One the greatest comeback drives ever in racing?
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2024
- This is some incredible footage of one of the greatest come-from-behind race drives I've ever seen... by Willy T Ribbs in a IMSA GTO Celica. The race was in 1987, at the temporary Circuit Del Mar, in San Diego California. The start of the race saw Scott Pruett thundering into the lead ahead of Jack Baldwin. Literally every car would rub paint as they went through the tight right-hander, and Willy T ended up having his valve stem from his right-front tire broken. This of course meant that he had to stop for a new tire. He was now all the way back in 25th position at the start of the second lap, on a very tight race course. This is a video for all those young race drivers out there that will teach you about never giving up in a race, no matter how far behind you are.
I know of people who think the man was arrogant, a jerk, or whatever... but I disagree... in the early 80's, I had the pleasure of meeting Willy T Ribbs at a gym I was working out at, and I found Mr. Ribbs to be extremely friendly, and he was quite willing to converse with my about my desire to someday have a racing career (unfortunately that never happened). One thing is for sure, he was a heck of a race driver.
Also, a little known fact about Willy, is in 1986 he was invited to test drive a Formula One car, when he tested for the Bernie Ecclestone-owned Brabham team at the Autódromo do Estoril, Portugal. Ultimately, Ribbs was not given the drive for the upcoming season, but who knows what would have happened had he been offered the seat that year, or if that next season for Brabham (1987) hadn't been the beginning of the Brabham team's downfall...
This is going straight to the hall of fame of onboards.
Has anyone noticed how he uses different lines than everybody else ? Suddenly it becomes much clearer how he outperformed everyone like that.
My goodness Willy T was a monster.
Was the driver of this footage?
@@wesleyamancio3686 yes, a gentleman named Willy T. Ribbs.
In Case you're wondering Who in the Hell is Driving that TOYOTA CELICA IMSA Car Like a Mad Man!...Well that is the Infamous Willy T. Ribbs!...The Fastest and Only Black Race Car Driver of His Day! (IMHO!)...I am Just Saying!...God Bless America! 😇
Brilliant stuff, thanks for sharing. That Celica GTO car was an absolute demon. Willy T. had just a ridiculous amount of car control... love watching him drive on the limit.
Damn listen to that Toyota beg for it's life every time he downshifted from 4th straight to 2nd. Awesome stuff man, Love It!!
Fitch93 how did it not break!?!? Hehe
You mean from 3rd to 1st ;) It's a 5-speed gearbox, and racing cars with such boxes usually have the first gear in the bottom left corner instead of the upper one. Clearly visible when he leaves the pits from a standing start. Great footage, so rare to have on board videos of full races from back then, thanks for the upload.
Is actually a dogleg 5 speed box where first is where second is on a normal roadcar, so he downshifs from 3rd to 1st, trying to keep the turbo spooled up. And the 4A-GE took it like a champ. Amazing obscure onboard of Willy on one of the most difficult street circuits in Camel GT history. And the Celica GTO was a monster!
Amazing driver. He could’ve been F1 world champion had he been born 20 years later. Was a huge fan back in the 80s and still am.
Who is here in 2020 because of Netflix documentary?
Great race footage! Thanks for posting.
Came right here after finishing it
Corones corones
What documentary? I haven't seen anything interesting on Netflix for months.
the whole time i was like..this looks like Gran Turismo on Easy mode. It didn't even look like the other cars were in the same class!
Willy T Ribbs my favorite driver all-time!
I would never talk down T.Ribbs skill in a race car for how good he was when he did race and how much he could perform well under pressure but you cant lie that the Toyota GTO Celicas where strong this time in IMSA so having a strong car does help quite a lot but if you don't know what to do with a great racecar you'll never figure out how to be consistently fast.
This is an outstanding video wish there where more onboards of IMSA back in the day seeing the rawness of these cars and the driver skill is immense love it!!
the Toyota was down 200hp to fords it was skill
@@jaymartin4418 Yep... 1987 IMSA Toyota Celica GTO = 400hp vs. 1987 IMSA Ford Mustang GT, and the IMSA Chevrolet Camaro R/S GTO = 600hp.
I loved watching the Trans Am and GTP racing. Exciting as hell. I Wish younger people would check out Trans Am racing in the 80's.
Trans Am is like Nascar that can turn both ways.
@@pctshooter and they can stop too!
I was there for that race weekend, since I was helping the organizers (no, I'm not a big cheese, just a menial) I saw Willy T. Ribbs drive here, and in previous years, too. He was a helluva driver and I was in awe of this performance in particular! I never got to meet him, but I wish I had.
