Henty Surtees dies in Formula 2 freak accident.

[brianw999]

Herny Surtees, son of motorcycle and F1 world champion John Surtees died in a freak accident this weekend in a formula 2 race at Brands Hatch, UK.

A very sad loss to motorsport. Sincere condolences to his family.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jul/20/henry-surtees-death-formula-two

[RobinB]

Hi Brian - yes, sad news - I had the privilege of sharing a six pack with John Surtees during the 2 week tyre testing sessions at Kyalami prior the the 1977 S A Grand Prix.

My buddy and I were the "unofficial gofers" over one of the weekends during the test period, we were hired as I had a cool box full of beer and it was a HOT day, sun BLAZING down. His drivers for that season were "The Monza Gorilla" and Davina Gallicka (sp?)

PS: Let's see how many of your F1 buffs know who was known as "The Monza Gorilla". He had another "claim to fame" as the only F1 driver (a record he still holds) to do what ?

have fun

TB

[LX-A343]

Monza Gorilla? Either Niki Lauda, only F1 racer to run an airline (well, his second) or Vittorio Brambilla, who also was a motorbike racer and IIRC even won a championship. Too long ago ....

[RobinB]

Vittorio Brambilla (November 11, 1937 - May 26, 2001) was a Formula One driver from Italy who raced for the March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo teams. His nickname was "The Monza Gorilla". He was known for his 'Punch and Crunch' routine, in which, he would greet the unfortunate victim with an extremely strong handshake. He enjoyed watching the recipient wince whilst they were shaking hands. He would then follow this up with a rabbit punch to the back of one's neck.

His "great day" came at the Österreichring in 1975, when he won a wet Austrian Grand Prix. He is best remembered for spinning off and wrecking the nose of his car as he took the chequered flag and completing his slowing down lap with the front of the car destroyed and waving madly to the crowd. As the race was shortened, he only received 4.5 points instead of 9 for the win. In fact, the chequered flag was flown in error for the red. The race was halted on the 29th lap, with 60% of the race completed. The only F1 driver to have a shunt after winning a Grand prix - it was his only win of his F1 career.

[brianw999]

......he would greet the unfortunate victim with an extremely strong handshake. He enjoyed watching the recipient wince whilst they were shaking hands. He would then follow this up with a rabbit punch to the back of one's neck.

Professor Sid Watkins, the then F1 medical chief was a frequent recipient of this greeting, generally just after Vittorio had stuffed yet another car. The Prof reputedly used this greeting to determine that Vittorio was fit to continue racing.
Rumour has it that he developed a nervous twitch whenever Vittorio was around.