Comments on: A chat with ‘Emmo’

By: Aleš Norský

Aleš Norský — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:51:39 +0000

The math still does not work very well here. Fittipaldi was almost 26 when he won that title in 1972. In fact, Alonso was younger than that when he won the second title in 2006.

By: rob widdows

rob widdows — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:52:42 +0000

Hello Everybody
Damn it, that was a really stupid mistake. Like everybody else with half a brain, I know that Emerson won his first title with Team Lotus and not with McLaren. That came later, as we also know.
I am clearly suffering from fatigue, after a lot of time without a break, or I am losing the plot. I hope it is not the latter. My apologies and thank you for keeping me on my toes.
As for the age, well, Emerson claims he was 24 because he was born in December. I was simply trying to make a point about champions getting younger and younger – for example Alonso, and very possibly Hamilton.
But facts are facts, and I am writing for Motor Sport, not The Sun, so perhaps I need to take a cold shower, double up the vitamins and get back on the case.
Anyway, good to hear from you, and I am now preparing to watch the practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix in a bar on an island in Greece. (This is the break that I referred to above). I just hope that there isn't too much football happening on Sunday because, on previous summer breaks, I have watched the racing in Hungary with the sound turned off so that the majority may follow the football. There will, no doubt, be lots of shouting and plenty of 'Lewis' and 'Vodafone' clothing in evidence as the Brits come to cheer on their man.
Back to work next week with renewed commitment to getting the facts right.
RW

By: David Tarbutt

David Tarbutt — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:33:02 +0000

Greg Webb is correct, 1972 in a LOTUS 72 (John Player Special)

By: Greg Webb

Greg Webb — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:35:34 +0000

Sorry to be a stickler but I do believe Fittipaldi won his first title for Lotus in 1972 aged 25?

By: Aleš Norský

Aleš Norský — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:34:08 +0000

In 1989 he drove a Penske car but for Pat Patrick's team. And now one (un)funny story about Fittipaldi. While riding a high speed train from Praha to Brno during his visit to the Czech Republic in 2007, Fittipaldi was offered the opportunity to take the controls and ride the train for a short part of the journey. Few photographs were taken and published, presumably for publicity purposes, but that led to an official inquiry into the matter by the Czech government, after such conduct was declared to constitute serious violation of the safety rules!