primotipo…

If only Jochen Rindt had rejoined Jack and Ron at Brabham as he had committed to do.

But the Lotus/Ford money was too good to resist and Jack ‘let him off the hook’.

If only he had run with wings.

But Ickx was bridging the championship gap, the Ferrari flat-12 had plenty of punch, Rindt needed more top speed, 800rpm was provided by eliminating wings, his skill would make up for some of the lost corner speed.

If only he’d used the Willans’ crutch straps.

But he had a thing about them.

If only Chapman and Philippe’s slide rules had done a better job.

They didn’t.

If only the car’s Monza Armco angle and point of entry was different.

It wasn’t.

If only Saint Christopher had been aboard Lotus 72C Ford chassis ‘R2’ that 5 September 1970 afternoon fifty years ago.

He was A.W.O.L.

And so, with a horrible confluence of factors, the fastest man of his generation and one of the quickest ever, was killed during the Saturday afternoon session of the Italian Grand Prix.

Jochen’s right-front inboard brake driveshaft fractured under hard braking into the South Curve from about 190mph pitching the car hard left into the Armco safety barrier support staunchion.

Rindt suffered fatal throat wounds after ‘submarining’ forward under his lap belts given the force of the impact.

 

 

Childhood formative memories are so powerful.

Somehow, two years before i ever went to a motor race, via Automobile Year 18 in the case of Jochen and via Australian Motor Racing Annual 1970 in the case of Kevin Bartlett, i had my two favourite drivers, both of whom were cut from the same ‘automotive acrobat’ cloth.

The world’s best are a mix of on-board computer and speed, they are not for me though.

I’ve always preferred the balls to the wall types who defy the laws of physics by doing things with cars which are perhaps not theoretically possible- so its Nuvolari, Rosemeyer, Fangio, Moss, Peterson, Villeneuve, Rosberg K, Senna, Bellof- dudes of that ilk who appeal to me most.

I apply a ‘friggin homicidal arsehole filter to this entirely subjective, emotional list- as a consequence Schumacher doesn’t make the cut. Senna was lucky to get through it. Of course both fellas are not sportsmen in the Marquis of Queensberry sense either. I’m a bit traditional in my views in that regard.

It’s entirely debatable of course, but it seems to me that the winged cars of 1968 through to the advent of John Barnard’s carbon-fibre chassis McLaren MP4 of 1981 were amongst the most lethal of all.

With 400-525bhp, and then later towards 1,000bhp, with loads of grip, cornering speeds were far higher than ever.

Drivers were ensconced within aluminium monocoques, which whilst more ‘shuntable’ than the girder/spaceframes which went before, did not have great capacity to absorb the physics unleashed when something went terribly wrong, as it did at Monza.

Very fast road circuits were still part of the 1970 tour, Clermont and Spa to be specific, by 1980 that was not the case, not in their original, more lethal forms anyway.

None of the blokes cited were targets for life insurance salesmen, they did their stuff without a safety net, with minuscule margins for pilot error or mechanical failure.

I don’t propose to rattle off Jochen’s full career summary but lets not forget the 1970 posthumous F1 drivers world title, 1965 Le Mans win with Masten Gregory aboard a N.A.R.T. Ferrari 250LM, countless Brabham and Lotus F2 wins and sheer blinding speed in everything into which he popped his bum.

R.I.P. Karl Jochen Rindt, 18 April 1942-5 September 1970.

 

Credits…

Getty Images, Geoffrey Harris Collection

Tailpieces…

One of Graz’ favourite sons- the place in which Rindt was brought up and called home is being celebrated on the city trams at present.

Finito…