Danny Ongais driver profile!

[eytl]

G'day folks,

Here's a little present to celebrate the 3rd birthday of the F1 Rejects forum. For the last who-knows-how-long, we've been promising a Danny Ongais driver profile.

Well, finally, here it is: http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/ongais/index.html

It's been a painstaking labour of love putting this together especially in the last two months or so, and what a story it is too. With a career spanning over 40 years (and six different decades), hardly any driver can match the "Flyin' Hawaiian" when it comes to versatility. Drag racing, sprint cars, F5000, sports cars, Indycars and of course F1, Danny "On-the-Gas" has done it all - in his typical enigmatic style. Silent off the track, loud and brash on it.

Hope you enjoy the extensive biography and picture index, and also the sound clips featuring comments on Danny from legends Jackie Stewart and Dan Gurney. And a rare clip of Danny talking about himself!

Cheers,
Enoch

[DanielPT]

This is the best present ever! *tears of joy*

[midgrid]

Excellent read! Thanks for taking the time to research and write it.

[tzerof1]

Great piece, it was definitely worth the really long wait!

[AndreaModa]

OH. MY. GOD!

Brilliant article Enoch, really great stuff, and worth the wait! How long till the Maki profile now then?

[dr-baker]

Wow, what a driver! They don't make 'em like that any more!

[Londoner]

Sweet! A brilliant way to celebrate the forum's 3rd birthday!

[FullMetalJack]

It's finally here!!! Will enjoy reading it later!

[Faustus]

Great article guys! Well worth the wait! Thank you!

[TomWazzleshaw]

Huzzah! Great read as always guys

[dinizintheoven]

That's a cracking read. And as for this...

[quote=eytl on the main site"]Entering the last hour, they had a lead that was worth more than 60 minutes. Which was just as well, because the turbocharger failed. Danny was at the wheel, and he calmly stopped on the front straight, just before the start-finish line, letting the car idling and smoking away. When 24 hours finally elapsed, he simply put the car into gear and drove over the line to claim victory by a whopping 49 laps and 192 miles! It would prove to be Danny's greatest success in sports car racing.[/quote]

That is quite brilliant. And I don't think anyone would consider doing that now, even the bigwigs at Audi and Toyota.

[mario]

That's a cracking read. And as for this...

Entering the last hour, they had a lead that was worth more than 60 minutes. Which was just as well, because the turbocharger failed. Danny was at the wheel, and he calmly stopped on the front straight, just before the start-finish line, letting the car idling and smoking away. When 24 hours finally elapsed, he simply put the car into gear and drove over the line to claim victory by a whopping 49 laps and 192 miles! It would prove to be Danny's greatest success in sports car racing.

That is quite brilliant. And I don't think anyone would consider doing that now, even the bigwigs at Audi and Toyota.

I think you're quite right about that (although it also reflects how the world of motor racing has evolved that such a move wouldn't be permitted today anyway, I believe).

Anyway, I agree with the other posters and would like to congratulate you for that article - it may have been long in the making, but it has been more than worth it in the end.

[AdrianSutil]

A fantastic read! Well done

[dinizintheoven]

I think you're quite right about that (although it also reflects how the world of motor racing has evolved that such a move wouldn't be permitted today anyway, I believe).

Killjoys.

That said, I bet the ACO would have let it go at Le Mans if all three Audis and two Peugeots had retired, and the remaining Peugeot tried that trick.

[Warren Hughes]

Great article - as others have said, well worth the wait!

Also, the picture from the 1981 Indy crash

[midgrid]

Great article - as others have said, well worth the wait!

Also, the picture from the 1981 Indy crash

If you think that was scary, check out this live TV coverage of the accident. Amazing he survived it.

[AdrianSutil]

Great article - as others have said, well worth the wait!

Also, the picture from the 1981 Indy crash

If you think that was scary, check out this live TV coverage of the accident. Amazing he survived it.

How he survived that I will never know!!

[Ed24]

Thanks, a fascinating story!

[wmetcalf68]

YEEEEEEEEESSSSSS

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

I was pleased to see that he won in Brainerd which is near where I live in Nowhere Minnesota. We're on the map!