Sport Today

by Ra » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 03:09:35

Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
people are busy but he is no longer driving.

I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy. Paul
met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other commenst
that Mansell was always pretty good.

Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

Someone here once said they met HHF and said he was great. Great
sense of humor and very kind.

A lady posted a few years ago and said Ralf was very polite at the
airport. Someone said they had a drink with Fisi in Oxford when he
just signed on with Jordan (?) and said he was very nice.

Any other impressions?

by DC » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 03:34:12

Quote:

>Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
>I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
>people are busy but he is no longer driving.

>I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy.

"Once" may be right. Catch any of these guys at the wrong time and
they may give you the cold shoulder but Johnny is generally very good
with fans. I've seen him stop for photos and autographs and to chat to
fans on many occasions and never seen him being rude or off-hand.

Quote:

>Paul met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other
>commenst that Mansell was always pretty good.

I've only seen him close up with fans once - at the 1992 Monaco GP
(the one where he almost collapsed on the podium and was accused of
histrionics). Over the course of the weekend in the paddock, I saw him
take time to pose for photos and to chat to fans when most other
drivers were noticeable by their absence or by the way they ignored
fans. After the race, when he'd recovered from his exhaustion, Nigel
was at the Williams motorhome in the paddock for well over an hour
signing pictures and programmes. All the rest of them had ***ed
off...

Quote:

>Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

I've met DC on several occasions, both before and since he joined F1.
My overall impression in the early days was that he was quite shy at
heart and didn't like all the fuss but that he was quite happy to
talk. I saw him at the F3000 race at Silverstone the year he joined
Williams and he was happily ambling around talking to anyone who
wanted to chat. Re Irvine - no comment...

David

by **PjH : Cima Racin** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 04:12:46

Quote:

"Ray" wrote...
> Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
> I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
> people are busy but he is no longer driving.

> I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy. Paul
> met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other commenst
> that Mansell was always pretty good.

> Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

> Someone here once said they met HHF and said he was great. Great
> sense of humor and very kind.

> A lady posted a few years ago and said Ralf was very polite at the
> airport. Someone said they had a drink with Fisi in Oxford when he
> just signed on with Jordan (?) and said he was very nice.

> Any other impressions?

Jean Alesi was great. Sat in the Sauber garage with him drinking a coffee,
and he was almost disappointed to be called away to drive. A group of use
were there, and the conversation had got round to Ferrari V12 engines...

Only met Johnny Herbert once, and he was very busy, so no real opinion could
be formed.

DC and Irvine had loads of time for everybody - Irv is much the same as he
appears on TV, but nicer.

Both Schumacher's are friendly and talkative, although Michael is,
obviously, in short supply.

By far the nicest, however, was Toranosuke Takagi who almost literally bent
over backwards to accommodate, including doing an unannounced tour of the
Tyrrell pits followed by an invitation to the motorhome for a small group of
people. He might not have set F1 on fire, but he could have melted its
heart.

--

-----------------------------------------------------
: Fair Play on Fuel : www.enoughisenough.org.uk :
: Support British Motorsport : www.cimaracing.co.uk :

by **Jimbo241** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 04:25:09

I've met DC at Silverstone and he snubbed evryone around. However a friend of
mine says completely the opposite and what a nice guy he is. I suppose that
when you are still competing it depends on the day, but in Damon Hills case he
is not competing and as such should be thankful he still has fans. The way he
is going he won't have them for very much longer.

by df » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 04:35:08

Quote:

> Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
> I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
> people are busy but he is no longer driving.

> I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy. Paul
> met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other commenst
> that Mansell was always pretty good.

> Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

> Someone here once said they met HHF and said he was great. Great
> sense of humor and very kind.

> A lady posted a few years ago and said Ralf was very polite at the
> airport. Someone said they had a drink with Fisi in Oxford when he
> just signed on with Jordan (?) and said he was very nice.

> Any other impressions?

Here's my top 3

1. Allan McNish (Simple the Friendliest F1 driver you will ever meet)
2. Jenson Button (Believe or not he can be chatty too)
3. David Coulthard (on a bad day he can even give a smile and an autograph)

I bumped into Irvine a couple of years ago when a father with his 5 & 8year
old sons asked him if he could shake hands with his 5year old. Irvine
replied "Why would I want to do that?" (since then I think he's the number
one tosser ever unknown in F1)

dave F

by **Frit** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 04:45:53

Quote:

> I've met DC at Silverstone and he snubbed evryone around. However a
friend of
> mine says completely the opposite and what a nice guy he is. I suppose
that
> when you are still competing it depends on the day, but in Damon Hills
case he
> is not competing and as such should be thankful he still has fans. The way
he
> is going he won't have them for very much longer.

I guess he figures "if they were dumb enough to have liked me while I was
driving, they'll probably put up with anything". At least that's the way I
look at it.

Fritz

by **C. Stor** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 04:41:59

Quote:

>Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
>I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
>people are busy but he is no longer driving.

>I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy. Paul
>met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other commenst
>that Mansell was always pretty good.

>Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

>Someone here once said they met HHF and said he was great. Great
>sense of humor and very kind.

>A lady posted a few years ago and said Ralf was very polite at the
>airport. Someone said they had a drink with Fisi in Oxford when he
>just signed on with Jordan (?) and said he was very nice.

>Any other impressions?

Not exactly F1, but I have had a few impressions of other
series' drivers ...

From what I'd seen (which admittedly wasn't much),
Greg Moore was great. I saw him*** out at the
Player's paddock in 1997 well before the morning warmup,
just sticking his head through the tent, shooting the breeze,
signing autographs, and enjoying the fans. Did this for over
an hour.

I wish I'd saved the URL, but there was a photo of Montoya from
his CART days, after winning either Mid-Ohio, or
Road America, sitting on a patio with a bunch
of fans,*** out and sharing a pitcher.
I actually did a double-take when I saw it, as
the only thing recognized was the smile, and
the Target/Ganassi shirt.

CART had a perpetual backmarker for several
years called Hiro Matsushita, who, though slow,
was apparantly a super decent guy and had a huge
following in Japan.

Chris Story

by **Frit** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 04:57:37

Quote:

> Not exactly F1, but I have had a few impressions of other
> series' drivers ...

> From what I'd seen (which admittedly wasn't much),
> Greg Moore was great. I saw him*** out at the
> Player's paddock in 1997 well before the morning warmup,
> just sticking his head through the tent, shooting the breeze,
> signing autographs, and enjoying the fans. Did this for over
> an hour.

Everone I know who had any contact with Greg said he was great. He was a
major force in keeping the young drivers on a friendly basis with each
other. Yet one more thing he would have brought to F1 :(

Quote:

> I wish I'd saved the URL, but there was a photo of Montoya from
> his CART days, after winning either Mid-Ohio, or
> Road America, sitting on a patio with a bunch
> of fans,*** out and sharing a pitcher.
> I actually did a double-take when I saw it, as
> the only thing recognized was the smile, and
> the Target/Ganassi shirt.
> CART had a perpetual backmarker for several
> years called Hiro Matsushita, who, though slow,
> was apparantly a super decent guy and had a huge
> following in Japan.

'slow' doesn't begin to describe Hiro. He may have been a nice guy, but the
fact that the Indy lights cars could set faster qualifying times then he
could in a full CART car is pretty shameful.

Fritz

by df » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 05:28:38

Quote:

> >Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
> >I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
> >people are busy but he is no longer driving.

> >I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy. Paul
> >met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other commenst
> >that Mansell was always pretty good.

> >Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

> >Someone here once said they met HHF and said he was great. Great
> >sense of humor and very kind.

> >A lady posted a few years ago and said Ralf was very polite at the
> >airport. Someone said they had a drink with Fisi in Oxford when he
> >just signed on with Jordan (?) and said he was very nice.

> >Any other impressions?

> Not exactly F1, but I have had a few impressions of other
> series' drivers ...

> From what I'd seen (which admittedly wasn't much),
> Greg Moore was great. I saw him*** out at the
> Player's paddock in 1997 well before the morning warmup,
> just sticking his head through the tent, shooting the breeze,
> signing autographs, and enjoying the fans. Did this for over
> an hour.

I went to Rockingham last year and every driver signed my programme. Even
Paul Tracy stopped to sign ! The CART series is known for this.

dave F

by df » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 05:33:15

Quote:

> > Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
> > I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
> > people are busy but he is no longer driving.

> > I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy. Paul
> > met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other commenst
> > that Mansell was always pretty good.

> > Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

> > Someone here once said they met HHF and said he was great. Great
> > sense of humor and very kind.

> > A lady posted a few years ago and said Ralf was very polite at the
> > airport. Someone said they had a drink with Fisi in Oxford when he
> > just signed on with Jordan (?) and said he was very nice.

> > Any other impressions?

> Here's my top 3

> 1. Allan McNish (Simple the Friendliest F1 driver you will ever meet)
> 2. Jenson Button (Believe or not he can be chatty too)
> 3. David Coulthard (on a bad day he can even give a smile and an
autograph)

> I bumped into Irvine a couple of years ago when a father with his 5 &
8year
> old sons asked him if he could shake hands with his 5year old. Irvine
> replied "Why would I want to do that?" (since then I think he's the number
> one tosser ever unknown in F1)

If you want a non Brit list then it's:-

1. Sato (he loves fans)
2. Montoya (but do not approuch him in Mcdonalds, he does like to play with
his Happymeal toy alone)
3. Burti
4. Pedro De La Rosa

dave F

by **Neil Boy** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 05:52:40

Quote:

>Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
>I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
>people are busy but he is no longer driving.

I heard from a couple of sources that DH was a real nice guy, but I
cannot speak from experience.

Johnny always struck me as a real nice guy, Button does too, but once
again, they I never see them in my local :-)

Neil
www.braking-zone.com

by **Neil Boy** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 05:54:43

On Mon, 12 Aug 2002 19:12:46 +0000 (UTC), "PjH : Cima Racing"

Quote:

>Toranosuke Takagi who almost literally bent
>over

You sure that wasn't Ralf?

