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Titolo: Pedro Rodriguez

Trent'anni fa moriva Pedro Rodriguez su una Ferrari privata in una gara
sport al Norisring
--
Zen
Tessera #112 JFC

 sport al Norisring
Pedro Rodríguez 1965 IV Mexican GP special article
F1 HISTORY
THE DRAGONI INCIDENT
For the running of the IV Mexican Grand Prix in 1965 most drivers and crews
arrive to the country between tuesday 19th and wednesday 20 th , October,
when the cars have already reached the `Autódromo Ricardo Rodríguez'. Some
drivers which arrived early during the previous weekend take monday to
travel south 70 kilometers to Cuernavaca where Pedro throws a welcoming
party, like every year before the GP and organizes a mexican style barbecue
for his friends at his country house. In Mexico the same 18 cars which ran
at Watkins Glen will be attending the Grand Prix.
The first surprise is for Bob Bondurant who supposedly will run the third
Ferrari, the V8, but finds out that Ludovico Scarfiotti has been sent from
Italy to take Surtees' place -who's in London being treated after his
accident at Mosport in the Lola T70- thanks to Dragoni's request who will
not stop in his promotion efforts on behalf of italian drivers. The cars for
Bandini and Scarfiotti will be the red 1512 but Pedro will use the 158 with
the white and blue stripes entered again by the North American Racing Team
which provides the team with the perfect excuse to try the Firestone tires
in his car since NART is not covered in the Ferrari agreement with Dunlop
and Pedro can test the products being offered for 1966 by the american firm.
During thursday new 12 cilinder engines arrive from Modena for the 1512s and
when the track opens officially on friday both press and mexican public have
great hopes about Pedro because the magic of the Ferrari name has them
fooled and they do not realize it is an old model he will drive. Moisés
Solana, the other mexican driver in the race, is not considered a favoriteto
win, unlike Pedro, because everybody knows he will drive the third Lotus,
type 25 chassis R6, the reserve car of the great Jimmy Clark the almost
eternal pole man in Mexico. Pedro is not entirely happy about driving the
third car and Don Pedro, his father is furious about the italians. They both
talk to Luigi Chinetti, NART boss, about this state of things and Luigi,
who's not too pleased himself, promises to bring it up with team manager
Eugenio Dragoni. The latter assures Chinetti he has talked to the
Commendatore Ferrari and has his full authorization to choose drivers and
assign them cars as he sees fit.
Pedro tries the 158 with the Firestone tires and in a few laps has a
1'59.06" time in the 5 kilometer circuit butcomplains that the Firestones
loose their grip much earlier than the Dunlops. He goes out again with
different sets and tries them but in one of the sets, a harder one which
takes longer to warm up, he loses the car in the Esses and endsin the
barrier with a wheel gone after the heavy impact. Practice session for
Ferrari is now in trouble when the car is taken to the boxes and the
mechanics find out about the huge job awaiting them in order to get the car
ready for next day `s final qualifying session. Scarfiotti clocks 2'01.84"
in the 1512 and Pedro laughs to himself while he tells friends maybe he
needs to show the italian the track, like he did in the USGP with Bob.
Bandini has no problems, he knows the track rather well and stops the
watches in 1'57.71".
The surprising Hondas go under one minute fifty-eight seconds and drivers
Bucknum and Ginther decide to swap cars and they go even faster with Ginther
achieving a 1'56.48", Bucknum 1'57.88"and they seem to be the only team
without problems. Clark destroys the new 32 valve engine but Gurney uses his
to good effect and has the provisional pole with 1'56.24". Clark uses
Spence's car and is two hundredths slower than Dan while fellow scot Stewart
manages to break his engine too and Attwood joins them in the club. Moisés
has fuel pick-up problems but is faster than Pedro and not too far from
Spence whose car is much newer. Brabham, in his own Brabham-Climax quietly
becomes the fourth driver under 117 seconds near the end and teams get to
work in their cars as soon as practice is over and prepare themselves for
next day. Pedro knows his people will have an all nighter to get the V8
engined car ready and after going home to take a shower he will return to
the track carrying mexican dinner for them. He is careful to leave the hot
peppers as a side dish for the adventurous and stays with the team for a
while, dines with them and offers moral support before going home to rest.
Saturday morning when the track opens for practice the Ferrari 158 is not
ready yet. The track is hotter and drivers which venture out find it slower.
Team Parnell and Cooper Cars seem to have misplaced their drivers and
frantic calls are made but Rindt, McLaren, Attwood and Ireland are lost.
