Clay Regazzoni. A biography of a hero.
Gianclaudio Giuseppe Regazzoni, nickname ‘Clay’was born in Mendrisio, in Ticino Canton, part of the Italian speaking region of Switzerland, just a few days after the start of World War II. Because Switzerland had banned all motor racing following the horrific 24 h Le Mans accident in 1955, it took an encounter with Silvio Moser to get him starting racing at the age of 24 in 1963. He drove in local slaloms and hillclimbs with a Mini Cooper 1000 and an Austin-Healey Sprite. In 1965 Regazzoni joined team Martinelli & Sonvico of Lugano, with fellow countryman Moser and undertook a racing course at Linas-Montlhéry. He graduated to single -seater racing in the F3 (Brabham BT6). In 1966 he started to win at Monza and graduated to the F2 with a P06 in the Eifelrennen Nurburgring.
By the end of 1966 Clay Regazzoni was signed up by the Tecno factory team and that was the breakthrough for him ! He drove in the Temporada Argentina Formula 3 and in the European F3 championship in 1967. The following year Clay Regazzoni drove again for Tecno in Formula 3 and the F2. In the European Formula 2 Championship he finished sixth, with 13 points.
His 1968 season was marred by a fatal collision with Chris Lambert at Zandvoort. The accident was controversial and the Dutch Auto Club carried out an investigation upon it. This analysis absolved Regazzoni from all blame, however Chris’ father John Lambert became convinced that Regazzoni was responsible for the accident, and subsequently waged an unsuccessful but bitter campaign for about a year to get Regazzoni banned or prosecuted, or both. This case that dragged on for years until Clay was finally exonerated in 1971.
Regazzoni at Maranello
Around Christmas 1968 he got a phone call from Franco Gozzi, inviting Regazzoni to join the Scuderia Ferrari. Luciano Pederzani and his younger brother Gianfranco, owners of Tecno, agreed to the changing and the Swiss moved to Maranello for a Formula 2 full season in the Dino together with Ernesto Brambilla and Derek Bell. However, the car proved to be unreliable during the 1969 season. Regazzoni started only in four races, because Enzo Ferrari got angry and the team was retired. Clay could drive again for Tecno. Still a Scuderia Ferrari works driver, Regazzoni won in 1970 for Tecno the 1970 European Formula 2 Championship. He scored three wins in the season, at the wheel of the new Tecno 70 – Cosworth, nicknamed “Musone” ("Big-Nose").
He was in favour at Ferrari and week after his debut in the 24 h Le Mans with Arthuro Merzario and the Ferrari 512S (retired 5th hour, accident), he made, already aged 30, his F1 debut for Ferrari at the Zandvoort Dutch GP. Ferrari handed him a seat in the Ferrari 312B alongside Jacky Ickx, alternating the second car with fellow rookie Ignazio Giunti. He finished in a fantastic fourth place. He was again fourth in Brands Hatch and a splendid second at the Österreichring behind Jacky Ickx in a 1-2 finish. In Monza, one day after the fatal accident of Jochen Rindt he took the lead in the 52e lap after a battle with Jacky Stewart and won the race ! It was Clay’s fourth F1 race in Monza with Ferrari ! After two second places in Canada and Mexico, Regazzoni ended the championship in third place.
In 1971 Clay only won the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch because the new Ferrari 312B2 proved to be not so good anymore. He ended sixth in the 1971 championship, with three third places at Kyalami, Zandvoort and Nürburgring. The Scuderia also participated in the 1971 World Sportscar Championship with the Ferrari 312PB. Regazzoni sharing the car with Jacky Ickx was second in the 1000 Km of Brands Hatch and with Brian Redman, he won the 9 Hours of Kyalami. In 1972 Ferrari entered the WSC with a super-team of three Ferrari 312PBs and scored 10 wins in 11 races. Clay Regazzoni won the 1000 Km of Monza with Jacky Ickx, finished two times second, at Buenos Aires and Spa-Francorchamps with Brian Redman and won again in Kyalami with Merzario. In the F1 only one win in 1972 for Ferrari, the German Grand Prix with Jacky Ickx, first and Regazzoni, second. Clay ended the year in a modest seventh position in the World Championship. At the end of the year he was released from his Ferrari contract. Il Commendatore had no programme for 1973 and no money.
Regazzoni again at Maranello
For 1973, he joined the BRM team and the BRMP160C in F1 and Alfa Romeo in the Endurance championship. In the F1 BRM, he had an unsuccessful year with only two P06 finishes. In Kyalami he had a huge accident when he collided with the Surtees of Mike Hailwood and Ickx’ Ferrrari. Regga was unconscious in a burning wreckage and was rescued from it by Hailwood. With the Alfa Romeo T33/TT/12 he had a big practice accident in the Targa Florio and no luck in two other races. His only win that year was at the wheel of the Wicky Racing Team Tomaso Pantera in the European GT series.
