New Book Review: Pironi The Champion that never was by David Sedgwick

I never really paid too much attention to Didier Pironi’s career other than succumbing to the media stories that Pironi was the scheming and ambitious Frenchman vs the pure free spirited Ferrari team-mate Gilles Villeneuve and that Pironi’s “betrayal” at Imola in 1982 had contributed to Gilles accident in Zolder. Self confessed Pironi fan, David Sedgwick has embarked on some dedicated research to produce his biography “Pironi – the champion that never was” to shed more light on the talented and misaligned Frenchman.

Originally released as an e-book in 2017, the publishers Pitch Publishing have now released this title as a paperpack for 2018.

The tone of the book reads like a screenplay (very similar to Michael Cannel’s The Limit) and flows just like a movie storyline from Paris in the 1950’s with Pironi born out of wedlock to being raised in the wealthy family of his surrogate father, uni engineering graduate, early days motor racing forays, Formula Renault, F1 with Renault, joining Ferrari, his F1 ending accident through to posthumous birth of Pironi’s twin sons and the death of his half brother Jose.

Most F1 history fans will obviously find the chapters leading up and after the Imola ’82 weekend particularly intriguing. No spoilers here, other than a legitimate counter story that paints Pironi as less of the villain and a disorganised Ferrari team without the presence the astute man management of Mauro Forghieri.

The later chapters deal with Pironi’s difficulty recovery from his injuries are poignant – not as successful as Niki Lauda’s miracle recovery – but you can feel his struggle and frustration while reading these pages.

The selection of photos included have been sourced from a variety of personal family & friends — many of them never previously seen by the public. In total, there are 24 B&W and colour thumbnail photos in the mid-section of the book.

With David’s book, readers will definitely get a new appreciation of Didier Pironi the man and the driver. I had no idea he played such a pivotal role in the first GPDA and it’s also easy to forget that even though he was injured in 1982 Pironi could easily have been crowned champion that year instead of Keke Rosberg.

Aside from delving into his F1 career, Sedgwick through his research and interviews with family has pieced together his family backstory, his relationship with French actress Veronique Jannot after the break up of his 3 month marriage to wife Catherine, his pursuit of powerboat racing to fill the adrenaline gap from no longer racing in F1. This is all covered across 260 pages – an enjoyable read.

As part of the French contingent of drivers in F1 in the early 80’s the book also reveals much of the friendships and professional rivalries among the French drivers of the time and the Renault factory. For Senna fans, it’s not surprising that Alain Prost doesn’t come out too well in this book. Not matter which era, F1 really is a ruthless business…

Editors Note: Review copy of the book made available courtesy of Pitch Publishing

Wow Factor/money shot: Never previously published private photos

Suitable for:  Pironi and early 80’s F1 fans