About a thousand people, including personalities from Formula
One racing, attended on Thursday the funeral of Swiss driver Clay
Regazzoni, who died last week.
Regazzoni, aged 67, was killed on December 15 in a collision
with a truck in a motorway accident near the northern Italian city
of Parma.
Among those who attended the funeral in Lugano, Regazzoni's
hometown, were drivers Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi and Niki
Lauda, as well as the former boss of Switzerland's Sauber racing
stable, Peter Sauber.
Stewart told Swiss television that it had been marvellous to
race against Regazzoni. He had been a wonderful person with humour
and good for the sport of motor racing.
After the funeral, also attended by local authorities, Regazzoni
was laid to rest in the family vault in the cemetery of the village
of Porza, above Lugano.
More than 40 Lugano politicians are supporting a motion for a
street or square to be named after Regazzoni, who was born in the
southern Swiss city.
Regazzoni was paralyzed after suffering spinal damage in the
United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach in 1980. Afterwards he
was confined to a wheelchair.
He enjoyed the high points of his Grand Prix career with the
Williams and Ferrari teams. The Swiss gave Williams their first
Grand Prix victory in Britain in 1979 and won four races for the
Italian team.
(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2006)