30 years ago today a distressed Gilles Villeneuve was getting ready to get on a race car for the last time. He came from a race that extremely disappointed him and that possibly made him loose faith in his team and one of his friends. Some say he felt lonely, some say he already had a contract for Williams burning in his pocket. There's a lot of speculations about those days the reasons for what seems an unnecessary crash.
The only fact that remains is that Gilles left us forever that day, while the whole world was still patiently waiting to celebrate him as world champion. Thing that will never happen.
Salut Gilles.
May 8, 1982. 30 years ago, I was 10.
ReplyDeleteI remember that day. I don't have a good memory but I recall the moment in such vivid detail... My parents and I went to see some friends who lived in the countryside. After a nice walk we came home to eat something. We were sitting around this table chatting, while the TV was buzzing in the background. At some stage a piece of news grabbed our attention: what's happened? Who's in that car. An image of a F1 car taking up to the sky without control was repeatedly shown on the screen. Silence dropped. We were all shocked, but we felt devastated the minute we heard the name of the driver: Villeneuve. It felt so wrong, so bloody surreal.
I remember how we tried to contain our tears in vain.
It was one of those moment that will stay forever, stuck in your memory.
" ...and when they presented me with this tiny Canadian, this miniscule bundle of nerves, I instantly recognized in him the physique of the great Nuvolari and I said to myself, `let's give him a try." (Enzo Ferrari)
A bientot, Gilles.