.... Team draughtsman Martin Oglivie
recalls Peterson going round lap after lap, proving the Lotus-Getrag gearbox, then
suddenly going faster...'And when he came in we said, "Ah you've sorted out the
selection problem", and he just smiled that slow smile and said, "No. I yust
stopped you-sing the clutch." '
"Gilles particularly liked to hear
about Ronnie Peterson, his favorite F1 driver. He had seen Peterson's spectacular sideways
displays on television and in person at the Grand Prix at Mosport in 1971. He and Joann
stood on the outside of Turn One in the rain watching the cars of the stars tiptoe around
in admittedly terrible conditions. The exception was Peterson, who powered his rain-tired
March up from sixth on the grid to engage polesitter Jackie Stewart in a tremendous
tussle. He muscled past him into the lead and stayed there for thirteen laps until he
clouted a backmarker (the Canadian driver George Eaton in a BRM). Peterson continued to
drive in total disregard of the weather and the bent nose of his March. Stewart won, with
Peterson a close second, but it was Ronnie who impressed Gilles."
Excerpt from the book 'Gilles Villenueve: The Life of the
Legendary Racing Driver', written by Gerald Donaldson.
"That would be a bloody fantastic
spectacle, I can tell you. We would take corners one gear lower than we do now, and get
the cars sideways. You know, people still rave about Ronnie Peterson in a Lotus 72, and I
understand that. I agree with them. That's the kind of entertainment I want to give the
crowds. Smoke the tyres ! Yeah ! "
Gilles
Villeneuve discussing his ideal car and driver.
"Ronnie drives absolutely
flat-out, all the time," said Chapman after his first few races with the Swede.
"If he's off the pace, then it might be the car. Not him."
Colin Chapman
"Flat-out, I yust love to drive
flat-out"
Ronnie Peterson discussing his
race "strategy"
"I worshipped him, that's why my
own helmet is blue and yellow."
