"Morphine isn't kind...": The Achille Varzi story By Peter Windsor
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- Опубликовано: 23 апр 2020
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Peter Windsor looks back at the life and sad times of Achille Varzi, the Italian racing driver whose prodigious talent was esteemed by both Juan Manuel Fangio and Tazio Nuvolari. A brilliant winner for both Alfa Romeo and Bugatti, Varzi's career took a downward plunge when he joined Auto Union and met the wife of the team's young test driver, the journalist Paul Pietsch. Sleepless after winning at Tripoli in 1936, Varzi reached out and accepted a needle from Ilse Pietsch...
With thanks to:
Nigel Roebuck
Matteo Colombo
Agence de Presse Meurisse
Vincenzo Archive
Tetos et L'Instantané
Wikipedia Commons
.www.eu.globebrand.com
www.jimclarktrust.com 
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I sure miss the days when you ,Mr. Windsor did the pre-race grid walk and the Post Race Q&A with the Podium Drivers. When Bob Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett were calling the race from the studio. Sam Posey would write some moving narrative about the Circuit's legacy. I would not mind traveling back in time to re-live those seasons. Today's coverage is more commercial than passionate it seems. Does not do the sport the justice it deserves.
I started watching F1 when Bob Varsha was announcing and he was always on it. Always well informed, knew what was going on and wasn't long winded.
Thanks. Kind of you to say so. I think we all gelled because we were all so passionate about the sport, then and now. Frank Wilson, our Producer, should take a lot of the credit for that. These days, it seems, it's just now, now, now...
Peter, your depth, technically, historically and all else is wonderful & most definitely always appreciated. at 59 I had never heard of Varzi..great tale. thankyou.
Well thankyou kindly. Varzi, Nuvolari, Caracciola, Rosemeyer....they were all brilliant.
@@peterwindsor Growing up in Geneva in the fifties, we often traveled to Bern to visit my grandparents, that was before the highway system was built and driving into Bern took us through the straight and stands of the old Bremgarten circuit (that was in the late fifties and early sixties, after the Le Mans tragedy that put an end to circuit motorsport in Switzerland), what always fascinated me, beside the grand stands was the fact that the pavement was actually cobble stones.
El Grafico was very important in the entire South American sports journalistic scene. I used to own lots of them.
I heard of him from researching Fangio. Then came to know more of him through Nuvolari primarily, after researching Baconin Borzacchini.
Another of the tragic heroes of sport of the time.
I always knew of the driver but knew nothing more.
Thank you Peter for an amazing insight into an amazing driver.
Thanks for writing in. Lots more out there and I think you'll like the vids we have on the show tomorrow.
Very well done Mr. Windsor and thank you for sharing. The first I knew of Varzi was an article I read about him sometime in the early 1970’s - likely in Road and Track. I much appreciate presentations like this. It keeps motor racing of the past alive, even if only in our memory and hearts.
What an extraordinary story..from an extraordinary period..
Thanks Diesel. And, yes, an amazing period for the motor racing world and for the world at large.
Thank you Peter. There is much we can learn about that past era of racing. The camaraderie and rawness of it all was just so much stronger. In many ways the world has moved farther from that and I don't think that's always a positive. Idk.
That was one classy piece Peter. Many thanks.
I just love these historical F1 driver car vids. And you do them so well . Keep them coming.please.
Great job! More history that's slowly being lost if not told. Keep safe!
Thanks! We're only where we are now because of what they did then.
Varzi is one of a quartet of 4 greatest grand prix drivers in history, the other three being: Nuvolari, Rosemeyer & Caracciola.
Wonderful piece of historical journalism. Thank you Peter
Beautiful job of narrating, thank you.
Thanks! Hope you enjoy the vids in the show tomorrow.
A wonderful, complicated,poignant piece. Thank you sir.
Stay well🍀
ImAgine transitioning to the straight from that banking at high speed... Brr-rr-rr!
And in those cars... Oof.
Both men and cars were made of steel🙈
Not to forget that Varzis mechanic Amadeo Bignami later worked for Fangio. We tend not to remind the mechanics, like Decimo Compagnoni was for Tazio Nuvolari.
About moving to Argentina : Carlo Pintacuda in fact did.
Grazie Peter!!you are a real maestro for me
Thank you Peter for your unique insight and commentary. I'm always intrigued by the pre war era and the talented drivers and engineering that went on.
