Former top Formula One driver dies

Switzerland's Clay Regazzoni, who finished second to Emerson Fittipaldi in the 1974 F1 world drivers' championship, dies in a car accident.

Published on: Dec 16, 2006, 23:16:00 IST

None | By Anonymous, Rome

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Switzerland's Clay Regazzoni, who finished second to Emerson Fittipaldi in the 1974 Formula One world drivers' championship, has died in a car accident near Parma,

Ansa

news agency reported.

The 67-year-old, whose career ended with a crash paralysing his legs, died in a three-vehicle accident on the Milan-Bologna motorway on Friday.

The driver, born in Lugano, Switzerland, competed in 132 Grands Prix between 1970 and 1980, and won five Grand Prix and five pole positions.

Most of his career was with Ferrari (1970-1972) then (1974-1976) with spells at BRM (1973), Ensign-Ford (1977,1980) Shadow Ford (1978) and Williams (1979).

In 1980, a serious accident at the American Grand Prix at Long Beach left him with paralysed legs, forcing him to quit Formula One. However, he continued to compete in other races by operating the controls manually.

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