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 Oscar Larrauri Meeting

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Alberto Ibañez
Ben Paulet
Jacob Fredriksson
Richard Coxon
Carl Larrad
Damian Baldi
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Damian Baldi
Club Driver
Damian Baldi


Number of posts : 143
Age : 51
Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina
Registration date : 2013-04-24

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PostSubject: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeTue 9 Sep 2014 - 23:19

Well, finally we had our meeting with Oscar Larrauri, it was amazing ! He was very friendly and let us meet his parents house, he showed us pictures, trophies and the chat was very intimate. Then took us to another place for coffee, and the conversation became more and more technical. We talked about fuel consumption, tires (a lot about tires!), how boost were used, brake points, race rhythm, and a lot of race histories. We discussed about which gear to use at Le Mans for Indianapolis corner! and a lot about the 1990 Le Mans race. Finally we gave him a bottle of champagne for the one he miss at 1990 Le Mans race after 23 hours and 45 minutes of fight for the first place in his Brun 962.

As a resume I could say that an historically accurate MOD is impossible to create, because the cars at qualy were a lot different than the one at an endurance race. Different brakes, pads, and many car configurations.


Pablo Flores, Oscar Larrauri, Daniel Gomez, Damián Baldi

Oscar Larrauri Meeting 10668891_10204637307638576_1173129042185076153_o
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Carl Larrad
Racing Legend
Carl Larrad


Number of posts : 6751
Age : 59
Location : Swindon , UK
Registration date : 2008-12-20

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeTue 9 Sep 2014 - 23:35

Wow i cannot believe you got to meet Oscar , such a great Group C Legend ... Saw him race many times , man your so lucky
and very interesting to hear your conversation with him ..

Well Done Damian Smile :clap:
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Richard Coxon
Racing Legend
Richard Coxon


Number of posts : 16590
Age : 36
Location : Sheffield, England
Registration date : 2012-06-29

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeWed 10 Sep 2014 - 9:27

Great news! You are very lucky people :top: Im sure the conversation was fascinating.
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Damian Baldi
Club Driver
Damian Baldi


Number of posts : 143
Age : 51
Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina
Registration date : 2013-04-24

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeWed 10 Sep 2014 - 13:58

Well, I will try to tell how it was in my poor english.

I have to say that he was very very friendly, we didn't know each other, so he asked a few things and instantly said "ok, let's go to my mother's house, there I have all the trophies", so we climbed into his Mercedes (it was a new and really nice one) and after a couple of streets we arrived.

At Oscar's  mother's house, he showed us his original room, when he begun to dream to be a race driver, but he just owned a bicycle. He did everything to get money to get his first car. He mentioned several events and stories about those first and difficult days and how the people of his natal city helped him to achieved. He told us about all this while he showed us his national trophies. Each trophy had a history behind

Oscar Larrauri Meeting 10426100_10153113239297995_3248953997666823137_n


Then, we went to another room where he have all the international trophies. There he started to show us photo albums with pictures of his first races at Europa. You could imagine each picture was a story and we listen to him with attention. Básically he told us that he drove every car he could, because it was his job and any opportunity he had, he took it. His target was always F1. Those first years at Europa were really tough, without money, living in a very small room at the back of a factory in a very small italian city. Those were the worst moments, sometimes losing any faith in his dreams. But then, things started to move on.

Oscar Larrauri Meeting 994486_10153113239142995_6161906471457134398_n

He started to get some opportunities, first with a frankenstein Lancia at Italy, then a test with a Porsche 911 at Austria, a Ferrari at Japan. He described it as "I was hired to do a job, sometimes that job was not to win, sometimes to make other drivers race easy. It was all about the sponsor of the team/race". He remembered every sponsor and told us some details, specially from Japan (alpha) and his culture, when he was usually hired by the owner of a Ferrari, and lot other from Italy.

