Nigel Roebuck והאם נהגי מרוצים מגלים עניין בהיסטוריה

[דובי מילר]

ספורט מוטורי והיסטוריה, שניים מהנושאים החביבים עליי ביותר והאפשרות לשלב בינהם גרמה לי לשקוע

השנה בלימודי היסטוריה באוניברסיטת בר-אילן (תואר שני למי שמתעניין) כשהיעד בסוף יהיה ספר שיצא בנושא,

אבל זה כבר קשור לסיפור אחר.

מאז שהתחלתי להתעניין בספורט מוטורי השתדלתי לחפור מעט גם בהיסטוריה של הספורט כי איך אפשר לעסוק

בהווה ומבלי לדעת על העבר ? וכמה שיותר יותר טוב.

מהנקודה העולמית של הספורט הדבר לא היווה בעיה, הכל די מרוחק אבל כאן, בישראל הקטנטונת שלספורט

אין עבר כל כך רחוק, כמעט כמו המדינה עצמה , לקחתי חלק חצי מהצד וחוויתי את ההיסטוריה הישראלית ,

לפני כמעט שנתיים פתאום הכל השתנה, ונהגים או אנשים שלקחו חלק ושסיקרתי את פעילותם הפכו לפתע,

כאשר התחלתי לנווט בראלי, לקולגות, ידידים, חברים.

אני לא יודע עד כמה האנשים שלוקחים חלק בספורט המוטורי הישראלי כיום יודעים על העבר של הספורט

המוטורי לעומק אבל זה כבר עניינו של כל אחד מהם .

Nigel Roebuck עצמו נדרש השבוע בשאלה הזו בדיוק.

עד כמה נהגי הפורמולה-1 של היום יודעים או מתעניינים בעבר של הספורט הזה ? בנהגים , מרוצים ועוד

כל מיני פרטים.

 

 

תהנו

דובי

[דובי מילר]

"...I don't think Kimi Raikkonen has any more interest in the sport's history than most of his colleagues, but I can understand why stories of James Hunt might appeal to him - and thus why he would have chosen James's name as a pseudonym under which to race his snowmobile.

 

Consummate party animals, both of them. In a recent powerboat event (which he won, incidentally), Kimi apparently wore a gorilla suit, so, as he is not, as you can see, your standard 2007 F1 driver ...

 

Over the years it's been a source of increasing disappointment to me that so few 'current' racing drivers have the slightest interest in the sport's history and heritage. For the overwhelming majority, their interest in F1 began the day they became involved in it.

 

Years ago, I remember, Michael Schumacher was asked if he had been interested in it during his youth.

 

"No, not really," he replied. "After all, I was involved in karting then..."

 

It was as if he were suggesting that the two were fundamentally different activities, that there was no link, no logical progression from the one to the other. Perhaps, to use a ghastly modern word, he was so 'focused' on karting that nothing beyond it existed.

 

There are innumerable examples of drivers' ignorance of their predecessors in the sport. A few years ago, at a party, a recently retired superstar was introduced to the daughter of one of the greatest drivers of the '70s.

 

"So what's your father doing these days?" he asked her, and there followed what may be termed an uncomfortable silence. Her father had been killed 20 years before.

 

This contempt, or whatever you want to call it, for the past was not always as pronounced as it is these days.

 

When I first became involved in F1, 30 years ago, the first close friend I made was Chris Amon, and one of the reasons we got on so well was that he, like I, had been obsessed with racing since childhood; when he talked of Fangio and Moss, he was simply another besotted fan.

 

Indeed, Chris often said that when he came to F1 in 1963, as a 19-year old, one of his biggest problems initially was that he found himself racing against people who had been his heroes. For a time, he said, it was difficult to persuade himself that he belonged in their company.

 

John Watson was, and is, much the same. We share a particular love of the Grand Prix cars of the '50s, and down the years have spent hours talking about that era. John, like Chris, has a profound knowledge of the sport's history.

 

Mario Andretti - no surprise there! - is the same. As a young boy, growing up in Italy, his hero was Alberto Ascari, whom he saw at the Italian Grand Prix in 1954.

 

"I never met him," Mario says, "but he had a greater influence on my life than anyone else."

 

Another with a profound awareness of the sport's heritage was Ayrton Senna. Once, in Brazil, I saw Juan Manuel Fangio walk up behind him, and tap him on the shoulder. Ayrton, in the middle of a conversation, swung round, clearly annoyed; then he saw who it was, and as he put his arms around the old man, his eyes were full of tears.

 

Fangio was Senna's earthly god, and not merely because both men were from South America. Jo Ramirez, Ayrton's close friend, as well as colleague through the McLaren years, always believed that his ambition was to win five World Championships, as Fangio had done.

 

"I think that then he would have retired," Ramirez said. "He had so much love and respect for Fangio that he wouldn't have wanted to beat his record."

 

Michele Alboreto, too, was a man with a feel for the past. Dressed in 'period' Auto Union overalls, he looked very proud as he posed for photographers at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 1999. Next to him was the 1939 supercharged 3-litre V12 Type D car he was to take up the hill.

 

"Look at me," Michele said. "Dressed like Nuvolari! I tell you, I think I was born 50 years too late. Must have been incredible to be a racing driver in those times.

 

"What I cannot imagine is how it must have been to race cars like this. At the Nurburgring! In the rain! Think of it, no seat belt, no helmet... Since driving this car, I have incredible respect for those people who raced them."

 

In the relatively recent past, there has been, to the best of my knowledge, only one out-and-out enthusiast of the sport, a man: Jean Alesi. For me, Jean always belonged more at the wheel of a Maserati 250F than anything else.

 

If I had to be teamed with two drivers in a motor sport quiz, I'd pick Amon and Watson. If they had to be from today's paddock, I think I'd be a little stuck.