La flèche brisée

A collection of info, articles and photos of Didier Pironi (all rights to respective owners)

[laflechebrisee]

happy birthday Didier! From my small collection today I offer you Autosprint from october 1980. Journalists do complain that Patrese doesn't have a seat, but they also devote a couple of pages to Didier in Ferrari. In these they explain why Didier was called Didi in reference to count Felice "Didì" Trossi, a gentleman driver of the past, who was president of Scuderia Ferrari back in the '30s.

The article offers an interview with Enzo Ferrari and one with Didier, in which Didier expresses enthusiasm about Fiorano and the huge amount of data that the Ferrari engineers are able to provide him with, he notices the difference in the tyres and is very satisfied with the gearbox. The press also recognizes that his results are excellent, and make sure to notice after he gets a hang of the new car, he manages to beat Gilles' record on the track.

After all, he was that guy.

[laflechebrisee]

My birthday cake from last month was flowerboy Gilles from that one caricature of Didier's wedding. Yes, my mother made this... Thank you for posting that magazine!!!

oh my god that is so cute! also compliments to your mom, it came out pefectly!

[laflechebrisee]

Get back soon, Didi!

Only after scanning this Autosprint issue I noticed it was published at the beginning of november 1982, so 43 years ago exactly. Time flies. But it wasn't exactly flying for Didier, stuck in the hospital after his terrible Hockenheim crash that needs no introduction. He still keeps himself busy though: Piero Lardi came to visit him (Enzo Ferrari's illegitimate son) and so did the french drivers, out of which Patrick Tambay brought him a videogame as a gift (and the magazine duly explains what a videogame is). Niki Lauda, Keke Rosberg and even Jean-Marie Balestre also visited him. His mom and aunt also bring him plenty of homemade food.

But if no one comes, he can pass the time reading the huge amount of letters he receives, some of which are simply addressed to "Didier Pironi, F1 driver, Paris, France" and they still reached him! The magazine also gives the correct address to write him a letter, which is of course surreal to think about it, reminding us what kind of a time capsule these magazines are: a little piece of time travel.

[laflechebrisee]

Today I bring you an interview to Didier from Rombo magazine, from june '87. Given the date it has that "photos taken 5 minutes before disaster" feel, and it is a very interesting read, because it is very empathetic towards Didier (and I might translate it fully in the future). The traumatized journalist tells us that Didier drives his powerboat like a taxi driver in London going 40 km/h, with his elbow on the edge and calm movements, except they're going speeding up on the sea and the poor journalist is fearing for his life and that of his camera. There is also an anecdote about Brigitte Bardot being annoyed by Didier's offshore racing which apparently disturbed the fishes next to Saint-Tropez. Didier compares offshore driving to endurance racing, giving us hints on how impactful it must have been on his poor legs, and says that offshore feels more genuine compared to F1. "I never stopped thinking about F1, since my accident. My heart is still there", he says. To me the most heartbreaking line is when he says "I'm not old, I'm 35." In two months, he will be no more.

[laflechebrisee]

part 2 of this Rombo post, which is mainly an excuse to show you Didier dissociating at his own wedding, and Didier having a mean crash during practice at Imola which is treated like it's no big deal, and I wish I could translate the pun in the title. Oh and it is also mentioned that he brought to the breakfast organized by Villeneuve's sponsor Giacobazzi... a magician who impressed everyone with his card games.

While you still consider the idea of Didier having a magician as friend, please enjoy the caricature of his own wedding with Gilles as flower boy and Forghieri holding Didier's tail coat.

[laflechebrisee]

well who am I not to continue in the Imola '82 tradition tonight. This issue of Rombo from april '82 has so much good stuff I will separate it into two posts, and here's the first one.

As you can expect, the italian press was very eager to fan the flames of war and automatically assume Villeneuve was right, giving him space and having him insinuate that someone is protecting Pironi - as if Villeneuve wasn't Ferrari's darling through and through! Villeneuve is asked a very direct question aka "were there any agreements between you two and why can't Pironi race to win" to which he gives a VERY elusive answer, saying he feels as if Didier cheated and that he knows (Gilles, not didier) that at Ferrari there's a rule that if the two cars on 1st and 2nd place during a race are two Ferraris then there shouldn't be any overtakes, which sounds like a kid making up a rule about why his imaginary friend is stronger than his friend's. If a real agreement between Didier and Gilles was there, why not mention it?

