There was always something of a wild streak about the progress of this tough and uncompromising Swiss from the province of Ticino.

During his apprenticeship in F3 and F2 he was certainly a rough and ready performer who got involved in more than his fair share of accidents. Even in Formula 2 he had his moments, barging Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell off the road in the 1972 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring. It was one of the few occasions in which Jackie has appeared genuinely aggrieved by the performance of a rival, but "Regga" just seemed to shrug it aside.

Clay drove for Ferrari through to the end of 1976 and later hit the headlines at Silverstone in 1979 when he scored the Williams team's maiden victory in the British Grand Prix.

The following year he crashed heavily at Long Beach in an Ensign, suffering partial paralysis which ended his F1 career. Despite being confined to a wheelchair Clay continued to race in the Paris-Dakar Rally and in sportscar events with hand-controlled machinery. In 1996 he was refused an FIA international license to race in the World Sportscar Championship.

Clay Regazzoni died in a car accident just West of Parma, Italy on the 15th December 2006.

Starts: 132 - Wins: 5 - Poles: ??