Clay Regazzoni (1939-2006): Why he was the indestructible

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Dear Roger, I’d like to talk to you today about Clay Regazzoni. What adjectives come to mind when you think of him?
Roger Benoit: Shy, modest, super fast, funny, indestructible.

How did you meet?
I don’t remember exactly. Clay was a late bloomer and only entered Formula 1 in his thirties. We quickly developed a good relationship and he regularly invited me to stay with him and his family in Lugano. His father was mayor of Porza, on whose territory the Resega is located. He once turned off the lights at midnight during an ice hockey match, explaining: “There are no sporting events in Porza after midnight.”

What language did you speak?
In French. Clay only knew two sentences in German: “Ticino people are funny” and “What are you doing with your little finger, Hans?” That’s what he always said to Niki Lauda when his hands wandered…

Regazzoni was soon nicknamed ‘The Indestructible’. Justifiably?
Yes, in 1968 he had his first serious accident in Formula 3. That’s when he crashed into the crash barriers in Monte Carlo. He only survived because he bowed his head in time. And what did he do next? He waved to the crowd as the tip of his car dipped into the sea.

Regazzoni also claimed luck in Kyalami in 1973.
At that time, his BRM burst into flames after a crash. He only survived because Mike Hailwood stopped, loosened the straps and pulled him out. Then I visited Clay in the hospital. When I entered the room I felt like throwing up because of the hospital smell.

How did Regazzoni react to this?
He laughed like a maniac.

He probably stopped laughing in 1977. When he first participated in the legendary Indy 500, he suffered another spectacular crash during training.
At the time there was a switch in the car that allowed you to switch the suspension between ‘soft’ and ‘stiff’. It’s just stupid that the Americans just wrote an “s” in both switch positions. Between turns 3 and 4, Clay misplaced the lever, flew away and rolled over six times. As is customary in Indianapolis, the ambulance arrived immediately, but he initially refused to enter until they threatened to disqualify him. But the best is yet to come.

Say!
In the evening I went to an Italian restaurant with him and team boss Teddy Yip. There was a gift box on the table, perhaps 50 by 50 centimeters in size. When Regazzoni asked what that was, Yip replied: “It’s a gift from the team to you.”

What was in it?
His wrecked car. They put it through the demolition press and in the end only this pile remained.

Regazzoni not only had many accidents, but was also a gifted racing driver. In 1974 he almost became world champion.
Clay was really good. In 1974 he traveled to the final race at Watkins Glen with equal points in a Ferrari and Emerson Fittipaldi in a McLaren. But during the previous race, Clay had had a mysterious accident in Canada, and his Ferrari had been haunted ever since. In Watkins Glen Fittipaldi only finished fourth, but that was enough as Regazzoni only finished eleventh.

But Regazzoni had reason to celebrate at Silverstone in 1979. Thanks to him, the Williams racing team won its first GP.
His teammate Alan Jones clearly gained an internal advantage during this period. When Regazzoni won and I was celebrating alone with him behind the pits, team boss Frank Williams’ wife came up to us and apologized for the fact that the team was not really happy with Regazzoni’s victory.

How did Regazzoni deal with it?
With humor. He just said, “Next time I’ll just stay on the track. That might suit them better.”

Two months later, a gift from Williams caused heads to shake again.
Regazzoni celebrated his 40th birthday during the Italian GP. And what did the team do? It earned him a wheelchair with four Formula 1 tires on it. You have rarely seen something so stupid in Formula 1, because a year later Regazzoni was actually in a wheelchair, and team boss Frank Williams caught it in 1986.

Regazzoni had a serious accident in Long Beach on March 30, 1980. What memories do you have of that day?
At the time, almost everyone was already driving with titanium brakes, but because Ensign team boss Mo Nunn wanted to save money, his drivers still drove with steel brakes. When the brake pedal on Regazzoni’s vehicle failed on the 51st lap, he drove straight into the emergency exit, where a Brabham was parked on the left, and collided with the car almost without braking. The then race director, Dan Gurney, entered the press center and simply said: “There’s nothing you can do about it. He’s dead.” But he wasn’t dead because he was the indestructible.

