[Confucius]

Clay Regazzoni, who finished second to Emerson Fittipaldi in the 1974 championship, has sadly died in a car accident near Parma, Ansa news agency reported this evening.

The 67-year-old, whose career ended with a crash which left him paralysed, died in a three-vehicle accident on the Milan-Bologna motorway on Friday.

Born in Lugano, Switzerland, Regazzoni competed in 132 Grand Prix between 1970 and 1980, and won five Grand Prix and five pole positions.

Most of his career was with Ferrari (1970-1972 then 1974-1976) with spells at BRM (1973), Ensign-Ford (1977, 1980), Shadow Ford (1978) and Williams (1979).

In 1980, a serious accident at the US Grand Prix at Long Beach left him with a broken spine. However, while unable to walk again, he went on to compete in the Paris-Dakar and Sebring sports car event.