Anyway there's also a "war chronicles" page about the other San Marino thing, with funny caricatures because of course why not.

[laflechebrisee]

More scans for you today! These are from Autosprint n. 20, may 1980 aka the issue right after the one I posted last time. And as you can see from the cover, we're getting ready for Monaco.

Which brings us more Zolder materials, a very cute caricature of Didier in his car, two more questionable caricatures this time of René in great shape and Didier cleaning house after his excellent results at Zolder. There's also a cute photo of Bruno Giacomelli and a R2-D2 shaped coca-cola robot for some reason.

Oh, and the didier centerfold which for some reason I can't scan in a way that it looks paired nicely, I'm afraid you're going to have to rely on your imagination. But hey, Didier centerfold!

[laflechebrisee]

So, as a homage to @flymula1's excellent work, I've decided to start scanning the didier-related pages of my vintage motorsport magazines, and my sideblog devoted mostly to sources and articles seems perfect as a place to host them. I'm not going into chronological order because that would mean I would never post the issues that mention his death.

I'm therefore starting with the Autosprint issue for the Zolder gp of 1980, Didier's first gp victory, celebrated by that iconic artwork of Didier dressed like the Gitanes lady, because why not.

The pun in the title is pretty much impossible to translate, the rooster caricature is a reference to the italian word "gallo" which means both rooster and gaul as in the french population. The press is generally happy with Didier's victory and shames the terrible Ferrari performance (nothing new under the sun!) and also asks Didier if he's in talks with Ferrari, to which he vehemently denies.

(There's also a small story about Ken Tyrrell refusing to pay for the paddock toilets and resulting in someone tripping him and making him fall next to the toilets. what a time to be alive).

[laflechebrisee]

A rose for Gilles

In the biography of Didier Pironi it is mentioned that Didier attended a ceremony in Monza in which he delivered a rose in honor of Gilles and cried. I have been trying to find more about this episode and I am very glad to say I have discovered something about it!

We start with this extract from a book published in 1982, which allowed me to find out the ceremony had been in Monza, yes, but not at the circuit! It was at a botanic award:

This allowed me to have an idea of the date, and to retrieve a local newspaper:

... which is the episode as it is recounted in his biography. I haven't been able to find a photo of the rose, but a friend found this instead: a newsreel from the time, Didier appears at roughly 0.40: LINK

Translated, the video says:

So, is the rose red or pink? Did Didier present a pale pink rose, but was moved by this red rose? Or were they the same flower? Red and pale pink aren’t exactly the same… To complicate matters, 30 years later at the very same award, a rose called “Souvenir de Gilles Villeneuve” and presented by Marc Alberici won an award and is now what you find on the internet looking for a rose with his name.

How was the rose that Didi presented? Was it red or pale pink? Did he create this new variety just for Gilles? I'm inclined to think he didn't have the time for that, but he was there to remember him, and 30 years later, another rose was made for him, and isn't it sweet?

[laflechebrisee]

hear ye, hear ye! Thanks to a 1982 issue of Rombo magazine we have confirmation that the rose was, in fact, pale pink!

[laflechebrisee]

A rose for Gilles

In the biography of Didier Pironi it is mentioned that Didier attended a ceremony in Monza in which he delivered a rose in honor of Gilles and cried. I have been trying to find more about this episode and I am very glad to say I have discovered something about it!

We start with this extract from a book published in 1982, which allowed me to find out the ceremony had been in Monza, yes, but not at the circuit! It was at a botanic award:

This allowed me to have an idea of the date, and to retrieve a local newspaper:

... which is the episode as it is recounted in his biography. I haven't been able to find a photo of the rose, but a friend found this instead: a newsreel from the time, Didier appears at roughly 0.40: LINK

Translated, the video says:

So, is the rose red or pink? Did Didier present a pale pink rose, but was moved by this red rose? Or were they the same flower? Red and pale pink aren’t exactly the same… To complicate matters, 30 years later at the very same award, a rose called “Souvenir de Gilles Villeneuve” and presented by Marc Alberici won an award and is now what you find on the internet looking for a rose with his name.

