Goodbye Mr Hill
Tribute to the 1996 World Champion's Departure humour by Inky Black
Damon Hill almost quit racing on pit lane at the French Grand Prix. Years
ago, Juan Manuel Fangio did retire during a pit stop at the French GP! The
clutch pedal had broken off his Maserati... and the great champion waved the
broken pedal at his team and shook his head. "No mas." His pit crew talked
him out of retirement, but only long enough to finish that race.
Grooved tyres have been the bane for Damon this season. But you really can't
wave a big racing tyre at everybody in the pits. Well, you can, but you
won't get the same effect Fangio achieved.
So Damon will finish the year in Japan. Yes, on to Suzuka and Damon's last
lap. Will he use this race to go out in style?
Will he parade around the track waving to the fans? Or parade around the
pits waving a grooved tyre? Will he wear down the grooves, like somebody
else we know, and finish the race on slicks? The odds-makers probably have a
line on it all.
We're betting that Damon takes a full tank at the last pit stop; then drives
the Jordan back to the hotel. He can ship the car back home, it will look
pretty peppy as a planter out front of his house. And in a pinch, it could
pull in a few quid at the local used-car lot. "Don't go kicking them tyres
buddy... I assure you Damon has kicked 'em enough!"
Maybe he will stay at the track, but pull the car off at his favorite corner.
This way he can enjoy the rest of the race with his fans. And Damon, get a
CD player installed for this one. No sense letting the guys in the safety
car have all the fun.
We think Damon will use Suzuka to launch a new career in films. Already he
has, like his father, taken a superb skill to the top of sport. Now we'll
have Damon Hill, the star in the new Sylvester Stallone racing movie.
Graham Hill appeared in the first "Grand Prix" movie. He should have
received an Oscar, for most time on camera without acting. If you've seen
the movie, you know that whatever Graham was doing in front of the camera, it
sure as hell wasn't acting. Given some time, Damon could probably do as
well.
Good Luck Damon!
Article is written by and copyright (c) 1999 Jeff Rose,
Binghamton, NY.
His other Travel and Humour Articles
can be found at Aloha from the Nervous Nineties.
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