The USA's Eddie Cheever on living his F1 dream after walking away from Ferrari

F1 Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

News, Leisure, Sports News, Sports, Automotive

4.7 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2020

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

No American has started more Grands Prix than Eddie Cheever, the Phoenix-born, Rome raised racer, who took nine excellent podium finishes in the 1980s. In his long stay at the pinnacle of motor sport Cheever drove for eight teams (including Renault, Ligier, Tyrrell and Alfa Romeo), experiencing the highs of reaching the rostrum and the lows of losing fellow drivers. What’s more remarkable is that he achieved all this after walking away from a Ferrari test contract, so determined was he as a youngster to make it - right away - in the sport he loved.

On this week’s show he discusses all of the above, plus his lifelong admiration of his former boss, McLaren legend Ron Dennis, his admiration of team mates Alain Prost and Derek Warwick, the loss of Gilles Villeneuve, and his post-F1 success at the Indy 500…

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello Albert Einstein here. Today I've popped into Dev's cafe. He's one of many business owners
0:07.3	who are already using a smart meter to feel more in control of their budgeting. A smart meter helps
0:13.4	you track your energy use and costs over time so you know how much you're spending on your energy
0:19.3	bills, meaning less time guessing and more time to focus on the other important... Do you want milk
0:24.3	with that? Pits of your business. Such can a smart meter today? A legibility may vary consumer
0:29.2	action required. Hello, I'm Eddie Chiever and you're listening to Beyond the Grid.
0:40.1	Hi everyone and welcome once again to Beyond the Grid with me Tom Clarkson. Now, if I were to ask
0:46.9	you to name the American Racing Driver with the most F1 stars, who would you say? Marry
0:53.0	Perhaps Dan Gurney? Actually, it's neither of them. That accolade goes to Eddie Chiever,
0:59.1	who's my guest this week. Between 1978 and 1989, Eddie Race in 132 Grand Prix for the likes of
1:06.7	Ligier, Tyrell, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Hass, not that one, and Arrows, bagging nine podiums along the
1:13.9	way and he came also close to winning a few races as well. But before we get into what is a fascinating
1:19.6	conversation with the man himself, here's a bit of background that will help you to appreciate Eddie's
1:24.7	journey. Yes, he's American, born in Phoenix, the former home of the US Grand Prix. But he grew up
1:31.3	and went to school in Rome. His parents weren't racers, but he had Italian mates and through them
1:37.6	developed a love for yes, you guessed it, Ferrari. And Ferrari quickly fell in love with Eddie.
1:43.7	After he dominated the European karting scene and had a hugely successful career in the junior
1:48.7	formulas of single-seater racing, he signed a Ferrari Formula One testing contract at the age of just
1:56.0	19. A dream ticket you might think, except that's not exactly how things panned out. I'm going to let
2:03.0	Eddie grab the mic now to tell his own story. And what you're about to hear will tweet every emotion
2:08.3	you have, your experience undiluted joy, lots of frustration and the desperate sadness that
2:14.5	follows the death of someone you know. There are stories on Enzo Ferrari, legendary McLaren Boss
	...

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