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James Hunt. A bit of a tw*t ?


theduisbergkid
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I've just about finished Tom Rubython's book about James 'the shunt' Hunt.

I'd heard the stories about him, knew a little of his racing records and vaguely remember him from when I was a kid. Having read the book I find myself having a pretty poor opinion of him. His one title win seemed more like being in the right car at the right time and his performances before and after were good but not spectacular. Without Lord Hesketh I don't think he would have ever gotten a drive with the big boys. As a personality he seems like a bit of a tw*t. The way he treated his parents, wives and fellow racers was pretty disgusting at times. His constant blaming of Patrese for a death he didn't cause is unpleasant and punching people when you get the hump is no way to race. The stuff about Hesketh is interesting and worthy of a book in it's own right. The relationship between sponsors and teams seems far closer than I had imagined. Hunt bottled out at the end, despite the millions waved at him, I don't imagine Lauda or Senna would have got cold feet. Hunt comes across as completely self-centred and shallow and his off-track antics might be funny at times but getting drunk/laid/stoned isn't difficult. Even I can do that. I'm guessing the forthcoming film will paint him as a hedonistic British hero. I think he was actually a bit of a tw*t.

The book is slightly strangely written, the chapters seem to overlap somewhat and the writing is a bit flat and factual, but it's a very informative read.

What are your opinions of Hunt ?

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Tom is a very odd characture (my brother used to work for him) and only sees the world in black and white.

James was most of the time a pretty unpleasant characture in his younger days, but he realised this and mellowed significantly in his last few years.

He was a very good driver (not a great) who made the most of his opportunities. His performances in the Hesketh were stand out. He was also a very good judge of talent, as his raving about Giles proved after racing against him in formula atlantic.

His vilification of Patrese was due to his close involment in the Ronnie accident and the aftermath. Many years later he did admit this.

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Edited by jimdiesel
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