Auto Racing Commentary

F-1 BIOGRAPHY BY CARLOS DE PAULA Born 12/6/1948, Stockholm, Sweden (Finnish Nationality) Starts:114 Points: 159.5 Wins:5 Poles:5 Fastest Laps:3 Sometimes Formula 1 feels like a soap opera. Such is the case of Keke Rosberg’s career, so full of anticlimaxes, ups and downs and sudden changes. One would consider the man finished in 1981, after a terrible season driving for Fittipaldi, and no one would expect the scoreless driver to be world champion the next year. Anticlimax or not, Rosberg was very talented, in fact his statistics don’t show half of it. They don’t show his acrobatic style and sheer speed as well. Rosberg rose to prominence driving Super Vees in Europe, eventually reaching Formula 2 in 1976, driving for Jopr Obermoser’s TOJ. He did the best he could with the novice team, and caught the attention of American Fred Opert, who ran Chevrons. In these cars, Rosberg won a few Formula 2 races, although he never challenged for the championship. This w...

After a brilliant season in 1969, with a Brabham-Ford driven by Piers Courage (two second places), Frank Williams embarked into what seemed to be an eternal career as a back-marker in Formula 1. In fact in the next season, not even Piers Courage's brilliance could make the De Tomaso-Ford competitive, and other great drivers, Brian Redman and Tim Schenken also failed to make the car fast, after Piers' untimely death. In 1971 and 1972, Frank fielded Marches, experimenting with the first Williams designed car in 1972, the Politoys. In spite of having good drivers, such as Henri Pescarolo and Jose Carlos Pace, Williams' cars were mostly back-markers. Having attained sponsorship from Iso-Rivolta and Marlboro, in 1973, Frank fielded upgraded versions of the Politoys, then a revamped car, which still used bits and pieces from the original Williams. In spite of the theoretically good sponsorship deal, the Iso-Marlboros were again back-markers, and got two points in the champi...