Sorry!

Neil
www.braking-zone.com

by **Mike Well** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 06:54:54

Quote:

> Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
> I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
> people are busy but he is no longer driving.

> I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy. Paul
> met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other commenst
> that Mansell was always pretty good.

> Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

> Someone here once said they met HHF and said he was great. Great
> sense of humor and very kind.

> A lady posted a few years ago and said Ralf was very polite at the
> airport. Someone said they had a drink with Fisi in Oxford when he
> just signed on with Jordan (?) and said he was very nice.

> Any other impressions?

Sure. Not many non-famous people understand when meeting celebs the
taxing burdens and irritations that accompany fame. (Not that I'm here
defending celebs) Second, few famous people who have been through the
ringer of fame - unless obliged by promotional duty, therefore doing some
phoney acting - give a ***any longer about gawking autograph seekers/fans.
The crux of animosity for fans is when their idol doesn't look their way,
without realizing that this idol has been though this exact procedure so
many countless times that they've come to despise it.

Mike Wells

by **No Spa** » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 06:48:45

Quote:

>"Ray" wrote...

>> Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
>> I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
>> people are busy but he is no longer driving.

>> I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy. Paul
>> met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other commenst
>> that Mansell was always pretty good.

>> Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

>> Someone here once said they met HHF and said he was great. Great
>> sense of humor and very kind.

>> A lady posted a few years ago and said Ralf was very polite at the
>> airport. Someone said they had a drink with Fisi in Oxford when he
>> just signed on with Jordan (?) and said he was very nice.

>> Any other impressions?

>Jean Alesi was great. Sat in the Sauber garage with him drinking a coffee,
>and he was almost disappointed to be called away to drive. A group of use
>were there, and the conversation had got round to Ferrari V12 engines...

>Only met Johnny Herbert once, and he was very busy, so no real opinion could
>be formed.

>DC and Irvine had loads of time for everybody - Irv is much the same as he
>appears on TV, but nicer.

>Both Schumacher's are friendly and talkative, although Michael is,
>obviously, in short supply.

>By far the nicest, however, was Toranosuke Takagi who almost literally bent
>over backwards to accommodate, including doing an unannounced tour of the
>Tyrrell pits followed by an invitation to the motorhome for a small group of
>people. He might not have set F1 on fire, but he could have melted its
>heart.

We had breakfast at the next table (in Jerez) to Ukyo Katayama in
1996. Even though he only seemed to know about 10 words of english he
seemed a nice guy. Eddie Irvine also seemed very chatty over an orange
juice in the bar too the night before. Always amazes me that most of
the drivers are the size of jockeys.

--

by Ra » Wed, 14 Aug 2002 07:15:57

Quote:

> >Well it looks like Damon is off the list. This is not the first time
> >I heard about Damon stiffing his fans or soon to be ex-fans. I know
> >people are busy but he is no longer driving.

> >I heard Johnny was a good guy but then heard once he was stuffy.

> "Once" may be right. Catch any of these guys at the wrong time and
> they may give you the cold shoulder but Johnny is generally very good
> with fans. I've seen him stop for photos and autographs and to chat to
> fans on many occasions and never seen him being rude or off-hand.

I realize all the drivers are under a lot of pressure and are
constantly being hounded by managers, sponsors, fans, etc. Someone
said Johnny was wonderful and the Birmingham show and Damon was not
very friendly.

Quote:

> >Paul met Mansell and said he was OK. I thought I had read other
> >commenst that Mansell was always pretty good.

> I've only seen him close up with fans once - at the 1992 Monaco GP
> (the one where he almost collapsed on the podium and was accused of
> histrionics).

Accused by the British press? They either beat you up if you are not
winning or try to knock you down when you are.

Over the course of the weekend in the paddock, I saw him

Quote:

> take time to pose for photos and to chat to fans when most other
> drivers were noticeable by their absence or by the way they ignored
> fans. After the race, when he'd recovered from his exhaustion, Nigel
> was at the Williams motorhome in the paddock for well over an hour
> signing pictures and programmes. All the rest of them had ***ed
> off...

I had heard that he was very good. Bernie lost a real draw when
Mansell left in 1992-93. All F1 fans got their money's worth when
Nige was out there in a decent car. The 1995 McLaren was dreadful.

Quote:

> >Somebody said Irvine was quite nice. Never heard anything about DC.

> I've met DC on several occasions, both before and since he joined F1.
> My overall impression in the early days was that he was quite shy at
> heart and didn't like all the fuss but that he was quite happy to
> talk.

He was fairly young when he started out. People constantly attack him
and say he is too corporate but he appears to be a nice fellow.

I saw him at the F3000 race at Silverstone the year he joined

Quote:

> Williams and he was happily ambling around talking to anyone who
> wanted to chat.

Re Irvine - no comment...

Quote:

> David

Sport Today

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.

Friendliest Brit F1 driver?? Or other F1 drivers.