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@dailyjameshunt
Welcome to Daily James Hunt!
Photos | Lore | Videos
It's not complicated around here. Every day I post something related to James Hunt, mostly photos, but sometimes videos, interviews, quotes, book extracts, press clippings or lore.
DMs and asks are open, I'm happy to take requests or questions, and I follow from @seafoampearlygirl
James Hunt at the 1975 French Grand Prix, in his Hesketh. Photo by Bernard Cahier
James Hunt at Hesketh Racing. Date, location and photographer unknown but likely 1973.
James Hunt celebrating winning a hundred bottles of champagne for setting the fastest time in a practice session at the 1976 British Grand Prix. Other people's identities not known. Photo by Dennis Oulds
Got a bit for James and his budgies?
Yes I *have*, brilliant question and I'm making it a Deep Dive Sunday!
Deep Dive Sunday: James Hunt and Budgerigars
James was a great animal lover (his dog, Oscar, had special permission to enter the dining room of his golf club, and his collar was buried with James - Oscar predeceased him. Yes, I'll do a Deep Dive on Oscar!). He bought a farm and banned hunting on his land. Even as a kid, he was fond of animals and he collected budgerigars (also known as budgies) and announced as a teenager that he intended to be a professional budgie breeder and retire as a millionaire at 30. His girlfriend from his teen years, Taormina "Ping" Rich, says he had an aviary in the back garden of his parents' house in Belmont, with a huge flock.
James then seems to have taken a lengthy break from owning birds or any animals during his early racing years, probably because he was broke and rarely at home. He got Oscar as a puppy in 1976, and borrowed a book on budgie breeding while still driving. Author Gerald Binks, whose dad James had worked for before he became a professional racing driver, remembers him reading on a yacht with other drivers making fun of him, and he barely looked up from the book. He had started collecting and breeding while still married to Sarah Lomax, probably around 1985. At the peak of his hobby, he owned 150-200 budgies.
Sarah bought him his first breeding pair and said later that she regretted it, because she never saw him after that. (I've written about Sarah before - in spite of their divorce, she always spoke kindly about James and seems to have been a truly lovely person). There's a video here of James's sons, Freddie and Tom, talking about James, and they talk about the budgies from about three minutes in. They still have his breeding trophies, alongside his racing ones.
There is an article here about James going to a budgie show in 1986 and giving the budgies little haircuts. It's ridiculously cute. The article seems to be paywalled but I was able to read it before, so I may have just used up my free reads.
James was a serious breeder, keeping the male and female budgies apart and carefully choosing which ones could procreate. In light of literally everything else known about the man, this seems ironic.
Also, following his divorce from Sarah, James met Helen Dyson, to whom he proposed the night before his death (and if this seems a little too convenient, it has been corroborated by someone who thought the same! And Helen Dyson seems scrupulously honest). When they met, he had wound down his party lifestyle, was a dedicated dad (though not living full-time with his sons because of the divorce), and was wearing white socks. Helen thought of him as too old for her, but fell for him over time. Why am I telling you this? Because when he met her, around 1989, he introduced himself as a budgerigar breeder, rather than a commentator, media personality, or retired driver. He was properly into it.
James had given up budgie breeding before he died. He got into legal trouble in 1989, after throwing a cup of hot coffee in a bouncer's face at a nightclub in Doncaster, UK (if you're not British, a bouncer is like door security, breaking up fights, general enforcement in nightclubs) when he was denied entry for wearing jeans. There is footage online of the incident and it looks like an impulsive loss of temper after a short encounter, and it's honestly hard to believe the bouncer did anything wrong - he just didn't have time. The bouncer needed hospital treatment and James was arrested. He called a friend to collect the budgies for him as he had to stay in Doncaster an extra day to appear in court. He sold his full "stud" some time after that (but after he began seeing Helen Dyson), and never really said why. I suspect if he had lived longer, he might have gone back to it, as it seemed to be a recurring interest all his life.
The budgies also make an appearance in Rush. James has some in his room when he brings Nursie (Natalie Dormer) home, and mentions them in an award acceptance speech early in the film. A budgerigar breeder's calendar is also among films props sold after Rush was released.
To end on a cheerful note, a magazine called Cage and Aviary once ran a headline (which I can't find a photo of, unfortunately) alongside a picture of James that said "James Hunt Shows Off His Lime Green Cock."
James Hunt in an unbadged racing car, during his Hesketh era. Date, location and photographer unknown
I have a quiet few days ahead, so please hit me with any James questions, requests or lore drops!