You were in the hospital with him for almost three weeks afterward.
When I was able to visit him for the first time three days after the accident, he was lying face down on the bed and looking through a small opening at the floor. So I lay on my back under his bed and was able to talk to him that way.

You also often played backgammon together at that time.
Clay was turned every three hours, from stomach to back and back again. When he was on his stomach, we played backgammon.

After three weeks he came to the spinal cord injury center in Basel.
At that time, he suddenly said to me: “Would you like to take a joyride through Basel?” Regazzoni had arranged a converted Jaguar and we drove through Basel with the windows open. The people who recognized him couldn’t believe it.

It was said at the time that Regazzoni would probably never walk again. Could he accept that?
It was difficult for him. Then he heard from a faith healer in Washington, Professor Kao of Georgetown University. He asked me, “Roger, are you coming with me? I want to take a look.” A few days later we were on a plane together, flying from Paris to Washington in 3 hours and 20 minutes on a Concorde.

And what did Kao say?
When he had examined him, he simply said, “Who treated this man?” When Regazzoni came to Basel he apparently had a back curvature of 8 degrees, but when Kao examined him it was already 32 degrees.

At the time you headlined: “The War of the White Gods!”
I’m no expert, but some said Guido A. Zäch didn’t do everything right in Basel. Kao even said: “If Regazzoni had come to me directly, we would have gotten him running again straight away.”

Did Regazzoni have difficulty with that?
Sometimes he did, but he still laughed often. Once in Washington, Clay told me to sit in his wheelchair and do a wheelie. I flew backwards and the wheelchair fell on top of me. Just then, Professor Kao entered the room and said simply, “I hope not all Swiss are that crazy.” During our time in Washington, I also took over Clay’s telephone service. He told me, “When the phone rings, pick it up and say hello, Mr. Meier.” As soon as I said each name, he would give me a thumbs up or thumbs down. When he went downstairs, I said, “I’m sorry, he’s in therapy.”

In a documentary about Regazzoni you talked about the “War of the Flowers”.
His entire room was full of bouquets. At one point he had the nurses all come forward and said, “Everyone can choose a bouquet.” Two of them came away empty-handed and an argument broke out. But he remained calm and just said, “Come back in two days and there will be many new ones.”

You have taken another special photo in Washington.
Clay says to me, “I want to show you something.” He then put on leg braces, took two crutches and walked back and forth in the hallway. I took pictures, but he said to me: “If you publish these pictures, I will kill you.” In other words, Clay could walk a little, but was much faster in a wheelchair.

In 2006 you visited him in Menton, a few months before his death.
There too he suddenly stood up and the Blick photographer was allowed to photograph him like that. But he was a bit bitter at the time and said: “Formula 1 has forgotten me.”

On December 15, 2006, he died in a traffic accident near Parma.
His daughter said at the time: “He drove through life at 200mph and died at the age of 80.” That’s right, he also had 300 km/h signs posted on his property.

When you look back at Clay today, what comes to your mind? Niki Lauda once said: “He has never missed a party.”
Speaking of Lauda, ​​the two always teased each other, but they liked each other. Both could imitate the other’s signature very well. When they went out to eat and party at hotels, they always forged each other’s signatures and had the bill written to their room number. By the way, Niki always called Clay ‘Jacob’.

Back to my question: Was Regazzoni a playboy?
Let’s put it this way: he was definitely someone who enjoyed life and stayed at parties until the end. I won’t say more, but I can still tell you my favorite scene with Clay.

Say.
Kyalami Ranch 1975. Since I had no light in the room, I placed a candle behind my beloved Hermes typewriter and went to the bathroom. Suddenly there was a strange noise and when I came back into the room the back of the typewriter was burned. So I grabbed the typewriter and ran out onto the balcony with it naked. Just then, Clay ran past the ground floor, looked surprised, and shouted, “Roger, that’s a photo I’ll never forget.”

Source : Blick