RIP Chris Amon

[bigbanger]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/motorsport/82795037/motor-racing-great-chris-amon-dies-in-hospital

[Roger Dowding]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/motorsport/82795037/motor-racing-great-chris-amon-dies-in-hospital

Just read the news on Facebook
\Sad Day for the family and for NZ Motorsport and indeed the world of Le Mans and Formula One .. RIP Chris Amon

[Steve Holmes]

Oh no! Thats terribly sand news. RIP Chris. Farewell to a true Kiwi great.

[nigel watts]

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[John B]

RIP Chris - you're a bloody legend!

Although we have been expecting this announcement for many months, it was still a great shock to hear it on TV3 tonight. Nice to see that TV3 acknowledged the significance on this news, and made it their lead story, instead of burying it amongst its sports news.

[gokiwi]

A true legend, a gentleman and hero............Chris has won his last race and passed to the great cheqeured flag in the sky.
Rest well Chris.

[GD66]

Hats off, gentlemen.

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[Steve Holmes]

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Photo by Bill Pottinger.

[GD66]

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[John B]

I'm amazed! Chris Amon's status has already been updated on Wikipedia ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Amon

[SPman]

Totally stunned - I didn't know he'd been battling cancer! Off to join Eoin, Denny, Bruce, Phil... and all the others.......
Farewell Chris, and thanks for all the memories.
Condolences to his family and friends....

[John B]

Christopher Arthur Amon, MBE (July 20th 1943 - August 3rd 2016)

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[John B]

Brabham, Hill & Amon

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[John B]

Chris with Ferrari

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[John B]

1969 Spanish GP - Hill, Amon & Rindt

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[John B]

1967 Belgian GP - Amon & Rindt

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[John B]

Chris Amon - Ferrari - 1969

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[Oldfart]

This was not unexpected by me, but never the less it's a very sad day. As Enzo said "The best driver...." RIP, best wishes family and frends

[Ray Bell]

Love that shot of the Matra! Chris as we loved to see him...

Certainly, 73 is too young to go, even if he played among those much older than him for years. Let's remember his Tasman title, his two NZIGP wins, his AGP win and those battles between him and Clark and Rindt in the 49s.

[Kwaussie]

as well he had to face the Christmas bowling of this bloke at the family farm!
God speed Chris.

[ERC]

First time I hook into TRS since the end of June for this sad news. I treasure the autograph on our Hampton Downs apartment wall.

RiP

[khyndart in CA]

Chris,
you were my childhood idol. Thanks for all the great memories. R.I.P.

A master at work using ALL of the track in the rain at Rouen in 1968.
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(Ken Hyndman)

[BMCBOY]

Sad to hear of Chris Amon's passing. Unfortunately I never met him, but he always seemed to be very approachable and remained a real enthusiast.

This is still one of my all time favorite motorsport photographs

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[Peter M]

Sad to hear of Chris Amon's passing. Unfortunately I never met him, but he always seemed to be very approachable and remained a real enthusiast.

This is still one of my all time favorite motorsport photographs

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This is also one of my favourite motorsport photos.
Chris you were a great ambassador and inspiration for Kiwi motorsport.
RIP Chris Thanks for the memories.

[Roger Dowding]

RIP Chris - you're a bloody legend!

Although we have been expecting this announcement for many months, it was still a great shock to hear it on TV3 tonight. Nice to see that TV3 acknowledged the significance on this news, and made it their lead story, instead of burying it amongst its sports news.

Hear Hear JB, still waiting to hear about it on mainstream Australian Television.. probably because he won a few races over here back in the day .. Tasman Cup series

[Roger Dowding]

Love that shot of the Matra! Chris as we loved to see him...

Certainly, 73 is too young to go, even if he played among those much older than him for years. Let's remember his Tasman title, his two NZIGP wins, his AGP win and those battles between him and Clark and Rindt in the 49s.

Well said Ray Bell, a Legend,

[khyndart in CA]

I wish I had got around to writing this but I had intended to write a note to Chris but his sudden departure caught me out.
I hope you all do not mind me sharing my intentions;
"Chris,
When I first saw you roaring around Ardmore in the rain in 1962 it was very impressive but I have to admit that we were cheering on our Morrinsville mate,Ross Greenville that day. I got a good grade in an art class for a drawing I did of you in a Lola and at my father's funeral in Dec. 1963 I concentrated on imagining you driving at Pukekohe and Silverstone etc just to take my mind off that awful event.
I had my first opportunity to meet you at the 1973 British GP at Silverstone but I could see you were so frustrated with the Martini-Tecno F1 car that I left you alone and again at the first Long Beach F5000 race in Sept. 1975 I almost came up to you but again you were busy and then a few days later a friend called me in San Diego and he worked at a hospital in San Juan Capistrano and said there was a guy from NZ in the hospital that had been knocked off his bicycle and he had an accent like me. That patient was you but you had checked out before I could pay you a visit. A few years ago I was in Barcelona, Spain and I walked part of the Montjuic Park race track and noticed how dangerous it was compared to the circuits of today and saw a poster of you leading the 1968 F1 race into the first hairpin. I stood on that corner and marveled how incredibly brave and fast you were and you had survived all the carnage from that era.
I never did get to meet you but I wanted to thank you for all that you have done for motor racing and as an ambassador for NZ.
Jolly well done Chris.
God bless."
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Chris Amon in the Martini Tecno F1 at Silverstone. 1973.
The car that prevented us from meeting !