Whent they finally arrive, well into practice time, the explanation doesn't
cut the mustard with Tim Parnell and he gets in an argument with Innes, it
quickly esalates and Parnell fires the scot, which in practical terms ends
his career as a top F1 driver. Ireland stays in the boxes but Tim looks for
a substitute and finds unlucky Bondurant who made the trip only to find
Dragoni sent for Scarfiotti without notifying him. His luck takes an upward
turn and he is offered the Lotus-BRM and he promptly starts going round near
the 120 seconds mark, that's 1.5 seconds less than Ireland's friday time.
The fight for the pole gets tough and several drivers have excursions into
the grass with the usual suspension breakages, Stewart being the most
affected because his BRM is really hurt and will have to use the spare for
the race. Bucknum has problems with the Honda and parks the car in the
circuit. He carries his smoking seat with him back to the boxes and when it
becomes too hot to carry dumps it next to a soldier. The surprised military
man takes action emptying his rifle in the thing as a cautionary measure
witnessed by several, highly amused, journalists.
Clark makes a tour de force minutes before the end of practice and achieves
his sixth pole of the year with a bare seven hundredths less than Gurney's
friday time; Ginther and Brabham can not improve either and stay in the
second row of the grid, still the only ones to get under 117 seconds. Pedro
is mostly a spectator watching Bandini improve by four tenths and Scarfiotti
getting down to 1'58.93". When it seems obvious that Ludovico will not
improve more, Pedro asks for a chance to try the 1512 and in five laps he
equals his friday time but the session is over before he can improve it.
Hill (BRM) and Spence (Lotus) make the third row while Bandini and Stewart
are partners in the fourth. Moisés gets a very good 1'57.55"to lead Bucknum
in fifth row, leaving privateers Siffert and Bonnier in the sixth.
Scarfiotti and Pedro make an all-Ferrari seventh row, McLaren and Rindt have
an all-Cooper eight, and Attwood and Bondurant an all-Parnell ninth, these
two being the only ones not to break the 2 minute mark.
Ferrari mechanics keep working in the 158 all afternoon but Dragoni starts
telling anyone within sight that the car might not be ready for the race and
these news come as hard as a cold shower for the Rodríguez. Pedro goes home
to change and, again, brings dinner to the hard-working members of the team.
They have the car fixed but they do not have enough equipment and spares and
they fear the car will break at the end of the long straight in the Spiral
turn or over one of the notorious bumps in the circuit. Pedro returns home
and thinks about phoning Don Enzo but it is too early in Italy and he
doesn't want to go to sleep late, he needs to be well rested for the race,
so he only prays for some good news sunday.
Sunday 24th is sunny and in the morning there are several national Tourism
races. Pedro arrives early, having taken mass already and while the
preliminary races rage on, in the Ferrari boxes there is an angry
confrontation between Dragoni and Don Pedro with Chinetti trying to mediate
and translate while Pedro too helps translating the, ever-angrier,
complaints of his father. Don Pedro, as a good protecting father, wants
Pedro to use the second 1512 since the V8 can not be repaired safely.
Dragoni is opposed and argues that Scarfiotti recorded a better time so the
italian should get the car. Don Pedro counters that the comparison is
invalid because Pedro only managed a handful of laps in the borrowed car
late saturday and that is not representative of his capabilities. He claims
that friday times when both had full practice time are a better match and
Pedro was faster than Ludovico then. The arguments go back and forth until
Don Pedro loses his temper and strats shouting that Dragoni is not
respecting the agreement about Pedro running the third car in North America
with Surtees and Bandini doing the honours in the official ones. Since
Scarfiotti is not Surtees Pedro is next in line and has rights over the
1512.
Don Pedro's words need no translation and Chinetti tries to mediate although
recognizing that Pedro has the right to run the car and suggests calling the
Commendatore in Italy and asking him to decide the issue. With this he tries
to scare Dragoni but the italian doesn't fall for the trap because he knows
it isn't easy to locate Don Enzo on a sunday because of the time difference
and the not so good telephone connection from the track. Chinetti plays
another card insisting in the need of finding about Firestone rubber and
that can only be possible if Pedro is the nominated driver because he is
under no contract to the Scuderia and Dunlop. Dragoni feels threatened with
this rasoning because he knows that for Ferrari tire selection for 1966 is
vital but refuses to accept the point and insists that he has full authority
refusing to change drivers. Don Pedro, who has been holding his youngest son
Alejandro (10) by the hand and gripping it with increasing fury, whispers to
Pedro `for a son of a bitch, a son of a bitch and a half' and coolly asks
the italian that if he were missing who'd be in charge of the team, but
Dragoni doesn't understand the question. Don Pedro is very deliberate and
says that if, as an example, Dragoni wouldn't have his passport and the
mexican police were to search for immigration papers by some chance and
Dragoni couldn't prove that he was legally in the country and were taken to
jail until monday when he could show all the proper documents to a judge,
then who would Don Pedro have to talk to in order to arrange that Pedro
drove the 1512.
