Leia a carta que Jochen Rindt escreveu para Colin Chapman pedindo um carro mais seguro

Jochen Rindt suffers an accident in 1969 Spanish Grand Prix at Montjuic
Em 1969, durante o Grande Prêmio da Espanha, disputado no circuito de rua de Montjuic, Jochen Rindt sofreu um acidente a bordo de um Lotus 49, quando o rudimentar kit aerodinâmico instalado no carro quebrou, fazendo o piloto parar no guard-rail.

Durante o período de recuperação dos ferimentos, Rindt escreveu uma carta a Colin Chapman, projetista do carro, pedindo um carro no qual pudesse ter alguma confiança. Veja a transcrição original do texto enviado por Jochen a Colin.

Mr Colin Chapman
Howard Johnson Motor Lodge
Indianapolis

9.5.1969

Dear Colin,

I just got back to Geneva and I am going to have a second opinion on the state of my head tomorrow. Personally I feel very weak and ill, I still have to lay down most of the day. After seeing the new Doktor and hearing his opinion we can make a final decesion on Monaco and Indy.

I got hold of this incredibly picture which pretty much explains the accident, I didn’t know it would fly that high. Robin Herd apparently saw the wing go, but could not see the accident, since it happened around the corner.

Now to the whole situation, Colin. I have been racing F1 for 5 years and I have made one mistake (I rammed Chris Amon in Clermont Ferrand) and I had one accident in Zandvoort due to gearselektion failure otherwise I managed to stay out of trouble. This situation changed rapidly since I joined your team, Levin, Eifelrace F2 wishbones and now Barcelona.

Honestly your cars are so quick that we would still be competitive with a few extra pounds used to make the weakest parts stronger, on top of that I think you ought to spend some time checking what your different employes are doing, I sure the wishbones on the F2 car would have looked different. Please give my suggestions some thought, I can only drive a car in which I have some confidence, and I feel the point of no confidence is quite near.

Best regards
Mr Colin Chapman
Howard Johnson Motor Lodge
Indianapolis

9.5.1969

Dear Colin,

I just got back to Geneva and I am going to have a second opinion on the state of my head tomorrow. Personally I feel very weak and ill, I still have to lay down most of the day. After seeing the new Doktor and hearing his opinion we can make a final decesion on Monaco and Indy.

I got hold of this incredibly picture which pretty much explains the accident, I didn’t know it would fly that high. Robin Herd apparently saw the wing go, but could not see the accident, since it happened around the corner.

Now to the whole situation, Colin. I have been racing F1 for 5 years and I have made one mistake (I rammed Chris Amon in Clermont Ferrand) and I had one accident in Zandvoort due to gearselektion failure otherwise I managed to stay out of trouble. This situation changed rapidly since I joined your team, Levin, Eifelrace F2 wishbones and now Barcelona.

Honestly your cars are so quick that we would still be competitive with a few extra pounds used to make the weakest parts stronger, on top of that I think you ought to spend some time checking what your different employes are doing, I sure the wishbones on the F2 car would have looked different. Please give my suggestions some thought, I can only drive a car in which I have some confidence, and I feel the point of no confidence is quite near.

Best regards

Caro Colin,

Acabei de chegar de Genebra e terei amanhã uma segunda opinião sobre o estado de minha cabeça. Pessoalmente me sinto muito fraco e doente, ainda tenho que permanecer deitado a maior parte do dia. Após ver o novo médico e ouvir sua opinião nós tomaremos a decisão a respeito de Mônaco e Indy.

Tenho essa foto que explica incrivelmente muito bem o acidente. Eu não sabia que isso poderia voar tão alto. Robin Herd aparentemente viu a asa sair, mas não pode ver o acidente uma vez que aconteceu na curva.

Agora toda a situação, Colin. Eu tenho corrido na F1 por cinco anos e cometido um só erro (eu acertei Chris Amon em Clermont Ferrand) e tive uma cidente em Zandvorrt devido à falha no seletor de marcha, de outro modo eu procurei sempre estar livre de problemas. Esta situação mudou rapidamente desde que eu me juntei à sua equipe, Levin, Eifelrace, os triângulos de F2 e agora Barcelona.

Honestamente, seus carros são tão rápidos que nós poderíamos ainda ser competitivos com algumas libras extras usadas para fortalecer as partes mais fracas. Acima de tudo, eu penso que você deveria gastar algum tempo checando o que seus diferentes empregados andam fazendo. Eu asseguro que os triângulos do carro de F2 pareciam diferentes. Por favor, dê alguma atenção ás minhas sugestões, eu só posso pilotar um carro no qual tenha confiança e o ponto de desconfiança está muito próximo.

Postar um comentário