James Hunt and Jean Max at the F3 support race in Monaco, 1970. Photographer not known, image from LAT
James Hunt image from a German magazine, during his McLaren career. Date, location and photographer unknown
James Hunt with lots of young ladies in Coca-Cola shirts at the 1974 Argentinian Grand Prix. Photographer and exact date unknown
James Hunt playing tennis. From a board game based on British TV game show, A Question of Sport. Photographer unknown
Deep Dive Sunday: the James Hunt Boardgame
As promised, I'm back with more details on this delightful throwback to the 1970s. The game, not James.
Meet James Hunt's Grand Prix Racing game.
(Aside: even in his commentary career, James most often called his racing series "Grand Prix racing" and not Formula One. I find it pleasingly old-fashioned. Note that F1 or Formula One doesn't seem to appear on the box)
The board game was produced by Denys Fisher Games. Denys Fisher was also the inventor of the Spirograph. There is a webpage about him here, written by his son. He sounds like an interesting guy.
He also released tie-in board games for a ton of TV and media properties, like sitcoms and quiz shows and even one based on the Miss World pageant, so not a huge surprise he saw an opportunity in James. There is an enjoyably snarky review of some of the Denys Fisher media cash-in tie-in games here, by Tim Worthington.
The rules of the game involve choosing a number of laps in advance, then drawing cards in order to proceed around the board.
James does not look his most handsome here in the illustration at the centre. I think that's a version of Emerson Fittipaldi to the left of James, and I suspect the guy in the tache and glasses behind him is a take on Clay Regazzoni.
Monaco looks nice, though, even if the pretty ladies in bikinis are concerningly large compared to the surrounding boats and buildings. I feel James wouldn't have minded. The other corner of the board has a combination of Nurburgring, Spa and Monza vibes, imo.
The little plastic cars are cute, and the design reflects the rear wings of the era, which is a nice touch.
The game has a page on BoardGameGeek.
Interestingly, James was not the only driver with a board game. Niki Lauda released one in 1980, and Alan Jones followed suit in 1985. There were also a variety of non-driver-endorsed F1 board games, if anyone wants to start a niche tumblr. Personally I would recommend it
JAMES: FIFTY YEARS A CHAMPION
Race 6: Monaco, 30th May 1976
One of my favourite ever photos of James and Niki together, taken this weekend fifty years ago by David Phipps
The Monaco Grand Prix in 1976 had a few features in common with Monaco races today. The motorsport press complained afterwards that the racing had been processional, that the real competition was in qualifying, and that the race was largely a reliability test since only DNFs did much to change the order. Fifty years, and the more things change, the more they stay the same...
Niki Lauda's form for the weekend was strong. He took pole, with James qualifying 14th because of a gearbox problem (Niki likely didn't care too much where James qualified, since his disqualified win in Spain had left him on six points to Niki's 42). James was nowhere to speak of in the title race, with four DNFs, one second-place and one disqualified win out of six races. Niki, by contrast, had four on-track wins, a 2nd place finish upgraded to a win after James's disqualification and another second place. He was walking to another title. But James had only lost his Spanish win on a technicality, and he'd won the two non-championship races. So he clearly had pace and he was driving well, he just wasn't getting points for his wins.
(LAT Images)
Niki led the race from the first lap, with his teammate Clay Regazzoni in second. It was not terribly eventful for overtakes, but Ronnie Peterson passed Clay to take second and James managed a few passes.
Then James DNF'd on Lap 25 because his engine crapped out. Clay slid off because of the oil from James's car but saved himself. Ronnie claimed the oil from James's car ended his race when he went off too. It's reported that James and Ronnie got huge cheers from the crowd as they went back to their teams.
Clay (second to Niki in the championship) also DNFed late in the race, so Niki extended his lead, took a second consecutive win in Monaco, and kissed Grace Kelly ('s hand, to be exact, but closer than I ever got).
(Lichfield and Schlegelmilch)
So a pretty forgettable race for James, and it was looking like back-to-back titles for his friend. He probably never guessed what was ahead...
James Hunt in his car at the British Grand Prix, 14th July 1973. Photographer unknown, photo from Autocar.
Thank you @f-albay16 and everyone who got me to 3000 reblogs!
James Hunt with Sir Stirling Moss at Goodwood in 1982, launching an Aston Martin Nimrod. Photographer unknown. For more about the Nimrod, this post is interesting!
James Hunt with Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Graham Hill, and Emerson Fittipaldi at the Spanish Grand Prix, 27th April 1975, during a safety protest about the track barriers. Photographer unknown
James Hunt at the German Grand Prix, 4th August 1974. Photographer unknown, image from LAT Images