I remember well how close he was to the championship against Fittipaldi in the early 70's (I was 15 or something, finishing high school...
).
It's funny how 2007 can be compared with that year: the old dominator, Jackie Stewart, had retired and the young promess, Cevert, had died. Of course, it is hard to compare Stewart and his long hair with Schumacher, but, hey, both retired at their peaks after breaking all records...
It was an open championship, with Lauda, the "cold newcomer" competing against the "italian" Regazzoni in the Ferraris (you have to think of Massa and Raikonnen) and both fighting the McLaren of Fittipaldi (Alonso?
), with Jody Scheckter "interspersed" in a Tyrell.
Fittipaldi, who, I have to confess, I was following with all my young heart, won in a terrible race at Long Beach where a german driver (can't remember his name, sorry
) was killed. Regazzoni had an accident before the race and some other drivers were injured in practice, but there were several drivers with a chance for the WDC and he drove with a bruised leg on a replacement car that did not work. These pilots offered their bodies and souls to racing and, sometimes, the consequences in those days were terrible: let's not forget them, nor forget what the current drivers put in the balance at every race.
He was an example for my brother, who is disabled. He was the first driver to get a racing license being disabled, and he wrote "E questioni di cuore" ("It's a matter of heart", or "Es cuestión de corazón" in spanish), a book we read many years ago. He directed a racing school for disabled people and the Club "Clay Regazzoni Onlus". If I read correctly the news, he was dead or perhaps, fade away before he crashed. I wish to think the drove straight into heaven. Ci mancherai, Gian Claudio.
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