Grand Prix racing's lost one of the nice guys. He was extremely talented, winning the 1970 European Formula Two Champion, as well his 4th-ever F1 race, at Monza in a Ferrari 312B. To top it off, he was always fair and professional; he was glad to be in Grand Prix racing because he loved to be a part of it, no matter how good or uncompetitive the car was.
It's a pity Carlos Reutemann pretty much unseated him twice, after 1976, he was replaced at Ferrari, but he didn't curse out anyone and everyone when his Ferrari career stumbled and Enzo made him the fall-guy. As it was, his teammate Lauda had had enough by the end of the following season. And when Clay won Frank Williams' first F1 race at Silverstone in 1979, it was quite a popular win. Later that year in Monza, the Ferraris swept to a 1-2, and their former Ferrari hero picked up the final podium place...the crowd loved it.
It's hard to believe he went all the way down to the Mo Nunn's Ensign team for 1980, but Clay being Clay...it was because he loved racing. The car wasn't competitive until Long Beach, when he managed to haul the car up to 4th place...and then came that terrible accident. The brakes failed, and his car scrubbed almost no speed as it plowed into Zunino's parked car. He was paralyzed form the waist down, and it could be many years until he could walk again. Cars could be modified for paralyzed people, and it's said that he was one of original "testers" of the paddle-shifting technology that made it's way to racing cars and eventually road cars.
To top it all off, did he not have the best name for a professional Ferrari racing driver?
R.I.P. Clay Regazzoni.
