In François Cevert's biography, there is a strange, and apparently genuine, story.One day in 1966, a clairvoyant predicted, among other events, to his wife at that time, that he would not live until his thirtieth year.
Those unfamiliar with motorsport might well mistake him for a movie star seeing his photos or watching his videos.François
Cevert had everything going for him, fate smiled on him, or at least
that's what everyone had the impression of… until that fatal day in
October 1973, or on the circuit where he won his firstand only victory in Formula two years earlier, he found a tragic end, when he was just 29 years old ...
Left
too early like many adored heroes who have lived to the full, Cevert
did not however correspond to the archetype of the young daredevil who
burns his life at both ends.On the contrary...
Among the noisiest racing cars, the Mazda 787B tops the rankings.It is also the only Japanese car to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the Group C decade. Japan automotive industry will have to wait 27 years after that victory to win again the most prestigious endurance race.
The Mazda 787B is powered by a 2.6-liter Wankel Rotary engine which consists of a triangular piston rotating inside a crankcase, delivering 700 horsepower and a strident scream that attracts fans like magnet especially on the long Le Mans straights.
It looks like F1 made a radical deal with the Sicilian-French driver Jean Alesi:
Grand Prix victories will be denied him forever... but in return he
will have the incredible and unlikely privilege of winning the Canadian
Grand Prix on Gilles Villeneuve circuit driving a N° 27 Ferrari... and it will happen on his birthday! Incredible!
Being a popular, courageous and spectacular Ferrari driver, winning only
one Grand Prix in his entire F1 career, that of Canada on the Gilles
Villeneuve racing track at the wheel of a Ferrari #27... no other race
driver could better pay tribute to the late Canadian driver Gilles
Villeneuve and claim to have as deep a link with his memory as Jean
Alesi.
Maybe Jean d'Avignon made a big mistake joigning Ferrari in 1991 rather than Williams-Renault, but I don't know if he thinks his unique Montreal win was worth the price...
Thanks to the film "Ford Vs Ferrari", many people, including those outside the sphere of car and racing enthusiasts, now know that Ford's history at Le Mans is above all one of challenge, that of beat Ferrari and prove that Ford can also produce powerful and fast cars.
After 2 unsuccessful attempts, Ford began to dominate the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1966 until 1969!
Prior to wearing Gulf liveries, the Ford GT40 displayed simple decoration patterns characterized by a single color and a double stripe down the middle. It was the mark of a legend and the sign of the end of an era and the beginning of another, where the logos of the sponsors would begin to cover the racing cars until they became part of their identity.
Long before decorating the sides of the Porsche 917, the sky blue and orange colours of Gulf Oil company built its legend in motorsport thanks first to its association with the Ford GT40 of the John Wyer team. Success at Le Mans, and everywhere else in endurance racing, forged the popularity of the colors of the Texan company in racing, before Steve McQueen continued to popularize them on the Porsche 917s through his famous Le Mansfilm.
Gulf-stamped products are in great demand today by collectors and all fans of motorsport merchandise. Those commemorating the Gulf & Ford GT40 association are still the most sought after and the most popular.
Long associated with Gulf Oil company orange and light blue colours, the Porsche 917 is also famous for having sported the stripes of Martini racingwith which it reaped several great successes.
The Martini designers were certainly more creative than their counterparts at Gulf.A variety of liveries in the colors of the Italian sponsor decorated the impressive German cars with some original aesthetic choices such as the psychedelic 917 (or hippie).
Launched in 1976, then in 1978 in a more powerfull version, the Porsche 935 was built on a 911 basis.
Because of its whale look, its elongated stern topped with an impressive rear wing, its wide bodywork and white dress, it was nicknamed Moby Dick.
In its 935/78 version, it only had a 4-speed gearbox. A 5-speed gearbox would not have withstood the high torque of the car.
The ultimate 1978 Porsche 935Moby Dick is intimidating both in looks and mechanics. With its tubular chassis, its water-cooled 6-cylinder boosted by 2 turbos delivered 850 horsepower, it was the scarecrow of the tracks including against prototypes such as Alpine-Renault and Porsche 936.
It was the fastest car of the 24h of 1978 Le Mans 24Hrs reaching 367 km/h on the Hunaudières (Mulsanne straight), ahead of the Porsche 936 and Alpine-Renault prototypes which had more advanced and fine aerodynamics.
The 935 record and longevity in competition over 10 years have made it a legend most often recognizable through its Martini Racing livery.
Gilles Villeneuve, "Le petit prince" as they call him, was the kind of racing driver who never compromised. No wonder the Tifosi made him such a national hero.Few
people know that he was about to leave Ferrari and that he was about to make some radical changes in his private and nomad life when he died in Belgium on May 1982.
Villeneuve
was seriously considering creating his own team.A
path that might well have brought him to a dead end as it was later for his
son Jacques with BAR-Honda. What is very likely in my humble opinion is that Gilles would never have become a Formula1 world champion.His pure attacking temperament would have prevented him from reaching this goal. Didier Pironi was already on his way in 1982.
The latter was a calculating driver, very intelligent and reasonable, whom Niki Lauda himself called the "French Lauda".On the other hand there were Lauda in person, Piquet and Prost, 3 strategy giants.Gilles would never have been able to beat them on their field. However, the public - especially Italians - prefer this kind of fearless daredevil
racers to calculators who only think of picking up as many points as possible. But I wonder if the Tifosi would have forgiven him for leaving them for his own team... Now destiny having done its work, Gilles memory will remain more alive than any other driver having raced for the prancing horse.
F1 Gilles Villeneuve Race Suit / Overalls Inspired Canvas
