than Keke Rosberg's fag habit!), i still regard him as a sad lost talent that Motorsport spurned for reasons unknown.

I'm glad he has found a happy life, and hope he and his family continue to have happiness in whatever they do and wherever they go, and i also think it good that he has a sibling who is a real friend and supporter too!

[Simon Arron]

I worked with Mike for a while in 1984/85 (or at least, part of my job involved having to talk to him in a journalistic capacity). Sometimes he was receptive, amiable and chatty, at others he was a closed book: once you knew the score, though, you swiftly worked out whether or not it was worth pursuing a conversation and acted accordingly.

His car's body language, though, usually spoke volumes: the inaugural FIA F3000 race at Silverstone in 1985 was typical. It was teeming with rain and the works Ralts were several minutes clear of everyone else. Thackwell, leading, persisted in drifting through the chicane, almost every lap, in a gorgeous, opposite-lock arc. No pressure - it was just a guy enjoying himself the way he knew best.

I honestly have no idea how well he might have fared had he been given a proper shot at F1 in decent equipment. A handful of outings for Arrows, Tyrrell and RAM were never going to provide a true barometer, though, and his dad, Ray, told me "the bang on the nut" (his description of the '81 Thruxton F2 mishap) affected Mike more deeply than anybody realised. It's also a pity that his European F2 title was achieved in slightly lopsided circumstances: the Ralt-Hondas of MT and Roberto Moreno won nine of the 11 races and seldom had any meaningful opposition.

Watching Thackwell chucking a car around on his own, however, was never a chore.

[COUGAR508]

Was part of Thackwell's problem that he hung around in F2/F3000 for too long, albeit very successfully, and the F1 team managers thought that a sign of weakness? Maybe because the F1 chances did not come along, he had no choice but to continue in the lower formulae.

Statistically, he must be one of the most successful drivers ever to participate in F3/F2/F3000 in Europe. He also produced some good drives in sportscars.

[DMJC]

You maybe right Cougar, but of course, in those days there were many more F1 Teams, and so many of them were utter rubbish! Having said that, it was also the case that some of the top teams, employed drivers more for the huge sponsor cheques that came with them, than for talent alone! I always thought Mike deserved a proper crack at F1 with a top team, for at least a full year. I think talent will out, and if he could have handled all the b******* of F1, even then, that he would have shown such ability, like Gilles in 1977, that he would have held a top seat, and become at the very least, a regular GP Winner.....my bet would have been on him taking a Championship or two.....but then again, i thought that Johnny Herbert would too, and Brands did for his career.....sadly.

I was also at Silverstone for the opening F3000 series, as you were Simon....and wished Mike had been signed up for F1 instead! However, as always, i was pleased to watch him win, the guy had talent to throw in my book......just as an aside, i have really enjoyed your GP Reports, and infact they ( along with the witty and acerbic team/driver guides in your reports), have been the reason for me buying Motoring News....eh, sorry just showing my age there, again. I bought MN first in 1970, the Monaco GP was front page that week, so i guess it was in May. I stopped buying it regularly,ie every week, around 1992....and after that only bought one once every couple of months...mostly to see if it was getting better! I have stayed with Autosport from 1969, till now, but probably will not after this year, for reasons outlined elsewhere on the Forum, and mostly because i heard Nigel Roebuck was leaving.....it has been bad enough not having his GP reports, ( yours are now the best available,by a very long margin), but if his 5th Column is going too, there's not much point in buying the mag anymore, imho!