Sunday March 30, 1980 in Long Beach, West United States GP: on lap 51, Clay Regazzoni, fighting for 4th place after starting from the last starting line, suffered a brake failure at 290 km / h. The Ticino crashed into a broken down car before crashing into the protective walls. His F1 career came to an abrupt end.
Clay Regazzoni, then 40 years old, was competing in a modest Ensign-Ford for the 132nd GP of a career started in 1970. The accident, at the end of the straight line of Shoreline Drive on which the racing cars are close to 300 km / h , is appalling. He tells it in a book called “Clay Regazzoni: the fight”, published in 1982.
“When, with my right foot, I stepped on the brake pedal, it did not oppose any resistance, whereas after a few millimeters, it should have been hard”, he remembers.
The Swiss pilot first struck the Brabham of Riccardo Zunino, abandoned in the loophole, before going head-on with a full-face crash into a protective wall made of concrete blocks. [Photopress-archiv Str – Keystone]
The list of injuries is long: broken left leg, sunken rib cage, concussion and, unfortunately, serious spinal injury. The 12th vertebra is broken. Regazzoni will no longer work.
Doctors send “Rega” to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach. Ticino will lose consciousness and not wake up until long hours after an emergency operation. [Keystone]
ats / bao
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Always the virus
If anyone thought that this accident would put an end to Switzerland’s passion for motor racing, he was wrong all the way! Regazzoni, with specially equipped vehicles, with controls on the steering wheel, has thus taken part in rally-raids, in particular the Paris-Dakar. He will end these adventures at the dawn of the 2000s, after celebrating his 60th birthday.
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Regazzoni lost his life in 2006 on an Italian highway
The best Swiss F1 driver died on 15.12.06 on a motorway near Parma. His car hit a truck when overtaking before smashing against the crash barrier. The Ticino, who may have felt unwell, had died when help arrived.
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Great freedom of speech
Clay Regazzoni has long commented on the Grands Prix for RAI and TSI, with great freedom of speech. He did not hesitate to criticize the authorities, but also sometimes certain pilots. Especially those who weren’t doing the show, unlike him who was a charismatic pilot and loved by crowds.
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