Jean-Marie Belestre Passes Away

[FIA]

Sad news, Jean-Marie Belestre has passed away aged 86, he was the president of the FISA, and he was famous for being involved in the FISA-FOCA War. Terrible News, RIP.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/3/7569.html

[DazzlaF1]

Sad news indeed, R.I.P

[DimitraF1]

uk boy when your men hang innocent cypriots in 1974 there wasn't a ''RIP'' from your Queen

[DazzlaF1]

uk boy when your men hang innocent cypriots in 1974 there wasn't a ''RIP'' from your Queen

excuse me :erm:

[Tazio]

Well lets mark his passing with positve thoughts of his character, and contribution.
It's really not that sad when someone who lives a full life passes away at 86.
In fact both of my parents passed away in 2007 at the age of 86.
My mother being one week short of her 87th birthday!
The words of "The Bard" from the play Julius Caesar are ones that help put these things into perspective
"What is death, but part of life?"
The last part!
Cheers
RIP

[Tazio]

uk boy when your men hang innocent cypriots in 1974 there wasn't a ''RIP'' from your QueenGet down with your bad self Girl!!!!!

[FIA]

uk boy when your men hang innocent cypriots in 1974 there wasn't a ''RIP'' from your Queen

What has Cyprus and the Queen got to do with the Death of Jean-Marie Belsetre?

[Ranger]

RIP

[Azumanga Davo]

A stubborn old b on the wrong side, but a lot of today's sport has been influenced by the groundwork in the late 80s/early 90s of Balestre and the FIA. I doubt it would have got half the attention it did as a sport back then.

Him and big Ken T can have a biffo as to who is in charge up there now... :D

[wmcot]

Him and big Ken T can have a biffo as to who is in charge up there now... :D

Until Bernie comes along and takes over!

A stubborn old b on the wrong side

But Balestre & Enzo rarely had arguments?

Oh, right, sorry, you are coming from a 'garagista' angle, not a 'grandee' one.

[Tazio]

Until Bernie comes along and takes over!
Rest assured Bernie's deliverance will be directly south of Balestres,
and in a much warmer enviornment! He made his deal at "The Crossroads"

[Haddock]

Rest assured Bernie's deliverance will be directly south of Balestres,
and in a much warmer enviornment! He made his deal at "The Crossroads"

I'm not convinced, when one tots everything up, that there's a much better case for Balestre than for Ecclestone on that score.

Come to that, in the end it was Balestre who sold out the sport to Ecclestone anyway (again, not necessarily the wrong move, but....).

[ottostreet]

RIP Jean-Marie.

[Tazio]

Come to that, in the end it was Balestre who sold out the sport to Ecclestone anyway (again, not necessarily the wrong move, but....).So speaking figuratively, Balestre made his deal at "The Crossroads" with Beelzebernie!
Or did Bernie make his deal with Balestrebub? ;)

[DimitraF1]

**** the queen :P

[wedge]

Well lets mark his passing with positve thoughts of his character, and contribution.

I find that remark hilarious!

To summarise this thread:

"Its sad when someone dies but we're struggling to come up with Balestre's positive contributions to the sport!"

*Apologises for English dark sense of humour*

[Tazio]

I find that remark hilarious!

To summarise this thread:

"Its sad when someone dies but we're struggling to come up with Balestre's positive contributions to the sport!"

*Apologises for English dark sense of humour*
No apologies necessaries I was only suggesting that he be eulogized
Having had both my parents pass away in 2007 the most recent being Nov 14th
It's easy for me to look at deeds of people euphemistically after they pass!
As wonderful as my parents were. They were involved in certain sordid behavior!
I chose not to memorialize then on, and by those shortcomings.
I was simply suggesting that the same courtesy should be given to Balestre!

[ottostreet]

No apologies necessaries I was only suggesting that he be eulogized
Having had both my parents pass away in 2007 the most recent being Nov 14th
It's easy for me to look at deeds of people euphemistically after they pass!
As wonderful as my parents were. They were involved in certain sordid behavior!
I chose not to memorialize then on, and by those shortcomings.
I was simply suggesting that the same courtesy should be given to Balestre!

most people's misdeeds tend to be forgotten once they move on. and that i feel is as it should be.

[wedge]

most people's misdeeds tend to be forgotten once they move on. and that i feel is as it should be.

True, but the sad thing is as a tribute we should be looking at positives but it seems people can't think of any as president of the FIA or other contributions to the sport.

[Haddock]

True, but the sad thing is as a tribute we should be looking at positives but it seems people can't think of any as president of the FIA or other contributions to the sport.

Oh, there were positives, not the least his having the courage (or perhaps foolhardiness) to go up against all the major car makers and ban turbos - an expensive dead end which I can't help thinking would ultimately have destroyed F1.

Thing is, I think that the negatives outweighed the positives.

[D-Type]

I think that Balestre is a much maligned character. His WW2 activities were undoubtedly questionable. He was certainly the target for a lot of criticism and negative PR. But, he did have the good of the sport at heart. His announcement of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 1981 was a master stroke that saved grand prix racing being totally run by the teams for their own financial gain.

[Azumanga Davo]

Well, if any of you are struggling for a positive to think about, then here is one that would be a very hard thing to praise Mosley for after.

Balestre, when in power, may have changed car and engine build rules once in a while to remove turbos and other gizmos, but he didn't make massive changes to the format of qualifying and the race, which I believe was the best system before all this garbage Mosley introduced. Alright, we may have lost the last of the pre-qualifying cars and larger grids, but that got rid of most of the dreamers that didn't acheive (certain shoe maker who couldn't even organise a Marathon in London, I suspect ;) )

[ArrowsFA1]

For me Balestre will be best remembered for his role in the FISA/FOCA 'war', and as such he was a controversial figure, but clearly his life was much more than that and he made a big contribution to motorsport.

RIP

[Josti]

For me Balestre will be best remembered for his role in the FISA/FOCA 'war', and as such he was a controversial figure, but clearly his life was much more than that and he made a big contribution to motorsport.


Agreed. He was a president at controversional times, which didn't made his job always too easy. Banning of Group B Rallying also comes to mind in this case.

RIP Jean-Marie.

[Don Capps]

I think that Balestre is a much maligned character. His WW2 activities were undoubtedly questionable. He was certainly the target for a lot of criticism and negative PR. But, he did have the good of the sport at heart. His announcement of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 1981 was a master stroke that saved grand prix racing being totally run by the teams for their own financial gain.

As opposed for the financial gain of the FIA, of course. Then again, as a few divined at the time, it was rather akin to being a Pole in September 1939, with Hitler on one side and Stalin on the other, neither one being "good" choices, but one of those going to win regardless of who got in the way.

Never much cared for JMB given that he came in spoiling for a fight from Day One and then ensured that he got one. Not that Mosley and Ecclestone were any better, of course, given that they pretty much snookered the teams and then, seeing how the wind was blowing, without blinking an eye climbed into bed with JMB. Hypocrisy, thy name is Ecclestone, FOCA, FOM, whatever....

As for the "masterstroke," I pretty much departed ways with that result of the FIASCO War by the end of the 1984 season. Gave it several seasons and then found other things to do and other racing to follow: IMSA, CART, and NASCAR Cup racing were far, far better than the F1 series at that time by a long shot. Plus, by then was much more interested in history than the contemporary racing scene.