Commemorating Jochen Rindt

Gerard · 6 Sep 2000, 21:05 (Ref:35412)

Today, the 6th of September is the 30th anniversary of Jochen Rindt's death.
He died during a practice session for the 1970 Italian GP as a result of a brake failure at the Parabolica corner.

Niki Lauda spoke at a commemoration and said: 'Jochen led the way for us and proved that an Austrian could make it in a sport which at that time was dominated primarily by Brits and Italians. He opened the door into F1 for us. He was also an idol.'

In an interview shortly before his death, Rindt was quoted as saying: 'My biggest worry is that something should break on the car. I know I'm good enough not to make a mistake.'

Bernie Ecclestone was especially devastated by Rindt's death and a journalist was quoted as saying: 'I don't remember ever again having seen Bernie as devastated as he was after Rindt's death. They were close friends.'

Jochen Rindt is the only Formula One driver who became the first and to date, thankfully, only posthumous World Champion.

Roy2 · 7 Sep 2000, 02:16 (Ref:35483)

That deserves a minute's silence.
Thanks

**gomick** · 7 Sep 2000, 02:44 (Ref:35486)

i am in agreeance......

**Bononi** · 7 Sep 2000, 10:32 (Ref:35511)

I always had mythical view of Rindt. I just started watching F1, in the end of 71... and I remember how they spoke about the posthumous champion, like a driver who will never be beaten.

Schume · 7 Sep 2000, 10:34 (Ref:35512)

I never realised it has been 30 years since Jochen Rindt died.

These sites have some history and stuff about him.

http://www.uic.edu/~wap/Jochen.html

http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/rindt_bio.htm

Hans.ca · 7 Sep 2000, 14:28 (Ref:35541)

I covered the Austrian GP at Zeltweg (The race prior to his death) can't remember who won but Jochen was still sitting on top of the pit roof signing autographs for his Austrian fans 2 hours after the race was finished.
One fine gentlemen he was and to the Austrian he was a God.

Devlin · 8 Sep 2000, 07:52 (Ref:35687)

May he rest in peace. As that song says "Only The Good Die Young..."

TimD · 8 Sep 2000, 09:59 (Ref:35700)

Bononi has it right. I was too young to remember Jochen Rindt as a current driver, and so he gained a mythical quality for me.

Jackie Stewart rated him as THE most difficult opponent to beat, and a real tiger of a driver. But also as a man who was not in love with motor racing to the exclusion of everything else. To Jackie, Jochen was a man who would have retired early, and found something equally absorbing to do. If he had only been given the chance.

One other thing that strikes me. Jochen Rindt was one of the last of that circle of drivers who would race ANYTHING. The day before a GP, he would be seen in the Formula 2 or Formula 3 support race. The following week he might be in a touring car or a sports GT, giving the car every bit the effort that he did with his Formula 1.

They don't make them like that any more.

Dino IV · 8 Sep 2000, 10:46 (Ref:35711)

Unfortunately they don't, indeed, TimD.

Thoroughbred & Classic Cars magazine features a great Rindt memorial-artical in this month's issue.
The dramatic 1969 Montjuich Grand Prix is covered for instance where the wings on the Lotusses where at their biggest on those tiny stalks. Rindt flew to pole, Hill third. "Just after S/F at Montjuich there was a crest where the cars went light before a swoop down to a left-hand hairpin. Hill was the first to go on lap nine when a wing strut collapsed on the crest and he rolled end-over-end. Rindt's wing lasted 11 more laps before one of his wing struts collapsed in the same place in an even bigger accident. He climbed the guardrail for an instant then the cars was flung to the right, slammed into Hill's wreckage, flipped and slid along the track upside down. Hill had been checking over his wrecked Lotus and now helped to extricate his team-mate. Rindt had a broken jaw, a broken nose and a concussion. He was hospitalised for a week."
After a discussion with Ecclestone as Rindt felt Graham should have warned him for the defectuous wing and Chapman should have called him in, Rindt wrote a letter to Chapman before the next event, the 1969 Monaco Grand Prix:
"I have been racing F1 for five years and have made one mistake (I rammed Amon in Clermont Ferrand) and I've had one accident in Zandvoort due to gear selection trouble ... Honestley your cars are so quick that we would still be competitive with a few extra pounds to make the weakest parts stronger ... I can only drive a car in which I have some confidence and feel the point of no confidence is quite near"

And that was probably a big understatement ...

EERO · 9 Sep 2000, 02:54 (Ref:35901)

Terrific quote Dino,
Like Bonomi, I became a fan during the '71 season; photos os Hill's and Rindt's crashes in Spain were recent history that was as dim as the distant past for me. Jackie Stewart's memories of Rindt in "Faster" are one of the saddest tributes to a friend's passing that I have ever read.
I wish I had had the opportunity to have seen Jochen Rindt race, i understand that he was magic in a car.

Dino IV · 11 Sep 2000, 19:58 (Ref:36539)

Really remarkable, EERO, the way you put that. I guess there are hurds of younger fans outthere who feel the same about Senna and inbetween that probably for Peterson and Villeneuve.

Can anyone explain - bearing Monza in mind a bit - how much influence the drivers themselves felt from Rindt's death. It seems that Senna's reaches extremely far and still rules emotions today, but how was that back then? Who claimed Rindt as their idol? Was he memorized at certain victories by certain drivers? How far did he or other drivers reach within the very select group of Grand Prix drivers?

SL · 11 Sep 2000, 20:27 (Ref:36546)

Dino,

I'm not that sure as I was not all that old, but I did have a good interest in racing, mainly due to my dad taking me to a lot of races. I certainly recall some naughty words when the TV GP coverage was interupted for 1/2 an hour or so by a scene from a waterlogged Lords.

I do recall a lot of respect for Clark, he had died not long before. Comparisons such as the Senna one today were often made.

There was also a lot of other respected drivers still competing like Hill, Amon, Beltoise, Brabham, Gurney, Hulme, Ickx, McLaren, Siffert. All were well regarded and still fast. However the new boys like Fittipaldi, Peterson, Lauda & Stewart were starting to come to the fore.

I do recall the death of Rindt as I was a Brands & in the slow traffic jam home as it was announced on the radio. There was shocked faces all around. With Clark's and Siffert's death it is one the few I can still recall from that age.

SL