Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

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Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

Postby Splitpin » Sat Jul 31, 2021 4:23 pm

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"He did not get the success he deserved" - Enzo Ferrari talking about Chris Amon who drove F1 for Ferrari (1967-1969)
The New Zealander, who finished on the grand Prix podium 11 times for the Ferrari, March, and Matra teams, also won the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours sharing a Ford GT40 with compatriot Bruce McLaren.
"A true gentleman and one of the fastest racing drivers there ever was: the one and only Christopher Arthur Amon." McLaren chairman Ron Dennis speaking at Amons funeral.
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Re: Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

Postby Naki » Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:39 pm

Now you are talking.. ......
Nice pic and tribute to one of the NZs great drivers.
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Re: Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

Postby Charl » Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:03 am

:hesaid:
I thought from the title we'd see a shark-nose Ferrari!
Don't know why I associate him with that 1961 car, because that would've been Phil Hill.
Weren't the Kiwis amazing in the '60's... McLaren, Hulme, Amon.
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Re: Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

Postby emfrat » Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:45 am

Some links to GRRC which may be of interest. I know these work in Firefox, but thanks to Google and YT faffing around, you may have problems. Apparently they want me to subscribe to things which will steal even more of my bandwidth for their pestiferous adverts. :angry:

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/columnists ... hris-amon/

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/histo ... f1-racers/

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/histo ... -classics/
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Re: Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

Postby chopper_nut » Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:26 am

Chris was always my favourite of the three kiwis in F1 at that time. My old man worked with him on road safety initiatives at Tranzit NZ and apparently he was the most unassuming guy with no ego. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him but there are enough interviews out there that show what sort of guy he was. He was blisteringly quick in a car and was one of the driving forces with McLaren behind the GT40... Despite what a recent Hollywood film would have you believe. There is a story of him doing testing for Firestone, which is how he came to Ferrari's attention where he was describing to the engineers in minute detail the finer points of the performance of each set of rubber they were fitting to the car. The engineers thought that there was no way he could be getting all of that so they tricked him. They replaced the current set with one that he had already tested and sent him off. After a few laps he came in, switched off and sat there for a second before saying 'That's strange. Those felt exactly like the set I had on two changes ago'
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Re: Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

Postby Splitpin » Sun Aug 01, 2021 5:44 pm

Thanks for looking gents...and thanks for the memories and links....It's nice when it's not all about aircraft.
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Re: Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

Postby emfrat » Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:09 pm

Splitpin wrote:Thanks for looking gents...and thanks for the memories and links....It's nice when it's not all about aircraft.

Yeah, but...the Goodwood circuit was once the peri-track for RAF Westhampnett, a satellite of RAF Tangmere. Just click Skip Ads to get rid of the rubbish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDNtCJMGK1A
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Re: Chris Amon in action (1943-2016)

Postby Charl » Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:45 am

emfrat wrote:Some links to GRRC which may be of interest./

Indeed... thanks for the links Mike, great read.
Wonder what the future holds for Brendon Hartley?
Maybe not F1, but a smart driver would surely stay in touch with Formula E?
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