As fast as a F1 car?

Patrick Depailler, one of the Ligier Formula 1 drivers in 1979, is seen here-above practicing at the wheel of a ZIP kart. Rumour has it that after driving the same superkart (with a 250cc Yamaha engine and sequential gearbox) around Monaco, Depailler clocked faster times than the F3 cars, and declared that it could easily qualify amongst the F1 cars on the twisty and narrow circuit!

After five complete F1 seasons at Team Tyrrell that yielded him many podiums and one victory at the 1978 Monaco Grand Prix, Patrick Depailler joined Jacques Laffite at Ligier for the 1979 season. The Ligier JS11 designed by Gérard Ducarouge was the class of the field early in the season and Laffite won in Argentina and in Brazil (second was his team mate), while Depailler won in Spain (picture-below).

A few weeks later though, just before the French Grand Prix, Depailler, who was not afraid of practicing dangerous sports outside motor racing, has a bad deltaplane accident, that left him with broken legs. He will not be seen at the wheel of a F1 car for the rest of the season.