What a Guy - James Hunt - LEGEND

What a Guy - James Hunt - LEGEND

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Discussion

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Thursday 14th October 2010
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I'd like to read Jenson Button's biography one day. I think he may be a quite the cad on the quiet. wink

SlipStream77

2,153 posts

190 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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superkartracer said:
Bottom line, Hunt would be no good in todays cars...
I hope this opinion is based only on the fact that in the 70's fitness levels did not need to be so high.

Hunt would simply have trained to the same fitness levels of today's drivers.

It was obvious he was a talented driver, he would have been right there with Hamilton and Alonso IMO.

Ranked 24th greatest F1 driver in Autosport's poll as voted for by 217 F1 drivers.

http://f1greatestdrivers.autosport.com/?driver=24


jellison

Original Poster:

12,803 posts

276 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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superkartracer said:
But Triathlons give you an idea of cardio fitness! seeing as Button and Nico have done a few and posted top times its a good yardstick.

Bottom line, Hunt would be no good in todays cars and F1 drivers are super-fit.
You don't need to be able to do triathlons - that is just a passing phase of a few drives, like Golf back in the 80's.

Yes you have to be fit, but alot of it is just because - what else are they supposed to do with there time. As long as you have a pretty good level of fitness and big neck muscles an F1 driver would be fine.

Hunt woul just train to the required level - and come on he looks fit as a butchers dog and he lives on fags booze and fanjeta!

Er back on track!.................!

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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jellison said:
superkartracer said:
But Triathlons give you an idea of cardio fitness! seeing as Button and Nico have done a few and posted top times its a good yardstick.

Bottom line, Hunt would be no good in todays cars and F1 drivers are super-fit.
You don't need to be able to do triathlons - that is just a passing phase of a few drives, like Golf back in the 80's.

Yes you have to be fit, but alot of it is just because - what else are they supposed to do with there time. As long as you have a pretty good level of fitness and big neck muscles an F1 driver would be fine.

Hunt woul just train to the required level - and come on he looks fit as a butchers dog and he lives on fags booze and fanjeta!

Er back on track!.................!
That is on track.

Leithen

10,799 posts

266 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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SlipStream77 said:
Hunt would simply have trained to the same fitness levels of today's drivers.
Exactly. How many current drivers fail because they aren't fit or strong enough?

As has been mentioned - it's not fitness per se, but specific strength and conditioning work designed to address the aberrant behaviour of todays machinery. Whilst the Hi-G requirements of today's car's demand specific physical strength, power steering, semi-auto gearboxes etc have made the driver's life easier, not harder.

The idea that the link between fitness and performance has only recently been discovered is a joke. You couldn't even hope to perform well at the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio or Carrera Panamericana without being fit. Endurance races such as Le Mans, Nurburgring 1000kms, traditionally involved only two drivers, not three or four as happens today.

Then consider that many drivers up to the 70's happily entered many different formulas throughout a season. Whilst todays drivers spend weekends off in a Gym, the likes of Jim Clark would be racing whatever he could lay his hands on.

A separate and much more valid argument would be whether Hunt would have liked and or excelled in the current Kart-like aberrations that Formula One uses. Excess physical grip has led to a strange bdisation of what for 50 or 60 years produced cars that allowed drivers to display finesse and almost balletic poise at a car's limit. Sadly no longer.

That Patrese, Piquet etc all managed the transition between types, suggest that if you're quick, you're quick regardless.

williamp

19,213 posts

272 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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Leithen said:
SlipStream77 said:
Hunt would simply have trained to the same fitness levels of today's drivers.
Exactly. How many current drivers fail because they aren't fit or strong enough?

As has been mentioned - it's not fitness per se, but specific strength and conditioning work designed to address the aberrant behaviour of todays machinery. Whilst the Hi-G requirements of today's car's demand specific physical strength, power steering, semi-auto gearboxes etc have made the driver's life easier, not harder.

The idea that the link between fitness and performance has only recently been discovered is a joke. You couldn't even hope to perform well at the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio or Carrera Panamericana without being fit.
Or in some drivers cases (including Fangio's), those little pills his Doctor gave him which kept him awake and gave him stamina.

But its true that you have to be as fit as the others drivers on the grid. And with these people- who are all super competitive, if one driver does a triathlon, everyone will do tham- in order to set a quicker time and show they are "better" then the other drivers. With f1 drivers, competitive behavious is ingrained and shown in every aspect of their lives. One famous example is two drivers arguing at an airport in the late 80s. The reason? They both wanted the best conditon hire car with the lowest mileage.

superkartracer

8,959 posts

221 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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Sorry lads i still disagree, as much as a love Hunt he'd not stand a chance as he enjoyed his beer/fags and drugs too much and i doubt he'd have given that up as he needed it.

Hate James Allen but good read -

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/09/eye-opening-...

and some good insight from Webber - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/a...

This did make me laugh tho ha ha -

Re:- James Hunt though, he was never without a cigarette in his mouth, and I remember him once have a DNF on track at Brands, and pulled over to the side on the approach to Druids, right in front of where we were. He got out of the car and as he took his helmet and gloves off, he saw smokers and came straight over and said " I say chaps, you wouldnt happen to have one to spare for a pissed off racing driver would you. We gave him a couple and he was so grateful, before he trudged off back down the hill towards the paddock.The one thing I can vividly remember was how much his hands were shaking as he took the cigarette and lit it.

ritmo

606 posts

170 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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Muzzlehatch said:
Streps said:
Pulling Lauda out of his car was commendable
If you're reeferring to the Nurburgring accident, Hunt didn't pull Lauda from his car - That was Guy Edwards, Brett Lunger, Arturo Merzario and Harald Ertl.

ETA: Hunt actually went on to win the restarted race.

