I just came across your tribute website to Gilles Villeneuve. What an
incredible man he was! I read your letter, read your commentaries, watched the
Dijon race again and looked through your pictures. Then I saw what your
favorite picture was.......
I was born in October 1965 so I was 13 when I watched Gilles Villeneuve race
at Zandvoort. I live in Amsterdam which is only half an hour from Zandvoort.
I got interested in Formula One when I was 11 and soon became a member of a
Dutch club for racing fans. Formula One wasn't that big in those years and
it was very easy to get into the paddocks and pits during the Grand Prix at
Zandvoort. And that was what I did.
The paddocks at Zandvoort where surrounded by the track. The innerside of
the Tarzan-turn, Gerlach-turn and the beginning part of the Hunserug was all
paddocks and pits.
I had a favorite spot. It was very close to the track, about 5 meters. The
cars had slowed down to second gear and when they came out of the lefthand
turn that's where the uphill part started. That was the beginning of the
Hunserug and I think it is about 3 to 4% uphill.
So imagine; there came Gilles Villeneuve and I am 13 years old. There came
God in his Ferrari and he was in second gear, so slow and so close. At the
end of the left turn he hit the gas and the car started to break out. I saw
him steer to control this monster. Five meters away from me! You could hear
the drivers even had to hit the gas harder in this part of the track because
it was uphill. And that is what they did but Gilles used this corner/uphill
part to throw the car in a drift. You saw him do that on purpose. Other
drivers did not slide there, but he did.
The climax-part was just before the car came out of the slide. That was the
moment they changed gear. And that was the moment they went up the hill,
changed gear again and went over the hill into the dunes. I could hear them
change one more time and then they were totally gone. Till the next lap. And
over and over and over again.
Of all drivers I was waiting for Gilles Villeneuve, followed him in the
lefthander, see him hit the gas, look at the back tires, see it break out
etc.
Your favorite picture in the gallery, exactly that moment, was the climax
moment of every lap when Gilles came by. I had the same view as you see on
that picture. I stood between all the photographers as a little boy who had
sneaked in and stood in a place where 13 year old boys should not be. It was
the best spot of the track, Gilles was the most spectacular driver who came
by, he slid the car for fun, the noise was overwhelming and the best part
was when the rear wheel hit the curbstones. Every single detail was then and
there at the max.
It was nice to read that this picture is your favorite. When I looked at the
picture I could smell and hear immediately how it all was. I even feel the
same sensation. A picture is a picture but the memory of the whole settings
makes me shiver again. I am 35 now and this is 22 years ago. It feels like
yesterday.
Very nice website.
regards,
Ed Kiers
ekiers@hotmail.com
