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Clay in the short-lived Shadow F1 car in 1978. Regazzoni's cheerful attitude and humor made
him popular with the teams.
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Long Beach California, March 30, 1980. Gianclaudio "Clay" Regazzoni was hoping that his decision to
return to the Ensign Formula One team had been the right choice. A seasoned veteran, Regazzoni had
logged in 131 Grand Prix races, with BRM, Ferrari, Williams, Ensign and Shadow. In 1974, he nearly
won the World Championship, but his Ferrari let him down at the US Grand Prix, the final race of
the season. In 1979, Regazzoni achieved for Williams team their first F1 victory at the British
Grand Prix, and placed fifth in the 1979 World Championship. At the end of the year, Frank Williams
had replaced Regazzoni, but as competitive as ever, Clay quickly found a seat with Ensign, with
whom he had driven for in 1977. Driving the Ensign, he retired at the season opener at Brazil
and again at Argentina and mustered a ninth at South Africa. But the season was young yet, and
the 40 year old Swiss-Italian was hoping Long Beach would be different. It was his kind of track, a
driver's course that demanded a lot of confrontational driving, his kind of race. The Ensign was
not a front runner, but Clay liked the organization and got on well with team owner Mo Nunn. Clay
qualified next to last on the grid. He would do his best, though; racing was the only life he knew.
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