| Birth: | Dec. 5, 1939 | | Death: | Dec. 15, 2006 | 
Formula One racing driver and winner of five Grand Prix races. Gianclaudio "Clay" Guiseppe Regazzoni was born in Lugano, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, Switzerland. He began motor racing in the mid-1960s,making an impact in 1967 with de Tomaso and Tecno. In 1968 he became a regular race winner although his year was marred by a fatal collision with Chris Lambert at Zandvoort. In 1970 he won the European F2 Championship in his Tecno. In 1970 he had a drive in a Ferrari F1 car finishing forth in Holland on his debut, won the Italian GP and finished third in the World Championship. 1973 was not so successful for him and in 1974 he narrowly lost out on a Championship win by three points. By 1977 he'd moved to Ensign and Shadow the following year. With his successes falling away he went to Williams in 1979 and won them their first GP. Dropped by Williams in 1980 he returned to Ensign but at the US GP West at Long Beach, his car suffered a brake failure at the end of the long straight. His car collided with another car before striking a concrete barrier. Spinal injuries resulted in paralysis from his waist down but he refused to give up competing in hand controlled cars in the Paris-Dakar Rally as well as the Sebring 12hr sportscar race. Regazzoni lost his life in a road crash when his car collided head-on with a lorry on the A1 autoroute near Parma, Italy. Regazzoni was worshipped by his fans as he was from the ‘old school'. He loved racing and safety was not as important to him as to other drivers. He started in 132 F1 Grand Prix. Some thought him reckless but he was a real racer. (bio by: 380W)
Search Amazon for Clay Regazzoni | | | Burial:
Porza Cemetery
Lugano
Ticino, Switzerland |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: 380W
Record added: Dec 15, 2006
Find A Grave Memorial# 17032646 |
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