British
Racing Driver
Controversy followed James Hunt during 1976. His season was soured by disputes, arguments and rumours - even as late as September - few people would have given him the remotest chance of winning the World Championship.
But that is exactly what he did!
On October 24, everything went sweet: despite a traumatic race in appalling conditions, Hunt salvaged third place in the Japanese Grand Prix and, with Lauda out of the race, the Englishman took the world title by one point.
To the followers of motor racing, Hunt is now a superstar, possibly more so than Lauda. This is because whereas Lauda can be compared to a machine, Hunt is patently human.
His good looks and sometimes audacious quotes make him popular with the media, and when he's angry everyone knows - witness his shouting-match with Patrick Depailler at Long Beach (76) or his comments about Tom Pryce at Monza.
Lauda was at the pinnacle of his career, but Hunt was expected to go further. If he repeated his Mosport and Watkins Glen performances in 1977 he could be champion yet again: considering the terrific mental pressure, those drives were brilliant.
Hunt should have been more confident in 1977: poor starts, silly rows and tactless comments should have be a thing of the past.
Author: ArchitectPage
