The ‘Great Circus’ is on vacation and will be back from August 26 to 28 in Spa Fracorchampsa mythical circuit where more than 30 years ago (Belgian GP in 1991) a pilot made his debut that would become an idol of the masses and one of the best in history: Michael Schumacher. Everything is result of a chanceone of the most memorable anecdotes of F1 enthusiasts, starring the pilot Bertrand Gachot, who competed in F1 from 1989 to 1995. The pilot of French origin added 5 points in F1, his best position was 5th and he added the fastest lap. Outside of F1 he competed 6 times in the 24 Hours of Le Mansachieving victory in June 1991. What he didn’t know was that after touching the sky to win one of the most mythical events in the world, his life would change completely.
Before, in December 1990, Gachot he lived through an episode that would haunt him. happened to London. There he will go to an action of his team’s sponsor, Jordan, when he got into a traffic altercation with a taxi driver. The taxi driver got out of his car, grabbed Gachot and threatened to kill him. The pilot was driving his partner’s car, and in it he had a pepper spray canister for self defense He thought about using it. He then called the police because according to him, there were 50 other taxi drivers heading towards him who had gathered in that area. I don’t think I did anything wrong. But that completely changed his life.
“Gachot used his girlfriend’s pepper spray, which is considered an illegal weapon in that country. We didn’t have all the details until our lawyer called us saying Bertrand was in jail.”, said Mark Gallagher, director of marketing for Jordan. Months later, a week after the 1991 F1 Belgian GP, he had to go before the judge. He wanted the taxi driver to be financially compensated to end the problem, but the judge ended up imposing a sentence of two years in prison.
The German boy and a necessary ‘lie’
In the Jordan team they need to find an immediate replacement. Willi Weber, former representative of Michaelhe suggested the name of a 22-year-old boy named Schumacher. Jordan met with Weber. “Eddie Jordan wanted to know if he had ever driven at Spa”, commented Willi. “And I told him about 100 times, which was a lie because Michael had never been to the Spa”. Eddie gave the ‘ok’ for the German talent to compete. He had to pay 80,000 pounds, he climbed the Jordan 191 in a test before Spa at Silverstone. They said that the German improved every lap and left good feelings. He will end up debuting in Belgium. Others are known.
psychological ‘torture’
Meanwhile, behind bars, Gachot learns about some brush strokes by a cruel prison guard. “He told me that the team hired a German and they don’t need me anymore”, the pilot himself revealed. “Every time he passes my cell he makes a noise imitating an F1 car, telling me that this driver is very good and that they don’t need me anymore. Here we must add the conditions under which it is: “The day I entered prison, I thought everything was over. You are locked up 23 hours a day, without a table to eat or a toilet and you can’t even turn the light on and off”, once told the pilot, who accidentally played a major role in F1 history. Eventually, his nightmare ended. In the last appointment of that course he replaced the injured Eric Bernard in the group Larrose and won a seat for the next course. He retired from F1 in 1995. At the time, Michael was a two-time world champion (1994 and 1995 with Benneton).
Proposal of ‘work’ in prison
From his two-month imprisonment, Gachot kept all kinds of memories. For the first three weeks he was in a worse prison. In it, when they found out he was an F1 driver, they gave him a ‘job’ offer. I saw that in F1 Eddie Jordanafter imprisonment, did not want his services. “He forgot we work together”. But in prison they made him raff. “When you get out of here don’t worry about competing again, come with me, you’ll make more money,” a fellow inmate told him. “We will steal a car, we will enter a supermarket with it, we will steal a collection and cigarettes. We need someone to drive fast to get us out of there.” he added. Fortunately, Gachot He’s back in F1.
“I’m not sure Michael is ready”
“Gerd Kramer, from Mercedes, always told me about Schumacher and I went to see him in an F3 championship,” he recalled last year. Eddie Jordan, the team owner who gave the German his first F1 seat at Spa 1991. “I started following him but I wasn’t sure he was ready for F1. The decision I made was based on talent,” he added. The youngster surprised everyone on that debut with a 7th place in qualifying but had to retire from the race due to a clutch problem. He shone and Flavio Briatore signed him for the next race, unceremoniously taking the seat from Moreno for Michael to join Nelson Piquet. Eddie wanted to avoid it but he couldn’t. The Italian robbed the rising star of him.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
