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Bolton Midnight
23rd September 2008, 11:43
Over 30 years ago since we lost Ronnie at Monza, I was 9 and it was probably the first time I was affected by someone's death.

http://www.wheelsofitaly.com/wiki/images/f/fc/Ronnie_Peterson.jpg

http://www.ronniepeterson.se/index.html

http://www.cronicasf1.com/Contenido/fotos/varias/ronnie_peterson.jpg

http://www.automobiliauk.com/images/ronnie-jps73.jpg

ArrowsFA1
23rd September 2008, 12:01
I had been to my first GP in 1978. That beautiful black & gold JPS Lotus 79 had my attention from the moment I first saw it. According to what I'd read about him Ronnie was not only one of the very quickest drivers, but was also one of the nicest. I had a Corgi model of the Lotus 72 he had once driven, and he lived up the road from me near Marlow so I was a "fan".

I remember being gutted that I didn't get to see much of him at that Brands Hatch race. At least the BBC had begun to show race highlights on TV.

What made his death shocking was although the accident itself was obviously serious, early reports just said badly broken legs. He was hurt, but he'd be ok. My reaction to hearing the news that he'd died was "they've got it wrong". Sadly they hadn't.

A great driver. A lovely man. Never forgotten.

Bolton Midnight
23rd September 2008, 12:16
Remember reading somewhere that he was a useless test driver as he kept on just driving round the problems and still setting quick times, then Mario would try it and say it was awful.

Plus pushing the BMW touring cars so hard they would blow up.

ArrowsFA1
23rd September 2008, 12:25
Remember reading somewhere that he was a useless test driver as he kept on just driving round the problems and still setting quick times...
IIRC Alan Henry says much the same his book "SuperSwede". I'd imagine it drove the likes of Fittipaldi and Andretti nuts that, them having done a lot of work testing the car, Ronnie could just step in and go quicker!

Motorsport (http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/) has an article about Ronnie this month written by Alan Henry. As they say - "No-one had a bad word to say about ‘SuperSwede’, either in or out of a racing car".

Bolton Midnight
23rd September 2008, 13:03
[LEFT]
IIRC Alan Henry says much the same his book "SuperSwede".

Will have to have look out for that book, cheers.

futuretiger9
23rd September 2008, 20:42
IIRC Alan Henry says much the same his book "SuperSwede". I'd imagine it drove the likes of Fittipaldi and Andretti nuts that, them having done a lot of work testing the car, Ronnie could just step in and go quicker!



Motorsport (http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/) has an article about Ronnie this month written by Alan Henry. As they say - "No-one had a bad word to say about ‘SuperSwede’, either in or out of a racing car".


The speed of Ronnie, having done little testing, was certainly a factor in Emerson leaving Lotus for McLaren at the end of '73. That, and also the "team orders" controversy at Monza.

The Alan Henry article in Motorsport is excellent. Henry was a good friend of Ronnie.

ArrowsFA1
23rd September 2008, 21:38
I do wonder how Ronnie's career would have turned out if only...

He had signed to drive for McLaren in 1979 and we know how poor a car the the M28 was. Just as Tyrrell had proved to be such a disappointment for Ronnie, you wonder whether McLaren would have been the same.

Perhaps he would have hung around long enough for the Ron Dennis takeover, and reaped the benefits of the MP4, but I've read elsewhere that there had already been talk of retirement so perhaps Ronnie's career would not have gone on much beyond 1979.

Who knows... :(

futuretiger9
23rd September 2008, 21:50
I presume that Ronnie's motivation for signing for McLaren was the chance to be a team leader, after dutifully obeying team orders with Lotus. Whilst McLaren was entering a lean period, the next couple of seasons were not to prove very fruitful for Team Lotus either...

Despite the success in '78, I wonder how long Ronnie would have tolerated the newer breed of ground-effect cars which followed the Lotus 78 & 79.

wedge
24th September 2008, 01:04
Over 30 years ago since we lost Ronnie at Monza, I was 9 and it was probably the first time I was affected by someone's death.

http://www.wheelsofitaly.com/wiki/images/f/fc/Ronnie_Peterson.jpg

Sorry to hijack the thread but judging by that picture he bares an uncanny resemblance to Captain Slow

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44505000/jpg/_44505377_topgear_416_getty.jpg

futuretiger9
24th September 2008, 21:07
Going back to the controversy at Monza in 1973, it speaks volumes for Ronnie as a person that Emerson Fittipaldi blamed Colin Chapman rather than the Swede for the situation which arose.

