“[…] F1 grew up in the myth of large “detachers”. And here I wander, but without changing the subject, namely Gilles Villeneuve. Who, the year before Dijon, had discovered that there was a small group of carbonari who went on time to see who was braking next in the most demanding corners of the world championship. At first he investigated pretending nothing had happened, then one day in Zolder he came out into the open with Eugenio Zigliotto – signature of “Rombo”, “Tuttosport” and a thousand other newspapers, colleague of unrivaled automotive culture – and with me: “I saw you at the outside the first corner: did I take off later or Peterson? ”. Thus began a very confidential relationship on the subject: with Zigliotto we joked every now and then, but Gilles much less, because braking further on gave him an orgasm that surpassed that of victory. And here I want to tell about a Saturday, on the eve of the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, a circuit made famous by the fascinating and very demanding “Tarzan” corner, the first after the finish line where you arrive at full speed and once – I don’t know now – it had no escape spaces.
The premise is that Gilles knew that there was only one other driver with the thrilling braking in his pocket: Ronnie Peterson.
In fact, she only asked for him. And he did it with us too, after the Saturday morning rehearsals: “Where does Ronnie off?”. Zigliotto and I looked at each other and, like criminals, we said: “Ten meters after you …”. Gilles thought about it for a moment and replied: “It seems a bit strange to me, very strange indeed. But try and see what I will do in the first laps of qualifying in the afternoon… ”.
As soon as Gilles turned away, Eugenio and I burst out laughing. It wasn’t true at all, it was Villeneuve who broke beyond Peterson’s limit. The others were kicking up a lot, a lot before: they seemed to be doing a different sport. Rehearsals in the afternoon began, we went to position ourselves and Gilles, after a warm-up lap, performed in what we would never have imagined: braking beyond all human limits, entering the Tarzan with the Ferrari all sideways. A prodigy linked only to madness, without any practical sense because disconnecting late did not automatically mean setting a great lap time, if anything, the opposite was often the case. But Villeneuve with that gesture wanted to reiterate who was the most determined driver on the track.
And who was also the bravest, the most indomitable, the craziest. We found him at the end of qualifying and he, as a challenge, immediately fired: “Did you see? And don’t tell me that Ronnie brakes further than me, because nobody beats me when braking ”. Then he finally broke into a broad smile and put his index finger on his right temple, as if to say: “I’m crazy.” We knew it. No mention of his position in qualifying, it was a marginal fact …
Gilles was this. And even the Formula 1 of his years was another thing. […]. “
Adapted from Machina.2 – “Gilles Villeneuve”
#Pills #Ronnie #FormulaPassionit