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The Cap
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Three-time F1 World Champion Nelson Piquet won two of his championships for Brabham in 1981 and 1983.
Featured Editorials & ContentRacecar ArticlesRacecar Features

The Cap

 Robert Newman

By the time I was easing myself into the front passenger seat of the BMW 735 parked on the straight of a deserted Jarama circuit about 25 miles from Madrid, Spain, my driver had won two Formula One World Championships and 13 Grands Prix. Afterwards, he went on to win a third world title and another nine GPs; not bad for a boy from Brazil who first competed under the pseudonym Nelson Pique—which stuck—to keep his motor racing aspirations from his parents, who had a completely different career in mind for him.

It was late January 1985, and Pirelli had chosen Jarama as the location for the international press launch of a pair of its new ultra-low–profile car tires a couple of months on. We were at the track to shoot a film of the new tires in action, to be shown at the launch; the movie’s testimonial was to be my driver, none other than the Formula One ace they called lo zingaro (“the Gypsy” in Italian), Nelson Piquet, alias Nelson Suoto Maior. Which is why I was sitting there with my heart in my mouth listening to the big BMW’s engine innocently ticking over. My problem was that Nelson was annoyed, and it was my fault.

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Robert Newman
Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.
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