José Froilan Gonzalez S’Est Éteint

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Il était le premier pilote a avoir remporté une course en Formule 1 pour Ferrari, en 1951.

Il est décédé ce matin à 90 ans.

 

Le "taureau de la pampa", comme il était surnommé, remporta deux victoires pour Ferrari en Formule 1 : la première pour Ferrari à Silverstone en 1951, puis une seconde toujours sur ce même circuit, en 1954. En 1954 toujours, il remporta les 24 heures du Mans pour Ferrari sur une Ferrari 375 Plus ! Extraordinaire destin.

 

R.I.P. et MERCI !

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L'année dernière avec la montre qui porte son nom :

 

[rastaquouere 86]

On l'appelait aussi El cabezon du fait de sa forte corpulence, mais également du fait de son fort tempérament.

Encore un témoin de la grande histoire de Ferrari qui disparaît.

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A Silverstone en 1951 :

 

 

Avec son autographe :

 

[tifosi101 10 429]

A jamais le premier...

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Un article très intéressant dans lequel il raconte son travail chez Ferrari :

 

http://www.f1aldia.com/12494/silverstone-1951-que-hiciste-pepe/

 

Une petite partie traduite en anglais, où il raconte sa première victoire à Silverstone, qui était sa première course pour Ferrari !

 

The secrets of the Silverstone track

 

The first race I was going to drive for Ferrari under a proper contract would be the Great Britain GP, at the Silverstone track – an old Second World War aerodrome turned into a racing track. I was to travel with the Ferrari team, and before I left Maranello I got a phone call; it was Juan, as in Juan Manuel Fangio:

- Pepe, when do you arrive to England?
- Wednesday morning.
- Good, I’ll wait for you at the track at around five. Come on your own. At the hangar entrance.
- I’ll be there.

And of course there I was. Juan was awaiting for me by an Alfa Romeo truck; when I arrived they were unloading one of their sports car, a two-seater like the one they used for the endurance races, in which Fangio was taking part too.
 

- Get in, we are going for a few laps.

It is well known that Juan always prepared for the races in that way, getting there one day prior to the teams arriving at the track to get to know it and practice at it; what I could not imagine was that this time he would take me as co-driver. And we started doing laps and laps and more laps… Fangio took notice of all details: the bumps, the areas with sand, where the wind was blowing… and he tried different racing lines, different braking and acceleration points, in which turns you could slide and in which ones you couldn’t.. I had never done anything like that, I just got in the car and tried to drive to the finish line as fast as possible. And when he reached a conclusion, he would tell me:

- Maggotts, full throttle, no problem. But stick to the apex. You’ll be able to do so with the Ferrari.
- Did you see the bump in the middle of the hangar straight? Don’t take it.
- Careful at Copse, brake hard when you are at the level of that bush, did you see it ? Then accelerate without fear and let it backslide.
- Here you can overtake; in Abbey you can attack the turn from the middle of the track, there is no need to go to the extreme. You place yourself parallel to the other car and pass it.
 

That was a full lesson, and Juan was a great teacher. I listened to him and tried to remember everything he was saying, as if I were learning the multiplication tables – I think I never made an effort at school like the one I made at Silverstone on that day! When Fangio finished the lesson, we went back to the Alfa Romeo truck. I didn’t know what to say, Alfa Romeo’s number one driver and WDC leader had just explained all the secrets of the Silverstone track to Ferrari’s fourth driver; I remember I clumsily tried to thank him and wish him good luck for the race… Juan replied with his usual laconism:

- Here you guys will win.

I took it as a compliment, not as a forecast; Alfa Romeo had won all the F1 races that had taken place to that date, both the previous year and the current one, except for the Indianapolis 500 Miles, the US GP, in which they did not participate. But Fangio knew what he was talking about, after having studied the track in-depth he was able to detect which car would do better there, because he knew the Ferrari almost as well as he knew the Alfetta. During the Friday practice sessions I tried to remember everything Juan had told me, I tried to take the racing line he took, I remembered the braking and acceleration points and practised the sliding when exiting the turns… everything went as Fangio had told me it would go. On Saturday I got pole, Fangio would start second, Farina third and Ascari fourth; Juan was one of the first ones to congratulate me; he gave me a big hug, and whispered in my ear:

- I told you, Pepe. Here you guys will win.

For years it was discussed whether Fangio helped me on that Wednesday selflessly or because he wanted me to finish ahead of my teammate Ascari, his main rival for the WDC. Whoever defends the second theory does not know Juan; he was incapable of thinking that another driver could help him beat a rival and also he was perfectly aware of the fact that in case of a breakdown Ascari would take my place. Juan helped me for more simple reasons: because I was a rookie who had to earn his seat at Ferrari, because I was Argentinean… and because I was his friend.

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Une autre photo prise à Silverstone en 1951 :

 

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Les images du Grand-Prix de Silverstone de 1951 :

 

[Daytona1967 0]

Le premier à avoir remporter un Grand Prix (comptant pour le Championnat du monde des conducteurs)

 

RiP

[Etienne 2 017]

Bel hommage que ces images du GP de Silverstone. Il auara eu finalement une belle et longue vie, ils sont rares ceux de cette époque à s'en être sortis indemnes...

[speedy 2 546]

Bel hommage que ces images du GP de Silverstone. Il auara eu finalement une belle et longue vie, ils sont rares ceux de cette époque à s'en être sortis indemnes...

 

Le plus âgé des vainqueurs de Grand Prix encore en vie, triple champion du monde des conducteurs, et le seul à avoir remporté le championnat au volant d'une voiture qu'il avait conçue lui-même, et dont il avait également conçu le moteur en partie, est aujourd'hui Jack Brabham, que le gouvernement australien a "classé" l'an dernier comme "trésor national australien"; "Black Jack" aura 87 ans dans quelques semaines.

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Et le plus vieux pilote de Formule 1, et le dernier survivant, désormais, à avoir participé au premier championnat de F1 en 1950, est le marseillais Robert Manzon !

[dragon1964 7 173]

De véritables aventuriers et pionniers que ces pilotes de ces années là !!!

 

Comme le dit Etienne, rares sont "ceux de cette époque à s'en être sortis indemnes..." et "il aura eu une belle et longue vie"

 

Requiescat in pace....
 

[The Strad 10]

Quelle triste nouvelle.

Un après l'autre, ils nous quittent...

Mais après une rencontre il y a un mois avec un groupe de Ferrarist(i) (ou a?) à Maranello, il y a beaucoup d'espoir que le mythe Ferrari ne s'éteindra jamais!

Ciao,

 

Otto