“Nobody backed off”

Siegfried Stohr is a former racing driver from Rimini, Italy. A race winner in F2, he participated in 13 Formula One Grand Prix for the Arrows team in 1981.

On his web page, Siegfried Stohr (Official), he recently posted some fond memories of his time in the F2, in particular at Enna-Pergusa in 1980, where he took pole and won the race.

Siegfried Stohr: “Do you like the F2? In this photo here-above from 1980, here we are the three of us fighting at the last corner of Enna-Pergusa. Maybe it was taken on the first lap. Beppe Gabbiani closes the door on me, without hindering me, while Teo Fabi decides to stay behind, but he is in a strange position, maybe he first thought he could give it a go.”

“About that race, I remember Beppe (Gabbiani) waved in front of us almost immediately and I stayed behind him for a few laps with Fabi and de Cesaris. I remember close duels with all of them, sometimes three of us side by side, sometimes very close touching each other, all at the very limit, but nobody backed off.”

“Back then, if you wanted to pass, you had to pull off, and you knew you could do it because the other one always left enough space at the inside. Maybe not on the last lap, but nobody changed trajectory halfway like they do today. We were tough but more fair: there was respect between us.”