Conference terri::cars_uk

Just beat me to it. 

Jame Hunt, aged 45 died today of a Heart attack. He was F1 World Champion in the
mid seventies when he was a driver for the Marlbro Mclaren Team.

/Stephen D
 

    
    1976...
    
    Mark

    
    Yet another of the fitness kings falls over -- I seem to recall he was
    a demon squash player, & general all-round athlete.
    
    Very sad. Good driver in his later days, & his depth of knowledge always 
    showed through when he was commentating. His early days as "Hunt the
    Shunt" gave him unique insights into why some accidents happen!
    
    Still, he lived a hectic life recently, with more than his fair share
    of troubles. Probably best for him that he went out suddenly, whilst
    life was good again.
    
    
    Colin

    
    45-(93-76) = 28 when he was world champion
    who on earth are the beeb going to replace him with?
    I dont think they'll find someone who'll just say 
    xxxx is doing it wrong or yyyyy ought to give up.
    Not afraid of a bit of contraversy was Mr Hunt.
    
    

> who on earth are the beeb going to replace him with?

Dr Palmer? 

Dave :-(

    Very sad to hear that James has died, and that we have lost perhaps the last
    architypal "ex public school boy decent fellow" sportsman, so different to 
    the Senna types more common now.
    
    Appart from James's motor racing successes one memory of James I have is 
    when he took part in one of the 1980's "Sporting Knockout" TV  contests
    that were popular then. At one point he had to lift a
    heavy weight lifting bar above his head. He managed the lift OK,
    but  while it was above his head it started to move backwards, so James
    let go and smartly walked forward. Well this was OK for James but the
    bar was now comming back down to earth very rapidly much to the upset
    of the two minders on each side who had been caught unawares. The image
    is of James walking away as though nothing had happened while the two 
    minders were desperately trying to get this bar under control. 
    
    
    
    
    
    

	Sometime in the very early 70s I saw Hunt the Shunt race in F3 
	(correct me if I'm wrong here).  Thanks to my older sister's 
	boyfriend I actually met him and went to a party with Hesketh and
	co.  Trouble is there weren't any other 13 year olds there.  My
	favourite (of many) Hunt-Walker exchanges:

	Walker:  "Look you can see flames coming out of the rear of x's
			Ferrari"
	Hunt:	 "Murray, I think you'll find that that is the brake
			light"

	I'll miss him.

	Dave

    I couldn't quite take it in when I heard it on the radio yesterday
    afternoon. We met Hunt twice. The first time was on the train upto the
    Birmingham SuperPrix. He was happy to stand and chat with his bacon
    sandwich and justify his comments made in the previous day's commentary
    on the Belgian GP (about Capelli & Gugelmin). The second time was on an
    AirTrack day trip to Monaco when he used their flight to get over there
    to commentate and get home. Again he was always happy to talk to
    "ordinary" people about what had gone on in the race.
    
    A very genuine, open guy, and a great driver.
    
    Paul

    
    There was an interesting set of articles in the Independent this
    morning. The obituary and Derek Allsop's article expressed similar
    sentiments to the notes in here. 
    
    There was another article by Keith Botsford, who apparently used to
    cover the Grand Prix circuit, which frankly gave him a bit of a
    slagging. Botsford seems to think that he was essentially a weak
    character, and detailed a long list of supposed faults
    (fags'n'booze'n'drugs'n'sex etc).
    
    
    Trevor

    
>    character, and detailed a long list of supposed faults
>    (fags'n'booze'n'drugs'n'sex etc).
    
     On Super channel last night they had a short piece on him, he was
    shown accepting the trophy at the end of one race, he handed the trophy 
    to Keke Rosberg and kissed the women giving out the prize, more
    concerned with the lady than the trophy, and at another he was seen
    putting down a can of coke to take another puff of a cigerette he had
    in one hand whilst keeping the trophy in the other.  Seemed he enjoyed
    himself rather than concern himself with how one should be seen to
    behave.  Great driver and more interesting than most commentators. 
    I think John Watson is trying to emulate him in his comentories.
    

    Another of Hunt's "quirks" was that around the time of his world
    championship his wardrobe consisted of something like 3 tee-shirts and
    2 pairs of jeans. He was known to turn up amongst the dee-jays at
    receptions wearing jeans, tee-shirt, and bare feet. He once replied in
    mock-offended tone when someone complained about it "...but this is my
    best tee-shirt".
    
    Lauda rated him among his best four opponents in part 1 of his career,
    and was also a good friend - although of course Niki didn't agree with
    James's handling of the PR side of things.
    
    Murray was right, he'll be missed. I expect they'll use Dr. John, but
    it won't be the same. Keke Rosberg would be a worthy and more realistic
    replacement, but too much to hope for.

	I too 'met' Hunt, circa 78 in the economy section of a BA 
	flight. I didn't recognise him at first, since by this time
	the ultra casual clothes and long hair had already been 
	replaced by a more sombre appearance. It transpired that
	the trip was to do with some squash/health club business he
	was involved in. 

	One of Hunts most commendable acts was not to attempt a 
	comeback. Much money was offered for many years after, but
	he was realistic enough to recognise that his day was past.

	-John

    I also met James Hunt on a BA flight to Munich. He talked & talked
    about F1 without ever going over old ground, to me it was very
    entertaining. I remained in awe at his casual dress in the Club cabin &
    his total absence of luggage, all he had was 2 squash rackets in a
    shoulder bag which could take no more than a pair of trainers. He
    seemed to me to live his life as he saw it. Like most people, I'm
    saddened & surprised that someone so strong & lean can go this way.
    
    Yes, my first thought was to move J Palmer to his slot, I soon
    dismissed it though.
    
    Tony.

    ...and another side of the Hunt. He also received a bravery award of
    some sort for diving into the flames to help pull Ronnie Peterson out
    of his wrecked car at Monza in 1978.

	He was also a LLoyds name, I wonder if he hid his stress under a
	no-care type appearance?

	Heather

    My memories of James Hunt are many and varied, from the comical to the
    epic. I will never forget standing halfway down the Portobello Straight
    at Brands and seeing this white think come out of Hawthorns far too
    fast, careering into the armco, somersaulting halfway down the straight
    and coming to rest in the middle of the track upside down. Out climbed
    a big lanky bloke, who immediately started yelling at the marshalls
    about something or other. It was, of course, Hunt the Shunt. The
    accident happened during practice for a F3 race in ther early 70s.
    
    He was one of the sports rising stars at a time when I used to pedal my
    way to Brands Hatch every weekend to watch anything with wheels. He was
    one of a generation of fine drivers: Williamson, Purley, Taylor,
    Vandervell, Bond. He was always colourful and often controversial. He
    seemed to enjoy his racing and for him it remained very much a sporting
    pursuit, unlike many drivers today. He would not have been suited to
    today's ultra professional environment.
    
    I will miss him. I could never fully reconcile the excellent driver in
    the car, and the joking prankster out of the car.
    
    In sadness,
    Edward

	I read in the paper yesterday that he stopped smoking and drinking 
	about 6 weeks ago, previously he was a heavy smoker and drinker.

	I have always been dubious about drastic changes in consumption
	of anything, and even more so with the health problems my
	husband suffered when he stopped smoking.
	I do wonder if the additional stress, and the drastic change of drinking
	and smoking were a major factor.

	Heather