That Toyota was a giant-killer. The engine was small but it had AWD, and that traction was critical around this tight course- he could carry more speed through the turns than the traditional big-bore Chevies, Pontiacs and Fords. Willy T. knew how to use it!
Everybody thinks Audi did it first with their Quattros from '88 to '90, but it was Dan Gurney and Toyota here in IMSA.
Not sure where you got that info from. This car is RWD only, AFAIK.
The AAR Celica GTO was rear wheel drive only.
Mr. T was in another level, his technique and essence when he touched the apex is masterclass. I'm glad I know about him great man and racer....
Racing nowa days is Shit compared to this. so raw and exciting
Btw, I do have more footage of this race (the whole second half) but had an issue trying to load it onto UA-cam... It kept timing out for some reason. Now I'm trying to find where I put that DVD! Anyway, hopefully I'll have it loaded up real soon. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here is a web page showing the final results and talking a little bit about how much of a show Mr. Ribbs put on that day: www.imsahistory.com/1987/DelMarGTO87.html
Norse1957 , any luck with getting the rest of DVD uploaded? You can use the SUPER convert to transcode from DVD-MPEG2 to MP4 first. UA-cam should accept that easier. Thanks for great video!
Norse1957 I have that race on VHS tape. It was the televised footage with the announcer talking about Willy and how great big brakes helped him. He said the man with the best brakes wins...
*****
I recently located the VHS tape (finally!) and I will find a way to digitize and upload it! I'll post another comment here, in a couple of weeks...
How long will it take?
Do you have the televised race
He had the never give up Attitude he didn't take no shit from no one Willie you are one of my most favorite race car drivers a true Legend
Great video, thanks for uploading. First time I saw it I was grinning, couldn't believe it was a whole 30 minutes of onboard around Del Mar, let alone in an IMSA GTO Toyota. :)
Willy was a driving machine. I remember flippin through the channels one day in the 80's-and a Trans am race was on. Willy won in dominating fashion, then did the Muhammad Ali dance on the roof. 🤣 Been a fan ever since!
I saw this race on E.S.P.N way back it the day. Willy was a man possesed. Great drive a classic!
That was indeed an amazing drive. Willy just tore up those esses when no one was right in front of him.
Thank you so much for taking the time to upload this. I've been to a lot of GTO/GTU,GTP/Camel Lights races over the years. Good times!!
I appreciate the upload and the description, I just finished watching this documentary series on and him and this is the only full face footage I could find of him. Amazing stuff!
nice driving hanging the edge all the time. clean shifts.
What makes it so good is...those Toyota engines were making around 450hp, and the v8s he was racing against were around 600hp. He showed u it wasn't all about the power of the car, it's who's behind that power and can wield that power that counts the most
You better know that turbo 4 had at least 700hp available! Pretty much the GTP unit detuned, notice he walked the V8 cars even on the straights, rocket fuel and boost was the name of the game, they always would claim less power, this after all was GTO category car. About the only thing that could keep up was the Millen GTO 300ZX.
SuperHeru777 - That 2.1 liter Toyota GT motor with the turbo and tuned "down" to IMSA GTO specs, put out just 400 hp. Because the IMSA Toyota Celica GTO was such a light race car, compared to the Mustang and Camaro IMSA GTO cars, allowing it more horsepower would make it an uneven match against the heavier American muscle cars.
In case some is wondering, he finished in 3rd position
Pretty remarkable as Willy started 4th; fell back to 25th place, and thundered back to a 3rd place finish.
man hes getting all he can outa that little engine
That was a relentless drive. Awesome.
I wonder how many times Lewis Hamilton viewed this?
God damn, willy's the man. This looks like soooooooooo much fun, oh my god I would of loved to drive these
Bobolink, I got this recording off a VHS tape from a friend of the Riggs family... Bunnny, the father of William T.,use to come in to my simulator shop fairly often. Bunny was a very experienced race driver too, and he's a great guy.
I knew Willy T. He knew no limits. He was fearless.
I guess I'm viewer number 16,000!! This was indeed a great comeback! I guess this is the race for which everyone acclaims Willy T. Ribbs.
His down shifts omg😍
Sublime. Utterly sublime. That track looks like murder to drive though.
Thanks for posting this! Makes the hair stand up on the back of my spine!
Awesome drive but that car is well sorted!
I don't care who comments back but Willie t. Was head and shoulders above all the drivers he competed against in this series back then. And he dominated despite the deck being stacked against him. Had it been a level playing field the race would have been for second behind him every race. He was that good.
Yes! Thanx 4 posting this vid! Had my hairs go up. Almost spiritual! Wow! #BEAST
impressive comeback!
Fantastic upload
⛽️🚀🐐💯💪🔥👍
Wow, great footage
That gearbox is something else..
