Tribute to...Fangio!

[Music] [Music] room [Music] so wherever the majestic music of motor racing can be heard through the sweeping high-speed curves of spa past the sunday terraces of monaco high on the monster banking down the historic ribbon of road that is reams through the flat wide open space of silverstone are winding round the unrelenting nurburgring one man stands out cool and calm amid a split-second world where time is told in tents fungi born in the little village of balcachi in the argentine on the 24th of june 1911 the fourth of the family of six born to laretto and armenia fangio no man has given more to the essentially 20th century art of motor racing than has the incomparable juan manuel fangio five times champion driver of the world fangio graced his world champion title with a gentle unassuming charm that endeared him to all in his rise to fame he was aided immeasurably by the loyalty and constant encouragement of his wife and at the age of 11 the young fangio went to work in a garage in 1928 at the age of 17 he rode as a mechanic in a race for model t fords and in 1934 he drove the first race of his fabulous career his first appearance upon the european scene was a dreams in 1948 at the wheel of a simca gordini but he failed to finish in 1949 he returned and began his meteoric rise to fame by winning the opening race of the european season the san remo grand prix on maserati other successes quickly followed on simkar and ferrari as well as maserati in all he won seven races that year to share the season's honors with villarresi and the young alberto ascari each of whom also scored seven victories in 1950 fangio joined alfa romeo and at monaco he set off to score one of his eight victories that year a nine-car pileup on the first lap cut the field by half but fanjo the rising star came through to win and this incidentally at the age of 39 when many drivers think of retiring royal silverstone the grand prix 1950 was attended by their majesties and provided british enthusiasts with their first sight of fungi and the invincible alphas who finished one two three despite fangio's retirement with eight laps to go in 1951 fangio became for the first time champion driver of the world the british grand prix that year marked a turning point in motor racing history when for the first time the alphas were defeated by ferrari in a tremendous drive gonzalez on ferrari countered every effort of his compatriot fangio who gave a superlative display of driving on a circuit unsuited to the alfa romeo 1952 and we find fangio competing in the monster grand prix alfa romeo had withdrawn from grand prix racing so fangio signed with brm but the brm's failed to finish at albion dundrod and a disappointed fangio flew from ulster to italy to drive a maserati in this race banjo the reigning champion joins battle with ascari his successor and farina his predecessor on ferraris but the battle is brief tired by his flight and his third motor race in eight days fangio crashed at lesmo soon after the start sustaining injuries that were to keep him out of motor racing for the rest of the year his only accident in 10 years of european racing returning in 1953 fangio drove one of the greatest races of his career in the classic millimillion a race in which he had finished third in 1950 despite his about dislike of sports car racing fangio driving in alfa romeo lay fifth at ravenna fourth at pescada second at rome and at siena on florence he led the race when the alphas of kling farina and sanesi retired fangio alone withstood the ferrari challenge but a broken track rod mounting left him with steering on one wheel only still he drove with that implacable will to win so typical of the man averaging 100 miles an hour on the final section from bologna to brescia [Music] 4.1 liter ferrari took the lead at bologna to beat the crippled alpha to the finish by nearly 11 minutes seven times was fangio second in 1953 although he did win the second heated alby at 110.48 miles an hour in the brm for which mark he drove when not engaged with maserati [Music] from the sunshine of alba to that of reems for the start of the grand prix of the acm five maseratis led by fangio fought the four ferraris are biscari farina villaresi and hawthorne but by half distance two cars only mattered fangio and hawthorne nose to tail side by side at 150 miles an hour first one then the other let and after 300 miles of motor racing hawthorne beat fangio by a single second hawthorne's victory was prophetic but two weeks later the british grand prix at silverstone is led from start to finish by alberto ascari on farah fangio backed by his fellow countryman gonzalez and marymore lies second for maserati but lacks the speed to catch the leader although he overhauls hawthorne who defeated him at dreams and who was taking things rather gently after his monumental spin here on the second at monsa with ferrari and maserati evenly matched the italian grand prix produced some magnificent motor racing askari and farina on ferrari fangio on maserati were never more than three seconds apart for over half the race then marimore made a pit stop and the three world champions ascari farina and fangio raced one two three until the last sensational where askari spun karina swerved to avoid him and fangio somehow found a gap to win his first major grand prix of the year just 1.4 seconds ahead of farina this sensational victory changed his luck and he won the modern grand prix and the super quarter maggiore race before rounding off his season in mexico to drive for lancia in the pan american road race run in eight stages totaling 1900 miles fangio won again but his joy was marred by the death of his teammate bossetto to whose memory he publicly dedicated his victory 1954 marked the return to grand prix racing of mercedes-benz on the occasion of the french grand prix it also saw a new formula one in operation two and a half liters unsupercharged the eight-cylinder mercedes looked strange with their all-enveloping bodies but were ideally suited to the rheem circuit banjo already winner of the argentine and belgian grand prix on maserati now led the mercedes team with cling and [Music] hem [Music] from the very start banjo and kling surged into a lead they were never to lose setting a race average