Edited by Muzzlehatch on Thursday 14th October 13:01
I beleive Hunt helped pull Ronnie Peterson from his burning car some years later

Streps

2,445 posts

165 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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ritmo said:
Muzzlehatch said:
Streps said:
Pulling Lauda out of his car was commendable
If you're reeferring to the Nurburgring accident, Hunt didn't pull Lauda from his car - That was Guy Edwards, Brett Lunger, Arturo Merzario and Harald Ertl.

ETA: Hunt actually went on to win the restarted race.

Edited by Muzzlehatch on Thursday 14th October 13:01
I beleive Hunt helped pull Ronnie Peterson from his burning car some years later
Apologies, mistaken there,
Looking into that a bit more,was it not petersons death which affected him greatly,Also blaming Parese for causing the accident itself.



Edited by Streps on Friday 15th October 10:28

shoestring7

6,138 posts

245 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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superkartracer said:
Bottom line, Hunt would be no good in todays cars
That's guff. Its the same bks trotted out by people who reckon Rosemeyer, Nuvolari, Fangio, Moss, Clark or Villeneuve would be no good in modern cars. They were as fit as they needed to be to haul a heavy, often front engined/radiatored car with dodgy brakes around a circuit for 3 hours. If they needed to be as fit as the current grid are, they would be.

BTW Hunt was a county standard squash and tennis player.

SS7

jellison

Original Poster:

12,803 posts

276 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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shoestring7 said:
superkartracer said:
Bottom line, Hunt would be no good in todays cars
That's guff. Its the same bks trotted out by people who reckon Rosemeyer, Nuvolari, Fangio, Moss, Clark or Villeneuve would be no good in modern cars. They were as fit as they needed to be to haul a heavy, often front engined/radiatored car with dodgy brakes around a circuit for 3 hours. If they needed to be as fit as the current grid are, they would be.

BTW Hunt was a county standard squash and tennis player.

SS7
Exactly - Look at the Guy!

DangerousMike

11,327 posts

191 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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Hunt would do okay for a few laps but he wouldn't keep up in a race.

superkartracer

8,959 posts

221 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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Fangio, Moss, Clark or Villeneuve were not alcoholics tho , take a look at Hunt in his 30's and 40's he looked like an old man...

Clark is possibly the best driver to have ever lived and Fangio was in his 40's when racing! and would have blown a 40 year old Hunt away..

Villeneuve was possibly one of the bravest men to ever race in f1, he certainly never needed to get pissed before a race.

S

DJC

23,563 posts

235 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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Sorry, but did the whole manic depressive/bi-polar post I made pass you by?

The guy was mentally not well for the vast majority of his life. For half his adult life he "managed" that by racing. When that went he had very little to help him manage the demons inside his head, until he found he could get some solace and peace in the budgies.

The fitness debate is irrelevent. Hunt was one of those rare guys who was a naturally gifted athlete. He was fit to the standards of his time and he did it with comparatively little breaking of the metaphorical sweat.

Was his life tragic? In the end no. He died after finding some peace with himself and with life. He had lived a large part of his life in a blaze of glory and actually achieved ultimate success. He fought and beat his demons. Last and by no means least...he wasnt a complete cvunt, but for the most part rather a gentleman who took efforts to try and ensure the pain he inflicted was on himself, not others.

superkartracer

8,959 posts

221 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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DJC said:
Sorry, but did the whole manic depressive/bi-polar post I made pass you by?
Missed that, and completely agree with you and the main reason i race biggrin but i'll NEVER become an alcoholic like my weak father

chris_w

2,564 posts

258 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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Makes you wonder how good he would have been if he'd been able to focus on his racing. Similar to Usain Bolt today, I doubt we'll ever truly know how fast he can run the 100m because he won't put the same effort into training as his less naturally gifted rivals.

Eric Mc

121,774 posts

264 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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chris_w said:
Makes you wonder how good he would have been if he'd been able to focus on his racing. Similar to Usain Bolt today, I doubt we'll ever truly know how fast he can run the 100m because he won't put the same effort into training as his less naturally gifted rivals.
I would put John McEnroe in the same category. He was so good he hardly needed to train.

GeraldSmith

6,887 posts

216 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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I wonder if Hunt would have even got the chance to show what he could do if around today. Motor racing requires sponsorship and he'd scare the he'll out of most teams and their sponsors.

Also am I alone in reading about him and BA stewardesses, and feeling a bit queazy? BA Stewardess these days brings up an image of a woman in her fifties struggling to fit into her uniform

spad78

149 posts

175 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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If you were an Ex-F1 great would you like to be known as a work obsessed nerd that insisted on measuring 50 points of a friction circle to see if you can eek an extra 100th of a second from the 3rd corner at monaco OR would you prefer to be known as quick, won a lot of stuff in the days when racing was truly dangerous but was quite often missing for large periods of a race weekend while he stuffed some brolly dolly's back doors in?

The life of an F1 driver is very different now and I suspect the pressure would not be to Hunt's liking. That said, I believe quick is quick and good drivers would adapt to whatever they find themselves piloting.

jellison

Original Poster:

12,803 posts

276 months

Friday 15th October 2010
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spad78 said:
If you were an Ex-F1 great would you like to be known as a work obsessed nerd that insisted on measuring 50 points of a friction circle to see if you can eek an extra 100th of a second from the 3rd corner at monaco OR would you prefer to be known as quick, won a lot of stuff in the days when racing was truly dangerous but was quite often missing for large periods of a race weekend while he stuffed some brolly dolly's back doors in?

The life of an F1 driver is very different now and I suspect the pressure would not be to Hunt's liking. That said, I believe quick is quick and good drivers would adapt to whatever they find themselves piloting.
Wellsaid. (notsure on if he was back or front door though) smile

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