Ken Hyndman ..sorry this was too late..but better late than never.

[John H]

Very well said. I also watched him booming out of the hairpin at Ardmore that day. What a great ambassador for our little country.

[Ray Bell]

I neglected to mention in my earlier post...

Chris took the fight to Frank Matich at those '68 Tasman meetings in Australia, their close encounters with Chris driving the Ferrari and Frank in the Repco-engined SR3 will live long in my memory!

He was beaten each time, but nobody ever came so close to Frank and the sight of them one each side of Peter Caldwell's little Tojiero Climax as they approached the Causeway braking area, grass clippings flying from the wheels of both cars, is absolutely unforgettable.

One of just two drivers who ever pushed Matich to his limits.

[Shoreboy57]

I neglected to mention in my earlier post...

Chris took the fight to Frank Matich at those '68 Tasman meetings in Australia, their close encounters with Chris driving the Ferrari and Frank in the Repco-engined SR3 will live long in my memory!

He was beaten each time, but nobody ever came so close to Frank and the sight of them one each side of Peter Caldwell's little Tojiero Climax as they approached the Causeway braking area, grass clippings flying from the wheels of both cars, is absolutely unforgettable.

One of just two drivers who ever pushed Matich to his limits.

Some good coverage of Amon v Matich here https://primotipo.com/tag/1967-spa-1000km/

[Ross]

A very sad loss to the world of motorsport, especially downunder.
A great driver and ambassador for the sport.
My first memories of Chris were his appearance at the April 2, 1960 meeting in Levin.
He was entered in his Austin A40 Special, not the highest performing, or prettiest car on the program, but it was the start of a wonderful career.
A little bit of trivia: The program for that 1960 event listed Chris as C.Amos!

[John B]

No doubt most people would have already seen this Chris Amon interview with Peter Windsor back in January 2011 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMWWNaJKfYk ... a great insight into Chris' thoughts about his racing career.

[kiwi285]

Certainly one of the great Kiwi drivers of all time and as with all of them totally at ease talking to anyone who wanted to ask questions and absolutely no ego problems. A sad time for Kiwi motorsport.

[Roger Dowding]

Vintage Motorsports online newsletter issued 4th August USA time, has a tribute to Chris ;
Go to " www.vintagemotorsport.com/ "


" http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1102444951134&ca=2739f08b-5c47-45ca-b3cb-fe118f1f3f62 "

The online newsletter is worth getting and it is free..

[seaqnmac27]

A sad loss, although perhaps a happy release given the insidious nature of the Big C, unfortunately his career was really over before I was even around so, all I had to go on was the legend, however Autosport has now gone and proven what we all knew, he was, by any measurement, the unluckiest driver of all time, Nick Heidfeld tops him in 2 areas, however, overall, a great Kiwi, and the unluckiest driver of all time.

http://www.autosport.com/premium/feature/7122/who-is-formula-1-unluckiest-driver

[khyndart in CA]

Two images of Chris.
First one shows him waiting on the dummy grid at the first NZGP at Pukekohe, Jan 1963, just ahead of Angus Hyslop.
( Peter Greenslade photo )
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The next is 5 years later at Sandown Park when Chris Amon and Jim Clark spoiled us with marvelous racing during the 1968 Tasman Series.
Little did we realize it was never going to be the same again. Great memories.
Notice how far back the rest of the field was. These two were in a class of their own.
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(Ken Hyndman scrapbook )

[duncan fox]

It is with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of Chris Amon on Wednesday 3rd August. Chris has been our Patron for nearly 20 years and we have always enjoyed his support, wise words and fun comments over all that time. Our deepest sympathy is with his lovely wife Tish and all the family. It was always a pleasure to work with Chris at the various functions and NZFMR Festivals and especially at the Chris Amon Festival back in 2011.



I attach a YouTube link of film footage taken by Murray Maunder of Vision Productions in our Bruce McLaren marquee at the Chris Amon Festival. Murray has filmed with and for the Trust for over 15 years - it is at times like this that the special historic value of all his wonderful filming is greatly appreciated and valued.






The Trustees and all at the Bruce McLaren Trust

Bruce McLaren Trust



cid:image007.jpg@01D08BE8.43417060





The Chris Amon link


https://youtu.be/vwOSGEQu9gw

[Kwaussie]

Very nice photo.

[Shoreboy57]

Great article in Motor Sport covering the breadth of success Chris had - much of it too often overlooked in the "best driver not to win a F1 GP" story

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/chris-amon-history-wins

[khyndart in CA]

It is sadly ironic that Chris Amon and Jack Sears passed away within a few days of each other this past week.
They had competed briefly against each other back in 1964 during the Guards Trophy race at Brands Hatch in their Shelby Cobras.
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Jack Sears leading Chris Amon at Brands Hatch. 1964

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(Ken Hyndman ) Note how well NZ was represented in these race results.

[Michael Clark]

Chris rated that race as one of the hardest and most memorable scraps he ever had.

[khyndart in CA]

Michael,
It certainly looks like they raced hard and were separated by just over a second after 49 laps of Brands Hatch.
It must have been fun to watch as a spectator.

[Frosty5]

Michael, have PM'd you

[Michael Clark]

PM'd you back...I hope!