May 8th , 1982 a very Sad Day..

[AlteredGrizz]

As you well know Gilles Villeneuve died on May 8th , 1982 at 1:52 in the afternoon on the Zolder race track. It is a very sad day for me , Gilles was my all time favorite driver, to this day still know one comes close to what this man could do with a car, his car control was amazing. It,s been 19 years already , here in Quebec we still talk about him all the time.
I hold Didier Pironi responsable for Gilles death (long story) so when Pironi died in a boating accident I was quite the happy camper.

[EERO]

AG,
Everyone who is a real fan is sad when any driver dies. Pironi may not have been the most ethical guy ever to drive F1, but he was a human being just the same and I cannot condone cheering his death.

[Wrex]

AG, I share your grief for Gilles, but saying your a 'happy camper' after with the death of another is just plain disgusting!

There are drivers I don't like, such as Rubino for example. But if he were killed I would still be extremely saddened and grieve for him and his family. I think you are out of line here.

As for GV, his skill & prowess will never be forgotten. R.I.P.

[AlteredGrizz]

Well sorry if you feel that way , but I don't he caused the death of a hero and the death of a rookie (Paletti) all in the same month!, so for that reason I am happy he died as I was happy when Adolf Hitler died and will also be happy when Saddam dies.... etc.....

[aadpack]

You really mean this??

How in earth can you compare this man with Hitler or Saddam.

This Pironi guy is before my time, but what did he do, that gave him this hate from you??

Can anyone explain??

[Marshal]

AG, I'm with Wrex and Eero here, Gilles was my only hero in racing. I was just coming up to my 10th birthday when he died, and no-one has come close since.

But I don't hate Poroni. He was undoubtedly partly responsible for Gilles state of mind when he crashed (with a large dose being heaped on the Ferrari management for not backing Gilles up). I'm just sad that Didier wasn't able to put honour before ambition. But that's no reason to wish someone dead.

[msps]

Grizz,
I'm really sorry that you feel happy when some driver gets killed.
Pironi was not responsible for Ricardo Paletti death. Paletti just stalled his car in the grid and Pironi hit his car. This was just another sad racing situation that has happened and (unfortunately) may happen again.

[DNQ]

Altered Grizz, that is a terrible thing to say. Sure,what pironi did was wrong, but he never intended to kill Gilles. As for Paletti, pure coincidence. Could have been anyone.

[AlteredGrizz]

Msps ...I remember very well, It was Pironi who was on the front line and he stalled his engine at the start and the poor rookie Paletti hit his Ferrari , it was an unfortunate accident but still Pironi made a rookie mistake and caused his death, don't know if you ever seem the footage but it was the most discusting site I ever seen in F1.

Gilles was my Hero and still is today. I was 19 years old when he died
here in Québec we still talk about him all the time.
I feel sorry for the people who never seen him race, truely sorry.
Maybe you would understand why people hated Pironi.

P.S ...So I hated the man , an eye for an eye!
Pironi also had a crash with his Ferrari in which he had 2 open fractures which required 42 operations to heal....no comment on that one....lol

[Bononi]

Ok, Gilles is my all-time driver too. And I still remember the circunstances he was in at that time.

I won't talk about it.

But as far as I remember, Paletti was hit from behind... and I have a mpeg of this on my HD. Anyway I'll check it again, if anyone could clarify that situation, I will be glad to hear...

[Wrex]

Originally posted by AlteredGrizz
P.S ...So I hated the man , an eye for an eye!
Pironi also had a crash with his Ferrari in which he had 2 open fractures which required 42 operations to heal....no comment on that one....lol

I find it very hard to comment on this while staying within the forum rules.

You are ill, to laugh at the injury of a driver and to celebrate a drivers death.

You have turned what could have been a respectful tribute to a great driver into a thread that should be closed.

I am however willing to debate this with you through Private Message.

[senna12]

Gilles was also my favorite, I had followed his career from his first snowmobile championship. There will never be another with the degree of skills possessed by Gilles. The things he was able to acheive in that boat of a Ferrari(as it was at the time), were incredible. Like Bononi, I cannot discuss that whole Pironi situation to this day, it angers me that much. But being happy about the death of another is just plain morbid

R.I.P. to my original F1 hero......

BTW, I seem to recall that Mr. Paletti was hit from behind as well.

[Roy2]

I saw it on TV. Peroni stalled and Paletti, coming from the back of the grid, hit him full blast.
I don't need the following reasons because I saw it, but for Pironi to have hit Paletti, Paletti would have had to be at the front of the grid, Pironi at the back, a most unlikely situation given that Paletti was a rookie.

I think the Quebec guy had better take a sedative, find religion, or something. To carry a grudge to that extent is stupid, nuts, or both.

