The Good Old, Bad Old Days

For me, to think of the important moments in motor racing means to think of the people I knew and had some good times with…and to think of the races. Sometimes these memories are both good and bad, happy and sad.

I remember the days in Argentina at the Temporada F2, which was a good life for us. I spent time with Pedro Rodriguez at the race there, and I was with my wife. Pedro would put his wife in the hotel and tell her to stay there because, “it was dangerous to be out.” Then he would go out…well, there were some stories! Of course, I had been with him at Enna in Sicily for the F2 race, back in 1967 in that car with the wooden chassis (the Protos, VRJ Racecar Profile Nov. 2001). We were on the grid together and we were running too close in the curves. Enna is so fast and flat that the cars get very close. It’s like a tunnel and we were all in this tunnel. Then I remember our wheels were touching together and he spun, very hard, into the guard rails, and the car flew to pieces…literally. He ended up in hospital and I was very angry with myself. When something like that happens – you know it might happen – but still you are upset by it. I felt a sense of responsibility and went to the hospital to see him. He said to me he thought it wouldn’t be long before he could come back and “bang wheels” with me. There was only a small problem with his foot, but that meant he couldn’t chase the nurses!