In many ways, I feel that 1974 was Ronnie's best season, as he scored three more wins in the ageing Lotus 72, against the might of Ferrari, McLaren, Brabham, Tyrrell etc.

11th October 2008, 10:44
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11th October 2008, 12:04
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He's trolling all over the forum. Someone stop him.

DazzlaF1
12th October 2008, 19:27
I presume that Ronnie's motivation for signing for McLaren was the chance to be a team leader, after dutifully obeying team orders with Lotus. Whilst McLaren was entering a lean period, the next couple of seasons were not to prove very fruitful for Team Lotus either...

Despite the success in '78, I wonder how long Ronnie would have tolerated the newer breed of ground-effect cars which followed the Lotus 78 & 79.

Id rank him alongside the likes of Gilles Villeneuve and Stirling Moss as one of the finest drivers never to win a world title. He so wanted to be a number 1 driver, but its just a huge shame that when he was given the opportunity to be so, it was in uncompetitive machinery.

Ronnie Peterson, another wasted talent

futuretiger9
24th October 2008, 01:01
Ronnie's victory in the March at Monza in 1976 is one of the most overlooked performances of his career. The team finally seemed to get the car sorted at that stage of the season, and Ronnie was running at the front again.

Bolton Midnight
24th October 2008, 11:21
Also 30 years ago we lost Gunnar Nilsson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnar_Nilsson

DazzlaF1
24th October 2008, 23:19
Also 30 years ago we lost Gunnar Nilsson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnar_Nilsson

Another driver very underrated, his career cut short before he even had a proper chance to showcase his talent

futuretiger9
24th October 2008, 23:48
Id rank him alongside the likes of Gilles Villeneuve and Stirling Moss as one of the finest drivers never to win a world title. He so wanted to be a number 1 driver, but its just a huge shame that when he was given the opportunity to be so, it was in uncompetitive machinery.

Ronnie Peterson, another wasted talent

By 1978, Ronnie was really beginning to mature as a driver, and was becoming more the complete package, as opposed to the ultra-quick charger he had previously been characterised as. He no doubt saw the move to McLaren as a continuation of this process.

blito
24th October 2008, 23:52
Id rank him alongside the likes of Gilles Villeneuve and Stirling Moss as one of the finest drivers never to win a world title.

you missed Ukyo Katayama from that list :P

futuretiger9
25th October 2008, 22:12
you missed Ukyo Katayama from that list :P

I would also add Carlos Reutemann to the list of greatest "non champions".

Dickie L'Amour
4th November 2008, 14:55
Carlos Reutemann! Talk about mood swings but that's for another thread!

Ronnie Peterson. A quite fantastic driver with sensational car control and driving style. Just awesome and I am so proud to have been able to see him race in F1, even if only twice, at Silverstone in '77 and Brands Hatch in '78 (as a besotted 7 then 8-year-old).

He thoroughly deserved to be champion in '78 (way quicker than Andretti) but, a man of his word, he bowed to Andretti's number one status (just as Gilles Villeneuve did with Jody Scheckter in '79).

Drivers from a very different era and of a very different class to those we have now.

Tazio
4th November 2008, 20:10
Carlos Reutemann! Talk about mood swings but that's for another thread!

Ronnie Peterson. A quite fantastic driver with sensational car control and driving style. Just awesome and I am so proud to have been able to see him race in F1, even if only twice, at Silverstone in '77 and Brands Hatch in '78 (as a besotted 7 then 8-year-old).

He thoroughly deserved to be champion in '78 (way quicker than Andretti) but, a man of his word, he bowed to Andretti's number one status (just as Gilles Villeneuve did with Jody Scheckter in '79).

Drivers from a very different era and of a very different class to those we have now.Dickie L'Amour
That's not your real name dude! :bandit: