A juicy lecture (on James Hunt)

[fausto cedros]

I don't think he meant this.
in Italy, motorsport has two myths:Tazio Nuvolari ad Gilles Villeneuve. Both lightyears distant from the likes of Fangio or Schumacher. There is some sort of resemblance with the fascination that Ciro wanted to refer to, in my opinion.I understand it very well when he talks about the song.The same song as the "violinist Jones",perhaps.
And, after all, is there anyone who loves motorsport and hasn't ever been fascinated in the same sense by, say, Portago? And do we Judge Portago or Eddie Nelson on their playboy lives? No. We simply feel we would have loved to have our share of that golden age of racing.

[lolzi]

I don't think he meant this.
in Italy, motorsport has two myths:Tazio Nuvolari ad Gilles Villeneuve. Both lightyears distant from the likes of Fangio or Schumacher. There is some sort of resemblance with the fascination that Ciro wanted to refer to, in my opinion.I understand it very well when he talks about the song.The same song as the "violinist Jones",perhaps.
And, after all, is there anyone who loves motorsport and hasn't ever been fascinated in the same sense by, say, Portago? And do we Judge Portago or Eddie Nelson on their playboy lives? No. We simply feel we would have loved to have our share of that golden age of racing.

I can't help but notice that both of you have names which sound very exotic to someone (me) from Denmark. I think there must be some cultural difference, because I have no clue what you are talking about when you are talking about this song(?) and the fascination with people who live like that.

[mx_tifoso]

Lolzi knows what he's talking about. Hunt is a shameful image for F1 or anything at all, society would be even worse off with more people like him at the forefront. Glorification of that lifestyle is unpositive.

[feynman]

When throwing around adjectives like 'shameful', you always want to make clear that it is just your opinion, and not actually a fact.

Trying and failing to imagine the sterile, conformist, colourless world without characters like Hunt. These guys live on the edge of the envelope just so that that the rest of us can continue "on the rails" without topping ourselves out of sheer boredom.

We crave Peter Cooks, Wilt Chamberlains, George Bests, Hunter Thompsons, James Hunts ... even if just for the perverse puritanical pleasure of sanctimonius tut-tutting at their escapades.

I think the problem is that through a dope haze, banging models three and four at a time, doing rails of coke of their tits, turning up for work hung-over and probably with a dose ... he goes out and wins a world championship. That must be *real* annoying for those sitting on the internet stone-cold sober, straight-edge, and utterly anonymous. History remembers those that take life by the scruff of the neck, those too parsimonious and timid are rightfully forgotten.

You want shameful, try champions that have contracts explicitly refusing rivals a race seat beside you, champions deliberately crashing into rivals to take titles, champions blackmailing teams, or worse, a bland interchangable collection of media-friendly, safe, corporate drones ... that shames the sport much more than a guy having some mostly harmless fun between races.

"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very brightly..."

[Ciro Pabón]

That all sounds very poetic. So you admire a man who cheated on his wife and did drugs all the time. Oh yes, he was so admirable.

Sure. I admire many people, true geniuses, with a less than commendable personal life. I guess you don't read Wilde's plays because he was a cheater and corrupted young people, you despise Simenon because he frequented prostitutes, you don't watch Pollocks work because he was an alcoholic and manic depressive.

I guess, dear lolzi, that the previous argument is empty for you. So this one should work: "let the ones without sin throw the first stone".

Only Catholics will get this one: after Jesus said that, a stone flies and whack the sinner woman in the middle of her head. Jesus turns and says: "Mother, I was trying to make a point"...

My point is this: some of us (how few!) admire drivers for his driving, not for the fidelity they might have toward their wives. We also admire people with frank, open souls. Oh, and poetic ones, too...

The qualities you envy in other drivers (different from Mr. Hunt) are the ones that corporations use to lure young, naive persons into personal admiration of drivers that, while this forum was under my moderation, were ridiculed intentionally, by creating thread like the almost famous "Fan Boy Ying-Yang". Do not play into their hands: geniuses are rarely normal persons. That's the point of being one. Hypocrites, on the other hand, are a dime the dozen in these days's grid.

Sigh. Some people seems to learn nothing from the lives of "perfect athletes" like Bonds or Woods... Wake up, lolzi: perfection is inhuman. In the end, all athletes earn millions from children games, games taken to the extreme by corporations that want your money. This comes from the insidious and continuous use of advertising. Period.

So, in this sorry landscape, people like James Hunt, stoned, fvcked before the race and smoking like a chimney, but frank, sincere, careless and free, are sorely missed by some of us (at least, by me). They are a pain in the ass for the advertising industry, as a minimum, and thus, they deserve the admiration of those opposed to mind benders.

If that's not clear enough, say something...

[RH1300S]

I just had to smile when I read that article - I am always going to cheer when I hear tales like that. Of course, I wouldn't live my life like that (or even want to!).

Hunt was probably always destined to do something extreme and dangerous, he just happened to become a racing driver. His need for thrills sent him into the sport and I suspect the sport added fuel to his fire, creating behaviour like that. For me it is easy to imagine the effect on the mind when knowing that each race could be your last moment on earth.

However you feel morally about his behaviour you can never say he didn't drag every last drop out of life.

[Ciro Pabón]

I knew I wasn't alone, RH. Well said.

Finally, have you read about Lance Armstrong lately? He is such a good person... another perfect athlete.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/howman- ... balco-case

After all, Hunt didn't smoke marijuana to earn more money. On the contrary, he probably did it to enjoy life and to earn less money. About the cheating, ¿what kind of woman would marry Mr. Hunt, for the love of Pete? A fortune "Hunter" or a loving, faithful wife?

lolzi, we are not fascinated by the personal lives of drivers, that's the point. We're fascinated by their driving, as I think Fausto (thanks again, man) tries to explain. We couldn't care less if they fart, drink or eat buggers... You can learn something from anybody, even if he's less than perfect, as most humans are (exception made of the "angels" that live in the modern world of sports). The "song" thing is a metaphor I made, it is not an actual song, sorry if that was confusing.

Finally, lolzi, I agree with you: in the matter of love relationships, I hate cheaters. I divorced last year, if you have to know (and guess why). Believe me, I agree with you on THAT. On the other hand, Mr. Hunt's driving was superb.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Ciro,

+1.
So different from the sterile Personalities we have today. Its half the reason why Kimi is so popular.

[Just_a_fan]

I think the problem is that through a dope haze, banging models three and four at a time, doing rails of coke of their tits, turning up for work hung-over and probably with a dose ... he goes out and wins a world championship. That must be *real* annoying for those sitting on the internet stone-cold sober, straight-edge, and utterly anonymous. History remembers those that take life by the scruff of the neck, those too parsimonious and timid are rightfully forgotten.

"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very brightly..."

That's all well and good but the reality is that we can't all go through life in that way (even though many of us may wish we could ). It's annoying for some to see people who are able to do so and with annoyance comes castigation. The simple fact is that society as a whole can't function if we all just decided to run around doing what we fancied when we fancied it. That's why we have people like Hunt to do it for us.

Also, let's not forget that Hunt's title rival missed two races because of a rather memorable shunt. Had that not happened, it's likely that history would have Hunt down as a drug-addled, womanising playboy who never fulfilled his potential. Such is the way with history.

Oh, and whilst the bright lights make history, it's the "stone-cold sober, straight-edge, and utterly anonymous" people who write about it...

[feynman]

Oh, and whilst the bright lights make history, it's the "stone-cold sober, straight-edge, and utterly anonymous" people who write about it...

Hunt doing this ... and this




inspired someone to do this:



A similar google image search for 'the guy who filled-in the Suzuka lapcharts' has thus far proved fruitless.

[Just_a_fan]

[bcoxa]

“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path”

[Caito]

+1 to Ciro & Co.

He deserves respect because he did something different. Still he managed to win a WDC.

Is it correct what he did? Well, I believe he bothered no one. Let me add that I bet you he didn't do all these for recognition, he did it because he believed in it and enjoyed it(last statement is 100% my personal opinion of why he acted the way he did).

It would probably be impossible to do it nowadays, which might be a reason why it seems so odd.


All kinds of people are needed in the world to keep it "stable", we just need some types of guys more than others.

[Pup]

"Mother, I was trying to make a point"

So different from the sterile Personalities we have today. Its half the reason why Kimi is so popular.

Apart from Hamilton, of course, with his tire spinning and whatnot.

[Just_a_fan]

So different from the sterile Personalities we have today. Its half the reason why Kimi is so popular.

Apart from Hamilton, of course, with his tire spinning and whatnot.

That's the real issue - today's drivers couldn't do the things that Hunt did even if they wanted to. They'd lose their superlicense and would probably be in ajil somewhere too.

It's telling also that Hunt et al could do what they did and still race. I doubt he would have managed it with today's cars because of the much higher physical demands they make. But I bet he'd have tried