of just 120 miles an hour to demolish and demoralize the ferrari and maserati opposition as one by one the 22 starters were reduced to just five cars led over the finishing line by fangio at 115.67 miles an hour his third victory in 1954. at nurburgring the pattern is repeated but victory and the german grand prix had a hollow ring a sad unsmiling fangio accepts the trappings of victory but mourns the loss of his young friend and protege on offering marimo who driving a maserati was killed in practice for the race in the swiss grand prix yet another victory fell to the invincible combination of banjo and mercedes-benz at monster 2 fangio wins and with it his second world championship title [Music] at the mercedes-benz works at stuttgart the factory is on fit to do honor to the world champion whose six grand prix wins during the year underlined his mastery and his utter determination without him the german team's successes would have been far fewer for 1955 the team is further strengthened by britain's number one driver sterling moss and the two fastest drivers drive the world's fastest car round the tree line circuit of spa [Music] the master takes lassos the pupil placed behind him [Music] and so they finished first and second in the belgian grand prix one of the six championship events in europe of which mercedes won five the grand prix of the argentine britain belgium holland and finally the italian grand prix at monza where fangio is once again acclaimed for the third time champion driver of the world in 1956 fangio drives for ferrari with his young teammates castellotti and collins faced by a rising generation of opponents moss on maserati hawthorne on brm and brooks also on brm cannot prevent the now 45 year old fangio from winning the british grand prix at his fifth attempt at norbert too fangio demonstrates his mastery of a young man's sport through the twisting turning nurburgring he gives a magnificent display of grand prix driving to show the younger stars that he still possesses the incomparable qualities for which motor racing calls [Music] and so one more grand prix falls to the man whose courage and skill have become alleged in fact there seemed to be no way to stop fungi winning motor races but out in cuba they managed it they kidnapped him however not even being kidnapped and held until too late to race disturbed the calm serenity of banjo now champion driver of the world for the fourth time in 1957 for his last full season in motor racing fungi returned to maserati the mark with which he had started his rise to fame and at modern autodram he tests the car [Music] over the years the racing car has changed and the necessity for the sensitive and precise handling of the faster lighter grand prix cars of the post-war era emphasized the need for a more subtle and controlled driving technique fangio with his iron self-control and uncanny skill met this demand with contemptuous ease to set a style that raised the art of racing driving to the height of a new science twenty years earlier in 1937 that great french driver jean-pierre bemill then at the height of his fame said dob fangio i have seen that buenos aires a brilliant new driver the day he has a real racing car to drive he will perform miracles the truth of that old prophecy is here for us to see [Music] so [Music] remember [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] thank you [Music] after winning the argentine grand prix for the fourth successive year fangio returns to monaco to repeat his success of seven years ago as then a multiple crash adds to the excitement of the race when in the opening laps the exuberance of that youthful trio hawthorne moss and collins leaves the field clear for a man old enough to be their father with brooks on the van wall too far back to catch him fangio wins once again but the greatest race of banjo's career was yet to come the german grand prix of 1957 race day was warm and dry as the cars assembled on the grid fangio on maserati moss on van wall collins and hawthorne on ferrari amongst an impressive field into the south turn the ferraris of hawthorne and collins lead pancho's maserati but after three laps fangio leads by five seconds and with 12 laps gone his lead is 28 seconds over the two ferraris as he pulls into the pits to take on fuel and change the rear wheels a 52-second pit stop puts him three-quarters of a minute behind hawthorne and collins whose cars can go through the race non-stop 10 laps to go and 45 seconds to pick up fangio begins the race of his life for three laps he makes no headway but on lap 16 the gap is down to 33 seconds on lap 19 to 13 and a half on lap 20 hawthorne and collins scream past the pits straining every nerve with fangio snapping at their heels into the south turn and his closer still [Music] into the north turn and the fantastic fangio takes collins on the inside and with a lap and a half to go he leads the race a race in which he broke the lap record 10 times in 22 laps reducing it from 9 minutes 37.4 seconds to 9 minutes 17.4 to prove beyond all doubt his claim to immortality as one of the greatest drivers the world has ever [Applause] known acclaimed for the fifth time champion driver of the world britain's guild of motoring writers presented him with their driver of the year award in 1958 following the french grand prix in which he finished fourth fangio laid aside his crash helmet and goggles to retire at the peak of his fame beloved by all who loved the sport that this quiet and gentle man adorned so well before returning to his native argentine a visit to the italian grand prix as spectator provided fangio with the opportunity to bid farewell to his many friends and admirers among them van waal manufacturer tony van der vell and drivers tony brooks sterling moss harry shell von tripps and mike hawthorne such is the regard in which he is held that under the chairmanship of veteran louis chiron the international racing drivers union made a presentation to fangio proudly acclaimed by the royalty of motor racing still their king although his reign is ended juan manuel fangio who sought and found by dangerous roads a path to perpetuity of fame will race no more but on whatever road he travels he will carry with him always our admiration and our deep affection [Music] you