BOOK REVIEW PIRONI: THE CHAMPION THAT NEVER WAS
Who was Didier Pironi? It’s a question asked several times in Pironi: The Champion That Never Was. Most Formula One fans will remember the Frenchman as the driver who was on the cusp of world championship success in 1982, before a horrific accident at Hockenheim ended his career and left him with serious leg injuries. Or perhaps the man who was at the centre of the San Marino controversy that same year, when Ferrari team-mate Gilles Villeneuve accused Pironi of breaking team orders just two weeks before the Canadian’s tragic death.
David Sedgwick’s book charts the life of Pironi from growing up surrounded by wealth in Paris, his rise through the junior ranks of Formula Renault to F1, before his death in a powerboat race off the coast of the Isle of Wight in 1987.
Chapters of particular interest are unsurprisingly those covering his time in F1– making his mark with Tyrrell, what could have been during his one year with Ligier before being on the edge of glory with the Scuderia.
Accounts of his recovery from those horrific leg injuries, his attempts at getting back behind the wheel and ambition to go powerboat racing reflect the strong resolve and strong self-belief Pironi had.
The chapter on Imola ’82 also offers a different perspective on proceedings for which Pironi was, and often has been, cited as the villain.
There are many moments in the book which put Pironi in a shining light as expected, but there are also times where it feels forced by Sedgwick, who from the outset confesses to have been a Pironi fan as a young teenager.
There are fascinating details from the private life of Pironi, though, from growing up not knowing ‘uncle’ Louis was actually his father, to the high-profile relationships and affairs the Frenchman had.
The book paints a complex man but allows the reader the chance to make their own mind up on just who Didier Pironi was.