paraphrasing from memory: interview w/ Tazio Nuvolari reporter: "how can you bear getting into a race car when you know you might be killed in it?" Nuvolari: "how do you want to die?" reporter: "asleep in my bed" Nuvolari: "so how can you bear getting into bed at night?"
Vince Lombardi, although not a racer, once said "...winning isn't everything, it is the only thing..."
In 1956 while at Ferrari, Juan Fangio was at the early season races in Argentina. Ferrari had brought an extra car for a local hot-shoe to run. Fangio was of coarse from Argentina and was a 3 time World Champ at that point.... clearly the class of the field. Fangio had practiced and set a good time. Satisfied with the time and car, Fangio came in to the pits done for the day (race on following day). The young guy, driving an identical car, could not get within 5-6 seconds of Fangios time, no matter what he tried or how hard he pushed. The young guy had the mechanics tweak a few things, he tried different lines and he discussed the problem with some other drivers. Nothing he tried worked, he could not understand how he could be so far off the pace. Fangio had been quietly watching all of this. Finally the young guy went up to Fangio, and humbly asked him: "what am I doing wrong? How are you managing to lap so much faster?". Fangio looked at him and allowed a long moment of thought to pass. Then, quietly he looked at the youngster and said: "less brakes........ more throttle". Then he walked away. So.... the next time your at the track and not going as fast as you thought.... less brakes..... more throttle!
"Stock Cars, Indy Cars, School Buses-and that would be a heck of a place for a School Bus race- no matter what they run there, it's going to be big." Kyle Petty describing Indianapolis. Announcer: "What hurts most after a race?" NASCAR's Jimmy Johnson: "It depends on what you hit."
Here is one I've stolen from car owner Robert Yates to use at work: "It's amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares about who gets the credit."
The way I heard this story, The youngster was complaining that the team was giving better car to Fangio than to him, the team thought that they were actually giving him more service than Fangio. Fangio was already on the pole some 3/4 of a second faster than any rival car. Fangio took the truculent car out (completely againgst team orders) and proceeded to drop his pole position by 0.5 seconds on the second lap. When he got back to the pits, the youngster ask what did you do to make it run so fast? Fangio: More gas....less brakes.
Mitch..... Ive actually heard the story both ways. The version I posted is close to how I remember it from Fangios autobiography, but I have read your version in magazines as well. Either way..... lesson from the master. I still hold JFM as the greatest driver of all time. Schumacher is indeed impressive, but his penalty for making a mistake is usually pretty mild. That reality puts driving into a whole different perspective. When Fangio drove cars like the 250F at places like the old Nurburgring.... the penalty for error was all too often fiery death. During his european career 1949 - 1958 there were 38 drivers killed in top level races. Looking at photos from the period, its amazing how many of the drivers in any given photo ended badly. Fangio won his 5th world championship when he was 48 years old. Amazing. Terry
ok, this is probably cheating a bit or something, but there were a few enzo quotes that guys came up with before that i thought were pretty interesting. http://www.ferrarichat.com/discus/messages/251280/321367.html
Two quotes from Graham Hill- both of which I witnessed on television. During his first outing at Indianapolis (1966 approximately - his rookie year. This event may have been a year or so later), he was involved in a rather severe shunt against the wall during practice (If I recall correctly - he won the race). The excellent camera work followed the car disintegrating and scraping against the wall, with sparks flying. During the accident, the camera zoomed in on the helmet of Graham, and when the car came to a rest there was absolutely no movement. The camera stayed on him for approximately 20 seconds when all of a sudden he lifted his head, unhooked the steering wheel from the column, and undid his belts, and began to get out. Later, in the pits, the television interviewer asked Graham about the shunt, and questioned him why it took so long for him to get out of the car. "Graham, weren't you worried about fire? Most drivers are getting out as soon as they can? What took you so long?" "Well, when one is involved in a motor racing accident, and one hears tremendous noise and crashing and smell of rubber and fuel, one must be very careful, for the silence at the end can be tricky. It may mean that you're airborne." The second quote was during LeMans, circa 1966, when the camera caught the exciting standing start, with the drivers running across the track to jump into their cars. During this event, the camera caught Graham slowly walking to his car (while all the others were sprinting). The interviewer, during one of his driving breaks, questioned why he walked rather than run to his car during the start. "Didn't you want to get out ahead?" Paraphrasing Hills reply. "I find that the sprint to the car can be troublesome. I find that during the confusion it is easy to put my foot through the steering wheel, or strap my safety harness on incorrectly, or knock the gear lever off, or hit a switch. What's the rush? It's a 24 hour race." Here is a good collection: http://www.lugnutsracing.com/quotes.html Jim S.
I once read, somewhere, a reporter discussing his encounter with Enzo. I don't recall all the details. He had spent several days interviewing the entire F1 team around a track somewhere, back in the 60's or early 70's. At the end, as the reporter tells it, Enzo pointed to the spare car and said, "you drive". So the reporter gets suited up and very carefully takes the car around the track. Pulling back into the pits, he sees Enzo glaring at him. Enzo walks over and says, "No. You drive! I don't know how true the story is, but I've never forgotten that line. If you're going to drive, then you drive. That sounds like a saying running around club rally during the RWD '70s: "If you're pointed where you're headed, you're going too slow." .
Heres one I got the pleasure of hearing when accompanying my freind. I think he made it up on the spot during the run. "If you're not breaking traction, you're not going fast enough"
Read many years ago in an interview about the Monaco GP qualifying: A non English speaking driver tried to express that his tires picked up too much rubber on the tarmac and that slowed him down. Here is what he said: "On the way up to the casino I picked up too many condoms." True story.
There was one race where Emerson Fittapaldi didn't do so hot. He may even have crashed - I don't quite remember. But I sure remember his quote on the interview afterwards. The reporter asked him "Emerson - what happened out there?" His reply - "All day long my Goodyear tires is $h!t" Bet the suits loved that one
Alan Jones was being interviewed by Mark Thatcher on television after a Grand Prix race when he was asked if the tires played an important role in his race win. "Of course they did", he said. "Without them, the wheels would be touching the ground!"