Then his manager told him, "you will drive a Porsche 956 for Brun team" and there he started his Group-c carrier. While the conversation was more fluid my friends and I started to ask more and more technical questions. So we started to talk about the difference between the standard tail and the Le Mans low tail of the Porsche, brakes, boost, differential usage, gearbox, and some accidents and anecdotes. He told us that the 956/962 with the long tail, used to reach 370 km/h in qualy, but "just" 340 in race. The long tail configuration makes the car jump all the time. The brakes were totally different for the race. Solid iron disks for the race instead ventilated for qualy. Pads changed too, red for qualy and yellow (harder) for the race. The braking point for Mulsanne corner, was at the 200 mark for qualy and 250 or more on race. The turbo boost was dialed to reach the top fuel consumption limit of the regulations 51litres/100km. On qualy the consumption was incredible high, 1 litre / 1 km !!! at 1.5 bar.

He used several brands of tires. As a note, he told us that he used five different brands of tires on his first five formula races in Europe and was able to win. At group-c it was the same. Goodyear, Michelin, Yokohama, Dunlop, Bridgestone. He said that the Michelin were always the best tire, the most modern one. Goodyear used to have five or more compounds in the same year while Yokohama just one, designed for Le Mans, that compound was used in all the other races. It was a very hard compound that used to take until three Le Man's laps to warm up ! but then it was a very very durable tire. While the goodyears warmed up very fast, his life was short, and the fade out of the grip abrupt.

Then, we started to talk about the 1990 race, where he was near to win, or at least he had the opportunity. When we asked him if he was able to take Indianapolis corner in 4th gear he said "yes, but in qualy in 5th! with a small lift before turn to the right" So after the chat about boost, tires and consumption we asked him "how you planned your strategy to race against the Nissan and Jaguars?" ..."full boost, full throttle" was the answer. "When you have a big sponsor and you want to show it, you can't be cold". The strategy was go as fast as possible with race boost/consumption without save nothing. If you review the race, you could see he was changing the leadership with the Jaguars with 12 hs of race.

I didn't know it, but before the 24hs race, there was another race with some kind of touring cars, and Oscar took part. At the start there was an accident and Oscar was beaten at his neck (a german driver died after days at hospital). So he started the 24hs race with a big pain in his neck and with nausea.

The car was drove by Oscar, Jesus Pareja, and owner Walter Brun. Walter was very slow (something like 10 seconds per lap) but he was the owner. On one of the Walter's stint he said that he had saved fuel to do an extra lap, but he couldn't so they lost lot of time carrying the car back to the pits. Oscar took the wheel again and vomited because of the pain and nausea. Incredibly the car maintained the leader lap after hours. Sadly with 23:45 hs of race, the angine gone and the podium was lost.

As a colour note, and to describe how his job was sometimes, he told us about a race, when he had to stop at the pits and made a long stop to let the overflow drum get filled with 10-15 litres. Then Bellof stopped with the other car, and the pit crew used the same overflow drum filled with those 10-15 litres to save some seconds to let him use more boost.


There are more histories as the BIG crash at Daytona, but is difficult to describe them.

....continue


Last edited by Damian Baldi on Wed 10 Sep 2014 - 21:18; edited 1 time in total
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Jacob Fredriksson
Racing Legend
Jacob Fredriksson


Number of posts : 1047
Age : 34
Location : Sweden
Registration date : 2014-01-15

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeWed 10 Sep 2014 - 19:35

Did you talk about AJ Foyt? :hihi:
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Richard Coxon
Racing Legend
Richard Coxon


Number of posts : 16590
Age : 36
Location : Sheffield, England
Registration date : 2012-06-29

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeWed 10 Sep 2014 - 20:22

WOW Shocked

Beautifully told Damien, wish I could have been there, but I wouldn't understand a word! lol!

Please continue the conversation if you can. Really is great to read.

P.s your English is fine Wink
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Ben Paulet
Racing Legend
Ben Paulet


Number of posts : 8291
Age : 49
Location : Cagnes sur mer France
Registration date : 2009-07-29

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeWed 10 Sep 2014 - 20:54

Now, we know your english is fine, can you try in french? :hihi:
I had not the courage to read it in English. Embarassed
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Damian Baldi
Club Driver
Damian Baldi


Number of posts : 143
Age : 51
Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina
Registration date : 2013-04-24

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 15:58

THE BIG CRASH

For Daytona 1990, Yokohama was trying a new softer tire. Oscar was on qualifying, he was already on pole but he was trying to go faster, suddenly the disaster. On the banking the rear right tire explode and opened the engine cover doing the car spin. Then with the car going in the wrong way, it become a wing that take off. He told us he was not concerned about the fly, but for the landing. He was afraid to be crashed by other car. When the car landed it was upside down. The car spun going at 310 km/h so it take a long time to slow down that the roof was consumed by the asphalt and then the asphalt started to wear his helmet! He told us that in a moment he realised that the helmet would not last enough, so he moved his head to try to make the helmet wear in other part. The entire accident last for 40 long seconds.