Yes - I once read a captivating film script about Nuvolari and Varzi - not the film that was made recently - and I've been curious ever since. Sadly, I don't think "my" film will ever be made because it requires lots of externals. Sort of Ben Hur-type scenes, only in Tripoli rather than Rome.
great peter,,,
Thanks!
@@peterwindsor u r very welcome,,loved the interview with my favorite Jacques L,,his anger towards Prost,brilliant,,Parkinson's has he?,,sad,,what a fighter,,Niki,Jody,,Nelson and he,,my hero's
Excellent. I have also read that his smoking addiction was extreme: a lighted cigarette had to be reading for him the moment he stopped after a race. This might say something about his personality and the morphine addiction as well.
What an incredible story Peter!
Thanks for this!
Im very curious now to determine if getting your knee down started that early in the 20's? I thought it was relatively new They didn't have the grip and tire technology to lean that much back then. Also tires were fairly square.
This could have been workshop knee pads from wrenching on the bike?
Yes, interesting, eh? I mean, those definitely are knee pads, correct?
Nice compact tale of Varzi. I started my motor racing with Moss at Ardmore, then the hip and glamorous 60s. Find the older guys via magazines and a book by Ken Purdy, a collection of articles he written, I think, for Playboy. After that it was all on even when I was racing. Nuvolari still appeals the most. Oddly he looks a lot like my Dad, who would not have been flattered much as he admired the Italians. Thanks for this.
Ha ha. I have that wet Ardmore win down as one of Stirling's all-time great drives. Ken Purdy also co-wrote "All But My Life" with Stirling. Great writer and this is one of my all-time ten best motor racing books.
So interesting
These guys had the best names; Achille, Tazio...
Peter, the story is far more complicated. Gianni Cancellieri, the great historian and journalist, told me that Ilse is still sorrounded by mistery. The access at his file from Germany is denied until 2024. Cancellieri and Girogio Teruzzi tried in vain to see that file when they worked for Varzi's biography. Bernd Rosemeyer Jr. also told me that his mother, the great Elly Beinhorn Rosemeyer refused to talk about Achille and Ilse. And by the way, Ilse was not present at the 1936 Tripoli GP, that's one of Alfred Nuebauer's multiple fictional stories (as the 1933 Tripoli GP "fixed", the white paint scratched form the W25s etc). Varzi was such a great driver, and maybe the best races to illustrate his rivalry with Nuvolari are two form 1933: Tripoli and Monaco. In 1937, badly affected by morphine he made a rare appearance for Auto Union at the Italian GP (hosted by Livorno that year) and he beat teammate Rosemeyer(at that time the fastest driver in the world) in qualifying...
The most complete book on Varzi is Teruzzi's "Varzi. L'ombra oscura di Nuvolari" where you can find a lot of details and very rare photos.
www.giorgionadaeditore.it/piloti_personaggi/varzi-l-ombra-oscura-di-nuvolari.html
@peterwindsor have you ever done one of these on Nuvolari?
Varzi is great example of why that was the golden age. Commercialization & high-tech had yet to ruin racing forever. I refer to it as when Real Men drove Real Race Cars.
Would love to read a full-blown biography of Varzi.
Great - and more than a story. Knee pads probably not for scrubbing the knee, but could be to slide on the knees when falling of, or to protect the knees against something on the motorcycle. So more knee protectors than sliders. Anyways, true poetry.
Thanks! Hope you enjoy the vids we have lined up for the live show tomorrow.
met nigel r in nyc where i live ,,i just went up to him and we chatted for an hour @ least,,ive read all he has written,,and told him so,,
Best place to chat to Nigel! He loves NYC - well, NYC pre- the Algonquin losing a bit of its charm :)
@@peterwindsor u r right,,!!,,I was walking past the Algonquin when i recognized him and just plum went up to him,,and it happened and I a self proclaimed historian asked him a lot of questions,,it was brilliant.he,barbazza,coulthard,Eddie Irvine,(was lit too on 11th ave and 43rd),J Mass,,saw them all in 37 years of living in NYC,,JUST WENT UP TO THEM WITH A SMILE ,,and it worked,,nite
Oh for the days of Hobbo , bob and Steve with Peter filling in the blanks , good of long ago !
