In the movie "Grand Prix", watch the drivers' safety committee meeting and count them. Siffert, McLaren, Rindt....

How come he ain't on my teevee tellin' me how great Fords are no more?

This is true - racing has improved safety to its credit. You want to see real racing horror? Go dig up that old Mickey Rooney Indy 500 movie. Drivers refused to wear seatbelts because they believed it was better to be thrown from the car instead of burning up in it. They had a point. Still, racing is no walk in the park, good people still die. It is a dangerous sport.

That "much-improved safety record" in Formula One can be credited to none other than Stewart himself, who became the sport's leading safety advocate after his near-fatal crash at Spa in '66. That was F1 safety's first great leap forward; it took Senna's death to make the second.

The film was 'The Big Wheel', 1949. Worth checking out if you haven't seen it. No 'Le Mans' but worth watching.

[www.imdb.com]

Yeah, from what I understand, he was kind of a laughing stock for a bit because of his driver safety advocacy--people called him "Jock McArmco".

Obviously, looking at the kind of wrecks a driver can walk away from these days, he was in the right!

Fortunately for Jackie dead men don't wear plaid.

Back when women were women, racers were racers, and Jackie was the man.

@zolielo: Except he still is.

I remember the palpable sense of relief here in Scotland when he announced his retirement in 1973. We don't have many world-class sporting heroes, and the thought of losing another just a few years after Jimmy Clark would have been unbearable.

Jackie's greatest moment on the track was winning the '68 German Grand Prix on the old Nordschleife at the Nürburgring, in the rain and fog, by four minutes.

Sobering that of the 20 starters that day, seven were to meet their end in motor racing accidents.

@Beelzebubba:
That's ney plaid laddie. That's a Tartan.
Say that again and I will whack you with me cudgel.

Now, can you spare a wee dram?

I remember reading an article in R&T where the writer had ridden with Jackie for an extended drive. He commented on the man's fluidity. The writer that he never really felt the car accelerate or decelerate or 'turn', it was just a smooth flow of motion.

He was amazing to watch. Senna had some of those same qualities.

F1 puts me to sleep.

Jackie was spot-on in advocating safety. Sometimes health and safety regulations can go too far (office workers not being allowed to change their own lightbulbs, for example), but in something as inherently high-risk as motor racing no-one should be criticised for putting safety high on their list of priorities.

This really hammers the point home:

[en.wikipedia.org]

My hero. I absolutely love this guy.

@CEman: A few years back, a piece in "Motorsport" magazine said that when you watched Stewart race, you got the impression that the car was holding still, and that the track was moving around it. (This was in their list of the top 100 drivers; can't remember where Stewart placed, but Nuvolari was #1.)

I was a little worried about doing my first rainy track day today, but I'm still alive, unlike the Vette that got stuffed into a wall (it was his SECOND time off track lol, you'd think he would learn to reign it in a little) 120MPH is weird when the surface looks like a still lake, but you could see the reflections of the clouds in it when the sun would break, and cars shooting off rainbow rooster tails from all four wheels is a sight to beheld.

WTF kind of balls would it take to do 200+ in the wet? Not the kind I have.

@Rock517: F1 used to be fun. Indy car racing used to be fun. Hell, even NASCAR used to be fun.

@TR3-A: No traction control appears to be bringing back some of the fun to F1. Kubica qualifying lap today was nuts!!!!

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

A wee bit from Sir Jackie himself. How can any Racing Driver who names their dogs Whiskey and Pimms not be your hero?

Here is a recent interview with Sir Jackie on CBC.
[www.cbc.ca]

My next door neighbour growing up in Montreal was a complete gearhead who loved motor sports. When he was about fifteen years old he visited the Mosport and struck up a friendship with John Surtees. When Surtees was badly injured in a crash at Mosport in 1965, my friend visited him while he was in the hospital in Toronto. I believe he has a photo of himself sitting in Surtees' car in an earlier race (Ferrari I think).

@zolielo: That's "Back when men were men and sheep were nervous".

It's amazing to consider how little power 1960s F1 cars generated compared today's cars, or the turbo era for that matter. Yet death was a regular occurrence...thanks to bad tires, no downforce, weak monocoques, weak fuel tanks, and obstacles like telephone poles and trees right beside the track. Jackie had luck and talent in full measure.

@thatguy01: You can add Jo Schlesser to that list. He's the guy who speaks French at the end of the meeting.

A little Jackie Steward giving James May some lessons...

+ Watch video

Thanks, Jon - I'd seen it before, but that is a great session with a great driver!

I've asked and gotten autographs from many people in my 50 years, but Jackie was the ONLY person that made me absolutely nervous to ask for one. I hold him in such high regard.