Oscar Larrauri Meeting BrVuo_nCIAA5w40
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Richard Coxon
Racing Legend
Richard Coxon


Number of posts : 16590
Age : 36
Location : Sheffield, England
Registration date : 2012-06-29

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 17:09

Shows the difference between us and professional drivers, Most of us would panic and freeze, where as Oscar had the calmness to think clearly to move his helmet regarding wear on it.

Amazing. Keep the story's coming!
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Damian Baldi
Club Driver
Damian Baldi


Number of posts : 143
Age : 51
Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina
Registration date : 2013-04-24

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 17:43

Well, he always talk about the age and the hungry to win. He said several times that he saw how some of his rivals loss his hungry for victory and become slow drivers that doesn't take risks. He said that he went to Europe totally confident that he would win everything. He started his carrier being old, 27 years old in F3, but with a huge hungry for victory and F1 as a final destiny. Sadly there was a war in middle and he had to move to sport cars with swiss Brun team, other way he could be reached a decent team in F1. Finally he convinced Walter Brun to build a car for F1 but it was a poor team, and Oscar was 34 years old. He had his opportunity, it was a humble one, but at least he reached it. He told us that after he left the EuroBrun team, they discovered a problem with the rear tires. The problem was the width of the rings (rings were too narrow). That made the car move on acceleration from one side to the other because of tire deformation.

We asked him if he felt regret about been a sport cars driver instead a F1 driver, and he told that he didn't, but he always had F1 as the target, all the rest was part of the road to reach it.

After his group-c carrier he kept driving in Europe and then at Japan, and finally came back to Argentina to race with supertouring cars and after that, he retired from racing. He sadly lost his sole son (less than 2 years old) in a pool accident in 2001. After the lost of his son, he come back to race to do something with his life, but racing here is politic and corrupted bussiness. The desing of tires are really really old, so he abandoned. He become a politic in his City, and got the record of best and more clear finance. Now he only work in the family company.


This note is really good, is from last month. You could copy and paste at google translator.

http://www.largaron.com/noticias.php?articulo_id=16333



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Alberto Ibañez
Racing Legend
Alberto Ibañez


Number of posts : 16788
Age : 121
Location : International Simracing Organisation
Registration date : 2010-09-17

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 18:29

Vaya envidia me dáis, eso sí es conocer a una leyenda :top:

Por curiosidad ... ya imagino que le contaríais algo de nuestra afición al simracing, pero no sé si él ha probado algún simulador y su opinión Smile

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Peter Blom
Pro Driver
Peter Blom


Number of posts : 818
Age : 42
Location : Amsterdam
Registration date : 2012-11-01

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 19:26

I only know Oscar Larrauri from his F1 season at Eurobrun. Looks like he is a real hero in Argentina. Nice post Damian :top:
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Damian Baldi
Club Driver
Damian Baldi


Number of posts : 143
Age : 51
Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina
Registration date : 2013-04-24

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 19:40

Peter Blom wrote:
I only know Oscar Larrauri from his F1 season at Eurobrun. Looks like he is a real hero in Argentina. Nice post Damian :top:

No, he is not. He is almost forgotten here, and that's sad. He drove only few F1 races in that bad car, but all the press and public in general ask him all the time about those few races. He was a bit surprised about our questions about his group-c career. He swears that nobody knew here about his Daytona accident.