If I remember correctly, in the book 'Grand Prix Requiem' there was a story regarding Varzi's fatal crash that Louis Rosier cradled Varzi in his arms while Varzi was dying due to his injuries. Whatever the case, itvis a sad story.
...Not long after, it would be Rosier's turn 😞
Another Kaleidoscopic Windsor Window on the past..
While you made mention that you don't have Netflix, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that currently they have a marvelous documentary on Fangio entitled "A Life at Speed". Included, naturally, are the details of how Fangio made his way to Europe and that how he lived for free at Varzi's home in Galliate. Following Varzi's death, Varzi's father encouraged him to stay. Amazing stuff.
Thanks for mentioning. A friend was giving me a hard time today about my not subscribing to Netflix. You're starting to change my mind....
I've had Netflix for some time but seldom look for content there. By chance I happened on the Fangio documentary, to be 100% honest.
It delivered beyond my expectations. Surely you know someone (wink wink). Weekend at Bernie's perhaps?
And RUclips is truly a treasure chest. I have no idea what year this would be but it's Monza as I've never seen
ruclips.net/video/SqeCNU9hEPk/видео.html
Oh this, WOW
ruclips.net/video/x9t5pADisaY/видео.html
@@rodsdmba1571 looks like early 1930's. Amazing quality in this video. You can clearly see how FAST they were going.
Congratulations for your Italian pronunciation. You could try and get Leclerc correct. Excellent story, thank you.
Kobe Bryant of Grand Prix racing.
The racers of that time most certainly lived in color, every moment bright and blinding, death a constant companion to most involved with the sport. A chance suspension failure, a blown Tyre, a failing brake, and a seat opened up for the next hungry racer, to cross the threshold into an ever higher level a faster car, a more competitive environment. Nowadays, few racers 'age out', lose their nerve, and retire when immortal youth gives way to fear, melancholy and aversion, as it did for Fangio and others, choosing life, in muted colors, over the inevitability of death or maiming at the wheel. Instead, racers become drivers, shuffling in the pack, content to merely be involved, cocooned in carbon fiber, safe from most injury, other than pride and expense. To be involved is thrilling, to observe, boring.
Perhaps a long think piece on all the flawed great drivers?
Yes. Actually, is there anyone who didn't have a flaw? Perhaps Stirling and Fangio, although I guess you could say that Stirling's love of the underdog was a "flaw". Fangio? Not easy to think of any negatives.
@@peterwindsor Peter, what a thrill in these strange and grim days to get a reply from you yourselft. I don't know if you remember or perhaps personally knew Jim McKay, but you remind me of him: a truly gentle and gracious person in the public eye on a regular basis. In the end, The Waltons rule applies: Being decent and kind and gracious does not blow anyone away at first, but it grows on one, and one never gets weary of hearing from such a person. He (or she) becomes like a member of the family. Three cheers for Peter David Windsor -- the only Windsor that England really needs!
But why don't you have a flack to handle your low-hanging correspondence? Of course, perhaps you do and we groundlings merely think that we are hearing from PW.
As for the drivers, what I meant was: There is sport the winners, the champions. They are talented and ambitious and dedicated, they enjoy the luck of good health, don't suffer from drug or alcohol troubles, and the are fully committed to the project. Schumacher is like that, no? The perfect motor sport competitor. But was Schumy fascinating? Perhaps. But sometimes an athlete comes along who is so drop-dead brilliant, but something goes wrong. Perhaps the beautiful American football runner ever was Gale Sayers, who played for the Chicago Bears in the 1960s. He had four good years. The most beautiful thing in sport to watch, like George Best. One play, one knee injury. Gone.
You must know of many drivers who at, say, age 21, struck you as massively talented, but something went wrong, the wins didn't come, and now only aficionados know of the. Of course in F1 the number one problem might have been getting killed. But what about a piece the greatest drivers you think that ever were whose careers did not pan out?
À propós of nothing, PW, did you ever see this brilliant little film? It was shot by Claude Lelouch, who went on to great fame as a filmmaker. I saw in 1976 as a short feature before the main movie in a movie theater (Yankee) -- I don't remember what the feature was, but I never forgot this outrageous galavant through Paris in a Ferrari 275.
Perhaps his dodgy political sympathies... About the only 'flaw' I can think of for Fangio!
And that's a maybe...
@@blacktoothfox677 Dodgy political sympathies? That sounds interesting. Was he pro-fascist?