John Fitzpatrick
I remember Ronnie Peterson as a terrific teammate on track – and a hilarious high-speed chauffeur. My father probably didn’t agree, mind
remembers his friend and BMW team-mate, Ronnie Peterson
Watching the Italian Grand Prix from Monza in September reminded me of the tragic accident in 1978 that took Ronnie Peterson’s life. In 1976 Ronnie and I were driving for BMW in the WEC in the fabulous 3.5-litre BMW CSLS. The CSL was always one of my favourite road cars, with predictable handling and that superbly smooth Paul Roche designed straight-six with masses of torque. I hope, one day, to put together a collection of my favourite road cars – and the CSL will be at the top of my list.
I was a great fan of Ronnie – in my opinion the fastest F1 driver at the time – and we had struck up a friendship in the BMW team. I was driving the Hermetitesponsored car with Tom Walkinshaw, but in the last race at Kyalami in South Africa Tom had a touring car commitment and I was paired with Ronnie.
I was under no illusions about being able to match his times, but he insisted I did the bulk of the practice and qualifying and was more than happy to drive the car with my set-up. Although he was a little taller than me, he said the driving position was to his liking and every time he went out in the car he was careful not to better my times by more than one or two tenths. What a gentleman. He insisted I take the start, but we suffered various problems during the race and didn’t finish.
Earlier in the year at the Nürburgring 1000km, Ronnie and I were both driving for BMW, but not together. My father, who rarely attended races, came to the ’Ring with me and brought one of his friends. After practice and qualifying on Saturday, Ronnie suggested we go to Mayen for dinner, to a restaurant he knew. My father and his friend came with us; neither of them had any idea who Ronnie Peterson was. They climbed into the back of the CSL and off we went. Ronnie was a complete lunatic on the road, as was his great friend Tim Schenken. Tim was also driving at the ’Ring, but for Georg Loos in his Turbo Porsche; he was probably out for a raucous evening with Georg and Toine Hezemans (they’d finished second on race day behind the Schnitzer CSL of Quester and Krebs).
The road to Mayen from the ’Ring winds its way down through the forest with great sweeping, fast corners and Ronnie was in his element. The road was deserted and we probably averaged 100mph with Ronnie driving one-handed with plenty of opposite lock, chatting about the foibles of the racecar at points around the ’Ring.
I loved every minute of it, but when we arrived at the restaurant my father and his friend were very quiet. They had to be helped out of the CSL and had trouble walking in a straight line. When Ronnie nipped out to the loo later, I told them not to worry because he was probably one of the greatest drivers in the world. After a few glasses of Mosel wine they enjoyed the drive back, albeit at unabated speed. Ronnie had only one speed – flat-out.