PAST IMPERFECT:F1 1976 World Champion Hunt was a character from a former age, writes BOB MONTGOMERY
WITH THE start of the 2009 F1 Season just days away and the line-up of drivers decided some time ago, thoughts turn to another, less politically correct era and the driver who most epitomised those times, James Hunt.
He was a public schoolboy who always seemed to have a beautiful woman on his arm and who seemed as if he had been born out of his time; he was the last of the inspired amateur drivers who perhaps should have been a Battle of Britain pilot instead of a champion Grand Prix driver.
Ah yes, that championship won in 1976 against the odds from his great rival and friend Niki Lauda.
In a see-saw year which included disqualifications and controversial wins, as well as Lauda’s fiery crash at the Nurburgring, James triumphed against the odds in a story-book finale which no Hollywood scriptwriter would have dared to write. It was the high point of his career as a racing driver for, truthfully, James had begun to doubt his own desire to race even before the end of that epic 1976 season.
Winning that title relaxed James and as World Champion he became equally famous for not observing the accepted conventions of how a World Champion F1 driver should behave.
Interestingly, he took his role as an ambassador for the sport extremely seriously even if it might not always appear so.
At official functions he would turn up in a white shirt, bow tie and dinner jacket, married to a pair of faded jeans and tennis shoes.
While this horrified some, a younger generation responded to it with enthusiasm. Meanwhile, on the race tracks the 1977 McLaren wasn’t good enough to give James a second title as the team moved into a decline that was to last for several seasons.
In 1978 it was even worse and before the end of the season James had decided to move to the Wolf team, owned by a wealthy Canadian, Walter Wolf.
The Wolf turned out to be uncompetitive but by Monaco, when he announced his retirement, it was clear that James’ heart was no longer in Grand Prix racing.
In truth, the death of Swede Ronnie Peterson at Monza the previous year, when James and Clay Regazzoni had dragged the badly injured driver from his burning car, had made him weigh up the odds and so, quite correctly, he stopped.
In retirement from F1, James found a role as a commentator on Grand Prix racing with Murray Walker for BBC television.
Initially nonplussed by his fellow commentator, Murray grew to respect and enjoy working with James.
At the start it was a difficult relationship, as Murray was extremely conscientious in his preparation for a commentary while James would habitually arrive at the last moment, gruff, having slept God-knows-where, would drink and, immediately a race was over, would disappear.
Despite the casualness of his approach, the pair became a formidable partnership, Murray intently reporting what he saw – or thought he saw – while James would spring to life with a perceptive comment or to correct a “Murrayism”. Over the years they came to respect each other and grow into a memorable partnership.
Through time James mellowed and his private life became more settled, never more happy than when driving his 1967 A35 van which was his everyday transport.
In June 1993, James Hunt died of a heart attack, depriving the motor racing world of one of its greatest characters, one who is utterly unique in the long annals of motor sport.