How was the rose that Didi presented? Was it red or pale pink? Did he create this new variety just for Gilles? I'm inclined to think he didn't have the time for that, but he was there to remember him, and 30 years later, another rose was made for him, and isn't it sweet?

[laflechebrisee]

Extract from an Autosprint article in which Pietro, Didier's chief mechanic, is interviewed.

"Despite what someone might believe, after Gilles' death Didier Pironi was never the same. Someone might think that the frenchman was now cinically calm and happy, since he had gotten rid of his sworn enemy, and could now win the world championship easily. But no. No, no, no! He didn't talk to me, but I was still his chief mechanic and I could see and understand things better than anyone. After Zolder's disgrace, Didier was never the same. He suffered, he was depressed, and I'm sure of what I am saying, he was deeply saddened with how things had ended with Gilles, in such a terrible and definitive way. Yeah, I think Didier was feeling guilty, because he behaved in a very strange, peculiar, excessive way, as if he wanted to think about something else, as if he wanted to drown his troubles, forget about all the horror that had happened. No one knows that Zandvoort 1982 is a victory without smiles. Didier wins, but does not smile, does not laugh, because something inside him has broken, maybe forever. He had a new mistress, it was like he didn't want to think, he didn’t even seem enthusiastic about the championship victory that was coming. Yes, the Holland GP is a good thing... but only for you. For those who secretly see what's happening in Ferrari, it shows a specific state of mind of Didier: cold, sad, melancholic. So I think these things should be known now, because they will end in a dramatic epilogue at Hockenheim, which is an event that is like a child of Zandvoort. The day of the crash in Germany, Didier arrives at the circuit half an hour late. Something serious, unacceptable. He has a long, scruffy beard, a distant look. He comes in company of two girls with whom no one thinks he had been discussing the weather forecasts with... so, Forghieri understandably is upset with him. It rains, it's not even worth going on track, but the situation is such that Mauro wants Didier to wake up and go back on track, because it seems that his mind is somewhere else. The rest is history."

[laflechebrisee]

Article by Gian Paolo Ormezzani, published on La Stampa on the 24th of august 1987, in honor of Didier's death, translated by me.

Didier Pironi was first and foremost a young man to be envied, envied ferociously we could say. Destiny had seen fit to beat his character to a pulp, crushing it under the weight of many misfortunes, torturing it endlessly. Quite the evil thing, which causes great suffering in the feelings of those who had been able to appreciate, in this boy from a very good family and social standing, the real man that had wanted and managed to do better than his lucky beginnings. Pironi was born in a rich family, from a father from Friuli who had a good business in the field of construction and commerce. Pironi lived in Saint-Tropez, and had been driving powerful speedboats and fast cars since he was young. He decided to become a grand prix driver, and that was easy from the start, or at least easier, and he could make a job out of it. Young, handsome, apparently happy. As happy as he should be, one might say, considering what life had been giving him: fame, which is the best sauce to pour on richness, due to the glory reached in what is possibly the most exalting setting of them all, Formula 1. And the call from Ferrari, in which he had managed to cut himself a space next to the already mythical Villeneuve. Didier was handsome, blonde, almost blessed. He got married, and of course it was a gorgeous woman (who would have later felt the call to “fly free” in the jet set, a normal occurrence in certain settings for some people). He won races. But he was so pleasant that no one dared felt envy towards him. He looked as if he was constantly busy repaying the debt he had by being born in a certain place, in a certain family. He was kind, humble even. When a young french doctor arrived in Formula 1 and asked for a guinea pig for his experiments on heartbeats during races, Didier Pironi was the first in line to get his chest covered in electrodes while almost all other drivers refused this small obligation. He lived and endured a deep rivalry with Villeneuve, a great driver already pampered by the myth that he was and the attention he received at Ferrari. He hurt himself, Pironi, and severely too, three months after Villeneuve’s death. Someone said he had risked a lot to show something. An important member of the tribe of those who feel the wind on their face, of those who have a great fire inside them, Didier had decided to become world champion in something. While the doctors debated on his leg to be rebuilt, he went on the water. Maybe someone will say that he was looking for death. But for us, he was looking for life, that special life that destiny had first assigned him and then taken away from him, and that he wanted to take back, even in small pieces.

[christiangeistdorfer]

DIDIER PIRONI, 1983