[TimD]

Seen too many drivers come to an untimely end.

I can't in all honesty understand why Gilles Villeneuve's accident causes such animosity over seemingly all others. I might add that Didier Pironi was in no way involved in the accident which claimed Gilles' life. The incident was with Jochen Mass, who has carried the heavy burden ever since.

If you blame Pironi for unsettling Gilles in his final few weeks, so be it. But then would you also vilify Enzo Ferrari for Jean Behra's death, because Enzo sacked him and Jean tried too hard to be a front runner in an underpowered Porsche?

And as for the startline accident at Canada - I assume that JJ Lehto is also culpable for Ayrton Senna's death? After all - if the safety car hadn't come out for Lehto's accident, caused by a stall on the grid, then perhaps the debris wouldn't have been on the track, the tyre pressures would have been at normal levels, and all the thousand and one things that conspired to take Senna from us might not have fallen just so.

Ricardo Paletti was very nearly at the back of the grid at the start of the 1982 Canadian GP. Didier Pironi was on pole. A thousand drivers have stalled their motors at the change of the lights. Mika Hakkinen did at Brazil this very spring. Unfortunately on this occasion, poor Ricardo must have been blindsided as the pack took off. He is estimated to have been doing 110mph when he struck the stationary Ferrari slightly to the right of centre. I am told that it is unlikely that he would have survived, even before the marshals found themselves confronted with a petrol fire that they had the greatest of difficulty in putting out.

Pironi's fault? No. Every driver has stalled on the grid. Pironi was trying to do a racing clutch start in a tricky, underdeveloped turbo car. Paletti's fault? No. He was unsighted. The fact that he was only experiencing his second ever GP start probably didn't help, but it's certainly not to say that he made a rookie mistake in his own right.

These sorts of accusations only serve to diminish the fond memory of great drivers. I count myself privileged to have seen Gilles Villeneuve AND Didier Pironi racing. I shall always salute them.

AlteredGrizz, I am grateful to you for reminding me of the anniversary. My own worst day has to be November 29 1975, but May 8 is important. But Wrex is right. The time is for respectful tributes, not for vilification.

[PlatoFan]

Hello,most of the accidents i missed as i'm 11,but i've sawthem all on a website,The Riccardo was so sad,he was fighting with a few other cars and pulled out to pass just as he was comming up to Dider,i don't know if he was dead or just unconsious but the fire certinally killed him,shame
Gerard Smith

[Bononi]

Thanks Tim, for the full explanation of the crash.

And yes, I'm with you in all points you made.

I still wonder how all that petrol fell off as it was a frontal impact. Maybe it was from Pironi's Ferrari ?
I am trying to remind that day, but all I can remember that I was emotionally confused with the death of Gilles. I remember myself wandering if I ever could watch a race again, and when it happened I thought F1 should stop forever...

[PlatoFan]

It was Pironi fuel

[AlteredGrizz]

Riccardo Paletti's crash was not a pretty site to see, I have a video in which the view is from the 1st cameraman on site before the fire started, you see Paletti's head and arms but the body is no longer there being squished from the impact of Pirioni's motor. The Marshall opens the visor but quickly closes it after seeing that there was no point, then the fire started and Pironi grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. That's exactly what happened.

So we don't agree on the Pironi thing so lets leave it at that.....
We can't agree on everything or that would be boring.

[Bononi]

You mean that Camera man duck in front of the car, that we see on the TV video ?
How did you get this ?

[djb]

As others have very aptly already mentioned, this discussion has taken an unpleasant direction. I will add my voice to asking for a bit more maturity concerning the death of someone. Please and thankyou...

[AlteredGrizz]

The Video is from that camera man you see duck when the fire starts.
It was in the cassette they made for the 20 years of Canadian Grand Prixs.

[Jay]

AG, actually that Marshall was Dr. Sid Watkin's who actually managed to get an airway in, and check his pupils. He was deeply unconcious.

In Sid Watkin's book he described the incident:
"A Race car at the front remained stationary and the field went funnelling to the right of the obstacle like peas down a channel. Save for one car, the car immediately in front of our chase car. Starting at teh back of the grid, Riccardo Paletti went straight as a die and accelerating, right into the back of the stalled car."

Pironi was quite upset about the accident. He got out of his car, grabbed a fire extinguisher from a marshall and immediately attacked the fire. Although the marshall would have undoubtably done an equal job, it demonstrates the emotions of Pironi.

[Bononi]

Thanks AG and Jay.

I've been seeing back the video, and saw the marshalls covering the front/cockpit crashed with something. Awful scene. I got some memories back from that day too.

Thanks again.

I guess this ends up the discussion.