Must be a Hewland, since it can withstand such punishment
Edit*-
Yup.. had to go and research it. Those gearboxes they made in the start 80's, where the weapon of choice. Only thing I can think of rivaling it, is Porsche's PDK
I had the privilege of seeing WTR race , he was a driving fool!
EPIC!
How did you get this footage? It's SOOOO good. Thannks, man!
This was off a VHS tape that a good friend of Bunny's (Willy's dad) brought to me to check out and make a digital copy of... He had got the tape direct from either Willy of Bunny shortly after the race I believe. Unfortunately, I forgot his name and I lost my contact info... I know he would get a kick out of seeing this on UA-cam with a good amount of views and positive feedback. And even more unfortunate, I just found out that Bunny passed away on August 23, 2015. I met Bunny back around 2009, and he was such a great guy, who shared with me all of his own historic days of racing... Including being one of the first drivers to run on Laguna Seca right after it was completed. Although not quite as well known as his son, Bunny was also a huge talent that contributed a great deal to racing history. RIP and Godspeed Bunny!
If you want to read about Willy's dad Bunny, you can read about him here: www.legacy.com/obituaries/mercurynews/obituary.aspx?pid=175671904
Do you still have the VHS tape or the original version of the footage? We are producing a documentary about Willy and are looking for any existing footage we can find of Willy racing. Please email us at info@chassymedia.com
Thanks for sharing.
Have you seen the new Adam Corolla documentary about Willy T. Ribbs yet?
Not yet, I've been meaning to though, since I've been hearing such great things about it.
@@Norse1957
I just finished watching it. You won't be disappointed. Great story telling and great historic footage.
My only disappointment is that it makes Jack Roush look kinda douchy, which disappointed me because I always looked up to him because he's a local hero here in the Detroit area. Still an incredible film worth watching. Two thumbs up.
that's the problem with rousch now not willing to change
Please upload the rest.
This is racing
Brake zones almost as long as the 49 Jack :D
Go Willie, Go!
Willy made that Toyota work,
Total beginner to auto racing (just watched the willy T Ribbs doc on Netflix and enjoyed it). Maybe one of you guys could help me out but why does he weave left and right behind the driver in front? Is it so the driver behind him can’t overtake?
Can you give me a timecode for him weaving? If it's at the beginning of the race,he's trying to heat up a set of tires.
@@Tormenator1 It was near the start of the race. Thank you for answering the query 👍🏻
He's scrubbing his tires to keep them up to temperature while they are under the pace car / caution flag. (I just realized Tormenator1 gave the answer).
Good gods, willy. How the hell did you fit balls that big into a fire suit?
AWESOME !!!!
Fun fun fun, I wanna do it!
Is there any tv footage of this
Watch uppity on netflix. A documentary about his racing career.
Baahhh - Happy laps!
Some really aggressive driving here
Do you have the name of the DVD for this race?
Does any one have the tv broadcast of this race
at what point did he start passing the GTO cars?? the GTU's are obviously gonna get blitzed. cracking footage btw!! :-)
This was a stand alone GTO race, no GTU cars.
That's just incredible. I thought the same thing - must've been GTUs for sure - but no... IMSA archives state he was 2 secs faster PER LAP than pretty much anyone else on the track. How you can outperform you opponents like that is beyond me.
Celica vs the Audi?
Why did he have to put so early?
He shredded the sidewall of one of his tires.
Is it just me or is anyone else noticing the car is "loose" where Ribbs is making micro counter steering adjustments ?
It's not so much that the car is loose, but the fact that he's driving at 11/10ths for the whole race.
As terrible as he was in srx (i know, hes old now, but so was labonte and elliot) its weird to see him being actually good.
Don't put too much in the SRX series myself. And WillyT was just out there having some fun, after being away from racing completely for quite some time.
Never drove many ovals or dirt but a great road racer
Lewis and Willy Should have a sit down together and willy to give his advice on how to beat an organization that doesn’t want you to win..... i’m looking at you FIA
is this gearbox dogbox or basic synchronizer? takes a shit load of abuse
This car ran a 5-speed manual Hewland transaxle gearbox.
Billy T was the biggest overrated driver in history.
Great upload but hardly "one the greatest comeback drives ever in racing" lol ! Just a factory driver carving up through a very modest field of privateers.
You definitely dont know shit...... I was there to witness it. Privateers? Your stupid!!!
Some people need to have their keyboard & mouse ripped out of their stinkin paws before they embarrass themselves. Just sayin! lol!
Willie t. Was a beast. He would be a mega star in today's racing world.
Nice vid! To be fair his car is about twice as quick as most of the field until you get to the top 6 cars...