The Unforgettable Clay Regazzoni

Regazzoni came from the Italian-speaking Swiss canton, Ticino. He was born in Lugano. His father, Pio, owned a coachwork business and was also the mayor of Porza.

His motorsports career started in 1963, beginning with the Swiss Hillclimb Championship at the wheel of an Austin-Healey Sprite and the following year in a Mini Cooper.

In 1965 he acquired a De Tomaso and later a Brabham to race in Formula 3. He joined the Tecno team run by the Pederzani brothers for the 1967 F3 season.

In 1968 they moved into Formula 2, and Regazzoni finished sixth in the championship. Third in the London Trophy at Crystal Palace was his only podium of the season.

Tragedy struck at the Zandvoort round when he collided with Chris Lambert with fatal consequences for the British driver. His father initiated legal proceedings against Regazzoni, which lasted a few years before being dropped.

In December 1968 he got the call all drivers dream of and wait for—from Ferrari. Franco Gozzi, sporting director and close confidant of Enzo, invited the Swiss driver to race in F2 for the famous red team. On the last day of the year, Regazzoni signed the contract.

He only did four F2 races in 1969 with Ferrari before Enzo pulled the plug on the project. He remained under contract to the Commendatore but was free to race in F2 with the Tecno team.

Regazzoni and Tecno won the 1970 Formula 2 Championship—winning races at Hockenheimring, Rouen, Enna-Pergusa in Sicily, and Imola—ahead of Derek Bell and Emerson Fittipaldi.

During the season he also made his debut in the most famous sports car race in the world, the Le Mans 24 Hour. Enzo paired him with Italian cowboy Arturo Merzario in a Ferrari 512S. They retired after four hours following an accident.

Only a week later, Regazzoni would make his Formula 1 debut in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. He finished an impressive fourth; the race was, unfortunately, marred by the fiery death of Frank Williams’ friend and driver, Piers Courage.

Regazzoni took his first podium finish in only his fourth start in the Austrian Grand Prix at Österreichring behind winning teammate Jacky Ickx.

Following the death of Jochen Rindt at Monza in practice on Saturday, Regazzoni delivered a stunning and pleasant surprise to the tifosi by winning the Italian Grand Prix in his fifth Formula 1 start for Ferrari.

Two more second-place finishes in Canada and the season finale in Mexico helped him to third place in the final standings, very impressive as the Swiss driver did not race in five of the thirteen races of the season.

In 1971, there were three podium finishes, all in third place, starting with the opening round in South Africa, where his new Ferrari teammate Mario Andretti won on debut with the team.

Regazzoni’s other podium appearances were at Zandvoort and the Nürburgring. He was seventh in the championship.

The winning highlight of the season was victory in the non-championship F1 Race of Champions in March at Brands Hatch over Jackie Stewart and John Surtees. In sports car racing, Regazzoni and Brian Redman won the Kyalami 9 Hour over Ferrari teammates Ickx and Andretti.

In the 1972 F1 season, his best finish was second behind teammate Ickx in the German Grand Prix. Regazzoni was classified joint sixth in the championship with Francois Cevert; both scored fifteen points each.

On the sports car front, he repeated his success in South Africa at Kyalami, this time co-driving with Merzario. Ickx and Regazzoni were victorious in the Monza 1000 km.

In 1973 he raced for eccentric British team owner Louis T. Stanley and his BRM team. In the third round at Kyalami, his car caught fire after colliding with Mike Hailwood’s Surtees. The motorcycle legend pulled his competitor out of the fire and was later awarded the George Medal for gallantry by Queen Elizabeth.

Regazzoni was seventeenth in the standings with two points from sixth-place finishes in Brazil and Austria.

He was back in Maranello for the 1974 season and recommended his BRM teammate, young Austrian Niki Lauda, as a teammate to Enzo.

The 1974 season started on a high note for Regazzoni; he was on the podium in three of the first four races. He was third in the Buenos Aires season opener, second in the next round in neighbouring Brazil, and had another second-place finish in Spain.

Three additional podiums, Netherlands, France, and Canada, plus the sole victory of the season at the Nürburgring, put him and Emerson Fittipaldi on equal points going into the final race of the season, the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in upstate New York.

Both championship challengers were off the pace in qualifying. Fittipaldi, seeking his second title in three years, was eighth on the grid, with Regazzoni ninth. Things worsened for the Ferrari star as his championship hopes melted like Swiss fondue following one pit stop for a tire change and later a second pit stop to adjust the anti-roll bar.

Fittipaldi could only manage fourth at the end of the race, which was enough to win the championship. His challenger finished eleventh, four laps down. The race was won by Carlos Reutemann in a Brabham.

Sadly, tragedy struck for the second year in a row at the Glen when young Austrian Helmuth Koinigg crashed his Surtees through the Armco barriers and was beheaded. The previous year, Francois Cevert had lost his life on Saturday in similar circumstances.

Years later Regazzoni would claim that Luca Montezemolo was more interested in Niki Lauda becoming world champion, and the team had focused more on the Austrian’s car throughout the season.

Lauda would, indeed, become Ferrari’s first world champion in 1975 since John Surtees in 1964. Regazzoni did help the team and tifosi celebrate in grand style by taking his only victory of the season at Monza Autodromo ahead of Fittipaldi, who was now challenging Lauda for the championship.

The Swiss driver’s final season riding a prancing horse resulted in winning the inaugural United States Grand Prix “West” at Long Beach in 1976.

The following three years were spent at three different teams. In 1977, he raced for Mo Nunn’s Ensign team. The best result of the season was a pair of fifth-place finishes at Monza and Watkins Glen.

He drove for mystery man Don Nichols and his Shadow team in the 1978 season. Again, a pair of fifth-place finishes, Brazil and Sweden, was his best result.

Regazzoni raced for Frank Williams in the 1979 season and gave Frank his first Grand Prix victory in the Patrick Head-designed FW07 at Silverstone. The photo of the car taking the chequered flag adorned the wall of Williams’ office till he left the building.

It was back to the Ensign team for the 1980 season. Sadly, the season would be over at the very place he had won the inaugural USGP West. The streets of Long Beach hosted Round 4.

Regazzoni qualified on the final row with old foe Fittipaldi. The first-ever winner of this race was running in the top five when, on Lap 51 of 80, the brakes failed on his Ensign, and he crashed into the concrete barrier on the escape road after colliding with the stranded Brabham of Argentine Ricardo Zunino. The crash was violent; injuries to the spine and subsequent surgeries left him paralysed from the waist down.

Regazzoni’s $10-million lawsuit against the Long Beach Grand Prix Association was dismissed. His fighting spirit and love for racing would later see him compete in the Dakar Rally in modified vehicles.

In 1994, he returned to the scene of his accident to compete in the Toyota Pro-Celebrity Race during the Long Beach Grand Prix Indy car weekend.

The man who survived a very dangerous era of motor racing and several accidents ran out of luck on an Italian autostrada near Parma, Italy. On December 15, 2006, he crashed his Chrysler Voyager minivan into a truck and lost his life.

His Ferrari teammate Lauda remembered Regazzoni at the time: “Clay was the sort of character you could never forget. He died as he lived, taking life as it came. He was a great blend of professional and playboy. He enjoyed life and was never negative.” Clay Regazzoni. Born: September 5, 1939. Died: December 15, 2006.