Now Dragoni understands the question perfectly and thinks for a few seconds
while Pedro starts to smile because of his father's obviousness. Dragoni
knows about Don Pedro's reputation and his political contacts in México, he
measures the threat, looks to Chinetti who turns around denying knowledge of
whatever it was he heard, and finally surrenders announcing that Pedro will
race the 1512 and Scarfiotti will watch the race from the boxes. It is a
wise decision which the organizers, Chinetti and the rest of the team
support. Scarfiotti is told and understands because he has been in the other
side of the equation. Pedro immediately adjusts the car, chasis 0008 used by
Bandini at Monza, to his physical shape since he is thinner and shorter than
the italian and supervises the changes made while the NART stickers and
logos are applied to the car and the Indy typeFirestone tires Pedro will use
in the race are shorn. Dragoni stays silent while the mechanics help Pedro
who is watched intently and quietly by his borther Alejandro in each and
every movement. Pedro finishes with the last details, then climbs in and
checks the changes, approves them and thanks the mechanics for their help.
Chinetti gives a few more instructions and Dragoni will stays curiously
subdued for the rest of his stay in México. Pedro clims out of the Ferrari
and goes outto do the round of the boxes, greeting people and local drivers,
signing autographs and allowing fans to get their pictures with him.
Races take place in endless parades of cars and the traditional drivers
meeting is rutinary. There are many officials from the new government
attending the GP and former president López Mateos is almost unseen. Drivers
stand in line for the traditional introduction to the high ranking
government officials and once it finishes Pedro shakes hands briefly with
Moisés and they wish each other luck. Then Pedro goes to get Doña Conchita's
(his mother) blessing, says goodbye to wife Angelina, to Don Pedro and
Alejandro and isolates himself for a few minutes before the start. Once the
preliminary races are done he starts the engine of the Ferrari for a few
seconds and gets Alejandro inside for a ride in it while the mechanics push
it to the grid. Finally he puts on the helmet and walks behind the car while
people start cheering him as soon as they recognize the silhouette in the
grey helmet, Mexico's favourite son.
The organizers have altered the grid because of Scarfiotti's absence and
Pedro, thirteenth now, and those behind gain one place.In the Honda boxes
the mechanics have exchanged the numbers in Ginther's and Bucknum's cars in
order to let them use the car they achieved their best time with and this
allows the man from Hollywood to keep his third place. The cars leave for
the warming up lap but Clark is having engine trouble. They stand in the
dummy grid and slowly watch the time announcements appear. Finally they
advance and then the flag falls to start the 65 lap race. Ginther takes
advantage of Clark's slow start and leads the parade while Stewart dribbles
Spence and Hill to take second and Gurney gets by Spence too.
By the end of the first lap Honda is almost three seconds ahead of BRM,
Bandini is now fifth having displaced Hill, while Brabham and Pedro follow
closely and after a big gap comes the next group led by Siffert including
the Lotuses of Clark and Moisés, the mexican about to take the place of his
team leader. Up front Spence decides to attack since Clark is nowhere to be
seen and gets by Stewart whose clutch is starting to fail. Hill retakes
Bandini and Gurney and then goes for Stewart who falls behind Gurney too.
Brabham stops at the boxes to a rocker box gasket and it takes almost three
laps to correct it. Pedro closes on his team leader and Siffert joins the
battle for sixth. At the end of lap 9 Clark retires with the engine about to
go and surprising Ginther keeps getting away from the pack; Spence holds a
steady second but Hill is barely containing Gurney and Dan finally makes the
pass on lap 12. Stewart is another barely holding his place but the furious
battle between Bandini and Pedro gives him a bit of space. By lap 14 Pedro
is sixth but Lorenzo takes the palce back and they pass and repass unlike
teammates. Gurney takes Spence in lap 17 but goes wide at the Spiral on 18
allowing the brit to get back his place but Dan will not be denied and by
lap 20 is second again and now starts to pull away trying tocatch his buddy
Ginther.
