Could Juan Fangio have been the greatest driver of all time?

[Robert Evans]

Juan Fangio (right) and Sterling Moss

This is an article from a recent "Fabulous Fifties Association" newsletter that I just received, and I thought that some of you might enjoy reading this about a past World Champion, Juan Fangio, and what it takes to be one;

By Bill Pollack.
"I think it was late 1956 that the late Lance Reventlow asked me to join with him in driving his 2 litre Maserati at Sebring. We were to be the only private entry with the factory team of three or four cars. Arriving in Tampa, on a scorching afternoon, I watched the rain coming down, turning to steam after it hit the ground. We quickly headed out of town to Sebring, hopefully for cooler weather.

"Our car was housed with the factory machines in a large garage in a small town nearby. None of the Italian factory mechanics spoke English, so we made hand signals for some of the parts that we needed. After much dramatic gestering, the chief mechanic shrugged his shoulders and wheeled over an entire 2 litre engine mounted on a stand and pointed to it with a "take whatever you need" type of gesture. There was a definite heirarchy among the mechanics in those days. The chief was the only one who spoke to the drivers, then there was the sub-chiefs, the apprentices, then the parts washers.

"Practice day came and went. Fangio immediately set a track record with Jean Behra, the leading French driver who was to be Fangio's co-driver in this event. We were right near the front in also with the 2 litre Maser, and Richie Ginther just behind in a small Ferrari. The Reventlow car would top out at over 140mph on the straight, about 5 mph faster than the Ferrari's, but the Ferrari's had better brakes, so they were about even.

"Chevrolet decided to make a statement at this event. They had entered a one-off finned creation that was supposed to be the creation of Zora Argus Duntov and the best that GM had to offer. They also brought along a few old, tired Corvettes for their drivers to practice with. During the course of the day, several top Europeans like Sterling Moss and Roy Salvadori were invited to take a few laps in the Corvettes. Without fail, all came back in with a kind of sour look on their faces and polite smiles for the GM execs. None faired very well in the GM mules.

"Then came along Fangio. El Maestro climbed into one of the ratty practice Corvettes and blew out of the pits like a shot from He*l. When he came by on his first flying lap past the pit straight, the officials looked at their stopwatches, then at each other in disbelief. Two laps later, he brought the tired machine back into the pits. The Chevrolet people were all looking at their watches and shaking their heads. Fangio had just lapped the course in the old, smoking machine at a time which would have been good for second on the grid for race day, just a fraction of a second behind his own record setting qualifying time!

"Fangio and Behra went on to win the 12 hour race. I might add that Fangio's lap times were the same at night as they were during the bright of the day. This was something that no other driver would even dare to try. If a car was to leave the pavement and got into the soft sand, it was a disaster. I watched Fangio negotiate the first turn, at 100 mph, in the dark, and he used every inch of the road while others stayed close to the centerline in the dark. Until that moment, I always believed that I was one of the fastest guys on the planet. I can only say that Fangio must have been from another planet!"