Surprise in the summer. Enzo Ferrari and Luca di Montezemolo called for the 1974 season. Clay suggested his BRM team mate Niki Lauda to join him in the Scuderia. This partnership worked well for the next three years. Driving the Ferrari 321B3 in 1974 was his best season. He ended second in the championship, just 3 points (because of a DNF- undrivable car- at Watkins Glenn) behind Emerson Fittipaldi and the McLaren M23. He took a superb win at the Nürburgring leading the whole race and P02 In Brasil, Jarama, Zandvoort and Mosport Park.
When Ferrari presented the new Ferrari 312T in 1975, Regazzoni proved to be the ideal companion to Lauda. With five wins, Lauda took control and became the world Champion. Rega, racing more from day to day, had some good results and won the Italian GP for his home crowd again and the non-championship Swiss Grand Prix at Dijon-Prenois. The following year Lauda won the first two races of the season at Interlagos and Kyalami, but in the next round at Long Beach, Regazzoni took pole position, first place and best lap of the race. He ended on P2 at Zolder, Zandvoort and again in Monza. He was fifth in the championship. The season was turned uspide down by Lauda's crash at the Nürburgring, during the German Grand Prix. The team started to find other drivers to replace Lauda, but he returned to racing only forty days after the crash, still bandaged in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. At the end of the year Enzo Ferrari decided that it was time for a substantial change, took Carlos Reutemann on board and Clay was fired.
F1 after the Ferrari years
For 1977 Regga joined Mo Nunn’s Ensign squad for the season, with little success. A sixth place in the opening Grand Prix at Buenos Aires and two fifth places at Monza and Watkins Glen were the only reward for the year. He also took part in the Indianapolis 500; he retired in the 25th lap.
Backed by a sponsorship from Swiss cigar company Villiger Kiel, Regazzoni joined team Shadow and the DN9A-Ford in 1978. Apart from a couple of fifth place finishes it was a big step down. He failed to qualify in five occasions. The team was bankrupt and fell apart because Jacky Oliver was planning to form the Arrows team.
Just when his Formula 1 career seemed to be over, Clay Regazzoni was hired by Frank Williams to join his team having found enough Arabian sponsoring money, alongside Alan Jones for 1979. The new Williams FW07 - Ford designed by Patrick Head and Neil Oatley was a great car. After two DNF races, he started in Monaco only 16th but drove an inspired race to finish second, right on the tail of Jody Scheckter's Ferrari. After a P06 In France, Regga won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, giving the team its first ever win in F1.With a second place in Hockenheim and a third place in Monza and Canada, he was fifth in the final standings. He also drove in the BMW Procar Series.
Dropped by Team Williams(They wanted Carlos Reutemann!),Regazzoni returned to the Ensign team in 1980. Everything changed in Clay Regazzoni's life on 30 March 1980, during the fourth race of the year at Long Beach. Working hard after a troubled practice, he quickly moved to fourth from 23rd on the grid and was running in this position when a near-fatal accident brought his racing career to an end. His Ensign N180 - Ford had a fractured brake pedal at the end of the main straight. He hurtled down the escape road at the Queen’s Hairpin, trying to reduce the speed taking third and second gear, then the car plowed into Ricardo Zunino’s parked Brabham BT49, then crashed into a concrete wall ending under the tyre barrier. He was trapped in the car. He survived the terrific impact, being in hospital for many months, but he suffered serious spinal damage in the first operation in the USA which resulted in paralysis from his waist down. Despite several operations, the accident left him in a wheelchair. But Regazzoni did not lose his enthusiasm for the sports and was still determined to carry on with racing. After working regularly as a commentator for the Swiss and the Italian TVs, he regained his racing licence and drove specially adapted cars and trucks, competing in the Paris-Dakar Rally in the 1980s. In 1998 he participated in the Raid Las Pampas in Argentina, driving a Mercedes-Benz Proto truck. He also took part in historic rallies and started a driving school for handicapped people at Vallelunga, Italy, being fully involved in developing the hand-control systems for cars. Regazzoni worked for charities and for disability rights, he founded the Club "Clay Regazzoni Onlus - Aiutiamo La Paraplegia". He published two books, his autobiography titled “E’ questione di cuore” (It’s a Matter of Heart), and "E la corsa continua" (And the Race Goes On).
Unfortunately, Clay lost his life in a motorway crash in december 2006 on his way to Parma.
If you have an interest in some of the cars that Clay Regazzoni drove and if you want to know more about the driver, you can visit the Autobau museum at Romanshorn, Switserland.
Die «autobau erlebniswelt» in Romanshorn zeigt eine Clay Regazzoni-Gedenksammlung als permanente Ausstellung. Der ehemalige Unternehmer und Rennfahrer Fredy Lienhard hat diese von der Familie Regazzoni übertragen erhalten und stellt sie seit dem 16. Oktober 2021 in einem Neubau aus. Im dortigen Automobilmuseum und Eventlokal sind bereits heute weit über 100 Classic Cars sowie Sport- und Rennwagen aller Marken zu sehen.
Here is the link for more information.