I think we are looking for the success on the others. It's the same with Reutemann, he was a great driver, but he never was world champion, and everybody remember him as an eternal second. I think that's unfair. There are so many excelent drivers as Amon or Moss that never were world champions.
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Peter Blom
Pro Driver
Peter Blom


Number of posts : 818
Age : 42
Location : Amsterdam
Registration date : 2012-11-01

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 21:44

ok Damian, well Argentina had some great racing drivers in the past. Here is a nice Larrauri poster:

Oscar Larrauri Meeting 15187699596_5eee167c18_b
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Alberto Ibañez
Racing Legend
Alberto Ibañez


Number of posts : 16788
Age : 121
Location : International Simracing Organisation
Registration date : 2010-09-17

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 22:28

Quote :
It's the same with Reutemann, he was a great driver, but he never was world champion, and everybody remember him as an eternal second. I think that's unfair. There are so many excelent drivers as Amon or Moss that never were world champions.

The funny thing is that indeed many of those drivers were champions ... though not in F1. The list of guys who come from winning F3000, F2, etc and never becoming F1 champion is not small, but F1 is so competitive and the elite is so heavily represented there, that even champions from other series don't shine. You need talent and luck (The right car, the right moment, etc), too many things coming together!
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Damian Baldi
Club Driver
Damian Baldi


Number of posts : 143
Age : 51
Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina
Registration date : 2013-04-24

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeThu 11 Sep 2014 - 23:13

In an interview Reutemann made an interesting resume about his career. He said something like this: "F1 is like a labyrinth, and into that labyrinth in the late 70s and early 80s, you had the world championship, the dead, be paralyzed, burned, or with lucky get out of the labyrinth, sometimes with a title". I like his point of view.

Thanks to all of you for your answers.
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Frank Verplanken
League Owner
Frank Verplanken


Number of posts : 13574
Age : 48
Location : Nice, France
Registration date : 2008-09-08

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeWed 17 Sep 2014 - 18:32

Nice post Damian, thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us Smile I saw Oscar race in F3 and F1, and I always liked him, if only for his beautiful black/red helmet design :D . I still remember the heartbreaker at the end of the 1990 LM, with Brun crying live on French TV and all Sad .

Jacob Fredriksson wrote:
Did you talk about AJ Foyt? :hihi:

lol!
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Damian Baldi
Club Driver
Damian Baldi


Number of posts : 143
Age : 51
Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina
Registration date : 2013-04-24

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeWed 17 Sep 2014 - 19:53

Frank Verplanken wrote:
Nice post Damian, thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us Smile I saw Oscar race in F3 and F1, and I always liked him, if only for his beautiful black/red helmet design :D . I still remember the heartbreaker at the end of the 1990 LM, with Brun crying live on French TV and all Sad .


He said in an interview that he made his helmet that way to match his idol, Emerson Fittipaldi Smile
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Austin Johnson
Pro Driver
Austin Johnson


Number of posts : 814
Age : 34
Location : Northern California
Registration date : 2013-01-14

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeWed 17 Sep 2014 - 20:03

Jacob Fredriksson wrote:
Did you talk about AJ Foyt? :hihi:

I think this would be aj's response lol!

Oscar Larrauri Meeting Post-311
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Antoine de Mautor
League Owner
Antoine de Mautor


Number of posts : 3617
Age : 36
Location : Nantes, France
Registration date : 2008-09-08

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeSat 27 Sep 2014 - 21:04

Wow, very nice guys, Oscar's always been a favourite of mine, how lucky that you met him, he seems like a real nice guy too ! Very Happy

I have created a facebook fanpage for him a few years ago, only 515 likes, but everybody, feel free to join in :D https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oscar-Larrauri/47146961365?fref=ts :chinois:
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Damian Baldi
Club Driver
Damian Baldi


Number of posts : 143
Age : 51
Location : Buenos Aires, Argentina
Registration date : 2013-04-24

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PostSubject: Re: Oscar Larrauri Meeting   Oscar Larrauri Meeting Icon_minitimeMon 29 Sep 2014 - 17:29

Antoine de Mautor wrote:
Wow, very nice guys, Oscar's always been a favourite of mine, how lucky that you met him, he seems like a real nice guy too ! Very Happy

I have created a facebook fanpage for him a few years ago, only 515 likes, but everybody, feel free to join in :D  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oscar-Larrauri/47146961365?fref=ts :chinois:

Nice, add him to your FB https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002943787101&fref=ts

I sent him messages from all of you whom posted in this thread the other day, he was thankful.

His FB profile is very interesting, people from all around the world post very nice pictures at the wall.
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