I have met many racing drivers who were gentlemen, nothing more, but the only outstanding man was always Patrick Tambe, who died aged 73 in Paris.
Patrick had it all: he was blessed with F1 standard good movie star looks and driving ability but on top of that he was an absolutely likeable man of impeccable manners, a sense of humour and dignity.
More recently, in his as yet unpublished autobiography, Derek Warwick, with whom he collaborated at Renault in 1984 and 1985, said of him: "But if you're talking about a wonderful, pure person, this is Patrick Tambe." Aye. He's a gentleman and like I said, he taught me a lot about how to behave in and out of motorsport.
“Because there could be times when I can honestly say I missed the shield all the way. I always remember telling someone that there was only one partner I really trusted, so if he said Had that he has done two taps on the damper so I believe him, and that was Patrick.”
Patrick was born in Paris on June 25, 1949, and by 1974 he was a regular in Elf’s team of drivers destined for Formula 1 stardom, as he cut his teeth in Formula 2, Acure that season He finished seventh with Elf, but March Engineering seen in 1975 reached second overall, and third in 1976 with Martini Motors.
1977 brought him his first two CanAm championships with Karl Haas, and then the disappointment of not qualifying for his first Grand Prix with Team Surtees at home in Dijon. But when Teddy Yip swept in his Theodore Ensign N177, he finished sixth in Germany and fifth in the Netherlands (where he would score third until he ran out of fuel with less than a lap to go ) and in Canada.
Ferrari was already chasing him in Austria, but he had also impressed McLaren’s Teddy Meyer, and where Teddy was wrong to sign Gilles Villeneuve – with whom Patrick was very friendly and race already in Formula Atlantic Chuke - it turns out that Patrick was wrong to choose McLaren over Ferrari.
Against the experienced James Hunt as a team-mate, and an old non-ground influence in the M26 in what was generally a bad year for the Woking team, his best result was fourth in Sweden. 1979 was even worse, along with John Watson, after a disappointed Hunt left for Wolfe.
And so he exited Formula 1 by 1980 as quickly as he entered it, but he went on to win his second CanAm title and returned to the Big League in 1981, the first Theodore US GP finished sixth in the West. , and later Equip Talbot Gitanes - the latter was a disappointing story, with eight retirements in eight races.
Once again, it looks like his F1 career is over. He agreed to race for the Arrows in 1982 but left in disgust after seeing the way teams treated drivers during the famous strike at Kyalami. As a man of principle, this was not something Patrick could tolerate.
But the tragedy that killed his friend Gilles in Zolder in May has created a vacancy at Ferrari. Eighth in his debut in the Netherlands, then third in the UK and fourth in France. And in Germany, against a backdrop of Ferrari’s growing unease with team-mate Didier Pironi turning away at the end of his career at Hockenheim, Patrick saved the day by scoring his first F1 victory.
The following year a series of strong placings left them in fourth place overall, the best of which was a big charge win at Imola.
He and Jill were very close. When the French-Canadian brought his family from Quebec to Europe as Ferrari recalled in 1977, it was Patrick who warmly welcomed them to the south of France. And Patrick once told me the story of how he sat on the podium in a red car with his late friend's famous number 27, and how he really believed Gill drove that race for him.
"In Germany, in 1982 I felt the responsibility on my shoulders very strongly, but Imola was more than that. I happened to finish third, in the same position as Giles started in last year's race," he said Ha when Didier Pironi won. Poor Giles, he didn't get past it." Never. He felt betrayed!
"There was a Tifosi-dyed Canadian maple leaf on the track right in front of me where Gil was lining up his car. I felt very emotional thinking about him. I was sitting in my car on the grid with only 20 minutes to go." Hey, and I just broke down, you know?
"I was just sitting there, crying my eyes out. I was completely devastated. The mechanics, my friends who had come in the car to wish me well, just left. They were embarrassed for me, and no." knew what to do." Do or say what. There was nothing they could do or say." They have nothing to say."
Eventually, the gods smiled at him and after a bug stopped him in flames kind of him, not me.
“I was just driving his car, and after what happened the previous year, I desperately wanted to win this one.
“The car was beautiful that day, apart from a problem through Tamburello. In the closing stages, after Patrese crashed, it kept cutting out as I went through there, and my heart was in my mouth. I was so relieved that it kept going, but then it stopped altogether, out of fuel, on the slowing-down lap…”
It said a lot about his character, as he was godfather to 1997 World Champion Jill's son Jack, while also being an enthusiastic supporter of his son Adrian's racing career.
In 1983 he was overshadowed by Rene Arnault, and replaced by Michele Aporeto in 1984 when he moved to Renault. That year he was early, but often unlucky, and by 1985 Reno was a mess and he and Warwick were sinking.
He moved to Team Haas USA and Beatrice Lola THL1 and 2 with little success, with Hart and Ford Power respectively, as his F1 career petered out in 1986. He began his 114 careers with those two victories, five pole positions, 11 podiums and the two fastest laps achieved.
He set up his own sports promotion company in Switzerland in 1987 before returning to racing with the Silk Cut Jaguar in the World Sportscar Championships in 1989. He then dabbled in desert raiding, taking two top-three finishes in the prestigious Paris-Dakar Championship, and did just that. Also some snowboarding and Tour de Course water skiing.
He had a brief dalliance with F1 team friend Gerard Larousse in 1994, through another friend, businessman Michael Jull, and the company Fast Group SA they co-founded. He worked as a great Formula 1 commentator for French television and later became deputy mayor of Le Canet, a suburb of Cannes.
But in his later years, he battled Parkinson's disease. As usual, he did so with gallantry and equanimity. I remember the last time we spoke, several years ago in Monaco, he looked good. "You wouldn't say you saw me three hours ago," he said with a soft smile.
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