McLaren quits by lap 26 having trouble with the gearshift and Bob Bondurant
goes next after breaking the rear suspension of his Lotus-BRM in lap 30. By
half race Ginther has a clear advantage of slightly over 8 seconds and
Gurney is almost 20 in front of Spence with Hill another 10 seconds behind
in fourth. Stewart has Bandini and Pedro at bay but pressure is too much for
the italian and he goes wide in the Esses, spins and touches one of the half
tires (filled with concrete) which mark the boubndaries of the track
damagingthe nose cone having to stop at the boxes to get a new one. Pedro is
sixth but has no tiem to celebrate for his engine goes sour and he too has
to stop. Ferrari boxes are busy with Lorenzo getting a nose job and Pedro
having a faulty rectifier changed and a new battery fitted. They get out
about the same time and renew their battle although three laps in arrears in
places 13 and 14. Siffert puts the pressure on Stewart and gets by him and
now comes Moisés who relegates the scot to seventh with 30 laps to go.
Bucknum gets by Jackie next lap and the scot decides to retire.
Three laps later it is Brabham's turn to rest when his engine develop an oil
leak and the Ferrari duet gets by him easily. Rindt quits in lap 40 with
ignition trouble and Bonnier has trouble with his front suspension 4 laps
later leaving Pedro tenth but trying hard to get Bandini's place. Moisés
keeps improving as laps go by and now has Siffert under attack and gets the
swiss' fifth place just before lap 50 while people cheer for him heartily
and now the mexican has his sights on Hill and closes at about a second a
lap. However, it is not to be and at lap 57 he is in the boxes with the
engine misfiring and nothing can be done. People give him a standing ovation
when he climbs out of the Lotus and Hill quits when his engine gives up the
ghost in lap 57. Gurney tries his best to catch his buddy and clocks
1'55.84", faster than Clark in practice, but Ginther is in control. People
cheer the tall american who won last year but this time the battle will go
to the short american. Bandini's Ferrari shows signs of overheating and
Pedro catches him and by lap 61 takes seventh place but Atwood is about two
laps in front and nobody can recover from such disadvantge. Ginther finishes
65 laps in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 32.1 seconds with Gurney 2.89 seconds
behind, about 100 meters. Spence is third 58 segundos behind the former
presidential candidate Gurney and Siffert inherits fourth another 54 seconds
báck. Bucknum is fifth and Attwood sixth one lap behind while Pedro and
Bandini finish next with the mexican in front.
For Ginther it means giving Honda and Goodyear their first victory, and the
guys from Akron have a 1-2-5 since they also equip Gurney and Bucknum.
Dunlop gets a 3-4-6-8 placing and Firestone has in Pedro its sole
representative achieving a seventh place. Pedro is happy, mission
accomplished, and after the race is extensively debriefed by the Firestone
and Ferrari technicians about the tires. He didn't get any points this time
but was the first Ferrari home. In the prize giving dinner banquet later
that day he is commended by several managers and receives offers to do a
full F2 season in Europe, with an option to run F1 by the second part of the
season. He is not sure about that and gives thanks for the interest shown.
As usual, he will take several friends to Cuernavaca and includes people
from the Ferrari team but not Dragoni who leaves the country with a sense of
urgency.
The season is over and though Pedro knows most teams have drivers and cars
ready for the new in 1966 he knows he has caught the eye of a few people and
soon something interesting will come up. It is a question of waiting for the
right offer as Chinetti tells him. Luigi also will talk with Don Enzo and
send him a report about Ferrari's performance in North America to counteract
any problems Dragoni might try to stir. Still, Pedro knows the doors of the
Ferrari F1 team are closed to him as long as Dragoni is in command because
the italian will never forgive Don Pedro's handling of him in Mexico.
Chinetti assures Pedro that as long as he lives there will be Ferrari cars
for himto drive, even though they might only be in the Championship of Makes
and prophesizes that Dragoni will not last long at the Scuderia because
everybody is sick of his imperial ways and he's made too many enemies. Pedro
answers that may Luigi have the mouth of a prophet but Dragoni is the last
of his troubles and what really worries the Rodríguez family is that
business opportunities in Mexico seem to be drying up for them.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Courtesy of Carlos Jalife, Secretary General of the Scuderia
Hermanos Rodríguez AC / MEXICO who is currently writing a biography of the
Rodríguez brothers. Original article was published by Cavallino.
Pedro Rodríguez, our great mexican champion, died 30 years ago July 11,
1971 -- Carlos Jalife
-Motorsport.com

 so he only prays for some good news sunday.
Questo è il principale motivo delle crisi Ferrari, ripetute e sempre più
gravi fino all'avvento di Todt
A strutture agili e snelle (i team inglesi) si contrapponeva una struttura
burocratica incentrata su un sol uomo (lontano e "di un altro secolo") ed
una burocrazia interna volta a carpire i favori del capo
Clamorosi i casi non già, come qui, di doppio motore, sia 8 che 12 cilindri,
ma adderittura di vetture costruite clandestinamente a Maranello e mai scese
in pista
(anni 80)
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