Some sportsmen come and go, some live fast, experience 'their moment' and then fade into obscurity, but sometimes a sportsman or woman will transcend their chosen sport and become something more than the sum of their parts. One such hero is Sir Stirling Moss.
He's as British as Harris Tweed, is as outspoken as only the truly eccentric aristocracy can be and is probably the most famous racing driver never to have won a world championship.
His illustrious career was cut short by a horrific accident at Goodwood Circuit in the south of England in 1962, a circuit that I've had the pleasure of lapping flat-out in a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V some years ago, and let me tell you, it's scary fast!
His biography reads like a proper 'boys own' adventure tale, from the days when all one needed was a stiff upper lip and some derring do to accomplish any heroic feat of car control in the face of certain death.
He is, in short, the original Stig, and probably the fastest 80 year old on the planet, a man's man.
As I'm sure you are aware, Sir Stirling 'came a cropper' a few days ago, plunging three floors down a lift shaft and breaking both ankles as well as chipping four vertebrae, an incident which he described in an open letter to fans and well wishers as:
"The whole thing is a real pain in the arse, if I had looked where I was going, I wouldn't be here at all, so It's my own damn fault."
Respect.
Sir Stirling Moss, you are officially a badass.
6 comments:
1st woo-hoo!!
1st what?
1st you've been sober all day?
1st time you've figured out how to switch the PC on without the assistance of a adult?
Call me old fashioned, but claiming to be 1st commenter would imply that you have in fact left a comment.
3rd back of the net!!
4th
I would disagree actually. Stirling Moss is a bitter old man. He is of the belief that the young whipper snappers of today's racing are nothing compared to him and his bravery in his younger years. He believes that all the safety features and performance enhancing engineering in modern cars takes away from the skill and ability of modern drivers.
Any time I've seen him speak on TV I've always had the impression that he is in fact a bit of a knob.
I do however wish him a speedy recovery.
One of my old school mates - working in London - had Ol' Stirl as a landlord once and described him as the most mean, swindling penny pinching man alive.
I'd quite like to have him as a chauffeur though.
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